![\"2-web\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.drd4sevenr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/2-web.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nSusan and I\u00a0we had just over 750,000 AA miles we could\u00a0use. Since we would not be able to take our originally planned Maldives trip we decided to use as many AA miles on vacations during the next year and try to harvest as much value as we could.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Setup: Unforeseen Events<\/strong><\/a>
\nIntroduction: Planning for Thailand<\/strong><\/a>
\nReview: Cathay Pacific Lounge SFO<\/strong><\/a>
\nReview: Cathay Pacific International First Class – San Francisco To Hong Kong<\/strong><\/a>
\nReview: The Pier, Hong Kong International Airport<\/strong><\/a>
\nReview: Dragonair International Business Class – Hong Kong To Phuket<\/strong><\/a>
\nReview: Anantara Layan Phuket Resort – Deluxe Seaview Suite<\/strong><\/a>
\nBoat Transfer &\u00a0Check-in:\u00a0The Santhiya Koh Yao Yai Resort & Spa<\/strong><\/a>
\nReview: Santhiya Koh Yao Yai – Ocean View Pool Villa Suite<\/strong><\/a>
\nReview: Santhiya Koh Yao Yai Resort<\/strong><\/a>
\nDay Trip: National Marine Park – Koh Hong Archipelago<\/strong><\/a>
\nFinal Thoughts & Monkey Business – Santhiya Koh Yao Yai<\/strong><\/a>
\nReview: Thai Royal Orchid Lounge – Phuket<\/strong><\/a>
\nReview: Lux Pay In Lounge – Phuket<\/strong><\/a>
\nReview: Dragonair International Business Class – Phuket To Hong Kong<\/strong><\/a>
\nReview: Regal Airport Hotel – Superior Room<\/strong><\/a>
\nReview: Cathay Pacific International First Class – Hong Kong To Chicago<\/strong><\/a>
\nReview: American Airlines Flagship Lounge – Chicago<\/strong><\/a>
\nReview: American Airlines Domestic First Class – Chicago To San Francisco<\/strong><\/a><\/h4>\n
\nOn this trip there were a\u00a0few things we wanted to accomplish.<\/p>\n
\n- Fly Cathay Pacific international first class through Hong Kong.<\/li>\n
- Plan and book last minute flights.<\/li>\n
- Go to Thailand.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
![\"Cathay](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.drd4sevenr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Cathay-Pacific.jpg?resize=750%2C368\")
<\/a><\/p>\nWe both have never flown in\u00a0Cathay Pacific first class, and with AA’s impending\u00a0devaluation it made sense to try that product.\u00a0 Because Cathay Pacific\u00a0would only\u00a0release\u00a0first\u00a0class seats a couple weeks to a few days before travel,\u00a0we would need\u00a0to book last minute flights.<\/p>\n
![\"map\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.drd4sevenr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/map.gif?resize=720%2C360\")
<\/a>Our trip<\/p>\nBen Schlappig (aka Lucky) at One Mile At A Time <\/a><\/span>frequently preaches this approach, and in the past I\u2019ve never been gutsy enough to do it. I\u2019ve been a point\u2019s enthusiast for a number of years now, and we<\/del> I was finally confident enough to try a last minute award. Suzy has had a desire to visit Thailand for a couple years, and now we were going.<\/p>\nAll three items were mutually inclusive and so this would be our trip. An AA redemption for USA-Asia Region 2 would run 67,500 miles per way per person, or 270,000 miles for the entire trip.<\/p>\n
![\"miles](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.drd4sevenr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/miles-r-e.jpg?resize=754%2C304\")
<\/a>Miles used<\/p>\nAfter a lot of discussion and research Suzy decided on the Santhiya Koh Yao Yai Resort & Spa in the Koh Yao Island region of Thailand. Santhiya Resorts and Spas is a privately owned business that has two resort locations; the Koh Yao Yai and the Koh Phangan.<\/p>\n
The Koh Yao Yai resort looked beautiful and had plenty of availability for the second half of January and first half of February. To get there we would need to travel to Phuket Thailand and then travel by speed boat to the island and resort.<\/p>\n
![\"G0111065\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.drd4sevenr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/G0111065.jpg?resize=750%2C429\")
<\/a>Santhiya Koh Yao Yai Resort & Spa<\/p>\nOur discussion lead to a choice between 2 room types, the \u201cGrand Deluxe Ocean View\u201d or the \u201cOcean View Pool Villa Suite\u201d, both came with king beds and included breakfast for two. The Grand Deluxe was a 775sqft room that was a part of a large multi-room structure. Nightly rates were going for $245 per night.<\/p>\n
The Villa was a standalone structure with 1,645sqft of space and a private pool. Rates were $469 for the Villa. Susan’s inclination was to go $245 Grand Deluxe room but I reasoned that an additional $224 per night included a private pool and villa. For the marginal cost this seemed like a no brainer, and with a little coaxing Suzy agreed.<\/p>\n
![\"Villa\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.drd4sevenr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Villa.jpg?resize=750%2C563\")
<\/a>Ocean View Pool Villa Suite<\/p>\nI have diamond status with Hyatt and Suzy and I try to stay with Hyatt\u2019s for the diamond benefits. But the Hyatt in Phuket was not available for the dates we wanted and it really wasn\u2019t the location we were looking for. Over the years I have used Hotels.com, our other Hotels rewards program<\/a><\/span>,\u00a0for non-Hyatt stays.<\/p>\nThey have their own program that includes a free night for every 10 stays and they usually have a more than ample selection of properties available. For our six nights at the Santhiya Koh Yao Yai we booked at Hotel.com and received 6 nights\u2019 credit for our stay.<\/p>\n
![\"SK](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.drd4sevenr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/SK-r-e.jpg?resize=754%2C520\")
<\/a>Room costs<\/p>\n![\"SK](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.drd4sevenr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/SK-2-r-e.jpg?resize=754%2C433\")
<\/a>Room description<\/p>\nI had been studying Cathay Pacific flights for the previous couple months and noticed 2 seats in first class were doable, but you really needed to watch for them. I also noticed that there was always some business class available, and that was our fall back plan. In order to go to Phuket with Cathy Pacific the route looked like this: North America-HKG-HKT. North America gateway airports include, LAX, SFO, YVR, ORD, BOS, JFK and EWR. We favored the west coast for a gateway because our origination is SMF, but were open to the east coast if necessary.<\/p>\n
The best way to search for Cathay Pacific inventory is on British Airways Avio\u2019s search engine. About a month before our travel window opened up I started watching for 2 first class seats going to HKG, fully expecting to only get a 4 to 2-day window of availability and notice before we left. Surprising, 2 seats came up for SFO-HKG 2 weeks before we wanted to go. Perfect.<\/p>\n
Also connecting within 7 hours of arriving into Hong Kong was a Dragon Air flight traveling HKG-HKT with business class availability. Dragon Air is a subsidiary of Cathay Pacific. Think Cathay Pacific light for local flights in Asia. Our flight itinerary ended up looking like this: SFO-HKG Cathay Pacific First Class, 7 hours\u2019 layover in HKG, HKG-HKT Dragon Air Business Class. Cost 135,000 AA miles, $69.80 in taxes and $150.00 close in booking fee (ouch).<\/p>\n
![\"ticket](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.drd4sevenr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/ticket-r-e.jpg?resize=754%2C580\")
<\/a>Close in booking fee hurts<\/p>\nThe HKG-HKT Dragon Air flight put us into Phuket late in the afternoon and we were not going to be able to make the last boat ride out to the resort. So we looked for a room in Phuket. Again the Hyatt Phuket did not have availability. For our one night stay we settled on the Anantara Layan Phuket Resort for $268.00 per night.<\/p>\n
This was a great rate for the Anantara Layan, and we were able to apply a Hotels.com credit of $215 against the $268 rate. Including $50 in taxes, our cost was $103.00 for\u00a0the night. We would watch for a return Cathy Pacific first class redemption on the way home later, and that included from Thailand if necessary. The trip was set.<\/p>\n
We both have never flown in\u00a0Cathay Pacific first class, and with AA’s impending\u00a0devaluation it made sense to try that product.\u00a0 Because Cathay Pacific\u00a0would only\u00a0release\u00a0first\u00a0class seats a couple weeks to a few days before travel,\u00a0we would need\u00a0to book last minute flights.<\/p>\n Ben Schlappig (aka Lucky) at One Mile At A Time <\/a><\/span>frequently preaches this approach, and in the past I\u2019ve never been gutsy enough to do it. I\u2019ve been a point\u2019s enthusiast for a number of years now, and All three items were mutually inclusive and so this would be our trip. An AA redemption for USA-Asia Region 2 would run 67,500 miles per way per person, or 270,000 miles for the entire trip.<\/p>\n After a lot of discussion and research Suzy decided on the Santhiya Koh Yao Yai Resort & Spa in the Koh Yao Island region of Thailand. Santhiya Resorts and Spas is a privately owned business that has two resort locations; the Koh Yao Yai and the Koh Phangan.<\/p>\n The Koh Yao Yai resort looked beautiful and had plenty of availability for the second half of January and first half of February. To get there we would need to travel to Phuket Thailand and then travel by speed boat to the island and resort.<\/p>\n Our discussion lead to a choice between 2 room types, the \u201cGrand Deluxe Ocean View\u201d or the \u201cOcean View Pool Villa Suite\u201d, both came with king beds and included breakfast for two. The Grand Deluxe was a 775sqft room that was a part of a large multi-room structure. Nightly rates were going for $245 per night.<\/p>\n The Villa was a standalone structure with 1,645sqft of space and a private pool. Rates were $469 for the Villa. Susan’s inclination was to go $245 Grand Deluxe room but I reasoned that an additional $224 per night included a private pool and villa. For the marginal cost this seemed like a no brainer, and with a little coaxing Suzy agreed.<\/p>\n I have diamond status with Hyatt and Suzy and I try to stay with Hyatt\u2019s for the diamond benefits. But the Hyatt in Phuket was not available for the dates we wanted and it really wasn\u2019t the location we were looking for. Over the years I have used Hotels.com, our other Hotels rewards program<\/a><\/span>,\u00a0for non-Hyatt stays.<\/p>\n They have their own program that includes a free night for every 10 stays and they usually have a more than ample selection of properties available. For our six nights at the Santhiya Koh Yao Yai we booked at Hotel.com and received 6 nights\u2019 credit for our stay.<\/p>\n I had been studying Cathay Pacific flights for the previous couple months and noticed 2 seats in first class were doable, but you really needed to watch for them. I also noticed that there was always some business class available, and that was our fall back plan. In order to go to Phuket with Cathy Pacific the route looked like this: North America-HKG-HKT. North America gateway airports include, LAX, SFO, YVR, ORD, BOS, JFK and EWR. We favored the west coast for a gateway because our origination is SMF, but were open to the east coast if necessary.<\/p>\n The best way to search for Cathay Pacific inventory is on British Airways Avio\u2019s search engine. About a month before our travel window opened up I started watching for 2 first class seats going to HKG, fully expecting to only get a 4 to 2-day window of availability and notice before we left. Surprising, 2 seats came up for SFO-HKG 2 weeks before we wanted to go. Perfect.<\/p>\n Also connecting within 7 hours of arriving into Hong Kong was a Dragon Air flight traveling HKG-HKT with business class availability. Dragon Air is a subsidiary of Cathay Pacific. Think Cathay Pacific light for local flights in Asia. Our flight itinerary ended up looking like this: SFO-HKG Cathay Pacific First Class, 7 hours\u2019 layover in HKG, HKG-HKT Dragon Air Business Class. Cost 135,000 AA miles, $69.80 in taxes and $150.00 close in booking fee (ouch).<\/p>\n The HKG-HKT Dragon Air flight put us into Phuket late in the afternoon and we were not going to be able to make the last boat ride out to the resort. So we looked for a room in Phuket. Again the Hyatt Phuket did not have availability. For our one night stay we settled on the Anantara Layan Phuket Resort for $268.00 per night.<\/p>\n This was a great rate for the Anantara Layan, and we were able to apply a Hotels.com credit of $215 against the $268 rate. Including $50 in taxes, our cost was $103.00 for\u00a0the night. We would watch for a return Cathy Pacific first class redemption on the way home later, and that included from Thailand if necessary. The trip was set.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>Our trip<\/p>\nwe<\/del> I was finally confident enough to try a last minute award. Suzy has had a desire to visit Thailand for a couple years, and now we were going.<\/p>\n<\/a>Miles used<\/p>\n<\/a>Santhiya Koh Yao Yai Resort & Spa<\/p>\n<\/a>Ocean View Pool Villa Suite<\/p>\n<\/a>Room costs<\/p>\n<\/a>Room description<\/p>\n<\/a>Close in booking fee hurts<\/p>\n