Welcome to TPG’s new video series, Launch Pad!
In our first episode, video producers Marc Ramos and Ted Willis take you to the idyllic Caribbean island of St. Kitts, famed for its blissful beaches, lush landscapes, rich cultural heritage and low-key island vibes (plus a few rum distilleries).
St. Kitts is one of the region’s most enticing destinations for points travelers thanks to a couple of great redemption options. Marc and Ted show us how to redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards points to fly there and stay at one of TPG’s favorite properties — the Park Hyatt St. Kitts Christophe Harbour, a luxurious resort nestled on the palm-fringed sands of Banana Bay with spectacular views of St. Kitts’ sister island, Nevis.
Join them as they explore everything St. Kitts has to offer, from hiking up the dormant stratovolcano, Mount Liamuiga, and rum tastings at the historic Old Road distillery to trying local cuisine at several of the island’s best restaurants and snorkeling its crystal-clear waters.
Learn how you can plan a trip of a lifetime and do it using — you guessed it — points.
As a Chase Sapphire Reserve cardholder, you can redeem your Ultimate Rewards points at a rate of 1.5 cents apiece toward travel booked directly through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal. Since round-trip flights from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport (SKB) on St. Kitts tend to run around $600 per person, that would require 90,000 Ultimate Rewards points, which is a bit high for a single trip. Instead, an easy hack is to book an inexpensive flight to Miami International Airport (MIA) using cash.
Once in Miami, connect on an American Airlines flight to St. Kitts. You can’t transfer Chase points to American AAdvantage. Instead, transfer Ultimate Rewards points to British Airways and book a partner award on American Airlines. When there’s economy award space, British Airways charges just 22,000 Avios and around $70 in taxes and fees round-trip. You’ve already saved 68,000 points.
But what really inspired the trip were the appealing award redemption rates at the Park Hyatt St. Kitts Christophe Harbour, especially since cash prices at this resort are routinely north of $1,000 per night.
Related: Caribbean luxury for cheap: A review of the Park Hyatt St. Kitts
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For a Category 7 property, World of Hyatt charges 25,000, 30,000 or 35,000 points per night for off-peak, standard and peak nights, respectively. A four-night stay will clock in at 140,000 points. If you booked the same room using cash, it would cost $4,671.72. That’s quite a lot of savings and a value of about 3.3 cents per World of Hyatt point, significantly above TPG’s current valuation of both Hyatt and Chase points.
What’s more, World of Hyatt also waives resort fees ($50 per night at this property) when using points, so you’re saving even more money by booking your stay as an award.
But that’s just the start of a St. Kitts getaway. Check out the video for more inspiration on what to see, do and, most importantly, taste on your next trip to this Caribbean gem.
Additional reporting by Kyle Olsen.
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