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This week I am traveling in Australia, so I thought I'd share a great website for finding last-minute hotel deals and holiday packages. It’s called Wotif.com. Wotif also offers deals for areas outside of Australia, such as New Zealand, Asia, the Europe and the United States, but I have only used it for the land Down Under. Wotif is easy to use. Just click your mouse three times to see all the hotel deals: one for the country, two for the destination and three to go. The next page displays an easy-to-read spreadsheet with the following 14 days (including the day of week and date) across the top. All the hotels (or apartments) are listed down the left side. You can click any accommodation for detailed information, including a map. Hotels are sorted by star rating. 5 stars (the highest, denoting luxury accommodations) are listed first, followed by 4, 3, 2, 1 and no-star places. Available properties are highlighted in green, with the daily price listed. Sold-out hotels are clearly marked. You can refine your search and sort by location, price, even amenities (like places with a pool, gym or cable tv). The website’s availability is restricted to the next 14 days, so it is just for last-minute travelers. Another plus is that Wotif shows you how much a savings you really get, because the first number listed is the property’s rack rate. After filling out the usual guest information fields and pressing "Pay Now" you are emailed a confirmation number, and are ready to go. When I used it a few days ago the 5-star hotel I was able to secure had a rack rate of $700 a night. Guess how much I paid using Wotif? $225! Great deal, huh? They also have a link to a handy currency converter, so you know exactly how much you're paying in U.S. dollars. If you really like to wait to the last minute, be sure to book before 5 p.m. of that day. Otherwise you're out of luck (or should I say, out of Wotif!). | ||
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= WEBSITE Didn't have a chance to read last week's newsletter? Click here! HOUSE KEEPING: Remember when you click on the pictures in "Where's Johnny Jet," they will open up in another window. Just click the "x"(close) in each picture to get back to the newsletter. This should alleviate complaints about closing Johnny Jet. Thanks again for your support, and remember: If you book trips on the web, please go through johnnyjet.com (we get a commission and it doesn't cost you any more money). "If you want Johnny Jet to continue I need your support and the support of your fellow travelers". ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ G’day mate! This week we are coming from one of my favorite countries in the world: Australia! (But you probably already guessed that, right?). Just the name “Australia" makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. Yet the word “Austria" (which is the country most Americans confuse this place with -- even though it’s on the other side of the world) doesn’t do a thing for me. Weird, huh? I won’t write a long introduction to Australia, because I did that last year when I visited here with my brother and Amber Airplane. To read that article, click here. This time I’ll just go over a few interesting tidbits I mentioned last time, and add some new ones. If you happen to be one of those people who don’t know where Australia is (please say you’re not!), here’s a world map to help you locate it. Hint: It’s in the Southern Hemisphere, which is why Australia is referred to as Down Under. When it's winter in the U.S. it's summer in Australia (and vice versa, obviously). To get an idea of how far away Australia is from the rest of the world, check out these flight times: It takes 14 hours from Los Angeles, 9 hours from Honolulu, 8 hours from Singapore, 10 hours from Hong Kong, 14 hours from Johannesburg, 16 hours from Santiago, and 21 hours for European passengers (they have to stop in Asia ). Ouch! The nearest city too Australia is still 3 hours away: Auckland, New Zealand. (The Aussies have a love-hate relationship with their next-door neighbors, mainly over sports). Most airlines offer a free stopover (except United; they only fly nonstop from LAX or SFO to SYD). Depending on which airline, which route, and where you come from, you might take advantage of a short stopover in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Honolulu, Fiji, Tahiti, New Zealand, Bangkok or Singapore. And keep in mind: If you are not an Australian citizen you can buy a Qantas Boomerang Pass. This is a terrific way to explore Australia, New Zealand and the southwest Pacific, but it must be purchased before you leave your country -- and you have to fly Qantas to Australia. Another great way to see Australia is by using their two low-fare carriers, Virgin Blue and Jet Star (Begins service May 2004). They are similar to Jet Blue and Southwest airlines in the U.S. (I’ll write about them more later in this newsletter). If you have never studied a map of Australia, you can do so here. As you can see, this country is quite large. In terms of land mass, Australia is about the same size as the continental United States. However, it has nowhere near the same number of people. Australia's population is only 19.5 million, while the United States’ is 285 million. The population of the New York metropolitan area alone is 18 million. Crazy, huh? Most of the population lives along the coast. Once you get inland you will find a harsh outback of unlivable land, with very little rainfall. Would you believe 90% of the population lives on only 2.6% of the continent? And speaking of continents, you did know that Australia is one of the earth’s seven continents, right? (Of course you did.) It’s also the only continent to fly one flag. To top it all off, Australia is the largest island in the world. Most Australians think that when it comes to geography, Americans are stupid. (They have a point.) Australians travel abroad much more than Americans. In fact, don’t be surprised if you meet an Australian who’s been to more U.S. states than you have. Only 22% of Americans hold passports; for Australians, it’s double that figure. I think the big reason Australians get out so much is because Australia is so isolated from the rest of the world. What’s pretty funny, though, is that it seems Australians know more about U.S. geography than they do about their own country. So the next time an Aussie starts testing your geography, just ask him how many states there are in Australia. I can almost guarantee it will take a few minutes for him to tell you. The answer should be 6 states (New South Whales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania) and 2 territories (Northern Territory and A.C.T. - Australian Capital Territory). Most Australians are relatively new to their land. The most recent census found that 3.9 million people had been born overseas, 3.8 million had one or both parents born overseas. and 2.6 million people spoke a language other than English at home. (There are 282 major languages spoken in Australia). The vast majority (94%) are of European descent; 4% are Asian, and 1.5% are Aboriginal (Aboriginal’s are native Australians.). Maybe that’s why they travel so much -- to go see their extended family! Most Australians are Christian (70%), but there are 92 different religious denominations Down Under. Source: WhatstheNumber.com. I find Sydney to be as multiethnic as any major U.S. city. I took about 30 cab rides, and the drivers came from all over the world: Australia, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, China, Nigeria, Ghana, Greece, Czech Republic...you name it. I asked each one the same question: "How do you like living in Australia?" They all had the same answer: "It’s the best…everyone is happy, beautiful, laid back and friendly." I agree. After Amber Airplane and I cleared customs we went straight to an ATM to get Australian dollars. (Tip: Using your ATM and/or credit card in any country offers you the best exchange rates.) The Australian dollar is still a bargain for Americans, but not as much as it used to be. Over the past few years the Australian dollar has gotten stronger, and bargains are slipping away. So hurry up and come down here before all the bargains disappear. Currently 1 USD = 1.32 AUS. Basically, that means the whole country is on sale: 25% off for Americans, even more for Europeans. Every price I give will be in Australian dollars (unless noted), so remember calculate the 25% exchange rate. This was the first time I ever landed in a foreign country without a hotel reservation. It wasn’t just because the trip was planned at the very last minute -- I still could have booked a hotel online, as Amber Airplane requested. Instead I told her not to worry. We were going to try something different, and try to find a great deal at the Sydney airport. I remembered last year, when I stopped by the traveler services for New South Wales booth right outside baggage claim and priced their offers just out of curiosity. They had some incredible last-minute deals. Unfortunately, this year -- when it counted – the opposite happened. When I walked up to the booth and inquired about a hotel, the agent had a grim look and said, “Bad news. The whole city is sold out." I felt like I got sucker punched. My smile fell off my face, and my stomach dropped to new a low. I asked dazedly, “Do you have anything right outside the city? Maybe near the beaches?" This time I saw the punch coming. Everything felt in slow motion, like a scene out of Rocky (you know, when Rocky was getting his clocked cleaned). The agent shook her head no and said, “I a m s o r r y s i r (the spacing is for slow-motion effect), but it’s summer down here and we are really full." Amber Airplane’s expression made me want to run back on an airplane and go home. She gave me one of those death stares that only Charles Manson could appreciate. Tourism New South Wales (Tel: +61 2 9667 6053 Hours: 6:00am - 11:00pm) The only advice the friendly agent could offer was use of the free computers around the corner, where we could look online for rental apartments. I quickly logged on to JohnnyJet.com to find my two favorite last-minute Aussie hotel internet websites: Wotif.com, and RatesToGo.com. I wanted to find out for myself if they had any vacancies -- but they didn’t. I then remembered meeting a very nice lady named Robyn at a press luncheon a few weeks back in Beverly Hills. The event was for Orient Express Hotels, and they had flown in their general managers from around the world. Robyn happened to be sitting at our table. That was very lucky for us, because out of 50 representatives she was the only one from Australia. The hotel Robyn runs is called the Lillianfels, and is one of the nicest hotels in the Blue Mountains (less than 2 hours out of Sydney- I’ll write about that next week). I found Robyn’s card, and went to call her. That’s when I ran into another problem. Because I had not planned on coming to Australia I left my Australian SIM card (for my international cell phone) at home. I had no coins to use for the pay phone (I left them at home too). I didn’t even bother asking Amber Airplane, for fear of getting my head bitten off. Instead I walked a short distance down the airport terminal to a newsstand, and asked to buy a prepaid phone card. That is the cheapest possible way to communicate by telephone. There are deals for as low as 3 cents a minute to call North America. Incredible, I know. Just before I forked over $10 for a phone card I spotted an Optus SIM card on the shelf. (Optus is the service I use for my cell phone while in Australia.) Although a prepaid phone card is much cheaper, I still prefer having cell phone for three reasons: It’s more convenient, more sanitary (because you don’t have to touch a keypad infected with everyone else’s germs.), and it gives me a sense of security (it’s nice to be able to pick up the phone anytime, or have a number so loved ones can reach you at anytime). I bought a new SIM card for only $30 -- and it came with $30 of talk time. That’s a great deal. And not only that, but all incoming calls on these cell phones -- regardless of where they are dialed from, even overseas -- are free. That’s right, FREE! There are a few different calling plans. We chose the one that offered the lowest cost to call the U.S. It cost us about 27 cents a minute, whether we were calling next door or Los Angeles. You can get one of these GSM cell phones from JohnnyJetCellPhones.com before you leave for your trip, or buy one when you arrive in Australia. As Amber Airplane was surfing the net for apartment rentals (but more likely UGG Boots We hopped in a taxi and took the 5-mile ride to the city. It cost around $35. We could have taken cheaper transportation like the train, but with two people traveling it’s not too much cheaper. Not only that, but it was hot out and we just wanted to get settled in to our room after all our stress. It was 31 degrees Celsius (87 Fahrenheit), but the taxi driver told us we were lucky. We just missed record high temps: A few days before it was 45 C (113 F). (Tip: While researching this article I found a handy little trip planner website. It shows the shortest time between two destinations in Sydney using public transportation. You can choose any mode of transport: bus, train, ferry or foot. We checked into our plush hotel. It had a nice view, but more importantly it was superbly located. We were in the Historic Rocks District, only a 10-minute walk to Circular Quay and Sydney Harbour. After the bellman brought up our bags I tipped him. He was very surprised and thankful. (Tipping in Australia is not necessary, but I still give bellmen $1 per bag, taxi drivers the change, and waiters 10%). Our room was awesome. We had a luxurious marble bathroom with an oversize bath, heated towel racks, separate bath and shower, double vanities, detachable hairdryers and a phone. The Observatory Hotel : Tel: (+61) 2-9256-2222 email@observatoryhotel.com.au. The first thing we did after we unpacked was take a walk to see the world-famous Opera House. I never get sick of that view. We then grabbed what we thought was a late lunch. However, it turned into an early dinner, because we took what we thought was an hour nap but turned into a 12-hour deep sleep. We fell asleep for so long because after lunch we checked out our hotel’s spa and it really helped us relax. It was awesome, which was understandable: It’s known as one of the best spas in Sydney. It’s so good that local residents are members as well. The spa is located on the bottom floor, and includes a really nice indoor heated pool. The pool’s ceiling has fiber optic lights that were designed to recreate the constellations of the southern hemisphere. Pretty cool. A hot tub off to the side is even cooler (actually, it’s hot). There’s a fitness center, and the men’s and women’s locker rooms each have a steam room, sauna and private showers. Before I went upstairs I got talking to Randy, the spa’s manager. When he found out we had just come off an international flight, he said, “You have to go for a float." He took me into a dark room, and showed me a floating device that looked like a giant plastic coffin. The float is 4 feet wide, 8 feet long and 3 feet high. It’s filled with a foot of water, 80% of it salt (giving it the same effect as the Red Sea). I said, “I’m not going in that thing!" He laughed and explained that Floating has many beneficial effects. One is that falling asleep in the device for 30 minutes is equivalent to four hours of deep sleep. It sounded good, but I was still skeptical. I get claustrophobic. I asked the price. Randy said it normally cost $45 for 30 minutes and $60 for 60, but all hotel guests who come from an international flight are given a free 30-minute float. that sounded more appealing, but I wanted to think about it for a day. The next day I figured I might as well give it a shot. After all, it’s free. The room was dark, lit only by three little motif candles. Music played softly. The attendant showed me where the Vaseline and bowl of individually wrapped earplugs were kept. You need ear plugs to keep the water out, and Vaseline to cover any open wounds (otherwise the water would sting). The attendant left the room, and I stripped down to my birthday suit. I stepped into the float like I was an astronaut (this float thing could be mistaken for a spacecraft). I lay down, shut the door and after five seconds I said out loud, “This is CRAZY!" I quickly re-opened the door, jumped out of the water onto the ground and said to myself, “I can’t do this." Then a stream of salt water slid down my face from my hair into a little razor cut I didn’t even know I had, and I yelped in pain. Scrambling for the Vaseline jar, I knocked over two candles and a Q-Tip box. I tore open the jar, took a big scoop of the petroleum jelly and rubbed it all over my face like it was miracle cream. The pain went away, and my senses returned. I got back in the float and tried to relax. This time I left the sliding door open a little, to let in a little light. Once I worked up the courage, I shut it completely. It was pitch black, and I couldn’t even see my hand in front of me. I did not fall asleep; however, it was definitely an experience, and I felt relaxed immediately afterward. Once I took a shower to remove all the salt I felt invigorated, with a lot of energy. Amber Airplane took a float after me. I’m sure she will write about it soon (her description will be much better than mine). Because our hotel and room was so nice, and we had a ton of work to catch up on, we spent a lot of time there. I really needed to get on some high-speed internet access, because I had done very little work in Fiji (a shocker, huh?). The worst part about the Observatory hotel was that they charged an extraordinary amount for this service. In fact, it’s the highest I’ve heard of anywhere in the world. Would you believe they charge $15 an hour, or $35 a day? Even though I was getting a reduced rate for the room, I still couldn’t justify $35 a day for high-speed. I pay almost that much for a month of service back home. Before laying down the big buck, I looked around town for cheaper alternatives. I only found two internet cafes in downtown Sydney, and both were expensive: $8 an hour. However, I found more reasonable rates around Bondi and Coogee beaches, which I will cover next week. What was nice about the Observatory location was that we had never stayed on this side of town before. Besides being centrally located, we found a great outdoor café called the Rocks Deli. This is a fine place to have an inexpensive breakfast, or just drink a cup of joe over the morning paper. We were even happier when we found a dry cleaner around the corner that offered same- day laundry service. Instead of paying top dollar to get our clothes washed by the hotel, or wasting two hours in a laundromat, we had the cleaners do it for only $9 a load. You can’t beat that. Wash On The Rocks, 9B Argyle Place, Millers Point, The Rocks. Tel: (02) 9247-4917. Across the street from the dry cleaners is Sydney’s oldest pub, Lord Nelson’s Brewery (it’s also a hotel). The place is supposed to have the best beer (I don’t drink, so I’m not a good judge). We went in one night for dinner, and were disappointed. The food and service was not very good, considering the prices. Lord Nelson Brewery, 19 Kent St (Corner of Argyle St), The Rocks, NSW 2000 Tel: (02) 9251-4044. If you’re looking for a nice early morning walk, follow the path around the Opera House. It will take you out to Mrs McQuaries Chair, which is one of the best places on land in Sydney to get a photo of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge in the same frame. While we were up there admiring the incredible view and people-watching, we noticed a guy with a secret agent-like earpiece walk by. Guess who the person in front of him was? The prime minister of Australia, John Howard. A lady next to us taking pictures said, “I bet your president can’t do that." I said he could, but he’d have an army of secret service agents, not just one or two. From Mrs. McQuarrie’s chair (she was an early 19th-century governor, and had the chair carved into the point so she could check up on her husband), I recommend walking a short distance to the Royal Botanical Gardens. Take a leisurely stroll through the park -- it’s one of the most beautiful gardens around. You will see all kinds of plants, as well as birds and bats. I’m talking big ol’ bats – they’re actually called flying foxes. On the way back to our hotel we took a shortcut through Observatory Park, which is across the street from the Observatory Hotel (now you know how the hotel got its name). The park is very peaceful, and the view of the Harbour Bridge is special. Last year we saw a lot of touristy sites. The first week of our trip this year we mostly hung out in the city like locals. We didn’t want to rush around, trying to cram every site in. We relaxed, took leisurely walks and dined out. The only tourist attraction we went to this week was the Sydney Aquarium. I am not a big aquarium fan, but Amber Airplane wanted to go after seeing one of the many advertisements for the “Finding Nemo" exhibit. She loved “Finding Nemo" (I did too, but I won’t admit it). The Sydney Aquarium really took advantage (as it should have) of the blockbuster movie, since it took place along the Eastern Coast of Australia and in Sydney Harbour. It cost adults $24 to enter, and they get you for $4 dollars more for a guide. There are hundreds of tanks filled with every possible fish or species found in Australia, from Crocodiles to tree frogs. They actually do a nice job teaching visitors all about Australia’s wildlife. The highlight of the aquarium for me was the Oceanarium. We walked beneath the water and saw huge grey nurse sharks and giant stingrays passing just inches above our heads. Amber Airplane’s favorite part was (of course) the Finding Nemo exhibit, which was at the very end of the aquarium. This was my worst part. With all the advertisements around town and signs throughout the aquarium saying “Find Nemo," I felt like we got suckered when we finally found the liltte clownfish. That’s all the exhibit was: a tank at the very end, with one or two clownfishes. To top it off, like all tourist traps, in order to exit you have to walk through a huge gift shop filled with merchandise. Sydney Aquarium But enough about tourist traps. Next week we head to the Blue Mountains for the weekend, and then hit Sydney’s beaches with a special visitor (make that two) from the U.S. Happy Travels, Johnny Jet P.S. Do me a favor and browse our sponsors and book all your online travel through JohnnyJet.com. It will help keep this newsletter free of charge. Thanks |
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If you're renting a car for more than a day or two, and particularly if you can get a cheap shuttle to your hotel, then wait until when you need to start using your rental car and arrange for Hertz to deliver it to you at your hotel. You'll save all those airport surcharges (that can run up to 30% or more of your bill!) and possibly save a day or two of rental cost as well. David Rowell the Travel Insider
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Five places to research your flight before shopping for the lowest fare Websites you've probably never heard of can help you save money on airline tickets. Before you book your seat, it's worthwhile to research your route so that you're sure to know a good deal when you see one. Click Here To Read Article |
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