How To Book Your DREAM VACATION To The Maldives

When you hear The Maldives, few things comes to mind: crystal clear waters and over the water bungalows.

In this blog post, I’ll teach you how to go to The Maldives using points to make that dream trip a reality!

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American Airlines

American Airlines doesn’t operate flights to The Maldives BUT you’ll utilize its partner airlines to go there!

On its partner award chart, the Maldives falls into the Indian Subcontinent region. Here are the one-way rates for award flights on Oneworld Alliance partners and partner airlines from the U.S.:

  • Main Cabin: 40,000 AAdvantage Points

  • Business: 70,000 AAdvantage Points

  • First: 115,000 AAdvantage Points

One of the best ways to travel from the US to The Maldives is to use 70,000 Aadvantage points and book Qatar Airways’ Qsuites!


Qatar Airways flies to Doha from the following U.S. cities:

  • Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International (ATL)

  • Boston Logan International (BOS)

  • Chicago O’Hare International (ORD)

  • Dallas-Ft. Worth International (DFW)

  • George Bush Intercontinental-Houston (IAH)

  • Los Angeles International (LAX)

  • Miami International (MIA)

  • New York-John F. Kennedy International (JFK)

  • Philadelphia International (PHL)

  • Washington Dulles International (IAD)


Best of all, all Qatar Airways U.S. routes have QSuites!

Best ways to book award flights to the Maldives

Quick tip: If you’re traveling with your partner, try booking the middle seats so you can combine it into a full bed!

Another awesome trick is that you can also book 4 seats and combine them into a four person suite that’s open up to one another! This totally works if you’re traveling as family.

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to book Qatar Airways’ Qsuites using Aadvantage points:

How To Earn AAdvantage Points

Signing up for a credit card is by far THE EASIEST AND FASTEST way to earn Aadvantage points!

1. Citi® / AAdvantage® Credit Cards
Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard®
CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard®
Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard®
American Airlines AAdvantage MileUp Card

2. Barclays AAdvantage Aviator Mastercards
AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard®
AAdvantage® Aviator® World Elite Business Mastercard®

3. Marriott Bonvoy Credit Cards
You can earn Marriott Bonvoy points and transfer those to American Airlines at a transfer rate of 3:1.
Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card
Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ American Express® Card
Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card
Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card
Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card

4. Bilt World Elite Mastercard® Credit Card
Bilt rewards is a program that primarily focuses on those who pay rent. You can earn Bilt Rewards points and transfer them to American at a 1:1 ratio with a minimum of 2,000 points transferred.
Bilt World Elite Mastercard® Credit Card

United Airlines

United Airlines is a member of Star Alliance, so you have plenty of options when looking for award flights to the Maldives using the United MileagePlus program.

United MileagePlus award pricing varies, but you can expect this approximate mileage price on flights from the U.S. to the Maldives.

How To Earn United Points

United Airlines is a transfer partner of Chase which makes it easier for you to earn those points!

Before you apply for any Chase cards and get approved, you need to know the Chase 5/24 status rule.

Once you know that, you have some options and you can see them below:

1. Chase Personal Cards
Chase Sapphire Preferred
Chase Sapphire Reserve
Chase Freedom Flex℠

2. Chase Business Cards
Chase Ink Business Cash
Chase Ink Business Unlimited
Chase Ink Business Preferred

3. United Airlines Cards (both personal and business cards)
United℠ Explorer Card
United Quest℠ Card
United Gateway℠ Card
United℠ Business Card
United Club℠ Infinite Card

Hilton Honors

Earning Hilton Honors points is relatively easy and the best part is, you can pool/combine points with a spouse or a family member!The loyalty program allows you to send 500,000 and receive 2,000,000 points per year (across up to 10 people total) at no cost.

Another great thing that I love about the Hilton Honors loyalty program is that when you redeem your points to stay for 5 nights, you get the 5th night for FREE!

There are currently 4 Hilton resorts in the Maldives: the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island, Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi, the SAii Lagoon Maldives, Curio Collection by Hilton, and Hilton Maldives Amingiri Resort & Spa.

To give you an example, a one night stay at the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island will cost 120,000 points. The Conrad Maldives Rangali Island is one of the best options to book using points in the Maldives because it’s the only one that offers an overwater bungalow for the standard award price.

YOU HEARD THAT RIGHT - YOU ONLY NEED 120,000 POINTS to stay at an overwater bungalow in The Maldives!

If you have 480,000 points, you can stay in an overwater bungalow for 5 nights (since the 5th night is free)!

It also helps that you have elite status with Hilton so the chances of you getting upgraded to a suite gets higher (subject to the hotel’s availability) AND you can also have free breakfast and late checkout. Some of these hotels will charge around $50+for breakfast so having a card that gives you those perks will definitely offset some of the costs going to this expensive destination.

Read more below to know which card gives you the highest status (Diamond) with Hilton : )

Best Programs to Book Hotels in the Maldives

Visiting the Maldives can get very expensive so using points to book your hotel stay can help offset those costs. Also, with the money saved, you can use them for experiences (water sports, jet ski, fine dining, etc.)!

It’s also important to consider the additional costs of staying at these hotels because you will need to pay for your transfer from the international airport in Malé.

For example, some of these resorts can cost $450+ per person to transfer by speedboat or seaplane so make sure to allot that in your budget!

Ithaa Undersea Restaurant
The very first underwater restaurant in the world, located in Conrad Maldives Rangali Island in The Maldives

How To Earn Hilton Honors Points

American Express has quite a few co-branded Hilton Honors credit cards that can easily get you enough Hilton Honors points for your stay in the Maldives.

As mentioned above, one of these cards will give you instant elite status and an annual free night certificate (see the Hilton Aspire card below) that can save you hundreds of dollars with free breakfast and other perks during your stay at Hilton properties in the Maldives.

Hilton Honors is also a transfer partner with American Express Membership Rewards points — it often has a transfer bonus, but the standard transfer rate is 1:2.


1. American Express Cards
The Platinum Card® from American Express
American Express® Gold Card
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
American Express® Business Gold Card

2. Hilton Cards
Hilton Honors American Express Card
Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card
The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card
Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card

World of Hyatt

Earning Hyatt points is easy because of there are plenty of Chase cards to choose from!

Hyatt currently has one property in The Maldives, which is the Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa.

Award rates start at 25,000 points per night.

How to use your points and book a hotel stay with Hyatt

How To Earn World of Hyatt Points

Chase offers a co-branded Hyatt rewards credit card, but another way to rack up even more World of Hyatt points is by transferring from Chase Ultimate Rewards. 

World of Hyatt is a transfer partner with Chase Ultimate Rewards points at a transfer rate of 1:1.

Earning elite status with Hyatt can be quite difficult because there are no credit cards at the moment that will give you instant elite status. To get any exclusive benefits from elite status (free breakfast, suite upgrade, late checkout, etc.), you’ll have to stay at least 60 days to earn Globalist status with Hyatt.

There were some promotions that helped a lot of people earn Globalist status easily in 2021 (stay at 1 night, get 2 elite night credits), but I am not sure if that’s going back anytime soon.



1. Chase Personal Cards
Chase Sapphire Preferred
Chase Sapphire Reserve
Chase Freedom Flex℠

2. Chase Business Cards
Chase Ink Business Cash
Chase Ink Business Unlimited
Chase Ink Business Preferred

2. World of Hyatt Cards
The World of Hyatt Credit Card
World of Hyatt Business Credit Card

Marriott Bonvoy

Like the Hilton Honors loyalty program, Mariott Bonvoy members get a fifth night free on award bookings!

There are currently 6 resort properties in the Maldives:
St. Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort
JW Marriott Maldives Resort & Spa
Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa
W Maldives
Westin Maldives Miriandhoo Resort
Le Méridien Maldives Resort & Spa


Award rates differ from property to property and also depending the time of year you’re planning to book. Some properties starts at 40,000 points per night during low season while others start at 100,000 points.

Also, keep in mind that the seaplane transfer costs $500 - $650 (round trip per person) depending on the property.

The St. Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort

How To Earn Marriott Bonvoy Points

Marriott Bonvoy has a few options when it comes to earning points. One of them, gives you instant elite status (Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card) and that unlocks some key benefits (free breakfast, room upgrades, late checkout, etc.) that will help you save hundreds of dollars during your stay at The Maldives!

You can also have an option of transferring Marriott Bonvoy points to its airline partners which can be a great alternative if you’re not using them to book hotel stays.

Marriott Bonvoy Cards
Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card
Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card
Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card
Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card
Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ American Express® Card

Conclusion

I hope this blog post helped you in some way to plan your strategy and help save a bit of $$ going to The Maldives using points.

If I would start all over again, I would focus on earning American Airlines points to book Qatar Airline’s QSuites (and travel in style) for flights and earn Hilton Honors Points for hotel stays since I can easily share points with a family member and utilize the 5th night free perk when using points to book award stays!

One last tip, keep in mind that it’s sometimes challenging to look for availability for both flights and hotel stays so being flexible with your schedule is key.

Thanks again for taking the time to read this and can’t wait to hear to make your dream trip to The Maldives a reality!

Conrad Rangali Island Resort The Maldives

Just “hanging” around at The Conrad Rangali Island Maldives : )