While seeing the pyramids has been quite high on the list of must-see sites for my wife and I for quite some time, it was really just by chance discovery of award tickets that we decided to weave Egypt into our honeymoon.
Trip Report Index:
- Introduction
- Flights from San Francisco to Mauritius
- Lodging in Mauritius
- Flights from Mauritius to Luxor
- Egypt Lodging
- Flights from Cairo to the Maldives
- Maldives Lodging
- Flights from the Maldives back to San Francisco
Once we got all the flights booked, we did some research on Egypt, and based on what I’ve heard from other people, these are the conclusions I’ve drawn:
- Cairo is really dirty.
- Cairo isn’t the safest place around right now.
- You can see the pyramids of Giza and Sphinx in a single day.
- Consider taking a cruise of the Nile River.
- There are many other beautiful sites to see in Egypt outside of the Cairo area.
- Cairo is really dirty.
We had four nights to kill in Egypt, and we took a look at all the places where we could stay. For lodging in Cairo, there were plenty of options. There’s a Conrad, a Marriott, a Ritz, etc. We really had our pick of the litter, but we decided, based on our feedback from friends, that we would only stay a single night in Cairo. We did a bit more research, and we liked the idea of going to Luxor, Egypt. The Valley of the Kings is in Luxor, and the Hilton in Luxor looks amazing. Not only does it look amazing from the website, but it has an average review of five stars on Tripadvisor, and it’s ranked as the #1 hotel in Luxor on Tripadvisor.
The Hilton Luxor Resort is a Category 6 Hilton property, requiring 40,000 points per night. Our 3 nights ran us 120,000 Hilton Honors points.
image courtesy of hiltonluxor.com
There are plenty of historic sites to see in Luxor, and the Hilton resort looks like an excellent place for rest and relaxation in between excursions. We’ll spend three nights there, and then we’re taking an early morning flight from Luxor to Cairo. We decided to not waste United miles on this segment. It’s only a few hundred miles, and we were able to get Business Class tickets for only $144/person.
Our flight arrives quite early in Cairo, and we plan on arranging for a private tour guide to pick us up from the airport, give us a full day tour of the primary sites, and then drop us off at the hotel for a single night before we head to the Maldives via Abu Dhabi!
For that single night in Cairo, we’re going to be staying at the Cairo Marriott Hotel & Omar Khayyam Casino. One of the (many!) perks of my Marriott Rewards Premier Signature VISA card is that it comes with an annual free night at a Category 5 Marriott property. The Cairo Marriott is a cat5 hotel so our stay there is free, no points needed. Once we wake up in Cairo, our adventure to the Maldives begins!
Luxor Lodging Type of Points Used: Hilton Honors
Number of Points Used: 120,000
Money for 2x Passengers LXR-CAI on Egyptair Business Class: $288
Luxor Lodging Type of Voucher Used: Marriott Rewards
Number of Points Used: 0 (Used free Cat5 annual voucher)
