NSPwife and I had started our plan to take our parents on a nice trip since 2018. In fact, we started our research late 2018, which was then complicated by NSPpeanutToo’s early 2020 arrival, and thus further complicated by COVID. So we were in late summer of 2021, desperate for another international trip, and went back into the research phase. With 5 adults, a 6-year-old, and an 18-month-old, there were some logistical complications. An ANA Round-the-World Trip, which is really want we wanted, would almost certainly not have 6 business class seats on flights. Also, COVID restrictions were ever-fluid, and if any one leg of the trip didn’t work due to entry restrictions, it could throw the entire trip into chaos. Belize looked nice, and allegedly you can book multi-room villas at Mahogany Bay on Hilton Points, but there were some mixed reviews on the property and the surrounding area. We knew Calala Island had recently been incorporated into the Hyatt umbrella through SLH, and seemed like a great experience. We emailed Calala directly in August and asked if they had any 4-night stays available where three rooms could be booked on points (there are only four rooms on the entire island). They responded the next day. There were only 2 options in the next 12-months, and most likely (if we return to a post-COVID normalcy), they would never again allow 3 of the 4 suites on the island to be booked via points. They then emailed back another 24 hours later to say that one of the two sets of dates had been booked, so we were looking at being 8 weeks out as possibly the only time we would ever be able to do this. A quick points recap for the hotel:
- 40,000 points per night x 3 suites = 120,000 points per night.
- 5 nights total 600,000 points
It turns out they had 5 consecutive nights available, so we booked it for a cool 600,000 Hyatt Points, transferred from our Chase Ultimate Rewards points. They also mentioned that they would upgrade one of our rooms to the Master Suite, allowing our 18-month-old to join for free. They call this an ultra-inclusive resort – all food, alcohol, water activities, and other excursions are included, and we couldn’t let this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity pass by.
We also booked three rooms in Managua on the first night in Nicaragua, as well as the last night in the country. Rooms at the Hyatt Place were 5,000 points each, and we also transferred points to Hyatt form Chase Ultimate Rewards:
- 5,000 points per night x 2 rooms = 10,000 points per night
- 2 nights totaled 20,000 points
Flights would normally be easy: United, American, Aeromexico, Avianca, and Spirit all flew various routes to Managua, Nicaragua. Unfortunately, we are not in normal times. United, American, and Spirit cancelled all their flights, largely due to the restrictive COVID protocols. In order to fly to Nicaragua, you need an rt-PCR test showing negative results, taken no more than 72 hours before arrival. But the difficulty is you need to provide the results to the airline no less than 36 hours in advance. That’s a quick turnaround time. So we knew we had to find a place that provided test results back on the same day. In many cities, that’s not a problem. In Northwest Indiana, and Chicago, it’s not that easy – or cheap. There was a single testing site that we found in Chicago that would test for free, and provide same-day results: Loop Medical Center. Nicaragua states that your tests need seals and signatures, although there is a lot of mixed info related to that. At the end of the day, we did two things to get past this hurdle: First, we booked two appointments for COVID tests. One at Loop Medical Center for 7am, where 6 tests totaled $0. And then booked secondary appointments in the afternoon in case the morning results didn’t come back in time. The second appointments cost $250 each, so we were really hoping the first test results would come back and we could save $1,500 (6 of us were testing in the Chicagoland area). Luckily, the results came in just after 1pm.
The second thing we did was hire a travel agency that specialized in Nicaraguan and Costa Rican travel, run by Alex Ruiz. We found Alex on the Nicaraguan Flight & Travel Facebook group page, that was setup to help figure out how to get through all of the conflicting information on entry into the country. Once the test results come in, you just send them to Alex’s team, where they will confirm if the information on the test will suffice for Nicaraguan’s Ministry of Health’s (MINSA) review. We sent the results to them via Whatsapp a few minutes after 1pm, and they quickly wrote back that we were good to go. They handled all of the various documentation requirements and sent them directly to Avianca (the airline we chose to fly). To book our plane tickets, we booked the following: ORD > MIA, morning flight via American Airlines. 9,500 miles each.
- 9,500 miles x 6 passengers = 57,000 miles
- $5.60 for taxes per passenger x 6 passengers = $33.60
It was great to have Citi add American Airlines as a temporary travel partner, and we significantly loaded up our AAdvantage account. NSPwife is still an Executive Platinum member with American, due to her Hyatt Globalist status and their gifting of American Status in 2020 (which extended through 2021 due to COVID). This allowed us to check all six bags for free. MIA > MGA, early evening flight via Avianca Airlines, 19,300 miles each booked through United. There were five economy seats available, and we needed 6. Luckily there was one saver Business Class seat also available for 33,000 miles (and the lap infant only cost $20).
- 19,300 miles x 5 economy tickets + 33,000 miles x 1 business class ticket = 129,500 miles
- Taxes + $20 lap-baby fee totaled $113.30
For the return flights, 2 of the individuals in our party flew from MGA > IAD through San Salvador, again booked via United for 19,300 miles each. The other five returned to Miami via Avianca for 19,300 miles each, and then MIA > ORD for 3,940 miles each booked through the Citi Travel Portal (cash tickets were dirt cheap!).
- 19,300 x 6 = 115,800 miles
- 3,940 x 4 = 15,760 miles
- Taxes = $20 lap-baby fee totaled $327.77
All in, 318,060 miles were needed for flights and $609.03 for taxes & fees. That put the total trip cost at 948,060 miles/points and $609.03.
Given the prices of the rooms alone would have been:
Master Suite Cost – Calala Island
Junior Suite Cost – Calala Island
Not bad for a private island experience for seven. Let the games begin!
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