*** Holidays & Travels 2023 Thread ***

Chrisc said:
ive done business once and honestly, as nice a the experience is, id rather save and go economy/premium and be able to afford another holiday with the savings.
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Pre-pandemic the cost of Business Class to the Far east can be done for about £1500, now you can't even get a Economy direct for that, it's about £1900 at the moment for the dates I am going (end of March). a PE return is about £3k at the moment direct. If you want to go non-stop, Business right now you are looking at near £7k !!! If you opt to stop over once it's still about £5k.

I know it's a 15hr flight, but I rather suck it up and save £5,000. I think right now, my points might be best use for hotel upgrades as opposed to flight upgrades.

Honestly, my £1500 return to Japan looks cheap right now as it's direct...and the return leg is PE.
 
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Raymond Lin said:
Pre-pandemic the cost of Business Class to the Far east can be done for about £1500, now you can't even get a Economy direct for that, it's about £1900 at the moment for the dates I am going (end of March). a PE return is about £3k at the moment direct. If you want to go non-stop, Business right now you are looking at near £7k !!! If you opt to stop over once it's still about £5k.

I know it's a 15hr flight, but I rather suck it up and save £5,000. I think right now, my points might be best use for hotel upgrades as opposed to flight upgrades.

Honestly, my £1500 return to Japan looks cheap right now as it's direct...and the return leg is PE.
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PE is good all rounder if you get it at a good price. I paid for it on my return trip from Miami last year and it cost me about £150pp.

Have you done Japan before? Me and a couple of lads are looking at it for september 2024.
 
Chrisc said:
PE is good all rounder if you get it at a good price. I paid for it on my return trip from Miami last year and it cost me about £150pp.

Have you done Japan before? Me and a couple of lads are looking at it for september 2024.
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I've been 3 times before, at this point i've done sooooo much research and my own trips I can honestly say I know the place better than the UK. I am not even exggerating. My phone for example has their Suica Card in my wallet, I haven't even used my phone to pay in the London Underground lol
 
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Raymond Lin said:
I've been 3 times before, at this point i've done sooooo much research and my own trips I can honestly say I know the place better than the UK. I am not even exggerating. My phone for example has their Suica Card in my wallet, I haven't even used my phone to pay in the London Underground lol
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If you dont mind and you get a spare 10 minutes, any chance you could DM me some tips & recommendations?

I literally nobody I know has been to japan so it would be nice to get some personal recommendations rather than generic stuff you see in articles on the internet.
 
Anyone have any tips for cuba?
I know a few of you have been?

Is December/January best time?
Is there anything to do or see that can be missed by just googling "what to do in Cuba"?

Plan to do 1 week kayaking/hiking and another week on a more traditional holiday.


Mainly I like doing/seeing things. Especially unique stuff (for example colosseum in Rome). This goes for natural and man-made. In not much of a good person. So fancy food will be lost on me.
 
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Penfold101 said:
I've stayed there twice at two different resorts - what sort of things are you after mate?
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Service, food and drinks. I think I'd prefer something with more than one bar/restaurant, I think she wants something private. I like the idea of the stilt villa places but then again I don't fancy walking half a mile on wooden platforms every time I want to go get food or go to a bar.
 
ChrisD. said:
Service, food and drinks. I think I'd prefer something with more than one bar/restaurant, I think she wants something private. I like the idea of the stilt villa places but then again I don't fancy walking half a mile on wooden platforms every time I want to go get food or go to a bar.
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The advantage of the Maldives is that there's thousands of resorts so something will suit your needs somewhere, it's just finding it. I booked our second trip through Luxtripper and found them to be very good and actually knowledgeable about the places they recommend - we stayed at The Residence Dhigurah which has plenty of water villas and beach villas but they do give you bikes to get around, as it's quite a long couple of islands. All-inclusive there was as you'd expect and my waistline is evidence - absolutely no issues with food and drink. This is one where you have to take an internal flight after you arrive at the international airport in Male though, as it's about an hour south.

 
Cheers @Penfold101 - I think that's a stickler for her, she would rather go somewhere which doesn't take so long, or go by air. She found one place that's 20 minutes by boat. I personally don't care, I'd love a flight in a little plane!

I think @dLockers posted about staying somewhere in another thread and not to get an ocean villa but rather somewhere with a private beach, any thoughts to add?
 
ChrisD. said:
Cheers @Penfold101 - I think that's a stickler for her, she would rather go somewhere which doesn't take so long, or go by air. She found one place that's 20 minutes by boat. I personally don't care, I'd love a flight in a little plane!

I think @dLockers posted about staying somewhere in another thread and not to get an ocean villa but rather somewhere with a private beach, any thoughts to add?
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The first place we stayed was a 20 minute speedboat ride from the airport, which was fine but it meant you could still see the main islands where all the trash went and where all the industry is. If you find somewhere in the middle then you can get the little seaplane, but unless you're staying on the island of Male itself then you'll be doing one of those three. After the 11 hour flight from the UK another hour in a small plane isn't brilliant, but it's only a small time compared to what you spend at the resort, so I wouldn't choose your resort based on how you have to get there (we booked flights and resort separately, so be aware that the extra transport SHOULD be included in the resort price, but read the smallprint)

I haven't personally stayed in a beach villa, but I know there can be problems with mosquitos and they would fumigate the island twice a day - being out on a water villa means you don't have this problem. At the end of the day it's all down to budget which is different from everyone, but always make sure it's all-inclusive or you'll be paying $100 per meal, and more with drinks...
 
Deffo private beach! They used to rake it each morning on Conrad Rengali. You get plenty of chances to walk along the decks to various restuarants etc. depending on where you are staying. I'd totally recommend Conrad but it was proper spenny.

Felt like LOST when I arrived:

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Underwater restuarant (book in advance)

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Short private walk to beech:

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Trash, industry... very good point I hadn't considered that. We'll be flying our in business or first class so we will be well rested, I'll have to bring her around to going further afield. And thanks for the all inclusive tip, I hadn't realised a meal would be so expensive, will definitely find a decent all inclusive offer as we are both food lovers and love our drink.
 
Yeah tbh the only reason I survived when I went was because I had diamond membership. It meant we could survive till high tea (3pm) on breakfast, and then happy hour was 5-6. The cheapest meal was a Wagyu burger @ like £40.
 
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