u/Kenny_Tarmac

Of these two, which would you recommend? Most other BB locations are out of my price point. Looking at probably 4 nights in April-ish for my wife and I. Le Moana is about $1500 cheaper for the same time frame. On the other hand, it looks like Le BB by Pearl has been recently renovated. This will be my first time to the south Pacific, so I have no experience with either.

I'm looking around at possibly booking a Bora Bora trip next year. Specifically, this post is about Le Bora Bora - Pearl. To my limited knowledge and observation, it looks like all of their over water bungalows are the same except for the view and a few extra-large suites. I found what appears to be a decent deal through the Capital One travel portal, however there are two room options that appear the same, but have different prices. Of course, I'm also comparing it to the direct booking site. What am I missing? All dates are identical; all options offer free cancelation to the same date; all options include breakfast.

My primary question is: What is driving the difference in price between the Capital One listings? Yes, one listing says Balcony but, as previously mentioned, I believe the bungalows are all the same. The Balcony listing also has a much more thorough description of amenities. Further, they don't mention with/without Balcony options when booking direct. Leading me to believe there isn't a real difference.

The prices shakedown as follows.

Direct Book for reference - Lagoon Overwater Bungalow, Early Bird 20%: 624,960 XPF ($6,020)

Direct book for reference - Lagoon Overwater Bungalow, Flexible Rate: 781,200 XPF ($7,525)

Capital One Travel Portal - Bungalow, Lagoon View, Overwater, Bed Type Subject to Availability: $4,788

Capital One Travel Portal - Bungalow, Lagoon View, Balcony, Overwater, Bed Type Subject to Availability: $5,670

Obviously, I'd like to go for the cheapest rate, but not at the cost of booking something I don't want.

I'm trying to feel out my current arsenal and considering a new card. Preferably one with solid travel benefits. FICO score is 840. Wife and I are also looking at an expensive trip next year (not yet booked) for our 10 year anniversary. So I'm thinking of using it as an opportunity to capitalize on a sign up bonus.

Also worth noting, I travel 6-10 times a year for work, flying exclusively Delta with Precheck out of DTW and staying exclusively at Hilton locations. All expenses (except meals, which are reimbursed at the gov't rate) are booked on a corporate card but I can tie my rewards accounts to that card. This allows me to rack up some Hilton points and some Skymiles - usually enough to maintain some low tier status.

Otherwise, I travel a few times a year with my wife and young son. Often via driving, but at least once a year flying. I expect this to go up some as we try to see family more in the coming years.

Rough monthly expenses in most relevant categories:

Grocery: $1000 (about 50% at Costco)

Dining: $300

Fuel: $250

Currently, I have a few cards I rotate for various cash back categories.

Fidelity Rewards: 2% unlimited, no AF. Used primarily for Costco. I also have a Fidelity account that this CB helps feed.

Delta Skymiles Gold: 2x miles at restaurants and supermarkets, 1x elsewhere. $150 AF.

Savor: 3% grocery and dining, 1% elsewhere, no AF.

Citi Custom Cash: 5% at most used category, no AF. This is exclusively my fuel card.

Its the current skymiles card that I'm tentative about keeping. I do enjoy a few of the Delta perks (priority boarding, free checked bag) and once so far I achieved the $200 bonus for spending over $10k. I also tend to prefer flying Delta.

I've been considering dropping the Delta Gold and going to either the Venture X or Amex Gold. Sticking with Amex allows easy transfer to both Delta and Hilton, and I currently have an Amex HYSA. However, I definitely won't take advantage of some of the various credit opportunities on the Amex - I just don't use most of those services. I like the Venture X perks and definitely think I can capitalize there, further because I need to renew my TSA precheck. However, I'm not a fan of being forced to use C1's travel portal and not being able to collect the Delta/HH reward points when booking through said portal. I also rarely use any of the C1 transfer partners.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Alternatives?