Not Your Average Gal

Copywriter. Content Creator. Constant Sassypants.

Asia

Airfare: How I Flew in Business Class to Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong for Under $100

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The biggest costs to any trip are usually airfare and hotels. So how in the world did I fly three 10+ hours flights, all in business class for under $100? Let me show you.

This is the first part in a series of Trip Reports where I’ll breakdown the costs associated with airfare and hotels and how I pay for a significant portion of it with miles and points, like I did recently to Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong.

So how did I fly in glorious business/first class for under $100?

Here’s how:

LAX – SYD: Virgin Australia Business Class – 80,000 Delta Miles + $37.10 tax
AKL – HKG: Cathay Pacific Business Class – 30,000 American Miles + $20.90 tax
HKG – JFK: Asiana Airlines Business Class – 80,000 United Miles + $41.60 tax
Total: $99.60

I’m sure you’ve read up on The Basics of Earning Miles and Points, so you’re well versed in travel hacking, right? Obviously, staying at hotels and flying will earn you hotel and airline miles, but for those of us who aren’t jetsetting 24/7 just for funzies, travel hacking works.

I used Delta Skymiles that I’ve earned by flying with them for years, as well as miles earned on my Platinum Delta America Express to book a Virgin Australia business class ticket. Virgin Australia is a partner of Delta and easily bookable online on Delta.com.

Business Class in Virgin Australia...with, you know, a bar.
Business Class in Virgin Australia…with, you know, a bar.

 

I used American miles that I earned simply by meeting the minimum spend with the Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select card and AAdvantage Aviator card (formerly theThe US Airways Premier World MasterCard). Cathay Pacific is a OneWorld partner and was booked through American Airlines.

Note the headline on The Wall Street Journal...what shadow? From my stretched legs on Cathay Pacific?
Note the headline on The Wall Street Journal…what shadow? From my stretched legs on Cathay Pacific?

 

I used United miles that I earned through both my United MileagePlus Explorer card and my Chase Sapphire credit card to book on Asiana Airlines, which is a Star Alliance partner. You can easily transfer your Chase Ultimate Rewards points to United miles and book from there.

It was my own little apartment.
It was my own little apartment on Asiana.

 

As I mentioned previously, I utilized a great company to help me find my Cathay Pacific and Asiana Airlines flights. There was a $200 fee associated with it that I felt was well worth it, since I was flying around the holidays and Australia/New Zealand are notoriously hard award ticket routes. I could have booked all of these flights, meaning there wasn’t some special pricing I got by knowing a hidden website or password. I just didn’t know where to look and that’s where PointsPros helped me out. I highly recommend them and may post about my experience in the future.

Additionally, I also had to get to LAX, fly between SYD and AUK, as well as, you know, get home to FLL, so there were tickets that I paid for out of pocket that I will lay out for you in the final total of costs for a 2 week trip. Hint: All total, including hotels, was under $1500.

Do I have your attention now?

*maniacally raises eyebrows*

Still think travel is too expensive for you? Nah. With minimum effort and a lot of organization, you can easily travel in business class on three 10+ hour flights, for under $100.

Stay tuned to see how little I spent on hotels for this trip.

Hong Kong Check-in

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Travel is not for the faint of heart, at least not this much travel. I'm currently at 38,000 feet flying to Hong Kong after spending a week in Australia and New Zealand. I get why people pay the big bucks for business class tickets (not that I did) because you arrive, typically, more refreshed. I just accidentally slept for 4-5 hours, nearly half the flight, and hopefully won't be fighting jet lag tonight because of it. Orrrrrrrr I'll be wide awake tonight and a zombie during my food tour tomorrow morning.

Side note: people are more demanding in business class. I just watched some guy yell, “Socks, socks!” at a flight attendant as if it would make or break his ability to enjoy himself before the flight took off.

Australia and New Zealand were wonderful. I can't wait to share my experiences I had there with my friends. Girl time is necessary and currently, it's just what the doctor ordered. Having us meet half-way around the world jet setting was the cherry on top. These gals are expert travelers too, so it makes it a cake walk most of the time.

waiheke island
Waiheke Island, New Zealand

So, my thoughts as I'm about to land in an unknown city, that doesn't speak my language?

Besides being excited, I'll be honest that I'm freaking out a bit. I worry about stupid things like not being able to make a call (What's the Hong Kong country code? Should have looked that up.) or getting so lost that it's obvious and someone takes advantage of how lost I look by suckering me into a scheme. Or today, in New Zealand, I had to have my picture taken twice through security because the computer didn't recognize me (based on my passport photo from 6 years ago) so I'm assuming having my hair up was a bad choice. What if the same happens when I land in Hong Kong and they think I'm crazy for wanting my hair in a bun???

When you travel alone, there isn't someone there to wake you up out of a champagne-induced haze when the flight lands. There isn't someone waiting with you through immigration to make sure you get through. There isn't someone there to consult (fight) with over directions to getting to where you want to go. Everything is up to you, you know?

On the other hand, everything is up to you…

I can wake up when I want. I can decide to putz around a pool all day or go shopping for Christmas gifts. I can meditate in the park or grab a drink at a bar. I have to focus on those aspect right now in my current freak-out mode. As my dear friend whom I just traveled with said, “Sometimes you just have to force yourself out of the hotel and make yourself find a new comfort zone. You'll be okay. And if you aren't, you can drink a bottle of wine in your hotel room.” Can you see why we're friends?

I may be confident enough in myself to travel alone, but it certainly doesn't mean there aren't fears that pop in. I think that's a normal part of the process. Just got to keep it real for you guys. It's not all perfectly wonderful feelings.

I'm going to take a picture of me with the view from the hotel and place it here once I arrive. Then you won't feel so sorry for me.

hong kong waterfront
Hong Kong habour

Until next time, friends.

Thoughts Before I Embark on my First Solo Travel Trip

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I woke up the other night in a panic. I was in my own bed, but the thoughts raced, “What am I going to do in this new city tomorrow?”

The hubster has been has been away on a rural clinical rotation in the middle of Florida for 2 months. During the week, I’m sleeping alone. Don’t feel sorry for me, it’s a new king-sized bed and I sprawl out in the middle with my ginger kitty smack-dab next to me, while I’m wearing my Spice Girls tshirt and no pants.

Ah, the life.

But as I was going to bed that night, the thought struck me that I would be doing the same in less than a few weeks, alone, in a new city, on the other side of the earth, in a foreign place that didn’t speak my language. I brushed it off and went to sleep.

Clearly, the thoughts stayed around for my dreams.

I know myself. I’m a bit more anxiety-driven than most. It’s certainly improved over the years, but there are moments that I do tomorrow’s dishes and cause unnecessary worry. I think part of the reason I haven’t thought of traveling solo to Hong Kong much was because I knew if I did, I’d start worrying.

What if my debit card doesn’t work and gets eaten by the ATM and then I’m left with no access to Hong Kong Dollars while I’m there, so I have to resort to selling my body to earn dolla dolla bills to pay for some dim sum from a street food vendor?

See? I’m crazy.

Lisbon, touring alone after the gals left.
Lisbon, touring alone after the gals left.

I put together an excel spreadsheet of possible things to do while I’m in Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong. I sent it off the floozies I’m traveling with in Australia and New Zealand. I haven’t gotten a response yet (when this was written). Most likely because they’re thinking:

THIS CHICK IS NUTS.

In most instances, when traveling, I’m over-prepared. I like to know options of things to do, I want to know the layout of the city, I scout out reviews on TripAdvisor of the best room with a view. But, I learned pretty quickly after having to cancel out trip to Southeast Asia this past summer, that looking too much into things can set up high expectations.

Canceling our trip was a gut check.

I haven’t done a ton of investigating for this upcoming trip besides putting together the options of things to do.

Nothing is planned in regards to what is going on for certain days, really at all.

I’m on a flight to Detroit, heading back for the holidays, and I’m getting a quick glimpse into what I’ll be doing for hours on end while alone on a plane. (Get prepared for a backlog of posts, peeps!)

Hollywood Beach
Hollywood Beach

 

Yes, I’m actually currently flying with the hubster, but he’s back in coach.

Yes, I’m for real.

Yes, it’s hysterical to say that.

But, real talk. This is what it will be like for me while I fly alone to Australia (15 hours), then to Hong Kong (10 hours) and back to the US from South Korea (14 hours).

Let’s not kid ourselves, (okay, the 2nd 3rd glass of wine is kicking in…) having my laptop open, listening to my tunes (Phil Collins – In The Air Tonight) while writing at 30,000 feet without any interruption besides the beautifully dotted night landscape of the land below is the bomb.

Shouldn’t say bomb on a plane.

Lock it up, C9.

I know I can do this solo travel thing. I’m a pretty friggin’ adaptable gal. I mean, I learned pretty quickly that even in South Florida I needed to bring a jacket into a restaurant to acclimate myself the the nauseatingly cold A/C that blasts from the ceiling.

Once I push through feeling uncomfortable, I will have some monumental learning experiences. That’s the logic speaking. Now if I could just tell my anxious head to buck up, I’d be set!

Any tips for me? What would you do along in a major metropolis (besides buy cute scarves and jewelry — that’s a given)?

Destination Revealed: Where I’m Going

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I’ll describe how the process went once I finally decided that traveling would need to be done solo this time.

  1. Ask readers where I should go.
  2. Contemplate super expensive European destinations.
  3. Look over super expensive group tours.
  4. Ask your dad to go with you. (He said, “No.”)
  5. Sit on the decision for many weeks as life gets hectic.
  6. Remind yourself that you have plenty of miles and points to make this cheap.
  7. Remind yourself that you have girlfriends going to Australia in December.
  8. Contemplate wanting to travel alone vs. with friends.
  9. Remind yourself you can have the best of both worlds!
  10. Book a flight to meet up with said friends and stop somewhere solo on the way back.

Boom. Nailed it.

I will be traveling to meet up with some awesome gal pals who already had their destinations chosen and arranged. These are the same floozies I went with to Spain and Portugal last year. Term of endearment, I swear.

Lisbon, Portugal
I’ll meet them in Australia and from there, we’ll go to New Zealand. On my way home, I’m going to make a small stopover in Hong Kong. No biggie.

That's 26,307 miles I'll be flying.
That’s 26,307 miles I’ll be flying.

 

"MC Sydney Opera House" by Christian Mehlführer, User:Chmehl - Own work. Licensed under CC BY 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons.
“MC Sydney Opera House” by Christian Mehlführer, User:Chmehl – Own work. Licensed under CC BY 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons.

Australia

I’m flying into Sydney a day before the girls get there. Since it’s on the edge of high-season in Australia, it was one of the last few days that week where I could snag a good deal with miles. I’m flying business class on Virgin Australia all by my lonesome. (I know, woe is me.) But I really wanted my first lie-flat international experience to be with the hubster. That sounded way more naughty than I intended. But, such is the lack of flexibility with that minor thing called med school.

I’ll spend the first day exploring Sydney. Read: Taking multiple selfies in front of the Sydney Opera House. Once the girls arrive the next day, we’ll cause trouble around Sydney for a few days.

 

"Skyline (7187438034)" by Simon_sees from Australia - SkylineUploaded by russavia. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
“Skyline (7187438034)” by Simon_sees from Australia – SkylineUploaded by russavia. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

New Zealand

I used an agency to help me find the rest of the flights using miles and points because 1) I was spending too much time on my own without many respectable options and 2) The use of my points was ending up to be a poor value because it was around the holidays and high-season in Australia. Meaning, I wasn’t about to drop 150,000 miles for a one-way ticket somewhere when I knew there were better deals.

Cue to New Zealand.

I mentioned to the agency (I’ll write about the experience in another post — highly recommend) that my girlfriends were also going to New Zealand as well and if there were better options from there, I can adjust my sails for New Zealand. I wasn’t necessarily planning on going to New Zealand at all.

Well, they found an awesome deal out of Auckland, New Zealand that I couldn’t pass up and hence, I’m going to New Zealand with the gals. My girlfriends are awesome and flexible and also didn’t have anything planned…so they hadn’t even chosen when they’d be in NZ yet. With a good deal on my flight, they gave me the thumbs up and said we could set out for NZ after a few days in Sydney. We’ll be in Auckland for a few days.

I’m flying out of Auckland in Cathay Pacific business class on a 10 hour flight for a solo trip to…

 

"Hong Kong Skyline Restitch - Dec 2007" by Diliff - Own work. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
“Hong Kong Skyline Restitch – Dec 2007” by Diliff – Own work. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

Hong Kong

I ultimately knew wanted to get to back to Asia and now is my opportunity. I explored options in Kuala Lumpur, Taipei and Tokyo before ultimately deciding on Hong Kong. The fact that it will still be relatively warm in Hong Kong is what sealed the deal for me.

Oh and dumplings. *omgicantwaitfordumplings*

I’m staying at a hotel on points near where all the action is, based off the advice of a coworker that used to live there. I’m both excited and scared to explore alone. I know I’ll be fine. Hong Kong used to be a British Commonwealth, so, from what I heard, it’s relatively easy to get around only knowing English. Perfect for my first truly solo trip.

I’m flying back to the states, via Seoul, South Korea, in business class on Asiana airlines. Again, all on miles and points.

I am so excited that I can hardly contain myself! Traveling is all about prioritizing and leveraging what you want to do, so you can make it happen. And I am! I can’t wait to share more with you guys.

(Also, a big congratulations to Kim and Katie who were the first to guess correctly about where I’m going on this trip. I’ll be bringing back something fun for you gals!)

What do you think?
Have you ever been to Australia, New Zealand or Hong Kong?
Any suggestions for me? I’m all ears!

Bangkok on my Mind

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bangkok2 copy

Bangkok and I have love/hate relationship. It could have been due to a mixture of circumstances since we had just gotten back from a remarkable, eye-opening few days in Cambodia, only to fall prey to a cliché scam on our first day in Bangkok. We weren’t happy about it. But, I remember sweating through my dress at 9pm, avoiding running into people on crowded sidewalks, trying to quickly glance at the delicious and bizarre street food while finding our way to a bar that a blogger recommended, when I said to the hubster:

I could live here.

And such is my relationship with Bangkok.

I was incredibly disheartened to hear about the bombings in Bangkok. I immediately used Google Maps to see where it had occurred only to find out it was near an MRT station that we used to get off at for our hotel, one which I begged the hubster to go and get coffee with me often.

So many people travel in that area. So many lives changed. So many lives lost. It’s hard to wrap your head around such hate, however often it seems to occur.

My thoughts are with the people of Thailand as they to to piece together what has happened and mourn loved ones.

bangkok1 copy

Canceling our Trip to Southeast Asia & How Things Will Get Better

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I’m not sure where to begin, so I’ll just dive into the vulnerability pool. It’s been a whirlwind 6 days of emotionally epic proportions. Life has a freakishly maddening way of reminding you that you aren’t in control of anything…even a trip you’ve been planning for 6 months.

angkorwat2013

It’s safe to say that medical school is tough; perhaps even the toughest educational path to partake in and complete. Do not take that word ‘tough’ lightly. Med students possess only a shred of the stamina and dedication I could ever muster up even in my happiest, “This is my passion!” kind of moments. (Side note: My “This is my passion!” moments usually involve sipping a Mai Tai on a beach.)

There are certain sacrifices you make as a med student spouse that go completely unnoticed by nearly everyone. Silent rearrangements of plans. A casual protector for why he isn’t there or hasn’t called back. Living with the constant unknown of where the next year or two or four will take you. Pulling out your best motivational speeches even when you’re looking for some yourself. Wearing your game face in an atmosphere of constant underlying stress. Juggling multiple life goals, career paths and dreams while still trying still to find time to change the damn toilet roll. Lonely nights. Lonely weeks. Lonely holidays. Master ninja glasses taker-offer when he’s fallen asleep.

Med school tests your willingness to make sacrifices nearly every day.

Our trip will just have to be one of them. It’s just as simple and as sad as that.

Stress has a tendency to sneak up on you and remind you it was always simmering slowly anyway. Even if this trip had been in the works for about 6 months, you never know just how you’ll feel prior to departure. Without going into details, the rigors of med school essentially reared it’s ugly head. I found out last weekend just how much.

Balance is key. Hell, I think I’m funny as all get-out, (I mean, c’mon, I named my boobs Ginger and Spice in high school for God’s sake) but sometimes there isn’t as much of a need for humor in a situation like this as there is for a good ol’ regular schedule. While I’m pretty good at taking care of myself so I can be the best version of me possible, the pressure of med school is unyielding; often making it tough to be able to take necessary, healthy, healing breaks. The appropriate decision was to cancel the trip to encourage this regularly while studying, in a routine that wouldn’t be possible while traveling.

The hubster’s health, happiness and sanity matter more to me than any trip. Sure he’s my best and favorite travel partner. But sometimes you have to take off your (adorable) travel partner hat and be the life partner he needs.

Like I’ve mentioned here, planning this trip has been my refuge from stress. (I’ve cried in my work bathroom more times than I care to admit, so I don’t do it at home.) Perhaps excitingly planning this trip was my sanity check and kept me at a safe distance from the stress of witnessing the hardship of med school? Perhaps that was the only purpose it needed to serve? And, quite frankly, it served it well.

I’m slowly going through the process of canceling flights, hotels and tours and returning things to stores that we now won’t need. (I didn’t want those matronly looking white capri pants anyway…) There are frustrating rebooking fees associated with redepositing airline miles and points, not to mention the non-refundable things already paid for. I’ve become an expert at asking for a portion of the fees to be taken off, Delta for instance, was awesome. We had 5 flights booked, 3 of which were on award tickets. We won’t be reimbursed for the 2 we paid in cash, but the redeposit fees for our award tickets were significantly lower after a nice Silver Medallion Delta rep took the reigns to see what she could do. I’m currently investigating travel cancellation insurance we have, but we’ll see what, if anything, is covered.

But guess what? It’s just money. That’s it. Just money.

It’s not all sunshine and unicorns farting rainbows. I didn’t have this perspective immediately. I’ve had my moments in this whole deal. I actually said this week when we were talking about med school, “You know this isn’t easy for me either?!” I stomped my feet just like you’re imagining, too.

In the throes of seeing my husband dealing with more than I can imagine and knowing our trip was going to need to be canceled, I started making a mental list of the pros and cons of this present situation. Call it a coping mechanism or relics from therapists of the past - it works.

Pros

  • I have a ton of unused PTO now
  • I’ve been putting off going to the dermatologist, now I can go sooner
  • Teen Mom 2 starts next week!
  • I can focus getting more blogs written ahead of time
  • We may be able to go on a shorter vacation
  • I could do a solo travel trip before the end of the year that both excites and scares the living shit out of me
  • I can practice and play with our new GoPro more
  • I have an ungodly amount of unused miles and points now
  • When we do end up going back to Southeast Asia (even years from now), I know exactly what to plan
  • I lost 3 pounds from stress this past weekend. (I’ll take it. It’s a judgement-free zone here, folks.)

Cons

  • Not spending quality time exploring with the hubster. To put it into perspective, I probably won’t be able to travel with him for longer than a weekend until at least July of 2016.
  • Not seeing the temples of Bagan, Myanmar. I had dreams about quietly exploring that part of the world that hasn’t been totally ruined by tourism yet. By the time we go, it just may be.
  • No lie-flat first class experience for us
  • No delicious curries
  • Being unable to shoot the videos I had pictured in my head. I even had a song chosen for the montage.
  • Being immersed in totally different cultures and reveling in it.
  • I still have to unpack because, of course, I already packed.

Traveling is an integral part of who I am; it feeds my soul. I will get a chance to feed that, it will just be at a later date and not the trip I had been planning. It may be a solo trip. It may be a long weekend with the hubster. It may be another girls trip to Europe. It may be 3-4 days on an island nearby named Cuba. Who knows? It just won’t be happening right at this very instance.

Life sometimes just won’t allow for it to be planned out 6 months ahead of time and that’s okay. Things will get better. This will eventually be a blip in the radar of life. Years from now, I’m sure we’ll look back at the end of the 3rd year of medical school and admire how we got through it. Smile at how close it brought us. Laugh at how trivial wanting a damn good dish of curry could be.

notevenourtroubles

Now for a special shout-out to you guys, my readers. I know your life doesn’t revolve around our now canceled trip, but I know you would have enjoyed the posts and for that I’m sorry. I promise to continue to update my arsenal of posts from past travels and life anecdotes that I haven’t told you about yet.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need a Mai Tai and a beach.