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Points Trip Booking - Honeymoon Part 2 to Barcelona, Mallorca, and Paris

Writer: Garrett Falcone
Garrett Falcone
Nov 3, 2022
5 min read

Our original honeymoon plan was to spend a week in the Côte d'Azur and end with a few days in Paris as Gwen had never been before. Due to the constantly changing COVID restrictions, we moved our planned trip from June to September and spent a weekend in St. Kitts right after our wedding instead. During this time, France introduced a mobile pass you needed to enter all public venues to prove either COVID vaccination or a negative test every 3 days. For those outside the EU without electronic vaccine records, we had to submit copies of our vaccination cards. However, after submitting several times and waiting over 3 weeks we did not receive any response. So, just a couple days before we were scheduled to leave, we changed our trip to go to Spain instead.


With travel still significantly down, the options for using points were plentiful, and once we were actually abroad it was one of the best trips we've had as there were no tourist crowds. Our original flights to Nice, France were in Iberia Business connecting in Madrid so we ended up just not taking our connecting flight to Nice and caught a train from Madrid to Barcelona. In Barcelona, we used Marriott points to stay at the Cotton House Hotel, a lovely boutique hotel. A cheap flight on Vueling got us to Mallorca where we stayed at the Zafiro Palace Palmanova as there are no points hotels in Mallorca. We flew Air France to Paris where we used Hyatt points to stay at the Park Hyatt Paris, often cited as one of the best Hyatt properties in the world.


On our day of departure, we woke up to a notification that our flight was 4 hours delayed. While this would normally be bad news, it ended up being the perfect end to a perfect honeymoon as we then had time to sleep in a bit more, have a final breakfast in Paris, and as we arrived 3 hours late United gave us each an $800 voucher per the EU 261 regulation.



Itinerary (Per Person)



Louvre

Louvre - Paris 2021



Iberia Business ORD-MAD

Redemption: 43,000 Chase Points (transferred to Iberia) + $142 (one-way)

Cash Price: $1,593 (3.4 cents/point)

Iberia Business Class

Iberia Business - ORD-MAD 2021


In my opinion, Iberia's business class award redemption is one of the best value options for getting to Europe. Iberia's award chart is distance based and varies between peak and off-peak pricing, so the cost in points is predictable as long as you can find award availability.


The product itself was not that exciting, but the 1-2-1 configuration ensured everyone has aisle access and everything worked making this a great value to get to Europe in a lie-flat seat on points. You can read my full review here.



Cotton House Hotel

Redemption: 240,000 Marriott Points + 4 Suite Upgrade Awards (4 nights)

Cash Price: $1,664 (0.7 cents/point)

Cotton House Hotel

Cotton House Hotel - Barcelona2021


The Cotton House Hotel opened in 2015 with 83 rooms in the former headquarters of the Cotton Textile Foundation. The hotel is centrally located with La Rambla just a short walk away.


Given the low cash prices due to COVID, this was not the best value points redemption and I didn't take advantage of the 5th night free perk with Marriott. However, this was a beautiful hotel and the staff were incredible. We particularly enjoyed the rooftop pool with views of La Sagrada Familia.



Vueling Economy BCN-PMI

Redemption: $74 (one-way)

Vueling is a low-cost Spanish airline and for the price it was perfect to get us to Palma de Mallorca without any issues.



Zafiro Palace Palmanova

Redemption: $1,295 + 4th Night Free with Citi Prestige (4 Nights)

Zafiro Palace Palmanova

Zafiro Palace Palmanova - Mallorca 2021


With just a few days to plan our new itinerary and without points hotels in Mallorca, we tried to find a resort hotel not far from Palma, the capital of Mallorca.


The Zafiro Palace Palmanova is a large resort with 240 rooms, all suites and 12 pools. As it was our honeymoon we chose to splurge on the top-floor penthouse suites which all have private jacuzzis. The hotel was also just a few minutes walk from the beach and served our goal of just relaxing very well, although on a return trip to Mallorca I would definitely explore further out on the island.



Air France Economy PMI-CDG

Redemption: $157 (one-way)

Air France is France's primary airline with direct flights from Paris to hundreds of European destinations. Another simple, but smooth and direct flight.



Park Hyatt Paris

Redemption: 90,000 Hyatt Points (3 Nights)

Cash Price: $3,717 (4.1 cents/point)

Park Hyatt Paris

View from the Park Hyatt Paris - Paris 2021


The Park Hyatt Paris is often noted as one of the best Park Hyatts in the world along with New York and Sydney. Although the expectations were high, the Park Hyatt Paris met them and then some. Located in the high-end Vendôme area, the Louvre and Tulleries Gardens are just a few minutes' walk away. The hotel also has a beautiful garden terrace and the Michelin Starred Pur.


I was surprised on checking in that the hotel was 100% full and my suite upgrade did not go through although we were upgraded to a deluxe room. With Globalist status, one of the best perks here is the breakfast, which full price costs 50€ and you can have delivered to your room if you choose.



United Airlines Economy CDG-ORD

Redemption: 28,000 United Miles + $85 (one-way)

When I'm unable to find business class award space, I usually book an award ticket on United as I could cancel this for free at any time with Premier 1K status (although this now applies to everyone regardless of status). As the flight date approaches, more often than not business award space opens and then I can cancel the United economy ticket.


In this case, space in Lufthansa First Class opened, but we chose to keep our economy ticket as it was a direct flight, although I do wish I had taken advantage of this as it's not easy to find Lufthansa First Class award space. In the end it ended up working out as our United flight was delayed by 3 hours meaning they gave us each a $800 travel voucher per the EU 261 regulation.



Trip Booking Summary

  • 43,000 Chase Points

  • 240,000 Marriott Points

  • 90,000 Hyatt Points

  • 28,000 United Miles

  • 2 Marriott Free Night (35k) Certs

  • $1,753


Overall in terms of points value, this was not the best trip I've planned. However, in terms of our honeymoon (changed 3 days before leaving no less) this trip was pretty much perfect. The Park Hyatt Paris is excellent of course, but our stay at the Cotton House Hotel was one of our most memorable and I would definitely recommend it to anyone traveling to Barcelona.

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