Maldives, February 2025
9 nights at the Park Hyatt Maldives in a Beach Pool Villa, combined with Etihad business class and points.
Türkiye
United Arab Emirates
Maldives
Key figures
How $4,724 in actual spending turned into a documented travel value of $36,284.
At a glance
- Airlines
- Etihad Airways
- Booking classes
- Economy (2), Business class (4)
- Flight numbers
- Outbound flight Airport → Istanbul
- EY544 IST → AUH
- EY376 AUH → MLE
- EY379 MLE → AUH
- EY543 AUH → IST
- Return flight Istanbul → Airport
- Airports
- Istanbul (IST), Abu Dhabi (AUH), Malé (MLE)
- Hotels
- Hawthorn Suites City Center, Abu Dhabi (2 nights)
- Park Hyatt Maldives, Hadahaa (9 nights)
From Europe via Abu Dhabi to Hadahaa
For this trip we did not look at flights, hotel nights and points in isolation. We set the amount actually paid against the documented comparison value.
The route: from the home airport to Istanbul in economy, Istanbul via Abu Dhabi to Malé on Etihad in business class, then Maldivian Airlines from Malé to Kooddoo (paid in cash with no saving, so not part of the numbers) and on to the resort. The way back ran via Abu Dhabi and Istanbul, again on Etihad business class and finally home in economy.
Business class as part of the trip, not as isolated luxury
Four Etihad segments connected Istanbul, Abu Dhabi and Malé. Together they add up to a documented comparison value of $15,474. The six flights in the numbers cost $1,985.
The Beach Pool Villa was the centre of the trip
For nine nights at the Park Hyatt Maldives, from 19 to 28 February 2025, we used 315,000 Hyatt points. The documented comparison value is $19,090; we paid $2,640. The difference is $16,450, or 86% against the comparison value.
Points are not free. The useful question is what value a specific redemption creates compared with the price and the alternatives.
Day by day
- Paid
- $176
- Value
- $686
- points
- 9,000
- per point
- 5.7¢
- Paid
- $301
- Value
- $2,898
- points
- 27,000
- per point
- 9.6¢
- Paid
- $0
- Value
- $245
- points
- 7,500
- per point
- 3.3¢
- Paid
- $301
- Value
- $4,759
- points
- 27,000
- per point
- 16.5¢
- Paid
- $2,640
- Value
- $19,090
- points
- 315,000
- per point
- 5.2¢
- Paid
- $513
- Value
- $5,007
- points
- 27,000
- per point
- 16.6¢
- Paid
- $99
- Value
- $245
- points
- cash
- per point
- ·
- Paid
- $513
- Value
- $2,810
- points
- 27,000
- per point
- 8.5¢
- Paid
- $181
- Value
- $544
- points
- 9,000
- per point
- 4.0¢
The whole trip
| Category | Paid | Comparison value | Difference | Points and miles |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flights (6) | $1,985 | $16,704 | $14,719 88% | 126,000 |
| Hotels (3 stays, 11 nights) | $2,739 | $19,580 | $16,841 86% | 322,500 |
| Total (9 bookings) | $4,724 | $36,284 | $31,560 87% | 448,500 |
Proof
Excerpts from the booking confirmations, personal data and booking codes made unreadable.
12 records · swipe or use the arrows, click to enlarge12 records · swipe, tap to enlarge
Terms in this trip
- Award ticket: An award ticket is a flight paid for with miles or points instead of cash; taxes, fees and surcharges almost always still have to be paid in money.
- Award availability: Award availability is the number of seats an airline releases on a given flight for redemption with miles, which is usually far smaller than the number of seats still on sale.
- Cabin class: Cabin class is the physical section of an aircraft, economy, premium economy, business or first, each with its own seating and service.
- Cents per point: Cents per point is the measure of a redemption's value: the cash price avoided, minus any co-payment, divided by the number of points spent.
- Hotel award category: A hotel award category is the price tier a loyalty programme assigns to a property, from which the points price per night follows.
- Fifth night free: Fifth night free is an elite benefit under which an award stay of five or more consecutive nights is charged for four nights of points.
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