Heathrow to Maldives, Colombo

[peterz]

Apprecaited for any help.

I’m planning to book two weeks away Nov/Dec 2024 for two of us wiht Business Classes, 3-4 nights in Maldives and 9-10 nights in Sri Lanka. We have 3 BA upgrade vouchers together. After doing some reserches recently, I think there are two possible options for us:

1. Use 2 upgrade vouchers for the return flight LHR <–> Male, then buy extra return flight between MALE <–> Colombo : it might not be easy to get the 2 available seats for this option.
2. Use 1 upgrade vouchers for the one way ticket either for LHR –> Male or Male —> LHR, then using Qatar airway to get one way business class ticket between Colombo and LHR, plus pay extra one way ticket between Male and Colombo : there are lots available seats via Qatar Airway but we have to spend a lot more Avios points.

We don’t want to stay 2 weeks in Maldives and we have never been to Sri Lanka before. We are flexible with time. Has anyone done this route before and any susgestion please? Thanks again.

[NorthernLass]

Make sure you are familiar with the Ts and Cs of the upgrade voucher. For example, you could use one for two of you a one-way LHR-MLE, but not the other way around.
Also have a look at recent threads on booking difficult to get routes like MLE as you’ll need to have a strategy for ensuring you get your seats as soon as they are released.

[masaccio]

3-4 nights in the Maldives is not much when you factor in transit time. Even if you are just 30 minutes by boat from MLE, you will lose two half days in travel. If doing 3 nights, that means 2 days in a resort. If that’s all you want then that’s OK of course.

[strickers]

I posted this a while back which may be useful, as @NorthernLass says be wary of what type of upgrade voucher you are using? If it’s a BA 241 then a return from Chennai would be possible as an open-jaw but you would need an e-visa for India assuming a UK passport, I wouldn’t spend more than one night there. If it’s two Barclays voucher then double check what the T&Cs state when booking separate flights.

https://www.headforpoints.com/forums/topic/sl-maldives-india-trip-report/

[SBIre]

masaccio wrote:

3-4 nights in the Maldives is not much when you factor in transit time. Even if you are just 30 minutes by boat from MLE, you will lose two half days in travel. If doing 3 nights, that means 2 days in a resort. If that’s all you want then that’s OK of course.

I 100% agree – even more so if you need to take a seaplane. You have almost no control on the timing of the seaplane, especially on your day of departure, so your last day is almost certainly a write off, even if you have a relatively late flight. IIRC, they do not fly in the dark either, so there is a risk (esp in Nov/Dec) that you will not be able to get to your resort the first evening if you land late and have to get up and out at the crack of dawn on your last day

When we went, we took a similar route to strickers. We used a Amex 2for1 open jaw first class to Mumbai, and business return from Male. We then paid cash on Sri Lanken to go from Mumbai to Male via Colombo. The few days in Mumbai and the stop in Colombo meant we arrived refreshed in Male first thing in the morning and got as close to a full first day at the resort as possible (it was the W, so a seaplane ride away)

[peterz]

Thanks for all the above comments. Having read them all, I think the best option is to use upgrade voucher to book return LHR – MAL with a return flight between MAL and Colombo. Will try all the strategies mentioned in the forum to book the tickets, or alternatively we will use Chennai as transition for one way flight.

[SBIre]

peterz wrote:

Thanks for all the above comments. Having read them all, I think the best option is to use upgrade voucher to book return LHR – MAL with a return flight between MAL and Colombo. Will try all the strategies mentioned in the forum to book the tickets, or alternatively we will use Chennai as transition for one way flight.

No worries – best of luck!

[BBbetter]

peterz wrote:

Thanks for all the above comments. Having read them all, I think the best option is to use upgrade voucher to book return LHR – MAL with a return flight between MAL and Colombo. Will try all the strategies mentioned in the forum to book the tickets, or alternatively we will use Chennai as transition for one way flight.

Being a pedant, it’s MLE not MAL.

Also, I’d suggest Bangalore instead of Chennai if you decide to go via India.
BLR airport is small, neat, modern, a good lounge, some new flights to MLE announced, plus you can actually visit a few places in the city if you want to.

[masaccio]

For India, there is a handy IndiGo flight BOM-MLE that leaves 3.5 hrs after the BA flight arrives which should be enough time, and IndiGo is pretty decent. On the way back you need to stop over in Mumbai which we choosing to do for 3 nights as we really like the city. Oh, and the Taj is very, very good.

I’d be tempted to use a mix of airport combinations to see what you can get. Mumbai and Bangalore are quick hops to Colombo. The same for Male. And they all make fine stop over cities. Food in Bangalore is epic.

[strickers]

The Taj in Mumbai is spectacular, make sure you stay at least two nights so you can take advantage of the pool. Also, book a club room in the Palace and not the Tower, it used to include a one way transfer. Use this back to the airport if it’s still an option, you are escorted to your vehicle by your butler and the driver will be in uniform with white gloves. Many people will wonder who you are to be getting such special treatment.