A few months ago I decided not to take my usual European vacation and head somewhere that would be more of an adventure. My first choice was Bangkok and Singapore. The thought of flying on Singapore Airlines on the longest flight in the world (Newark, NJ to Singapore on a 18.5 hour flight) thrilled me. After all my research I decided to leave this for a later date since April would be the most hot and humid month in Bangkok. I just didn't want to wander the streets like a sweaty rat.
Since I was planning such a long trip anyway, I changed my plans to Australia. It seemed like a good idea. When in your life would you get to go "down under"? I had the vacation time, the money and the frequent flyer miles to take the trip, so why not? After my initial research, I tried to secure business class frequent flyer seats using my United Airlines miles, but didn't have much luck. I tried calling them every few days to see if seat became available. Most of the time I would find seats to Australia (on Air New Zealand or United Airlines) but I could never find a seat home (that's important!).
My original plan was to leave the first full week of April. The weather would still be warm in Australia and it would be the beginning of the Fall season. Remember Australia is in the Southern Hemisphere so the seasons are opposite. After realizing that time was tight and I couldn't secure a business class frequent flyer seat, I made a big change to my plans. I switched my flights to first class and move my trip ahead a week. I called United and they worked out a schedule and found me seats in first class for MOST of the trip.
One catch...
The return trip was in economy. Sorry folks I'm not doing 13 hours in an economy seat, especially since this is costing me 120,000 frequent flyer miles. Realizing I didn't have many more options, the agent made the reservation and put me on the wait-list for 1st class seats for the SYD-LAX portion of the flight. No one told me I could be wait-listed when I tried the other 2 million times!
On Wednesday, March 30th, I woke up to sunny spring skies in New Jersey and when I went to United Airlines web-sight, I was greeted with an invitation to upgrade from coach to First Class on my return trip. I feel like George Jefferson! "Movin' on up!". I hope I don't sound pretentious about this first class thing. I'm just excited about it. After years of flying crushed in a coach seat, I think I deserve to use my miles in this way. After all. it's a vacation!
Now the panic sets in...
I need hotels, info, clothes, cars, books, restaurant lists, etc. , and I have 2 weeks to do it. What the hell do I know about Australia anyway? It appear that I know very little except for that they have creatures that bounce around on 2 legs and that the toilet flush in the opposite direction then here in the northern hemisphere. I worked hard but it's starting to come together.
Here's the schedule...
Wednesday, Apr 13 - EWR to SYD, First Class. Departing on an early morning United Airlines flight from Newark to San Francisco arriving at about 10am. My flight to Melbourne (via Sydney) doesn't leave San Francisco until 10pm so I have 10 hours to kill in San Francisco. Yes, I purposely asked for this flight because I wanted time to rest, shower, change clothes, have lunch and shop before the 17 or 18 hours of travel time ahead. I went onto Priceline and got a car for $35 and a hotel room for $50 to use during my short stay. How about a leisurely lunch in San Francisco's North Beach?
Wednesday, Apr 13, 10pm - SFO to SYD, First Class. One of the perks about flying business or first class is you get to use the Red Carpet lounge at the airport. This is a great way to relax and have a snack before your flight. You also don't have to squeeze into a seat with the masses at the gate. I am really looking forward to my trans-pacific flight because on United Airlines the seats are lie flat sleeper seats (called United First Suite), so I can get a good night rest before my arrival on the other side of the world. This flight is on a Boeing 747, my favourite jet. Somehow it inspired me how this giant lifts so smoothly off the ground into the skies.
Friday, Apr 16, 6am. Arrive in Sydney for a 2 hour layover. I am sure I will be the walking dead, since my body may still be on New Jersey time. After 2 hours I have my connection to Melbourne (also first class on a United Boeing 747). What happens to April 14th? It disappears for all eternity as I cross the international date line. I arrive in Melbourne at about 10am.
Friday, Apr 15 to 19 - Melbourne. Don't ask exactly what I will be doing cause I don't really have a plan yet. I am open for suggestions! I do know I want to eat good food, see Luna Park, see a show (Mama Mia?) and take in the local culture.
Tuesday, Apr 19, 11.30am - MEL to SYD. Fly to Sydney on yet another United 747, I have a feeling that this is the same jet just flying back and forth!)
Tuesday, Apr 19 to 25 - Sydney. Once again I have no firm plans yet but I do know I want to do a day trip to the Hunter Valley, maybe the Blue Mountains, walk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, shop and eat as much good Aussie food as I can. I hope they have good potato crisps!
Tuesday, Apr 26 - SYD to LAX to EWR, First Class. Is it over already? Time for the long journey home to beautiful Newark, New Jersey (the Paris of the east). My flight home takes me home with 2 connections through Los Angeles and Chicago. My last leg (Chicago to Newark) is currently scheduled as a coach flight because no First Class seats were available. That should bring me back down to earth!
Hows that for a plan?
I think I did a really good job looking for hotels. I really didn't want to go through what I did at the Hotel Jeanne d'Arc in Paris last year. After flying all that way I don't want to stay in a budget joint. Hotels in Australia are also a whole lot cheaper than in Paris.
Here is what I found...
Melbourne - Rydges Melbourne, 186 Exhibition Street. I believe this is near Little Bourke Street and Chinatown. The location seems good and the price was AUS$140 for a deluxe king room. That's about US$109 a night. The hotels looks nice and is a 3-4 star property. The web-sight informs me they have recently completed a multi million dollar renovation of the entire property. I just hope they bought new towels. Trip Advisor rates this as #32 out of 153 hotels on Melbourne.
Sydney - Rydges Jamison, 11 Jamison Street. I found this hotel on Trip Advisor and discovered special rates on their web-sight at AUS$175 a night, tax included for a deluxe king room with balcony. That's about US$136. This was a little higher than my budget but it got such good reviews on comfort and location compared to other hotels in that range. Plus I see this use to be a Le Meridien so how bad can it be? I really wanted to stay at the Sheraton or Harbour Marriott but I could secure a room on Priceline and their regular rates are way over the top. On Trip Advisor, the Rydges Jamison rates as #20 out of 175 hotels in Sydney. The web-sight says the lavishly appointed Rydges Jamison Sydney is a boutique hotel that represents a new focus in style, design and comfort. Gotta love that!
Update - Three days prior to my trip I entered a priceline.com bid for a 5 star room in Sydney and was awarded the Sydney Harbour Marriott at $100 a night. Including tax and fees that comes to $113 a night for a room that normally sells for about $250 a night. It's a good deal and the hotel is ideally situated. The best part is that it saves me about $180 over what I would have paid at the Rydges Jamison.
If anyone wants to offer me any more advise such as shopping, restaurants (I love to eat!), sights, etc., I wouldn't refuse the thoughts!
Blogging - Live from Australia!
While on my trip I will be blogging LIVE! using my Cingular Blackberry. In November 2004 I blogged live from Paris and London and it was a big hit with the Fodorites on the Europe board. I hope you follow along. I will be on the other side of the world (how exciting is that?) so of course, my day may be over as yours begins.
If you are interested, visit my "i heart paris" blog.
Note - There is a slight chance that I will arrive in Australia and my Blackberry won't transmit, but that's slim. Also, have you ever typed on a Blackberry? Since you type with your thumbs it is likely that there may be errors. Since I am a bad speller you will also see spelling boo-boos. Please excuse me!
That's all for now, see you starting on Wednesday, April 13 at 6am, eastern time.