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Diving in the Maldives:
Flights and hotels are expensive, but with the right travel hacks you can save a lot
Photo: Kirsty O'connor / dpa
Not only the high inflation, but also the sharp increase in demand after Corona is driving up flight prices: According to a study by the price comparison portal Idealo, the prices for Lufthansa and Swiss flights rose by around 40 percent in 2023 – compared to already expensive travel year 2022. Price increases are also the norm again for hotel prices.
But travelers can avoid such price increases: through smart booking and the use of various travel hacks.
I would like to show this with a trip to the Maldives for two, which I did myself in November 2022.
Take advantage of mileage bargains when booking flights
Lufthansa flies from Frankfurt to the Maldives with Eurowings Discover.
It's a 10 hour flight there and almost 12 hours back.
In December 2021, this flight, which normally costs around 3,000 euros in Business Class, could be booked for 28,000 Miles & More award miles as part of the monthly mileage bargains for November 2022.
In addition, there were about 450 euros in taxes and fees.
Mileage bargains are flights with Lufthansa or Eurowings for about half the price per mile.
The special thing about Eurowings Discover is that the flight product corresponds to the Lufthansa Business Class product.
Earn Lufthansa miles through promotions
The required Lufthansa award miles are generated quickly - you don't have to fly halfway around the world.
For example, you can currently get up to 30,000 award miles for applying for the Miles & More Gold credit card.
If you need larger amounts, you can get 250,000 Lufthansa miles as part of a so-called Prestige membership.
After that, you always have to wait for the new mileage bargains at the beginning of the month and then book quickly – only in Business Class, since the equivalent value for the miles used is the highest there.
There may no longer be flights to the Maldives, but Lufthansa USA/Canada Business Class flights (55,000 miles) or flights to Dubai (40,000 miles), Asia (70,000 miles) or South Africa (55,000 miles) are very common.
The currently best bonus program for bonus bookings
Of course you can also use other airline bonus programs.
Arguably the most attractive at the moment is Air Canada's Aeroplan.
You can not only book flights with Lufthansa, Swiss & Co., but also airlines such as Etihad, Emirates, Oman Air, Air Mauritius and many more, a total of almost 45 airlines.
You only pay minimal taxes and fees (usually around 200 euros) per award ticket.
Find the best sweet spots for award bookings here.
Combine special rates with VIP benefits when booking hotels
There is an outstanding selection of top 5 star resorts in the Maldives.
Unfortunately, most are extremely expensive.
The regular overnight prices are around 3,000 euros per night.
In addition, there is around 1,300 euros for the luxury yacht transfer from the airport in Male to the resort.
The food also has its price.
You start from 200 to 300 euros for two people with the cheapest options per evening.
But even for such extremely expensive resorts, there are travel hacks that push the price down.
Hilton special rate also at peak travel times
For example, between May and December there are the so-called "Live Unforgettable" installments.
The best time to travel to the Maldives starts in November.
If you go to the Hilton website, however, you will not find this rate in the hotel overview, but only when you call up the hotel detail page with the offers.
This rate gives you 4 nights for the price of 3. It includes luxury yacht transfers to the resort as well as half board.
You also collect Hilton Honors points for your stay - with Hilton usually offering a double point promotion for the last few months of the year.
Depending on the hotel status at Hilton, up to 30 Hilton points can be generated for each US dollar spent.
But this can be further optimized if you access specialized VIP hotel booking platforms such as the ASMALLWORLD Collection when booking.
Because these can also offer so-called Hilton Impresario advantages.
There you will receive the same "Live Unforgettable" rate with additional benefits: Early check-in and late check-out as well as an upgrade (subject to availability) and 150 USD resort credit.
The bill: Benefits worth the booking price
What does the bill look like now?
Regularly you pay about 13,550 US dollars for a stay from December 9th to 13th, for example.
With the "Live Unforgettable" rate, it's still about $10,500.
It also includes the transfer worth 2,600 USD plus half board worth 800 USD.
There is also a resort credit of $150, an upgrade worth around $1,600 (subject to availability) and then there are also up to approximately 300,000 Hilton points for the stay.
The value of bonus programs
But what exactly is the value of 300,000 Hilton points?
If you have Hilton status (e.g. you can easily get Hilton Gold status with your Hilton credit card), you can book 5 award nights for the price of 4.
This is also the case with the Conrad Maldives Resort.
There you pay 480,000 points for 5 nights, which have the equivalent of about $6,600.
The missing 180,000 Hilton points can be found e.g.
B. in the regularly held Hilton Points Sales for about 900 USD.
That means: The 300,000 points have a monetary equivalent in such a booking of almost 4,000 dollars (60% of 480,000 points or 6,600 dollars).
When I add up the value of all the above benefits of this streamlined booking, the equivalent is just under $12,200.
That's what Travel Hacks is all about.
You book special rates, optimize them further, for example via VIP hotel booking platforms, and also make optimal use of the respective bonus program of the hotel chain.
Such a hotel stay is still very expensive, but for services worth $22,700 you "only" pay $10,500.
And to make the trip to the Maldives worthwhile, you add an optimized four to five nights in another resort.
Conclusion
The regular prices for travel are higher than ever in 2023.
But with the right travel hacks - and there are far more of them than shown here - you can significantly reduce the costs.
Miles for flight bookings in business class are particularly helpful for flights, while for hotels it is the combination of special rates with the advantages of the hotel's own bonus programs and VIP hotel booking platforms.
Alexander Koenig is the founder of First Class & More, the consulting portal for cheap business and first class flights and the optimal use of frequent flyer and hotel programs.
