December 26th, 2010
On The Road…
Post stickied. Please scroll down for new posts:
Wow, it’s already been a week since my wife and I left Cleveland on a month-long trip round-the-world!
We were supposed to originally fly in British Airways First Class to Thailand, but Heathrow was closed last Sunday so we rerouted via the Pacific and flew in the too-good-for-words-to-describe 747 First Class on Cathay Pacific to Thailand via S. Francisco and Hong Kong.
We spent a week in Thailand at 2 Starwood hotels and are now spending the night at a Hong Kong airport hotel before heading on down to Australia tomorrow in First Class on Qantas! We’ll check out Melbourne, Sydney, Tasmania, and the Whitsunday Islands near the Great Barrier Reef while down under over the next 2.5 weeks. Feel free to post your tips for activities in any of those place or about kosher restaurants in a comment on this post. (Comments are moderated as always so I’ll approve them as internet access permits)
I priced out our round-the-world trip (as it stands now) if we were to pay for it and it was over $45,000 each! Instead all we needed were the miles from opening a handful of credit cards for the airfare, the Starwood points from the Starwood AMEX, and leftover Hyatt points from their last Faster Free Nights promotion to take a trip around the world for literally next to nothing!
I’ll post a trip report on Thailand soon. Bear with me as we travel and keep on checking back for updates!
1
December 26th, 2010 at 10:57 am
love these updates! enjoy!
2
December 26th, 2010 at 11:04 am
Dan , what is it that u do that allows you to take off a month? Or is it this that you do
3
December 26th, 2010 at 11:08 am
in melbourne, make sure to have some of Heimishe bakery chocolate covered cookies…the large round ones or the ones with mint on top.
while you are in the melbourne area, it would be a great idea to head down to philip island, where you can see penguins come in from the ocean (amazing and worth buying the more expensive viewing tickets) also you can go to an aussie zoo with all their native animals.
you have akland street and chappel for some nice bars.
Aussie beers are really amazing, so make sure to try a few and take some back…also you may want to be brave and go for a meat pie or have a marmite sandwich.
Buy some Glicks hot bagels, as they are very good and you may want to checkout the melbourne goel (jail)and the city…with the free tram (especially for tourists.
Enjoy and there is much more to do and see in the whole Australia!
4
December 26th, 2010 at 11:21 am
@ Lubavitcherbochur: he’s just like a bochur in 770. Did you ever ask one of them how they’re able to take 3 months off to go to the far east?
5
December 26th, 2010 at 1:08 pm
This is all great and stuff, but can you find a baseball weekly in Thailand? How can you keep track of the fantasy baseball league for Rabbi P’s 4th grade class?
Sent from a windowless classroom
6
December 26th, 2010 at 1:32 pm
Wow keep those updated coming, love them, also the more details the better.
7
December 26th, 2010 at 2:06 pm
This is so cool. Thanks for the posts. They inspire us all.
8
December 26th, 2010 at 2:20 pm
Dan please STOP posting!!!!!!
One word—jealousy
9
December 26th, 2010 at 2:30 pm
i have the same question as lubavitcherbochur lol
10
December 26th, 2010 at 2:40 pm
So how much will it cost you out of pocket (roughly)?
11
December 26th, 2010 at 3:22 pm
When my wife and I were in Melbourne there was a restaurant called Kimberely’s which was really great.
Sydney has a great fish and chips place in Bondai. Nothing kosher in Tasmania but its a beautiful place and you can get lox very cheap there.
12
December 26th, 2010 at 3:23 pm
Phillip’s Island in southern Victoria is nice and def s/t to check out
13
December 26th, 2010 at 4:27 pm
this is amazing!!! enjoy!!!
14
December 26th, 2010 at 5:25 pm
John, tell Dan about Thailand !
15
December 26th, 2010 at 5:34 pm
do you have a life?
16
December 26th, 2010 at 6:39 pm
You are my Hero!
17
December 26th, 2010 at 6:56 pm
In Melbourne: There aren’t any heimishe cookies at this time as factory has closed down indefinitely. Good milchig cafe called Nogga (on main Jewish strip Carlisle st.) Also good fleishig burger joint called Daneli’s (also on Carlisle
street) In Sydney: Great Kosher grocery where you can ask anything and they know how to help Krinsky’s. Next door Glicks cafe, nothing great as a cafe; but a place to get good rolls and bagels.
18
December 26th, 2010 at 7:51 pm
@mendy:
@Yisrael:
@yergil35:
Thanks for the detailed tips, love ‘em!
Please keep them coming!
Any good spots in Melbourne to take food from for a 2 day road trip along the Great Ocean Road and the Grampians?
Any good shops in Sydney to pick up Shabbos food?
@Clevelander:
@Fan:
Will do, they’re meant to inspire!
@ZoomZoom:
That’s why I’m going in the off-season
So now you know who I am, but which of my 20 HAC classmates are you?
@Eli from BK:
As little as possible…that’s part of the fun!
I’ll know when I’m done!
@quite honestly:
Do I have a life?
Considering that traveling and seeing new places and continents is my passion I feel I’m living my life to its fullest and enjoying every second.
G-d gave us an amazing planet and I love experiencing, appreciating, and exploring as much of it as I can.
So if that’s my life and that’s a bad thing, so be it I suppose.
19
December 26th, 2010 at 7:53 pm
@Anonymous:
Don’t be jealous. What I did is not hard (well finding all those mileage seats during Xmas time was hard!) but anyone can open some credit cards and do it.
With Continental/Star Alliance for example you need 160,000 miles for a Round the world award in coach (or 220,000 in buinsess or 280,000 in first)
There are so many ways to get miles.
-AMEX Plat: 51,000 miles after spending $1,000.
-AMEX Premier Rewards: 16,000 miles after spending $1,000.
-Continental OnePass Plus Card: 30,000 miles after spending $1.
-Chase Sapphire: 28,000 miles after spending $3,000.
-AMEX Zync: 10,000 miles after spending $1,000.
-Continental Consumer Checking account: 25,000 miles.
-Continental Business Checking account: 25,000 miles.
That’s more than enough for a free round-the-world ticket!
AA has many different rates for round-the-world tickets which go based on miles traveled.
http://www.aa.com/i18n/disclaimers/oneworld_awards.jsp
I’m on a zone 8 award.
Pick up some of their cards for 75K or 100K miles and you’ll be flying free in no time!
Or if you have those already grab some Starwood cards like the Consumer Starwood AMEX or Business Starwood AMEX and get 10,000 points for each after spending $1.
20,000 Starpoints becomes 25,000 AA miles.
20
December 26th, 2010 at 7:54 pm
You must go to Ballarat. It’s a day trip from Melbourne and it’s awesome! It is a living historical gold mining town with amazing attention to detail. I haven’yt been in Melbourne since 2000 but when we went we had a ball!! I would also recommend a road trip down the Great ocean Road, and definitely don’t miss Phillips Island, there is nothing more amazing than Hashem’s wonders! and watching the little penguins parade across the beach back to their nests for the night is adorable!
21
December 26th, 2010 at 7:55 pm
Dan I didn’t get some of your last post on twitter please try to remember to twitter when u post them thanks enjoy your trip
22
December 26th, 2010 at 8:09 pm
@I was there:
I’m booked to see a Penguin parading on a beach in Tasmania already, looks awesome!
@ei:
Some people complained that their phones were waking them up at all hours of the morning so I didn’t tweet.
People really need to adjust their Twitter settings not to wake them up at night with text messages…
23
December 26th, 2010 at 8:35 pm
if I opened a chase bank account with the continental debit card for 25k miles last year, can I now open a consumer account for another 25k, or do I need to close my current account first?
24
December 26th, 2010 at 9:02 pm
Firstly, Dan, enjoy your trip!!! Secondly, what shall I do that my CC applications keep on getting rejected!?!? Any advice?
25
December 26th, 2010 at 9:48 pm
Eli from BK??? Are you the @ElifromBrooklyn twitter handle??
26
December 26th, 2010 at 9:55 pm
If your interested in a road trip look into camper van relocations.
You pay $5/day and they pay for your gas.
I took a 3 day melb to syd drive along the coast for under $80 (including insurance etc) with gas paid for in a brand new maui campervan with 2 beds, hot water/shower, stove, tv, ac ect.
It was an awesome trip!
Check out: http://www.apollocamper.com/reloc.aspx
or http://www.britz.com.au/relocatevehicles
or just google it.
27
December 26th, 2010 at 10:02 pm
What are you arrangements for kosher food on this trip? How many miles/points did you use for this trip?
28
December 26th, 2010 at 10:10 pm
Dan, Im from Sydney:
Katzy’s is a great kosher fleishig restaurant and have phenomenal food. you can also get some shabbos takeout like shnitzel, meat pies, rotiserrie chickens, salads etc there.
Their website http://www.katzys.com.au/ they are sydney’s best restaurant/deli. They even sell frozen pies you can take on a road trip. They are right down the road from Bondi Beach.
If you are ever in LA for shabbos come check out my shabbos takeout place called http://www.shabbosfoodla.com.
Sydney Sightseeing:
Must do’s:
* The Blue Mountains and KAtoomba (its a full day trip),
* The Rocks,Opera House, Circular Quay & Harbor Bridge – all within walking distance to eachother in Sydney’s Downtown.
* Darling Harbor, Chinatown, Paddys Market (check days they are open) and Star City (waterfront Casino) also all close to one another in Sydney’s Downtown.
* Bondi Beach, The Gap, The Syndey Explorer Bus (hop on and off at many cool locations and get too see lots of Sydney in a very short Time) very worth it if you want to just drive by beatifull spots etc.
The Jewish Frum area / Kosher markets, Bakeries etc are in the Bondi / Eastern Suburbs area. Chabad Shul: Yeshiva Centre 36 Flood St Bondi 2026 NSW.
Theres a chabad house closer to the beach 25 O’brien st Bondi.
Have Fun and post pics of my hometown.
if you need a place/family to eat for shabbos in sydney let me know.
29
December 26th, 2010 at 10:22 pm
This is totally awesome. I have an amex starwood. How can i get more points to take advantage and get free flights and hotel stays??
30
December 27th, 2010 at 1:15 am
@Dan: Check out Kliens on Glen Eira road. they prepack meals to go and they are pretty good for australia. or solomans butcher can vacuum pack ready made food for you as well. Enjoy the trip.
31
December 27th, 2010 at 2:01 am
There is a kosher food market in sydney called krinsky’s where you can pick up products for Shabbos.
32
December 27th, 2010 at 2:45 am
Can someone (who has been to NY) please explain me all of the excitement Down Under about the bagels? I’ve had them in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth and I found them to be a tad better than Lenders out of the freezer. I understand that the Kosher food in Oz is nothing to brag about, but at least talk about the meat pies. Pretty much everything else is suspect at best
33
December 27th, 2010 at 7:43 am
why no bali and bor bora?
34
December 27th, 2010 at 8:53 am
To have the true Aussie experience you need to rent an Aussie car, the best would be the Holden commodore ute or at least the sedan just remember to drive left!
Realto tower or eureka tower in Melbourne is worth a visit
35
December 27th, 2010 at 9:31 am
Post lots of pics!
36
December 27th, 2010 at 9:36 am
LOL… I had a friend visit New Zealand and he drove on the right hand side drunk for a few hours before he realize. Some of the rural roads are completely empty in the non-farming seasons.
37
December 27th, 2010 at 10:29 am
Dan,
I assume you take advantage of the ‘fifth night free’ when using Starwood points to maximize the points’ value. Is there a way to do this without staying in the very same hotel for four five nights in a row? Can you stay in one hotel for two nights and another three nights in another for the price of just four nights?
Thanks!
38
December 27th, 2010 at 11:44 am
Tasmania is a great trip. beem there three times. look for Mark Hamner a tour guide who is a very big fan of yidden. he will hook up with everything you need. He is a tour guide the comapny is called adventureislandtours.com.
tell him the jew from los angeles california sent you.
39
December 27th, 2010 at 12:19 pm
Well you can take out Dima, Paval, Sasha, Alex, Sergei, Yasha, and Oleg, then see what you’re left with.
Have Fun!
p.s. the penguin encounter was fun stuff!
40
December 27th, 2010 at 12:37 pm
When your in sydney its really worth checking out Taronga Zoo(http://www.taronga.org.au/).
You can get there by ferry, has amazing views overlooking the city and harbor, and i believe its one of the best zoos in the world!
41
December 27th, 2010 at 12:54 pm
Dan, where can i go to book the round the world fare with mileage? I got tons on CO and want to do something like this.
42
December 27th, 2010 at 1:05 pm
You’ve got summer we’ve got 18+” of snow.
Worth every mile and point you used for the trip.
Hope you are having an amazing time.
Say hi to a koala for me!
43
December 27th, 2010 at 2:23 pm
Dan, im so jealous that i hate you
44
December 27th, 2010 at 3:51 pm
dan,in a few years you will have seen the entire planet earth. what will be next? Is NASA joining with star alliance anytime soon?
45
December 27th, 2010 at 6:25 pm
wow! good for you! Enjoy your trip!!!
46
December 27th, 2010 at 7:14 pm
@lubavichbachur:
look at post #19, and if u have nothing good to say, keep it to yourself!
47
December 28th, 2010 at 1:47 am
Dan,
I live in Melbourne so if you need anything you can contact me. Maybe we can get together for a quick bite so you can discuss the latest cc deals with us. I have been reading your website for years and never know if we can apply for the deals being that we live in Aust.
Now for the food for your 2 day trip.
Either call Danelis on Carlise St
Eshel on Glen Eira Rd
Solomons kosher butcher on Glen Eira Rd
Kleins on Glen Eira Rd.
They all offer food you can pick up and take with you on your trip. Alot of things are closed down here due to the time of year but those should be open.
48
December 28th, 2010 at 10:44 am
@Dan
I know I am little late to the party, but any chance you did the Hong By Starlight tour in Thailand. It was one of the most amazing trips I have ever been on.
I will make sure to wake up earlier next time with the suggestions.
49
December 28th, 2010 at 12:49 pm
Totally random question here but wondering if Mr. Information might know… I have searched far and wide and can not find a kosher hot chocolate k-cup… anyone know of any? Chalav stam is fine. TIA
50
December 28th, 2010 at 7:33 pm
Can anyone help with this question http://www.dansdeals.com/forums/index.php?topic=4747.0
51
December 28th, 2010 at 8:38 pm
@Milz:
http://www.dansdeals.com/forums/index.php?topic=3920.0
http://www.lmgtfy.com/?q=k+cups+cocoa+kosher
http://www.greenmountaincoffee.com/Coffee/K-Cup-Hot-Cocoa
note: it may leave your brewer milchig!
52
December 28th, 2010 at 9:37 pm
@ anon thanks! that google for me thing is so cool btw.. thanks for that too!
53
December 28th, 2010 at 9:44 pm
@Clevelander: try http://scripts.sil.org/cms/scripts/page.php?site_id=nrsi&item_id=SILHebrUnic2
(found link here http://www.jewishcontent.org/pda/pocket-pc/)
54
December 28th, 2010 at 10:01 pm
Dan, where can I go to book a round the world trip with mileage?
55
December 28th, 2010 at 10:02 pm
@ike:
Just call the airline that you miles with to book one.
56
December 29th, 2010 at 3:18 am
I was going to tell you to take in the spectacle of the Ashes (Australia vs. England) at the MCG, but that was a real disaster for Australia, so forget it!
57
December 29th, 2010 at 7:38 am
in which cities are you spending shabbos?
58
December 29th, 2010 at 8:54 am
You should post this one
http://matzav.com/ltoeles-horabim-free-calling-to-canada
59
December 29th, 2010 at 3:53 pm
@levi:
Spent one in Chiang Mai, next will be Melbourne, Sydney, and Hong Kong
@y:
I’m not sure who’s behind that number and if they plan on spamming the numbers later on.
Without knowing that it’s better to just call your google voice number and calls to the US and Canada are free just as well and we know who’s behind it.
60
December 29th, 2010 at 6:00 pm
Which shuls do you plan on davening in on Shabbos?
61
December 30th, 2010 at 5:58 am
judging from your travels, (apollo bay, halls gap) i am assuming that you will be stopping in Ballarat and visiting sovereign hill. (either you have already stopped there, since it’s on your route back into melbourne, or you’re not planning on stopping there). sovereign hill itself shouldn’t take you more than 2-3 hours, but there is a sound and light show which is quite spectacular. it is called “blood on the southern cross”, and takes you through the famous uprising of the diggers (the eureka uprising)
62
December 30th, 2010 at 12:01 pm
Dan,
What is the best credit card with no annual fee and best sign up bonus..Starwood used to give you 25k points but I dont think they do that no more.
Please let us know.
63
December 30th, 2010 at 12:08 pm
@Dan:
If I open the Continental card, how do I transfer the points to Starwood points? If I can’t, what do I do with them?
64
December 30th, 2010 at 3:52 pm
@praisecanada lets see what would one do with airline miles? give up yet? ok how bou this FLY!!!!!!!
65
December 30th, 2010 at 4:41 pm
@quick question:
Starwood has pretty much always been $10K for your first purchase and a bonus 15K if you spend $15,000 (on top of the 15K for the spending)
@PraiseCanada:
You can’t transfer miles to points.
66
December 30th, 2010 at 11:31 pm
Queen Victorian Market is a nice place to check out
67
December 31st, 2010 at 1:38 am
Whilst in Victoria, don’t forget to ride on a TRAM (trolley car) and when it’s nice and hot chug down a couple of VB’s (Victorian Bitter) beer!
68
December 31st, 2010 at 3:47 am
enjoy the time and spread yiddishkeit. tell a story or two about meeting other jews.
69
January 2nd, 2011 at 10:48 am
Dan, Give me a call when your in Melbourne. 0401554051
70
January 2nd, 2011 at 8:00 pm
Dan hope your enjoying but were missing you terrible please keep deals pouring in thanks dan you da man
71
January 2nd, 2011 at 10:38 pm
what is- my harvest America.com?
basically you buy gift cards and debit cards for cheaper we need you to dissect it!!!
help us out?is it a scam?
72
January 2nd, 2011 at 10:39 pm
btw lets see some pics of the trip…….love the updates!!
73
January 3rd, 2011 at 6:28 am
@dansfan:
Looks like an MLM/Pyramid Scheme:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi_level_marketing
Bernie Madoff would be proud.
74
January 4th, 2011 at 9:33 am
I opened up a chase checking account 3 months ago and I still did not receive the 25k miles I only have around 15k miles should I give up hope dan? Or I should still be receiving them?
75
January 5th, 2011 at 11:29 am
whats the best buisness Credit card
76
January 5th, 2011 at 9:35 pm
@LeBron:
Go for the Starwood Business card.
77
January 6th, 2011 at 2:00 am
can u book a round the would trip in couch and get upgraded to first class for all flights? and what airlines are the best to fly in first class?
78
January 6th, 2011 at 1:23 pm
Dan,
is there one site that lets you search all airlines award travel tickets instead of going to each one separately?
btw…you the DAN
79
January 6th, 2011 at 1:58 pm
go to krinskys in bondi, sydney. amazing groceries and super customer service !!!
80
January 6th, 2011 at 11:18 pm
I dont get after opening all these CC’s and getting points, how do u transfer them, so you have all the points together?
81
January 8th, 2011 at 10:16 pm
Dan,
Am I allowed to book a Cash & Points Starwood room for a friend? As the booking comes up in my name but they will be the ones checking in, is that fine? Or do you need to let them know or change a name or something?
Thanks
82
January 9th, 2011 at 5:00 am
I had the same problem I called up chase they gave me a # to call and they put the remaining miles in!
83
January 9th, 2011 at 5:41 am
@Eli ymmv but it should not be a problem just make the res in ur name and add ur friend as a 2nd person
84
January 10th, 2011 at 7:39 pm
How come I can only see your first post about your trip to Australia?
85
January 13th, 2011 at 1:16 pm
Dan- This question may not belong on this site, but I am still concerned about a fellow yid. I know you are in Australia and I’ve been reading about the floods, tsunami, deaths and injuries. Please tell us that you and your wife are alright and whether you were in the affected areas when these things happened. I wish you Bo’Achem Le’Sholom.
86
January 13th, 2011 at 2:44 pm
are you back yet??
how was??