Fiji is another tropical destination that is on many people’s bucket list. While Fiji may seem like a costly place to go to, by visiting Fiji using points, you can save a lot of money and have a fabulous vacation. It is definitely more affordable than the Maldives and has a similar vibe to Hawaii.
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. I may earn a commission at no cost to you!
TripAdvisor is a great place to start your hotel search. Search for the best Fiji hotels here!
Table of Contents
Fiji Hotels
One of the major decisions when visiting Fiji using points is to decide on your hotel. There are a ton of resorts you can book using points, it just depends on what points currency you have and how much you want to spend! Since I am a Hilton fan, I had a lot of Hilton points stockpiled from our Maldives trip. Therefore, I decided to stay at the DoubleTree Resort by Hilton Fiji -Sonaisali Island.
DoubleTree Resort by Hilton Fiji -Sonaisali Island
The DoubleTree Resort costs about 40,000/night and ended up being 160,000 points for 5 nights. With Hilton, if you stay using points, the 5th night is free so essentially, you only pay for 4 nights worth of points.
I was able to book a rate of 40,000 points a night for a Double Queen Guest Room. Upon arrival, we were upgraded to a King Premium Ocean View Bure, which was a larger room in a nicer location on the resort.
If you were paying out of pocket for this hotel, the cost during the time we stayed would have been about $250 a night for the queen room or $340 for the King Premium Ocean View Bure. By using our points, we saved about $1700.
Grand Pacific Hotel Suva
In Suva, we stayed at the Grand Pacific Hotel Suva, an IHG property. This hotel cost 30,000 points a night, so we paid 90,000 total for 3 nights. With IHG, you get a 4th night free when booking with points, but I had forgotten about this when booking, so we technically could have paid 90,000 for 4 nights.
When booking, I paid 30,000/night for a king classic room. Since I have platinum elite status with IHG, our room was upgraded to a King Ocean View Victoria room.
If we were paying out of pocket, this hotel would have cost $211/night for a king classic room or $400/night for the king ocean view Victoria room. Using points saved us $1200.
Other Hotels to Use Points At
While I chose the hotels that worked best for me, I did originally want to stay at the Sheraton Resort Tokoriki Island, but it got booked up before my free nights hit my account. These are other options from main hotel chains you can book using points.
- Sheraton Fiji Beach and Golf Resort: Starting at 37,000/night (Marriott)
- Sheraton Resort and Spa Tokoriki Island Fiji: Starting at 33,000/night (Marriott)
- Fiji Marriott Resort Momi Bay: Starting at 45,000/night (Marriott)
- Hilton Fiji Beach Resort and Spa: Starting at 60,000/night (Hilton)
- Intercontinental Fiji Golf Resort and Spa: Starting at 70,000/night (IHG)
How to Get Hilton Points
The first way to get Hilton points for getting to the Maldives on points is by opening a Hilton Credit Card. You can open three different cards, but I recommend the Hilton Honors Surpass Card to start with. You will receive 150,000 points after spending $3000 in 3 months. It has a $95 annual fee and gets you Hilton Gold Status (more on the importance of that later).
Teacher Tip: Remember that you MUST pay off your credit cards each month in order to earn points. Do not open credit cards if you are not going to be financially responsible.
Next, you can get Hilton Points by using that credit card for all of your expenses. Depending on the category, you can earn 3 to 12 times the points. For example you earn 6 times the points for dining out.
You can also earn points by signing up for the Hilton Honors Dining Rewards. This gives you even more points for dining at certain restaurants. You can stack this with the points you earn from the credit card.
Another way to earn a lot of Hilton points is to stay at Hilton Properties when you travel. With each stay, you will earn 12 times the points by using your credit card. You will also earn points in general for your stay.
You can also change your member benefits so you can get extra points instead of getting extras like snacks during your stay. All of these extra amounts of points can quickly add up when you stack them together.
If you have an additional person in your family, you can also open another Hilton Card for bonus points. In total, it took me about two years to save about 500,000 Hilton Points.
How to Get IHG Points
The best way to get IHG points is to sign up for the IHG credit card. The sign-up bonuses vary, but I scored a 175,000 point sign-on bonus. It has an annual fee of $99 and comes with platinum elite status plus a free night every year and $100 United credit a year.
With this card, daily expenses earn you 3 to 5 times the points and then 26 times the points when booking an IHG property. Staying at IHG properties allows you to rack up points quickly.
Fiji Airfare
In general, there are not many options for booking airfare to Fiji using points, especially if you want a direct flight from the United States. Fiji Airways is the leading airline that flies to Fiji. Other airlines include layovers in New Zealand and Australia.
I did not end up using points to book my airfare, as by the time I went to book an award flight, it was no longer available. Since I did not want a layover due to time constraints, I opted to pay for my flight. However, I will explain what I would have booked had it been available.
The easiest way to get to Fiji using points is through Cathay Pacific. Flights from Los Angeles to Nadi typically cost 80,000 Asia Miles plus $125 in taxes for a round-trip ticket. You can transfer your Amex, Capital One, or Citi Points to Asia Miles to book your ticket.
Transportation
While you do not have to rent a car when visiting Fiji using points, I liked having the flexibility to get off the resort and visit some more local places to eat. We got our rental car through Autoslash for $40/day. On average, a 20 minute taxi ride will cost about $20, so you can actually save some money by getting a rental car.
Food
We had an included breakfast with our stay due to our Hilton Honors Diamond status. With either Gold or Diamond levels, members get free breakfast during Hilton stays. You will get this status automatically with the Suprass or Aspire credit card.
If you opt to eat outside of the resorts, Fiji has some really affordable options or you can also go out for some fancier meals. Overall, the prices were typically cheaper than many other places I have encountered when traveling. You will want to budget anywhere from $5-$50 a day, depending on how much you want to eat and drink.
Activities
Activities are where some of the funds for visiting Fiji using points can add up. If you stay on the mainland, you will want to take a couple of day trips to some of the islands to hit up some of the best beaches in Fiji. These run around $100 and up a person. You can see some fun options on the list below.
- Tivua Island
- South Sea Island
- Serenity Island
- Mamanuca Island
- Malamala Island
- Denarau Island
- Modriki Island
- Fiji Combo Day Tour -Canoe/Magic Waterfall
Total Costs for the Fiji Using Points
- Hotel: 160,000 Hilton Honors Points and 90,000 IHG Points
- Airfare: 160,000 Venture X points plus $250 total or 80,000 points plus $125/person
- Transportation: $360 total or $180/person (9-day rental)
- Activities: $400 total or $200/person
- Total Cost: $505/person (plus the cost of food)
