Finally time to write about my trip to Thailand last year!

I had purchased one of Marriott’s awesome “Travel Package” deals with my points back at the end of 2018 before they changed their program around. The deal included 132,000 MileagePlus miles and a 7-night stay at a category 1-5 Marriott hotel anywhere in the world. It’s rare for me to spend 7-days in one place, but after doing some research, I determined that Phuket would be the best place to explore for a week.

To explain how good the deal was, currently you can convert Marriott Bonvoy points to MileagePlus miles at a ratio of 2.22:1. This deal allowed you to convert at a rate of 2.06:1 AND you got a free 7-night stay in the process. Sadly, Marriott revamped their travel packages at the end of 2018, so the conversion rate isn’t nearly as good anymore. Nonetheless, it was a great way to convert my Marriott points earned from hotel stays and credit cards into miles while it lasted.

The Itinerary

I’ll update each of these links as I finish all my posts in the coming weeks:

• Naples to Vienna on Austrian with a long layover to see the city
• Vienna to Bangkok in Austrian Business Class
• Bangkok to Phuket in Thai Airways Business Class
• A week in Phuket
• Phuket to Bangkok in Thai Airways Economy Class
• Exploring Bangkok
• Bangkok to Frankfurt in Lufthansa Economy

Bookings

I did some research and I made two separate flight bookings for this trip, since it ended up being way cheaper using this method. Also, it was nearly impossible to find a decent flight back to Naples in business class from Bangkok, so I would be trying out Lufthansa’s long-haul economy. It can’t be that bad, right?

1. Naples to Phuket/Bangkok to Naples: I booked a mixed cabin, open jaw ticket on Austrian, Thai, and Lufthansa for $1592.90 with the flights from Naples to Phuket in business class and the flights from Bangkok to Naples in economy.
2. Phuket to Bangkok: $34.35 for the just over 1-hour an economy flight

In total, these bookings would net me 14,563 redeemable miles when credited to United and it would also get me 15,548 of the 50,000 Premier Qualifying Miles I needed to renew my Premier Gold status for the year.

More trip posts to come soon!

Cheers,

Matt