Thailand Pt 1: Phuket on Points, Dinso Resort + Edit Credits & an Elephant Sanctuary!

Elephant Sanctuary - Half Day Program

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In this episode, we recap the start of our Thailand trip and the messy travel day that kicks it all off, from a forgotten CPAP to a carry-on mix-up that leaves Duane without his clothes. We also break down what we paid for flights and Phuket, how we stacked credits and offers, and what we’d actually recommend if you’re planning Thailand with kids.  

• Choosing cash over points after running the cents-per-point math and factoring in taxes and fees  
• Stacking Amex offers to cut the cost of long-haul flights for five  
• Positioning flights and using points for domestic legs to reach a cheaper gateway  
• Losing a CPAP on the plane and recovering it through airport lost and found  
• Accidentally taking the wrong carry-on and dealing with the fallout  
• Surviving a 17-hour economy flight with kids and what feels “worth it” next time  
• Clearing immigration in Singapore and prepping required entry forms  
• Booking an airport hotel at Changi and buying replacement clothes fast  
• Using Chase edit credits and hotel credits to book an IHG stay in Phuket  
• Honest review of Dinso Resort and Villas Phuket location pools breakfast and service  
• Using Grab for transportation in Thailand as a family of five  
• Visiting an ethical elephant sanctuary and what to avoid in animal tourism   

If you have any questions, send them on Instagram @travelpartyof5 

Transcript

Thailand Recap Series Kickoff

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Today's episode will be part one of three of our Thailand trip recap. So if you've got Thailand on your bucket list, make sure to listen in. Hi, I'm Raya.

SPEAKER_01 0:23

And I'm Dwayne.

SPEAKER_00 0:24

And we are your hosts of the Travel Party of Five podcast, where we share how we travel as a family of five around the world.

SPEAKER_01 0:32

We will also share how we use points and miles to travel as affordably as possible and sometimes even completely free.

SPEAKER_00 0:39

So if you're wanting to travel more with your family, but you're not sure how, we'd love for you to listen in.

SPEAKER_01 0:44

So welcome to our podcast where we hope you learn a thing or two to get you closer to your next trip.

SPEAKER_00 1:02

Hello.

SPEAKER_01 1:03

We're back.

SPEAKER_00 1:04

We are fresh off the plane from Thailand. Yes. Late last night.

SPEAKER_01 1:10

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 1:12

And we are committed to getting this episode out on time, um, which it will come out tomorrow. So um here we are, jet lagged and everything.

SPEAKER_01 1:22

Yep. Yep.

Paying Cash For Long Flights

SPEAKER_00 1:23

So we're gonna split this up into three episodes. The first episode will cover the first portion of our trip, which was our flights there, and then our time in Phuket. And then the second one will be Koosamui, and the third will be Bangkok. Yeah. So I think as a quick recap, I have talked about this on other episodes before, but I want this to live in this episode as well. So I'm just gonna quickly recap how we booked the flights on this trip because we did not use points. And so both flights we paid cash for economy flights, and I did one way and one way. So we flew there on Singapore Airlines and we flew back on Cathay Pacific. A couple of reasons that I paid cash. Number one, it was a rare like very affordable. It was like uh under$500 per person for one way in economy from the west coast of the US all the way to Thailand. And I mean, that's like what it cost to fly to New York City.

SPEAKER_01 2:35

Like so it's pretty cheap.

SPEAKER_00 2:37

And we had Amex offers that we utilized uh on both um flight purchases. So on the way there, we flew um Singapore or no, I'm sorry, we flew from San Francisco to Phuket on Singapore Airlines that cost$3,034 total for the five of us, so around$600. But I had an AMX offer for spend$2,500 or more direct with an airline and get$500 back. And so we actually only paid$2,534 cash for all five of us to fly in economy to Thailand. We're gonna talk about the flight in a second. Um, but also on the way back, similar kind of situation. We flew from Bangkok to Hong Kong and then Hong Kong to San Francisco, and that was$3,119 and five cents. Booked actually through the Amex travel portal, which I've never done before. But I also had the offer to get$500 back booking through the portal, and I think it's earns$1 a business platinum card, which is the card that I used. And so again, I used that offer. So we only paid$2,619 for the five of us to fly back from Thailand. So, all in all, what does that come out to? There no five thousand one hundred dollars. Hold on. So five thousand one hundred and fifty-three dollars was what we paid to fly five people round trip to Thailand. And I feel like that's pretty good. But the reason that I didn't use points is because the points cost on Singapore Airlines, for example, was$38,500 points per person. And the taxes and fees were still gonna be like over$1,200. So the cents per point was awful, like awful. I could have cashed out my points for more money. And so that was one of the factors why we decided not to use points or why I decided. The other thing that I think is maybe important to mention is that every everybody has a different budget. And last year we had a higher budget for travel than we have this year, and so we had the money to spend for that, whereas this year I'm more focused on spending as little money out of pocket as possible. Um, and part of that is just because uh we both have variable incomes. Dwayne earns gratuity and that goes up and down. And I work in sales, and sales is a little bit volatile. And so our discretionary travel budget um fluctuates fairly um, what's the word? Greatly.

SPEAKER_01 5:47

I don't know, I don't have a budget.

SPEAKER_00 5:50

Yeah, Dwayne lives in his own little world, but I have a we have a budget.

SPEAKER_01 5:55

I'm sorry, this price doesn't include the domestic flights we took, right?

SPEAKER_00 5:59

Uh it does not. So we flew, you mean in Thailand? Yeah, okay. It doesn't include the in-Thailand flights, and it also doesn't include our flights to and from San Francisco, but I used points to fly us both ways.

SPEAKER_01 6:14

So does this cost include Thailand to Hong Kong and Hong Kong to San Francisco? Yes, okay, yeah, it's not bad.

SPEAKER_00 6:24

Yeah, so basically$5,100. So that's around a thousand dollars a person total, which I don't think is terrible to fly. It's not, I mean, it's really far.

SPEAKER_01 6:35

Yeah, we flew far.

SPEAKER_00 6:39

Our flight from San Francisco to Singapore was 17 hours, and that is not an exaggeration.

SPEAKER_01 6:45

Longest flight I've ever been on.

CPAP Forgotten And Bag Swapped

SPEAKER_00 6:46

Same. It was brutal. We're gonna talk about the details, but um, we so we also flew again, we had to get Phoenix to San Francisco and then San Francisco back to Phoenix because we positioned um 28 bucks in taxes to fly there, and um, I think it might have been around$100 in taxes to fly the other way because one of them I booked through Alaska Airlines, and one I think I booked through AA. So still not terrible. Um, and then we did pay cash for flights in Thailand, mainly because it's hard to use points for those flights. Um that ended up costing us around$1,300 total. It could have been cheaper, I think, if I had booked earlier. So let this be your lesson. Book like six months in advance. I did not, I booked about two months in advance, and um the prices were definitely higher than what I was had been seeing before. So just just book them as soon as you can. Um, okay, let's talk about the beginning of the trip because guys, this trip had a lot of shit go wrong. Like a lot. Yeah. It was like when we got home last night, I was like, this this was this felt like a really hard trip. Like, I don't feel like I came home relaxed at all. And part of that is just because it's a lot of travel, but but then I was looking through pictures this morning and I was like, oh, we actually really did have a lot of fun. So, you know, I think it's just what you focus on, but there was a lot of things that went wrong on this trip. And two of them happened on the very first day. So we flew. Um, our flight left Saturday morning to fly to Singapore, and so we flew over Friday night to San Francisco. We've done this before.

SPEAKER_01 8:28

Yeah, we stayed at the Grand Hyatt San Francisco Airport, which is a great hotel.

SPEAKER_00 8:33

Fantastic hotel. And I think the best place to stay if you have either an overnight, like a layover, like we did, where you fly out like your positioning, or maybe you have a super early flight the next day. It's in the airport. You don't have to leave.

SPEAKER_01 8:47

Yeah, you just gotta take a little train over.

SPEAKER_00 8:50

Yeah, it's fantastic. And they have a club, so if you have status, we have made that our dinner both times we've stayed there.

SPEAKER_01 8:56

So and they have a great breakfast.

SPEAKER_00 8:58

They also have a great breakfast, which is also included if you have globalist status like we do, and it's in the restaurant, so it's like a it's not a buffet though. Yeah, it's not a buffet, it's not a buffet, it's a menu, and it's really good. And you look out at the runway, which is also cool. And we use points to book this. I think it's a category five hotel, and so our our bill for this was completely zero dollars dinner and breakfast, all included with status, and obviously the room with points. Now it is the room, only room I could get was two double beds. So I did ask them to bring in a pack and play for our daughter. She's a little too big for a pack and play, but she can make it work for one night, and that's what we did. So, okay, so we get off our plane. We have our from Phoenix. Yes, we have our carry-on luggage. That is important. And if you follow us on Instagram, you've seen a lot of this already. It has been quite the saga. But if not, um, one, I would invite you to follow us over there because you definitely get more behind the scenes like stuff. Um, but um also, yeah, so okay.

SPEAKER_01 10:05

Yeah, you can also follow me. My stories are a little bit more funny.

SPEAKER_00 10:09

Dwayne posts in real time, so I don't advise. I'm like, I don't advise it.

SPEAKER_01 10:14

All right. So we land in San Francisco.

SPEAKER_00 10:17

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 10:18

Um, you know, regular day, regular travel day.

SPEAKER_00 10:22

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 10:22

We land, we get our bags, head to the hotel.

SPEAKER_00 10:26

Well, we have, I mean, we it's carry-on, so we had our bags. Like we carry on.

unknown 10:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:30

We are on the way to the hotel when you realize.

SPEAKER_01 10:34

No, we get to the hotel, we put our bags down, and I realize I forgot my CPAP machine. On the plane. On the plane.

SPEAKER_00 10:42

So we had it, but it was on the in the plane in the overhead compartment.

SPEAKER_01 10:45

So I frantically run back to the terminal and I speak to the help desk, and they're like, go to the baggage services. Um, little room they have. So I go there, there's two women in there. Not very helpful. One lady probably hated her job, it seemed like. I mean, probably. Um, I'm like, ma'am, you know, I left my CPAP machine. This is the gate, this is when we landed. She's like, okay, let me call the gate. She calls the gate, no one answers. She says, Well, no one's answering. I said, Can you, you know, please try again? It's very important. She calls again, no one answers. Then she proceeds to tell me that I have to fill out a claim online. So I do that. Then I go back to the hotel, hoping that they're, you know, gonna find it. I'm gonna, we're staying at the hotel in the Grand Hyatt, so I can easily go back whenever I want. So we have So this is at like 3:30 in the afternoon. And I had planned, you know what? I'm gonna go back around eight, give them a couple hours to gather all the lost and found and take it to this baggage services place. Lost and found, if you will.

SPEAKER_00 12:05

Yeah. So we have dinner in the club lounge. I'm a little panicked because Dwayne needs that CPAP machine because he snores louder than a freight train.

SPEAKER_01 12:17

Yes, she she was more worried that I lost it than I was.

SPEAKER_00 12:21

Yes, because this affects everyone's vacation. Like his because he won't sleep well, and everyone else's because we also won't sleep well. Even through earplugs, it is very loud. So I'm just like, oh man, okay. So we have our dinner in the club lounge, and then you go back.

SPEAKER_01 12:40

I go back hoping that the two ladies that helped me are no longer there because they were very unhelpful. Um, so then I go back, I'm heading that way, and I see another guy that wasn't there before. So I went up to him and I'm like, hey, this is my situation. Left my CPAP machine. You know, is there any chance, you know, it's been turned in? He said, Well, we have nothing, but I can call, I don't know who he said, but he called somebody and was like, Give me a second, let me call them and see if they found it. Sure enough, he calls and says they have it. So I'm like, Great. So he sends a lady that was very unhelpful to go get it. I wait about 20 minutes and sure enough, they have it. I'm I'm thrilled.

SPEAKER_00 13:33

And so he comes back to the room and I see it, and I'm like, the trip is saved, like, yes, woo-hoo!

SPEAKER_01 13:41

And by now it's like it's like 9 p.m. 9 p.m. Everyone's getting ready for bed.

SPEAKER_00 13:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:48

I'm gonna go shower now because you know, we got an early morning, so I go to open my luggage to get ready for bed, to get, you know, some underwear, a shirt, you know, my nighttime stuff. Open the luggage and realize it's not my luggage.

SPEAKER_00 14:06

All of a sudden I just hear from the other side of the room, oh my god. And I'm like, what? Like, what's going on? And then he's like, This is not my bag. And I'm like, What? So, so like reverse, okay. So when this is what happened when we were getting off the plane, okay. We have five away suitcases, they're all different colors. Dwayne's is black, okay, and has a luggage tag on it with his name and phone number and email. When we were getting off the plane, Dwayne goes, like we were getting all the bags down, and then Dwayne goes, Wait, where's my bag? And I didn't put his bag up, so I didn't know what side of the plane it was on, but I could see his bag across from me, and I was like, it's right there. And he had been looking above where I was standing, so like on the other side of the plane. So he looks and he's like, Oh, but he seemed confused, but I didn't know why he was confused. But that bag was the only bag there.

SPEAKER_01 15:11

Mind you, same same black away carry-on.

SPEAKER_00 15:14

Yes. My point is someone else took his bag first before we took their bag, if that makes sense. Yeah, because that bag was the only bag left. So when he was like, Where's my bag? I was like, it's clearly right there. That's the only bag here. And so he took it, but I didn't know that he was confused because that's not where he put his bag. Again, that's a reason why I forgot the CPAP on that machine because I was, you know, flustered that because your CPAP had been right next to your bag, and so the guy took your bag, which meant your CPAP bag like fell over and was like you couldn't see it.

SPEAKER_01 15:52

Yeah, because I'm not very tall. So, yes. So then I frantically run back to the airport terminal again to your friends, yes, to my friends with this luggage, and I I tell them, hey, this is what happened.

SPEAKER_00 16:11

There's no contact information on this bag.

SPEAKER_01 16:12

Yeah, there's no contact information, there's contact information on my bag, yeah, phone number, email, name. Like it's clearly there, clearly there. And while we were rolling our bags through the airport, after we got off the plane, I looked at the luggage and I thought, man, this luggage is really dirty. Yes, and I'm like, how did it get so dirty? Excuse me. And it didn't, it didn't click. There was no luggage tag on it either, and that also didn't click.

SPEAKER_00 16:41

So you go back to your friends, yes, and I tell them what happened.

SPEAKER_01 16:44

And the girl that was there earlier, the very unhelpful one, goes, Man, you're having a bad day. I'm like, thanks, lady. Thank you, thank you for that. Appreciate your help. So I again have to fill out another claim because the guy that took my bag has not yet turned in my bag.

SPEAKER_00 17:04

And we don't have any air pop uh air tags in our luggage because we can carry on.

SPEAKER_01 17:09

But we will now, we will now, and we bought luggage tags in Thailand, like bright.

SPEAKER_00 17:16

Yeah, they say, like some of them say, This is not your bag.

SPEAKER_01 17:19

Yes, please don't take it's not your bag anyway. So, yeah, I mean, I have to fill out a form or a claim and wait.

SPEAKER_00 17:28

And we are thinking, so he comes back to the hotel, and we're like, well, we're here, right? So we'll go again in the morning before we get on the flight and we'll we'll see. And hopefully, whoever took his bag will contact us.

SPEAKER_01 17:43

But not even that. Like, like I said, my number, my phone number, my email. Yeah, send a text. I don't know if the guy, you know, did the same thing we did, but didn't realize that six hours later that he didn't have his bag, but he could have texted me and said, Hey, this is blah blah blah. I have your bag. Do you have mine? Like, let's meet up, or I'm on my way back to the airport, whatever it is. Yeah, just shoot me a message, an email, uh, whatever. Look me up on Facebook, something or whatever.

SPEAKER_00 18:13

I was like, check your other messages on Facebook. Like, maybe that's how I I don't know. Anyways, no, they never contacted us.

SPEAKER_01 18:21

So we get up in the morning, I run over to the office, and I ask the people there. Like, please tell me you have my luggage. They don't.

SPEAKER_00 18:32

And oh, we were we like gave that guy's luggage back the night before, obviously.

SPEAKER_01 18:37

Yeah, so they didn't have it, so we made our way to Singapore, and I'm in the same clothes I've been in for the last what 36 hours now.

Singapore Economy Flight Reality

SPEAKER_00 18:49

Yep. Fortunately, Dwayne had his backpack, which had all of his shoes, and his and my toiletry bag. Yes. So that part was fine. Thank God. No one got the Jordans. Yeah. But yes, so we go on our way to Singapore. Well, let's talk about the flight and then we'll talk about the Singapore airport. It was 17 hours, like it's like 16 hours and like 46 minutes.

SPEAKER_01 19:18

In the air.

SPEAKER_00 19:18

So that so it was probably over 17 hours with like the time, you know, boarding and deplaning and all that. Um, Singapore economy, and we flew Singapore economy back from Japan, and I didn't love it, and nothing has changed. I didn't love it again this time. I thought the 17 hours was absolutely brutal. At one point, Dwayne looked at me and said, We're never flying this far in economy ever again.

SPEAKER_01 19:42

Yeah, it was it was brutal.

SPEAKER_00 19:44

But the kids did great. Like, didn't complain one time, they never complained, they were never like, Are we there yet? Nope. I I told them all it was gonna be 17 hours, and they were champs about it. Like, no big deal. So I they slept a little bit on the plane. I don't think you or I really did much, but nope. When we landed in Singapore, it was around 7 p.m., I think. And our flight the next day uh took off at basically 7 a.m. So we had to be there at around 5:30. Um, the food on Singapore Airlines is mediocre at best on in economy. Um, they came around with water a lot. Oh, and someone was like what's the word, violently throwing up on our plane for the last half of it, probably.

SPEAKER_01 20:47

I don't know if it was that long, but it was like the last like two and a half hours.

SPEAKER_00 20:52

Well, and before, because originally I had just thought someone was coughing. I thought they had like a really bad cough and they were coughing a lot, but then as we got closer to the end, I realized they were throwing up and they were not that far in front of us, and it was pretty disgusting.

SPEAKER_01 21:09

Yeah. I mean, it was like on the wall, yeah. It was like on their TV screen. It was really it was pretty bad.

SPEAKER_00 21:16

And so then I'm like, great, hopefully we don't get the stomach bug. That's foreshadowing for you. So we get off the plane in Singapore, we go through immigration and customs, which was very simple.

SPEAKER_01 21:32

Super, super easy.

SPEAKER_00 21:33

There is um some at one point I was like, is that it? Yeah. Um, there is a like immigration form type thing you have to fill out for every person in your party. You have to you also have to do it for Thailand. I did both of these the night before in the um Grand Hyatt Hotel. And so it took me, I don't know, maybe 15 minutes per country. So about a half an hour to do total. But really, you just kind of scan your passport as you walk through after you fill once you fill that out. And it was very easy. We stayed at the Crown Plaza Changgi Airport Hotel, which is an IHG property. And this would actually be a great use of a free night certificate.

SPEAKER_01 22:18

In the ho in the airport, I mean. Super easy to get to.

SPEAKER_00 22:22

Yes, it is not airside, though. You do have to go into and out of security to get to it, but it is in the airport. And yes, very easy to access. And a very nice hotel. Yeah. No complaints. Like I would call it a luxury airport hotel, probably. And I the way that we ended up booking it was I actually bought points and used the points to book. It still ended up costing around$400. It wasn't cheap, but that was cheaper than paying the cash prices. And we we have a free night certificate to use through IHG every year, but our next one doesn't come until next month.

SPEAKER_01 23:03

So we had to get two rooms.

SPEAKER_00 23:05

And we had to get two rooms, yeah. And they they did not connect, but they were right next door. Um quiet hotel. It was great. It was a nice sleep, actually, after the 17-hour flight. And then we woke up super early and well, backtrack.

SPEAKER_01 23:19

I had to go and buy a whole new wardrobe at this airport, which was connected to a mall. First of all, the Singapore airport is like voted the best in the world, I think.

SPEAKER_00 23:28

Yeah. I mean it kind of smelled like a casino, though, just FYI. I mean, well, like the cigarettes.

SPEAKER_01 23:34

Yeah, but I mean, I didn't love that.

SPEAKER_00 23:37

Even our son was like, it smells really bad in here.

SPEAKER_01 23:40

Anyway, I had to go buy a whole new wardrobe. Yes. Shout out to Uniqlo.

SPEAKER_00 23:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:45

If you don't know about it, know about it. They have great stuff and it's fairly cheap. Yeah. So I mean, I bought a few things to get by. I brought like four or five shorts, some some tank tops, some t-shirts, some underwear, some socks. I brought like four of each, actually. Um didn't buy luggage yet. So my luggage on the plane from Singapore to Phuket was uh a unique low paperback, which is great. Um but yeah, I highly recommend Unique Lo.

SPEAKER_00 24:25

Yeah, the clothes they looked nice. They were, he said they were comfortable, fairly cheap. They washed good, and yeah. I will say, if anyone's bag had to have that happen, yours is the one that was the best to happen to me.

SPEAKER_01 24:42

I was sad because I had all my like good stuff in my my luggage.

SPEAKER_00 24:45

Yeah, like all his nice stoicy shirts that he likes and all that.

SPEAKER_01 24:49

Well, first of all, we didn't even talk about this. I got an email while on the 17-hour flight.

SPEAKER_00 24:55

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:55

Saying that they had returned my bag.

SPEAKER_00 24:58

Yes. We were we were about six hours in, maybe.

SPEAKER_01 25:01

I assume that that guy turned in my luggage that day, uh Saturday before we left, and that they just didn't collect it. Yeah, you know, that day. Because, like I said, the ladies that were in this office were very, very unhealthy.

SPEAKER_00 25:17

Yeah, no sense of urgency whatsoever. None. I mean, I'm sure that's a soul-sucking job.

SPEAKER_01 25:23

Yeah, but I mean, it would I like have some customer service, yes, empathy, all that.

Singapore Airport Hotel And Replacement Clothes

SPEAKER_00 25:29

Yeah, so okay, so yes, I forgot. So also on this Singapore Airlines flight, the first of all, the Wi-Fi sucked, okay? Sucked, terrible. And I paid, I paid for it because I had work to do and I couldn't get it to work still, it was really annoying. So, anyways, I am chatting, sorry, I could get it to work on my phone, but I couldn't get it to transfer to my laptop. Anyways, so I am chatting with AA because I have the AA status, and I'm thinking maybe my status will help us a little in this situation. But because it was technically like lost on a plane, meaning AA didn't lose our bag, right? Like we we lost it, even though it was technically stolen, right? Um, they were like, oh no, we can't help you. Like you can pay to have it shipped to Thailand. I mean, which I get. I also get I do. I get it. It wasn't their fault. I do, I get it. Um, but it was like, well, we're not gonna pay to have it shipped to Thailand. First of all, who knows if it'll even arrive before we leave?

SPEAKER_01 26:33

It would have cost hundreds and hundreds of dollars.

SPEAKER_00 26:36

Yeah, yeah. So I was basically saying, like, hey, can you put this on a plane? And they were like, absolutely not, which I get. It's a security concern. They didn't lose it. Like, I get it. Okay, I'm I'm on board here. But um I just figured it was worth a try. So, anyways, so we filled out the form that we would pick it up, and we did fly back through San Francisco, and so our plan was to just grab it on the way back. Um, but I think uh your clothes are the easiest clothes to replace of any of us, you know. You or our oldest son, probably just shorts and t-shirts. That's all it is.

SPEAKER_01 27:10

Well, like I said, I had all my I had my Jordan shorts, basketball shorts, nice shirts. I know. I was a little bit sad, but then I, you know, like I said, we got the email and I was I was thankful that they returned it.

SPEAKER_00 27:23

Yeah. Yep. Um okay, so so then we, yes, we had dinner in the Singapore airport too. We had Japanese food, actually, which was good.

SPEAKER_01 27:33

Oh, yeah. Royal host.

SPEAKER_00 27:34

Royal host, yes. Apparently, that's a Japanese chain, Dwayne says. And then we went to bed, and I actually did some work in our hotel room and then went to bed. Yeah, got up early, had to get back for our flight to Phuket, which was about what, three hours? Maybe it was two and a half. Maybe it wasn't that long. I mean, after 17 hours, it felt very short.

unknown 28:00

Yeah.

Phuket Hotel Booking With Credits

SPEAKER_01 28:01

So we land in Phuket. Yep. We stayed at the Denso Resort. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 28:08

Is that what it's called? Dinso Resort in Villas Phuket. It is an IHG property, it is part of their vignette collection.

SPEAKER_01 28:15

And in the heart of Phuket.

SPEAKER_00 28:17

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 28:18

Like driving through I don't, I mean, just crazy, crazy roads, and then boom, it's just right there.

SPEAKER_00 28:24

Yes, it was in um Patong, which is like the party area of Phuket. So, not the area that we had originally planned to stay at. Um, I also have talked about this on the podcast before, but I'm gonna quickly recap how I booked this because I used edit credits and it was a fantastic experience. So originally we were gonna stay at the Hyatt Regency Phuket, uh, which is in the Kamala Beach area, Kamala, Kamala, I don't really know how to say it, but it's spelled just like Kamala Harris, K-A-M-A-L-A. And we were going to pay cash to book into a room that slept five, and it was around, I think,$1,800 total. And it had like bunk beds and everything. But I wanted to do that versus use points because for points, we would have needed two rooms. However, once Chase announced these edit credits plus the additional$250 hotel credit that can be used with certain brands, including IHG, I started looking around to find another property. And I found this one, which the where we stayed. So the way that I booked this was that I made two two-night reservations under each of our names. We each hold a Chase Sapphire Reserve card. So we each had two$250 edit credits plus one$250 hotel credit to be utilized for the year 2026. So for the first two nights under each of our names, I booked two nights, paid around 27,000 chase points, I think, and roughly like$252 in cash. And then the$250 credit comes off of that. So your our out of pocket is like$2. And the second credit I did the same way with one difference. I, in my name, also had a$100 off$600 or more of travel through Chase Travel. And so I stacked that with the second$250 edit credit plus the$250 hotel credit that Chase gave for 2026. So I this is kind of confusing, but in total, we each had$750 worth of credits. Okay, two$250 credits from the edit, plus one$250 hotel credit. And then I also had an additional hundred dollar credit by adding that chase travel offer. So our total out-of-pocket cost was around$50 and$54,000 chase points.

SPEAKER_01 31:24

For the four nights?

SPEAKER_00 31:26

For the four nights. And that included breakfast for all of us. It's actually breakfast for two per room. So four of us, but they didn't charge us for our daughter. And it also included two$100 property credits, which can be used for like food and beverage, or I think you could even use it at the spa there. We used ours um for food and beverage. So do you remember what I told you our total out of pocket cost was? For this one, no, I don't for the like from the hotel specifically. I do not. And remember you were like, that's it?

SPEAKER_01 32:03

It was like$252 or something.

SPEAKER_00 32:07

Um it was less than that. Like maybe that was before the credit.

SPEAKER_01 32:11

I think that was Simoe.

SPEAKER_00 32:13

You actually weren't far off. It was$132. That was our total bill at checkout for all food and beverage and anything else on property. That's obviously after the$200 in credits came off.

SPEAKER_01 32:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:27

So we when we okay, so we get to this property, we took a black lane, booked using one of our City Strata Elite Black Lane credits to the property. Driver was waiting for us at the airport with a sign with our name on it, and it was about a 45-minute drive. The black lane ride to in total cost around 136 US dollars. And so what we paid for that was$36. And certainly this is probably more than a taxi would have cost, but the Black Lane cars are so nice. And I mean, we were in his car for about an hour because there was traffic.

SPEAKER_01 33:07

And I mean, it had Wi-Fi too.

SPEAKER_00 33:09

Yeah, it was great. They're fantastic. Um, so we we use them to and from the airport, actually, and the price was around the same both ways. So, in total, after the credits, we spent around$70 out of pocket for a round-trip airport transfer, which again, it's 45 minutes away from the airport, if not more, with traffic. I felt great about that. Um, Phuket was the most expensive of the three places that we visited in Thailand, and that has was what I read, and that was what I was expecting. And um, okay, so we get there, we get in the car, driver's there, drives us there, we check in, and they give us ice cold hand towels and this like citrus lemon shaved ice, which was very good. And our uh room wasn't quite ready, so they gave us a tour of the property, yeah, which was beautiful. There's three pools.

SPEAKER_01 34:06

Well, first of all, they give you the ice cold towel because it's hot as hot AF and humid AF in Thailand.

SPEAKER_00 34:16

Yes, so it's very nice and refreshing. And they also um upgraded us, they said, to a two-bedroom corner suite. Now that sounds very fancy and big, and it wasn't, but it was nice. It was a nice room. Yeah, it was a fine size for the the five of us. The only downside was we had booked two rooms, which means two bathrooms, and this only had one bathroom. So that's probably the only thing.

SPEAKER_01 34:43

Yeah, that was the the only thing that was negative. Um I mean, to me, was the the size of the room. Yeah, and not having two bathrooms. Yes, but again, the room was very nice.

SPEAKER_00 34:55

It was, yes. It was essentially like it's basically two king bed rooms together, like attached. But there's like there's really no like living room or or dining room area like a normal suite might have, you know?

SPEAKER_01 35:12

Yeah, there's a king bed in one, two double beds in the other. And I mean, with five luggages, I mean it it was tight.

SPEAKER_00 35:20

Yeah, one bathroom, and then there was like an outside patio that was decent sized, but it's so hot that you really don't use it. So, and there was like a little kitchenette type, not kitchenette, but like sink area, but it just was it was crowded. This was our most crowded um room by far of the whole trip. Um, but the property is beautiful. Patong again is a party area, so it's really not where like families would stay, but we didn't mind it. I thought it was fine. And the hotel, it is very much like an oasis where you're in it and it's quiet, but you can as soon as you step out onto the street, you are smack dab in the middle of busy Thailand.

SPEAKER_01 36:04

Like mopeds, yeah, everywhere.

SPEAKER_00 36:08

Yes. You can walk there's a market that you can walk to that we did walk to a couple of times. We took a few of the little tuk-tuks. Okay, so overall review of the hotel. Super nice, super nice. We hung out at the pool a few times, we had some drinks.

SPEAKER_01 36:23

The pool that was another negative of the pool layout wasn't great.

SPEAKER_00 36:29

This it's not a family hotel, really. No, our kids were some of the only kids that we saw. I think it's geared for either couples or maybe like a young family. Like if you have a baby or a toddler, because there is a kids club, or not a kids. Well, yeah, a kids club, but like no one staffed it the whole time that we were there. Um, and most of the stuff in there is geared towards like younger, like babies.

SPEAKER_01 36:55

Yeah, they also have like an activity room, yes, which you have to sign up for.

SPEAKER_00 37:00

Yes, they had a lot of activities you could do for kids and adults alike, painting.

SPEAKER_01 37:05

They even had a Muay Thai class, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 37:07

Yeah, and so that was cool. We didn't do any of those because we didn't really have the time, but definitely good to know that that's an option. The breakfast at the hotel was phenomenal. Anything that you could want, halal, um, Chinese, uh, like the European like deli meats and stuff and salad, all different types of cuisine, western, like made-to-order eggs.

SPEAKER_01 37:36

Wait, I'm sorry, you're talking about the buffet?

SPEAKER_00 37:38

The breakfast, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:40

They had a fruit station where there was a bunch of fruits, and the guy that manned it, and you just told him what you wanted, and he cut up that fruit for you. Yes. Never seen that before.

SPEAKER_00 37:52

No, never. They had a fresh juice bar outside with fresh like watermelon juice or grape juice or whatever you wanted. The kids love that. Uh, Dwayne and I started drinking Thai iced teas, and that became a staple for the whole trip. All in all, um, the dining there was pretty good. We ordered no, we had lunch in dinner.

SPEAKER_01 38:16

We had lunch there waiting for our room.

SPEAKER_00 38:18

Yeah. And I think we also had dinner there the first day, didn't we?

SPEAKER_01 38:23

Yes, we did have dinner there.

SPEAKER_00 38:25

Yeah, they have like a Japanese restaurant on site, plus like whatever Western food you could want, and it was fine. Like, you can't go to another country and expect American food to taste like American food, but it's good, like it was decent. Yeah, they had smoothies that we got by the pool a bunch of times, and so Dwayne's friend um that lives in Bangkok, they flew over and come to came to hang out with us at the hotel a couple of days, and so they had some drinks. Terrence had not, yes, they had some drinks on on our bill too. So the fact that our our bill out of pocket for everything that we had on property was$132 was great. Like that was great, super cheap, yeah. And service really good. Like when we checked in for sure, they had little like you know, towel animals on our bed, they wrote us notes every day. It was wonderful.

SPEAKER_01 39:21

Yes, customer service was great. Yeah, highly recommend this hotel.

SPEAKER_00 39:25

We would recommend it. I would go back. Um, but I just I think you just need to know like the the layout of the pool is weird too. There's not a ton of seating, yeah. And they have three pools, but like if you want to see your kids in the pool, you really can only use one of them. So the one thing I did like is they have like day beds and cabanas, and they don't cost any extra to rent them. It's first come, first served. So it also wasn't very busy when we were there, so it felt like we could easily grab one whenever we needed one.

SPEAKER_01 40:00

We never did though, because like I said, the the layout is someone didn't think it through.

SPEAKER_00 40:06

Well, we did sit at a on a day bed a couple of times.

SPEAKER_01 40:09

Well, yeah, the little couch there, but couches, yeah. Again, would would recommend this hotel for sure.

SPEAKER_00 40:15

Yes, for sure. And you can you don't need transportation, like you can walk outside, and we walked to a a night market for dinner twice, and that was great. Um, really, the main things that we did in Phuket were recover from jet lag, relax at the pool. We went to the beach one day. We went to Kamala Beach and we actually drove by the Hyatt Regency on our way there, and it looked beautiful, looked like a great hotel. So I don't think you can go wrong if you're gonna stay there. We just had a better option for us.

SPEAKER_01 40:50

And the beach is, I mean, it was crowded, but I mean, still a great beach.

Beach Day And Phuket Street Food

SPEAKER_00 40:54

Yes. We got some tiny little mini pineapples that were the sweetest pineapple I've ever had. They were so good. That was the first time I tried mango sticky rice and proceeded to eat it every single day of our trip um thereafter. We got coconut waters, coconut smoothies. It was a fun day. The one like booked activity that we did in Phuket was we visited an elephant sanctuary.

SPEAKER_01 41:24

Yes.

Ethical Elephant Sanctuary Visit

SPEAKER_00 41:25

And one thing that we try to do when we do experiences that involve animals in other countries is we try to do it in an ethical manner. And so in this scenario, we we definitely wanted like an elephant sanctuary. We didn't want to do any elephant riding or bathing or touching because all of those things can stress the elephants out. And so I was torn between two. The one that I ended up going with is the Phuket Elephant Nature Reserve. I will link the um the I booked it through Viator. I will link it in the show notes if you're interested. I thought it was a really good experience.

SPEAKER_01 42:06

Yeah, it was great.

SPEAKER_00 42:07

They have different options you can book. There's like a 90-minute option. We did the half day, which was around three and a half hours, and um they don't pick you up or anything. You you go there and so you coordinate your own transportation. We used Grab to coordinate all of our transportation. It's basically like the Uber of Thailand. And you can for a family of five, what we did that was successful most of the time was you go in and you book the plus option. All of the options say they sit four, but there's a four plus that basically says extra space for like luggage or whatever. Most of the time, those were like vans that could easily sit five of us or more. A couple of times we got some four-door sedans, and our daughter had to sit on Dwayne's lap. But for the most part, we were successful in using the that plus option to get five seats.

SPEAKER_01 43:08

Yeah. So this elephant sanctuary was, I think, worth it. We got up close and personal with the elephants. We didn't touch them or anything. We did make some food for them.

SPEAKER_00 43:18

Yep. You make these like vitamin balls where you like grind up herbs and all this stuff. Rice, bananas, fiber, yeah, some vitamins and stuff for them. And then you literally make it into like these balls and they come over and eat it. You don't hand feed it to them, you kind of put it down and step away and watch them eat it.

SPEAKER_01 43:42

But well, no, they're their little handler.

SPEAKER_00 43:45

Their handler helps them, yes. Each elephant has its own handler. And but you, I mean, you are very close to these elephants.

SPEAKER_01 43:53

Very close. I didn't know we were gonna get that close.

SPEAKER_00 43:56

It was a cool experience. They're not huge either. Are Asian elephants which are smaller than African elephants and they kind of talk you through the differences?

SPEAKER_01 44:06

And yeah, these were all elephants used for like riding and yeah, so they've all been rescued.

SPEAKER_00 44:13

And the hard part is so this um place had five or six. I think it was six. They had six elephants, and the hard part is they have room for ten, but because elephant tourism is so popular in Thailand and people want to go and they want to ride the elephants and do all the things, um people don't want to sell the elephants to this to these sanctuaries because they can make more money abusing them, you know, and using them for this like un what I would call unethical tourism. So that was that's disappointing. But yeah, you know, we we do what we can. So I'll link in the show notes uh the one that we went to, but really enjoyed it. We also got to cut up some food, uh, and then you dump it in like these troughs, and they can come and eat.

SPEAKER_01 45:09

One elephant saw that we were bringing food out and like ran.

SPEAKER_00 45:14

She was running for that food. Yeah, and so they kind of joke that they the elephants eat and then they they exercise by walking and then they eat some more, and that's like pretty much how they spend their day. There is like a pond there where they can bathe if they want to, they don't make the elephants do anything they don't want to do for the most part. The only thing um is they do like lock them up at night, they put them in not lock them up, but like they put them in a contained space at night so that they're not like just going through town like destroying things because apparently elephants only sleep around four hours a day, and their handlers need more than that, so yeah, but they do have someone there overnight that's they live there, yeah. So so all of them really good experience and would recommend at the end.

SPEAKER_01 46:13

Well, first of all, this we did the half-day thing, so they fed us lunch as well.

SPEAKER_00 46:19

They they make it in front of you, um, like a little cooking demonstration. It's here, I will say it says cooking class when you book it, it's not a cooking class. Well, it is in that you're watching them cook and they give you the recipe, but you were not doing any of the cooking, so just keep that in mind.

SPEAKER_01 46:37

Well, there were two groups there when we were there. It was our group and another group, but the other group, the the lady running that one, let some people cook.

SPEAKER_00 46:45

Oh, really? Yeah, oh I didn't know that. Oh, well, I guess maybe it depends on who you get. Um, but our guy did all the cooking. And what's funny is when he was making it, he was making pad thai and tom yum soup. And the soup looked good, but the pad thai, I was like, ugh. I was kind of thinking, like, it doesn't look very good, and like I'm glad that's not the one we're gonna eat. Well, it was the one that we ate, actually.

SPEAKER_01 47:13

He plated that one up for us, our little family, because we had our own table. But it was pretty good, really good, actually. It was good, it didn't look good, but it was really good.

SPEAKER_00 47:22

It was good, so we enjoyed it. They also had like some spring rolls and stuff that they brought out, cold, you know, waters, and so and then we called our Uber and booked it back to the hotel. That was the first time where the guy showed up and it was a four-door sedan. And I was like, Oh no, no, no, we need five. He was like, Yeah, it's fine. And I was like, No, no, no, we need five. He's like, Yeah, it's fine. I was like, All right.

SPEAKER_01 47:50

So Raya was worried, I was not. So Arya sat in my lap, and we went back to the hotel. It was like 45 minutes.

SPEAKER_00 47:59

Yes, yep. I mean, you see, like on these mopeds, there are infants, there are babies riding around. Some some people have two or three kids with them on one moped.

SPEAKER_01 48:11

One moped.

SPEAKER_00 48:12

So I'm like, I guess our kid is fine in the backseat on someone's lap for 45 minutes. Um, and I've the rest of the time, I don't know, we hung out with Dwayne's friend. They came down um and stayed, they stayed in a hotel near our hotel for a couple of nights. And so Dwayne got to meet up with his one of his childhood best friends. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 48:34

I haven't seen in over 20 years.

SPEAKER_00 48:36

Yeah, they live in Bangkok, so they can't.

SPEAKER_01 48:37

He's half Thai.

SPEAKER_00 48:39

Yep. So his wife is Thai.

SPEAKER_01 48:40

His wife, yeah, she's Thai.

SPEAKER_00 48:42

So she was able to speak um and kind of help us get acclimated. And I mean, they they really he'll tell you he doesn't speak Thai, but he does.

SPEAKER_01 48:50

Yeah, he yeah.

SPEAKER_00 48:52

He does a great job.

SPEAKER_01 48:53

He definitely understands most of it.

SPEAKER_00 48:56

Yeah, way more than I do. And so we also went with them to the markets and we got some food at the night market one night with them. We went to a different Thai restaurant another night, and we we actually ate at a few different restaurants with them and just tried a variety of Thai foods and which I thought was all pretty good. Yeah, it was all pretty good. Um pork, it's like heavy on the pork in Thailand.

SPEAKER_01 49:20

Yeah, pork is king is what he what he said.

SPEAKER_00 49:24

Yeah, he's he's a chef too. So yeah, when we talk about Bangkok, um, we actually went to their food stall that they they have and had some really what was the soup that we got that at the Tom Ka guy.

SPEAKER_01 49:36

Oh my god, that was so good at that restaurant we went to.

SPEAKER_00 49:38

Yeah, I don't know what it was called, so we can't oh the yeah, we have no idea what the name of the restaurant was. It was like they would look it up and be like, oh, this one looks good, and we would be like, Okay, we would just go there.

Getting Around And Phuket Wrap Up

SPEAKER_01 49:50

Oh, and if you've never been to Thailand, everywhere you go is like outside seating. Oh, yeah, it's hot, it's hot. Like it's this open air restaurant, yes, and it's hot, yes, so prepare yourself for that.

SPEAKER_00 50:04

I think that took some acclimating for sure. Yeah, just shorts and tank tops, that's all you need.

SPEAKER_01 50:10

And sandals and sandals, that's it. What's funny is when I opened up my luggage, the one that had been missing for two weeks, I opened it up to put the clothes away and I realized I had like 10 pairs of socks in there. I was like, whoa, I packed way too many socks. I don't I think I only wore socks on the plane there and the plane back. That was it.

SPEAKER_00 50:30

Yeah. Um yeah, but all in all, um a great kind of intro to Thailand, right? For our first few days. No major plans. And that was actually kind of the theme of this trip was we only had a few specific things booked and that we wanted to do. And so you'll see that continue on. Um, but next week we will share all about Kosamui, the fantastic hotel that we stayed at with the really nice upgrade they gave us and all that fun stuff. So um I will link the elephant thing in the show notes. If you have any questions, um, send them on Instagram. We will catch you on the next episode.

SPEAKER_01 51:07

Thank you for listening.

SPEAKER_00 51:07

Bye.

SPEAKER_01 51:08

Have a good one.