Chase Sapphire Most well-liked Factors Battle: Two epic journeys, one card

On the heels of The Factors Man’s first-ever “Factors Battle,” we’re again with one other version — and this time we’re venturing each north and south of the equator.

Brian Kelly, founding father of The Factors Man, challenged two TPG teammates to duke it out and see how they may every maximize journey advantages from their Chase Sapphire Most well-liked® Card (see charges and costs) to plan the last word, Instagram-worthy, awe-inspiring journey.

This problem was made sweeter with Factors Increase, a helpful perk that makes your Chase Final Rewards factors price extra and stretch additional whenever you e book choose motels and flights by the Chase Journey℠ portal.

Add in longtime favourite advantages like incomes bonus factors on eating and journey, the flexibility to switch factors to airline and lodge companions, and a $50 annual lodge credit score for reserving by Chase Journey, and we had an epic competitors on our arms.

The Factors Man’s senior lodge reporter, Tanner Saunders, accepted the problem alongside Lyndsey Matthews, senior journey editor at TPG.

Here is the way it all went down.

Factors Battle: Chase Sapphire Most well-liked version

Like most competitions, this Factors Battle had some guidelines, together with choosing themes for the journey by spinning a wheel of journey parameters, discovering the proper Instagram pictures and placing collectively a really memorable journey whereas additionally leveraging factors and card advantages effectively.

Lyndsey takes a spin

Whereas working at TPG’s New York workplace, I acquired a cryptic textual content message from Brian telling me to go to his workplace — a wierd request contemplating I knew he was off jet-setting. Strolling towards his workplace, I seen my favourite colleague, Tanner Saunders, heading in the identical course. He’d gotten the textual content, too.

Contained in the workplace, we discovered a magic wheel of journey themes and directions to spin it thrice every to find out the place we’d journey and what we’d expertise alongside the way in which. I landed on visiting someplace with a rainforest local weather, seeing a surprise of the world and consuming a meals I had by no means tried earlier than. Whereas Tanner took his flip, I began planning.

Tanner learns his destiny

Tanner right here! I used to be excited for the prospect to spin the wheel thrice over to plan my journey. Because it turned out, I’d be heading to a desert local weather and staying in a bucket-list lodge, an ideal match for this lodge reporter. It additionally gave me an opportunity to place my Chase Sapphire Most well-liked card’s $50 lodge credit score to work.

With journey calling, Brian knowledgeable us we’d every have as much as 150,000 Chase Final Rewards factors to show our journeys into actuality, and that the winner would take residence one other 150,000 factors to make use of for a visit that didn’t require trouncing a co-worker.

With the foundations in place, our factors balances loaded and a few pleasant competitors within the air, we set out on our adventures.

Factors are a battlefield: Planning 2 epic journeys

Earlier than any journey, Factors Battle or not, there’s quite a lot of planning to be carried out. Our two TPGers started working seeing how far their factors might take them and hammering out each element alongside the way in which.

The battle was simply starting.

Lyndsey: Wilderness and wine in New Zealand

Armed with 150,000 Final Rewards factors, I had a choice to make: Discover business-class flights someplace near residence or stretch my factors so far as attainable to get to the opposite aspect of the world.

Whereas I might simply discover a dish I have not tried earlier than in any nation, the opposite parameters of my journey — a rainforest local weather and a surprise of the world — lent themselves to locales a bit farther from my residence base in america.

A number of of the brand new Seven Wonders of the World are in rainforest climates, however I had already been to Machu Picchu in Peru and the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Brazil. I wished to see one thing new, which led me to Milford Sound on New Zealand’s South Island. Thought of by some to be the eighth surprise of the world, this epic fjord sits throughout the Te Wahipounamu UNESCO World Heritage Website, which simply so occurs to be a temperate rainforest.

Discovering flights to New Zealand with out burning by my complete finances took some work. However fortunately, after evaluating a number of routes and airways, I secured a round-trip Fiji Airways ticket from Los Angeles Worldwide Airport (LAX) to Auckland Airport (AKL) with a layover at Nadi Worldwide Airport (NAN) in Fiji for 63,083 factors through Chase Journey.

Tickets in hand, it was time to move to the airport. I earned 5 factors per greenback spent on my Lyft trip by paying with my Chase Sapphire Most well-liked card.*

After touchdown in Auckland, I made my solution to the Park Hyatt Auckland. I booked one night time in a king room at this luxury Class 8 Hyatt property by transferring 25,000 Chase Final Rewards factors to World of Hyatt.

The Park Hyatt Auckland has 195 visitor rooms and suites with floor-to-ceiling home windows overlooking Waitemata Harbour and the town skyline. My room featured Maori-inspired decor, like the standard tukutuku wall panels woven from crimson, black and white New Zealand wool, hung throughout from the comfortable king-size mattress.

The spacious marble lavatory featured a free-standing tub overlooking the harbor. I feel my favourite element was the walk-in closet that permit me unpack with out cluttering the area. I used to be touring solo, however households can e book adjoining rooms, giving themselves much more area to unfold out.

Regardless of the jet lag, there was no time for relaxation since Brian shocked me with a bonus factors problem on the Park Hyatt to “reside like an area.” Since New Zealand is principally Center-earth, I made a decision to partake in a hobbit’s favourite actions: consuming and ingesting. For that, I boarded a 40-minute ferry from Auckland to Waiheke Island for a food-and-wine tour.

I tasted a shiny and flavorful chardonnay and a peppery syrah at Mudbrick Winery, sampled 4 native olive oil varieties at Allpress Olive Groves, and slurped contemporary Te Matuku oysters harvested simply down the street from the Ki Maha restaurant proper on Onetangi Seashore. I earned 3 factors per greenback spent on eating with my Chase Sapphire Most well-liked card and was additionally in a position to examine off the “meals I’ve by no means tried” a part of my problem right here since I’ve by no means had oysters from New Zealand.

Completely relaxed and revived, it was time for some thrills on the South Island. To get to Queenstown — New Zealand’s journey capital — I booked round-trip flights from Auckland on Air New Zealand utilizing an extra 19,440 factors through Chase Journey.

For my residence base in Queenstown, I booked two nights on the Sofitel Queenstown Lodge & Spa. Since this French-inspired luxurious lodge with a complicated spa within the coronary heart of the town is bookable by Chase Journey with Factors Increase, I redeemed 37,838 factors as a substitute of paying $454, for a worth of 1.2 cents per level.

Nevertheless, since my problem was to see a surprise of the world in a rainforest, I wasn’t going to spend a lot time on the lodge spa. To take advantage of my time, I booked a scenic flight tour to Milford Sound, bypassing the four-hour drive by hovering over Fiordland Nationwide Park’s glacier-covered peaks earlier than descending among the many dramatic inexperienced slopes of the fjord.

The knowledgeable guides at Rosco’s Milford Kayaks whisked me out onto the water, the place we paddled to the 500-foot-tall Stirling Falls and noticed a seal pop up within the spray close to our kayak. A pod of dolphins additionally appeared, leaping out of the water to my joyous shock.

The journey did not finish there. I could have handed on bungee leaping at its birthplace simply outdoors Queenstown, however I used to be up for the technical challenges of canyoning, which concerned rappelling down waterfalls, sliding by slender canyons and wading by clear alpine streams for an adrenaline rush as a substitute.

For my ultimate bonus factors alternative, Brian challenged me to “do one thing that makes you’re feeling fully free.” Problem accepted: I booked a high-speed all-terrain-vehicle tour, racing by a pine forest and splashing by streams to the highest of the hills overlooking Lake Wakatipu, the place I slowed down lengthy sufficient to absorb the view and respect simply how a lot I had packed in throughout my time in Aotearoa, or the Land of the Lengthy White Cloud, because the Maori name it.

And since I used to be in a position to earn 2 factors per greenback spent on all these journey actions with my Chase Sapphire Most well-liked card, I knew I used to be heading residence with loads of factors to spend on my subsequent journey — win or lose.

Tanner: Morocco on my thoughts

With a whopping 150,000 Chase Final Rewards factors in my pocket and the parameter of visiting a desert local weather, my thoughts instantly went to at least one place: Morocco.

Well-known for its sweeping desert landscapes and jewel-box riads, I set my sights on Marrakech and the close by Agafay Desert. However the way to get there?

Looking out Chase Journey, I noticed there have been quite a lot of inexpensive flight choices for my journey to North Africa, however one of the simplest ways to stretch my factors concerned an sudden in a single day keep in Madrid after which a fast jaunt over to Marrakech.

That is when it hit me: I might use that in a single day as a solution to spend the night time at The Madrid Version, a lodge I might dreamed about visiting for years after seeing pictures of its moody foyer bar and dramatic white spiral staircase on social media.

For 37,618 factors, I used to be in a position to e book a round-trip Iberia ticket between New York and Marrakech with a cease in Madrid every manner. Some vacationers hate a stopover, however I noticed the in a single day as an opportunity to expertise two locations in a single journey, and even get pleasure from an evening out in town in Madrid alongside the way in which.

Extra importantly, I might examine off the bucket-list-hotel portion of the problem by reserving The Madrid Version by Chase Journey. After incomes my Chase Sapphire Most well-liked card’s $50 annual lodge assertion credit score on the reserving, the lodge got here in at 31,585 factors, a worth of 1.25 cents per level.

I earned 5 factors per greenback spent on a Lyft trip to John F. Kennedy Worldwide Airport (JFK) with my Chase Sapphire Most well-liked card* and caught up on films on the lengthy flight earlier than checking in to The Madrid Version. The lodge’s iconic Don Pedro de Ribera-designed baroque door was the proper place for a Brian-worthy selfie.

On the lodge, I lastly obtained to get pleasure from cocktails with the cool crowd and performed a sport of pool in what I will say is now my favourite lodge foyer on the earth.

Outdoors the consolation of my stunning, practically all-white room, I had time to roam the streets of Spain’s capital metropolis with a cease for vermouth and tapas at Taberna La Descubierta, the place I earned 3 factors per greenback spent on eating with my card. I had time to attend a flamenco present and even took a tour of the Royal Palace of Madrid.

Feeling refreshed, I hopped on a brief flight to Marrakech and turned my consideration to these stunning riads and checked in to the dreamy Lodge Izza for 2 nights for 41,300 factors, saving me $521.

Within the coronary heart of the walled Marrakech medina, the oldest a part of the town and a UNESCO World Heritage web site, Lodge Izza was precisely what I wished: fashionable, design-forward and filled with character with tiled courtyards, postcard-worthy photograph backdrops and a rooftop restaurant filled with greenery. It was the proper residence in Marrakech, and one other lodge that ended up being bucket list-worthy to me.

As soon as settled in, I headed straight to the town’s well-known souks to reap the benefits of procuring, and even had the prospect to make my very own sneakers with a Moroccan leather-based employee (a tanner, if you’ll, identical to me!). And within the buzzy, packed middle of the medina, I watched snake charmers play music for swaying cobras identical to you see within the films.

Earlier than I left Marrakech, Brian shocked me with a bonus problem to reap the benefits of some self-care. For me, that was simple, as a result of no one ought to go away Marrakech with out spending a number of hours getting a scrub in a standard Moroccan hammam — and I did simply that (within the spirit of competitors, in fact!).

Marrakech was every part I had hoped it could be — like stepping again in time within the souks and medina, a visible feast of sleek palm bushes and the snowcapped Atlas Mountains, and among the friendliest individuals I’ve ever encountered in my travels.

Again through the planning course of, I had thought to myself, “What if I truly head into the desert as a substitute of simply staying within the metropolis?” With about 40,000 factors left in my finances, it made sense to e book an evening on the castle-like Kasbah Agafay Lodge & Spa on the fringe of the Agafay Desert, the place I might traverse dunes on an all-terrain automobile, which was an exercise I had by no means carried out earlier than, assembly that situation of the problem.

A boutique, regionally owned lodge, Kasbah Agafay was like staying at a good friend’s home … if that home was a standard desert riad so picture-perfect, it seemed prefer it was proper out of a film. The resort was charming, with stunning courtyards, a giant swimming pool, and many plush, colourful seating areas.

It was additionally near the actions across the Agafay Desert, like taking an ATV out throughout the dunes with the fantastic Atlas Mountains looming bigger and bigger in entrance of me as I cruised throughout the sand. Rising up in West Texas, I’ve all the time felt related to the desert, and this adrenaline-filled expertise left my blood pumping and my garments muddy (however solely as a result of I assumed it could be enjoyable to drive by some large puddles).

On this leg of the journey, Brian hit me with one other bonus problem to study in regards to the native tradition. I visited the Saida Berber Home on the foot of the mountains to expertise how the Indigenous communities lived and ate by a enjoyable and informative cooking class that left me each full-hearted and filled with conventional tagine, which I made myself.

After a number of days of touring throughout Spain and Morocco, it was time to return residence to New York. Trying again on every part I might skilled over the previous couple of days, it felt practically unimaginable that I had booked this complete journey with factors … nearly as unimaginable as packing a Berber-made rug, Moroccan pottery, native olive oil and a brand new pair of handmade sneakers in my suitcase. (Be aware to self: Verify the Chase app for any Chase Presents to lastly purchase an even bigger suitcase at a reduction.)

The ultimate tally

So how did Tanner and Lyndsey fare on this epic Factors Battle? Let us take a look at their ultimate tallies.

Lyndsey’s ultimate tally

Here is how I took benefit of my 150,000 Chase factors, plus a number of different card advantages I used:

• Spherical-trip flights from Los Angeles to Auckland on Fiji Airways and from Auckland to Queenstown on Air New Zealand: 82,523 factors
• Park Hyatt Auckland: 25,000 factors
• Sofitel Queenstown Lodge & Spa: 37,838 factors
• Different card advantages: Profiting from Chase switch companions (World of Hyatt), utilizing Chase Factors Increase on the Queenstown lodge, incomes 3 factors per greenback spent on eating and incomes 5 factors per greenback spent on Lyft rides to the airport

Whole: 145,361 factors

Tanner’s ultimate tally

And now for my ultimate factors roundup, in addition to different card advantages I used:

• Spherical-trip flight from New York to Marrakech with Madrid stopover: 37,618 factors
• The Madrid Version: 31,585 factors
• Lodge Izza: 41,300 factors
• Kasbah Agafay Lodge & Spa: 35,440 factors
• Different card advantages: $50 annual lodge credit score, incomes 3 factors per greenback spent on eating and incomes 5 factors per greenback spent on Lyft rides

Whole: 145,943 factors

And the winner is …

Lyndsey and Tanner each maxed out their stash of factors and Chase Sapphire Most well-liked card advantages to go on two critically epic journeys that made Brian jealous as he adopted alongside on Instagram.

Whether or not it was the mix of stress-free spa moments and desert thrills or immersive cultural moments with locals in Morocco, Brian’s decide for the winner of this TPG Factors Battle was Tanner.

He creatively put his $50 annual lodge credit score to work for a bucket-list lodge keep throughout a stopover in Madrid and in addition immersed himself in native tradition with leatherworking and cooking courses, all whereas incomes 3 factors per greenback spent on scrumptious Moroccan meals.

The posts from Lyndsey’s journey definitely had Brian hankering for some New Zealand wines and out of doors adventures, although.

Congratulations to each contestants, and keep tuned to see how Tanner makes use of the factors he received!

*Legitimate by Sept. 30, 2027; doesn’t apply to Wait & Save, bike or scooter rides; activation required.