102. Maldives Dream Vacation: Booking, Business Class & Insider Tips
Point Me To First Class
Devon Gimbel MD
5 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 10 February 2025
⏱️ 73 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
From finding award availability to navigating the unique transportation logistics of getting to and from the Maldives, I walk you through everything that went into planning this ambitious trip. I also share my honest review of the flights we took, what it was like staying at the luxurious Park Hyatt Maldives, and how I kept food costs under control at the resort.
If the Maldives is on your travel wish list, you won't want to miss this jam-packed episode. With the right combination of points, creativity, and planning, you too can experience the unparalleled beauty of this island paradise.
Get full show notes and transcript: https://points.pointmetofirstclass.com/blog/maldives-dream-vacation
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to Point Me to First Class, the only show for employed professionals, entrepreneurs, and business owners who are looking to optimize their higher than average expenses to travel the world. |
| 0:11.4 | I'm your host, Devin Gimble, and I believe that your expenses are your greatest untapped asset, if you know how to leverage them. |
| 0:18.3 | Ready to dive into the world of credit card points and miles so you can |
| 0:21.1 | travel more, travel better, and travel often. Let's get started. Hello, everyone, and welcome |
| 0:31.8 | back to the podcast. On today's episode, I'm bringing you a trip report from my most recent vacation, |
| 0:37.8 | and this was not just any vacation. |
| 0:40.5 | But before I get to that, let me back up just a second. |
| 0:43.9 | If you tuned into episode 98 a few weeks ago, that was the second half of my 2024 |
| 0:48.7 | points year in review series, you will have heard that 2024 had some award travel disappointments for me and my family. |
| 0:56.9 | It started with entirely scrapping a week-long trip to Rome that we had booked for June |
| 1:01.3 | that we replaced with a trip to San Diego at the end of August, which got cut short when my |
| 1:06.2 | son got pneumonia. A few months later, I tried to take my kids to an all-inclusive resort in Punta Kana |
| 1:11.6 | for part of their Thanksgiving break. But that trip got canceled after we sat on a United |
| 1:16.0 | Airlines airplane on the tarmac at O'Hare for six hours without going anywhere before the |
| 1:20.3 | pilot timed out, and we had to return to the airport. Add in to that and ear infection for my |
| 1:25.6 | other kid during our spring break trip to Costa Rica, |
| 1:28.4 | and it felt like 2024 was just not particularly a winner for us for family travel. |
| 1:34.8 | But our last trip of the year more than made up for all of the previous travel fails. |
| 1:40.5 | Our final trip for 2024 that I had booked but hadn't yet taken at the time of recording my |
| 1:46.0 | 24 points redeeming year-in-review episode, which also happened to be the most ambitious |
| 1:52.1 | and points-expensive award trip I've ever planned so far was a trip to the Maldives for my kids' |
| 1:58.4 | winter break. But based on how our year had been going up until |
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