by 
Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa
Susan and I used quite a few US Air miles while they were still a part of the Star Alliance group, and took a great trip through Asia and on to the Maldives back at the beginning of 2015. The highlight of the trip was staying at the Park Hyatt Hadahaa in the Maldives. We both loved the resort. I mean REALLY loved it. We enjoyed our stay so much we booked another trip there for 2016.
The Setup: Unforeseen Events
Introduction: Planning for Thailand
Review: Cathay Pacific Lounge SFO
Review: Cathay Pacific International First Class – San Francisco To Hong Kong
Review: The Pier, Hong Kong International Airport
Review: Dragonair International Business Class – Hong Kong To Phuket
Review: Anantara Layan Phuket Resort – Deluxe Seaview Suite
Boat Transfer & Check-in: The Santhiya Koh Yao Yai Resort & Spa
Review: Santhiya Koh Yao Yai – Ocean View Pool Villa Suite
Review: Santhiya Koh Yao Yai Resort
Day Trip: National Marine Park – Koh Hong Archipelago
Final Thoughts & Monkey Business – Santhiya Koh Yao Yai
Review: Thai Royal Orchid Lounge – Phuket
Review: Lux Pay In Lounge – Phuket
Review: Dragonair International Business Class – Phuket To Hong Kong
Review: Regal Airport Hotel – Superior Room
Review: Cathay Pacific International First Class – Hong Kong To Chicago
Review: American Airlines Flagship Lounge – Chicago
Review: American Airlines Domestic First Class – Chicago To San Francisco
Our itinerary looked like this:
SMF-LAX-AUH-MLE flying Etihad International First Class with American miles.
10 days at Hyatt Hadahaa using Miles + Cash Hyatt Points
MLE-CMB Overnight in Colombo, Sri Lanka flying Emirates Business Class with Alaska Air miles.
CMB-DXB-SFO flying Emirates International First Class with Alaska Air miles.
Most of the booking was done a year early and we had 12 months to look forward to the trip. I don’t like to use this word often, but it was going to be epic. We were excited.
Then the call from corporate HQ came in. It seems that the original date of our national sales meeting needed to be moved. Forward. By 3 months. The new date for the meeting fell square in the middle of the Maldives trip. That’s correct, right in the middle of our epic trip. Crap.
I was very disappointed by the news. I started thinking to myself what were our options. Rescheduling wasn’t one. For many reasons, but the biggest reason was that the redemptions I had booked a year out were now not going to be available just 3 months out. Could I miss the meeting? Susan could tell something was bothering me and I hadn’t broken the news to her yet.
“Sweetheart, they moved the national sales meeting into the middle of our trip.”
“I’m sorry Jimmy, I know how much you were looking forward to that trip.”
“You’re not upset?”
“No, what choice do we have. The business is important and you can’t miss that meeting.”
She said that last statement in a very sweet and kind way, and of course she was right. I run a sales office (with my counterpart Paul) and he could not attend the meeting without me. My vocation paid the bills and HQ would look unfavorably at our office if only half of management bothered to show up. I slowly came to the realization we wouldn’t be going to the Maldives for this trip. Susan commented as she walked away, “You’ve been wanting to use up the AA miles, maybe you can do that now.”
What Suzy meant is that American Airlines had announced a big devaluation and it was taking place in March. I was intent on using as many AA miles as possible the next year to extract our value out of them. I could redeposit the Alaska miles and use all AA miles on a new trip. She was looking at the half glass full, and I’m also sure looking for a way to get to Thailand. Instead of taking vacation time for a Maldives trip we could use all AA miles and go somewhere else.
I appreciated the fact Susan was understanding on the entire issue, including the importance of my attending the meeting. As I looked over to Susan to say “thank you”, I noticed she was already on her iPad searching for hotels in Thailand. “I guess we’re going to Thailand” I said to myself.
