BDU: Flying to Sydney

BDU: Birthday Down Under - Trip Planning
BDU: Flying to Sydney
BDU: Park Hyatt Sydney
BDU: Sydney Activities
BDU: Sydney Opera House
BDU: Flying to Uluru and Back
BDU: Uluru and Kata Tjuta
BDU: Park Hyatt Melbourne
BDU: Melbourne Activities
BDU: Flying to Fiji
BDU: Hilton Fiji
BDU: Snorkeling Trip
BDU: Flying to Los Angeles
BDU: Hyatt Regency DFW

As I mentioned in my previous post, I'd lucked out and found an award seat in First Class on the Qantas flight from Dallas to Sydney.  For now, that's the world's longest flight at over 7400 nautical miles (or 8578 miles as we think of it) and blocked at 16h 50m.  (Emirates is planning a longer flight, Dubai to Panama City, starting in March 2016.)  If I have to be anywhere for 17 hours, I want to be comfortable so I was thrilled when I found this seat was available.

Since my flight to Dallas was on a separate ticket, I could arrive as far in advance as I wanted.  I chose to take the early afternoon flight which would put me in Dallas around 5 PM.  There was another, late afternoon flight that would have arrived in time for me to catch the flight to Sydney which left at 9:15 PM but I wanted to arrive in plenty of time in case there was a delay or worse, the MEM-DFW flight got canceled.  That way I had a backup plan already in place.

Fortunately I have a friend in Dallas who works not too far from the airport.  We met up for a light dinner and had a great time catching up.  I didn't want to eat too much as I was looking forward to the food I'd be served on board.  I sure don't say that about domestic flights!

My friend dropped me off at the airport a little after 7 PM and I took the opportunity to visit the Qantas lounge.  Most of the foreign carriers at DFW only have one or two flights per day.  As a result they have relatively small lounges.  Qantas is no exception.

I found the entrance on the concourse.  As you can see from the photo a number of carriers are serviced from this location.  I walked through the doors and took the elevator up to the second floor.  There I found a desk where my boarding pass was checked and I was directed down the hall to the Qantas lounge, which was the first one on the right.

Ground-level entrance in Terminal D

BDU: Birthday Down Under - Trip Planning

BDU: Birthday Down Under - Trip Planning
BDU: Flying to Sydney
BDU: Park Hyatt Sydney
BDU: Sydney Activities
BDU: Sydney Opera House
BDU: Flying to Uluru and Back
BDU: Uluru and Kata Tjuta
BDU: Park Hyatt Melbourne
BDU: Melbourne Activities
BDU: Flying to Fiji
BDU: Hilton Fiji
BDU: Snorkeling Trip
BDU: Flying to Los Angeles
BDU: Hyatt Regency DFW

(And you thought BDU = Battle Dress Uniform!)

Back in early 2013 I was listening to a travel podcast that mentioned a blogger who specialized in helping people earn and burn airline miles and hotel points.  I went to this blogger's website which lead me to a few other bloggers who did the same thing.  I learned that through strategically applying for credit cards and using the right credit card for specific purchases, it's possible to generate tens of thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) of points and miles each year.  After a few months of digging into what these bloggers were saying, I came to realize I could apply a great many of their methods and earn myself not only some free airfare but entire trips that were memorable both for their locations and the level of comfort in which I'd be able to both fly and stay.  With a "round" birthday looming in a couple of years (you know, a birthday that ends with a zero), I set a goal of going back Down Under with my travel buddies C & D and to do as much as possible using points and miles to reduce the costs.

C & D had some miles of their own. C is a bit more receptive to opening new credit cards on a strategic basis and thus has a bigger pile of miles and points.  D thinks it's a lot of trouble but was willing to open one new card to go along with her existing stash of miles.  I had a fairly large balance of points and miles but as a birthday present my dad was willing to fund my flights from his mileage balance (Thanks, Dad!).  As it turned out I did use some of my own for one flight but the the rest came from him.

If you're interested in the details of how we used points and miles and how you might be able to do something similar, let me know and I'll be happy to work with you to reduce the cost of your flights.  Nothing's ever totally free but it sure cost a lot less than it could have!

Turkey Trot - Getting This Turkey Home

Turkey Trot - Overview
Turkey Trot - First Class
Turkey Trot - Are We There Yet?
Turkey Trot - Ephesus
Turkey Trot - Mary's House and Basilica of St. John
Turkey Trot - Swissotel Efes
Turkey Trot - Taking the Bus and Priene
Turkey Trot - Putting on the Ritz
Turkey Trot - The Blue Mosque
Turkey Trot - Topkapı Palace
Turkey Trot - Hagia Sophia
Turkey Trot - Carpets and Grand Bazaar
Turkey Trot - Dolmabahçe Palace and Taksim Square
Turkey Trot - Bosphorus Cruise
Turkey Trot - Turning Blu
Turkey Trot - Getting This Turkey Home

This is a very long post but it's the last one for this trip....

C and D were flying back to the US on British Airways and American Airlines and their flight left much earlier than mine, so they left early and I got to sleep an extra couple of hours.  Of course, I paid for it on the other end of the trip as I got home much later at night but I got to experience the Turkish Airlines Flagship Lounge as well as the reputed excellent service and catering aboard their planes.

A representative from Sea Song picked me up at the hotel and escorted me through the airport as far as he could, which was through the initial bag scan, the counter service and right up to the Turkish TSA equivalent.  The folks at Sea Song were fantastic and I'd highly recommend them if you'd like to visit Turkey.

Turkey Trot - Turning Blu

Turkey Trot - Overview
Turkey Trot - First Class
Turkey Trot - Are We There Yet?
Turkey Trot - Ephesus
Turkey Trot - Mary's House and Basilica of St. John
Turkey Trot - Swissotel Efes
Turkey Trot - Taking the Bus and Priene
Turkey Trot - Putting on the Ritz
Turkey Trot - The Blue Mosque
Turkey Trot - Topkapı Palace
Turkey Trot - Hagia Sophia
Turkey Trot - Carpets and Grand Bazaar
Turkey Trot - Dolmabahçe Palace and Taksim Square
Turkey Trot - Bosphorus Cruise
Turkey Trot - Turning Blu
Turkey Trot - Getting This Turkey Home

As I mentioned in the previous post, we moved from the Ritz-Carlton (paid with Marriott points) to the Radisson Blu Bosphorus.  I'd actually purchased the points for the Radisson at a discount so while the room wasn't free, when split amongst the three of us, the price was very nice.

The hotel was right on the Strait and both the restaurant and the lounge had outdoor seating areas.  Like with the Swissotel Efes, the smokers and ashtrays outside were a reminder that some people still enjoy the habit.

Our room was actually quite spacious compared to the Ritz.  It was a connecting room and we were able to put the rollaway right in front of the connecting door which left each of us with plenty of space to get in and out of our beds without stepping on each other.

Radisson Blu Bosphorus Bedding

We had a lovely view of an alley which really didn't matter as we didn't spend much time in the room anyway.

Turkey Trot - Bosphorus Cruise

Turkey Trot - Overview
Turkey Trot - First Class
Turkey Trot - Are We There Yet?
Turkey Trot - Ephesus
Turkey Trot - Mary's House and Basilica of St. John
Turkey Trot - Swissotel Efes
Turkey Trot - Taking the Bus and Priene
Turkey Trot - Putting on the Ritz
Turkey Trot - The Blue Mosque
Turkey Trot - Topkapı Palace
Turkey Trot - Hagia Sophia
Turkey Trot - Carpets and Grand Bazaar
Turkey Trot - Dolmabahçe Palace and Taksim Square
Turkey Trot - Bosphorus Cruise
Turkey Trot - Turning Blu
Turkey Trot - Getting This Turkey Home

Our three nights at the Ritz were done and it was time to move to our final hotel for the trip, the Radisson Blu Bosphorus.  P and our driver came to pick us up and transfer us to our new hotel. Though the simple route would have been to drive down the the hill and along the Bosphorus until we reached the hotel, traffic was such a mess that we ended up taking a longer, but ultimately faster route.

As the hotel's name suggests, it's right on the waterfront and even has a small dock.  After a quick lunch and setting our luggage in our room, we boarded our private yacht (never thought I'd say that!) for a tour of the Bosphorus Strait.

Yes, that's my yacht. Why do you ask?

Turkey Trot - Dolmabahçe Palace and Taksim Square

Turkey Trot - Overview
Turkey Trot - First Class
Turkey Trot - Are We There Yet?
Turkey Trot - Ephesus
Turkey Trot - Mary's House and Basilica of St. John
Turkey Trot - Swissotel Efes
Turkey Trot - Taking the Bus and Priene
Turkey Trot - Putting on the Ritz
Turkey Trot - The Blue Mosque
Turkey Trot - Topkapı Palace
Turkey Trot - Hagia Sophia
Turkey Trot - Carpets and Grand Bazaar
Turkey Trot - Dolmabahçe Palace and Taksim Square
Turkey Trot - Bosphorus Cruise
Turkey Trot - Turning Blu
Turkey Trot - Getting This Turkey Home

After a travel day and then a jam-packed, whirlwind tour of Istanbul, we were ready for a bit of a lie-in.  It was an overcast morning and we thoroughly enjoyed catching up on our rest.  Our plan was to walk down the hill past the football stadium until we reached the Bosphorus Strait and visit the Dolmabahçe Palace there.  Though there are sidewalks the whole way between our hotel and the Strait, there was barely room for one person to pass beside the construction site so it made our hike interesting.

We ended up having brunch at a cafe across the street from the historical site at the appropriately-name Dolmabahçe Cafe.  We enjoyed sitting outside and watching the people go by as we sipped our tea.  A very nice way to start the day...or mid-day, as the case may be.

Turkey Trot - Carpets and Grand Bazaar

Turkey Trot - Overview
Turkey Trot - First Class
Turkey Trot - Are We There Yet?
Turkey Trot - Ephesus
Turkey Trot - Mary's House and Basilica of St. John
Turkey Trot - Swissotel Efes
Turkey Trot - Taking the Bus and Priene
Turkey Trot - Putting on the Ritz
Turkey Trot - The Blue Mosque
Turkey Trot - Topkapı Palace
Turkey Trot - Hagia Sophia
Turkey Trot - Carpets and Grand Bazaar
Turkey Trot - Dolmabahçe Palace and Taksim Square
Turkey Trot - Bosphorus Cruise
Turkey Trot - Turning Blu
Turkey Trot - Getting This Turkey Home

We had two stops left on our very full day.  Since we were in Turkey, naturally we had to stop and see Turkish carpets.  We stopped by one of the local shops and were whisked upstairs where we were given a brief demonstration of how the ladies (and it's almost always women) weave the carpets by hand.  It's extremely demanding work, hard on both the fingers and the back, as they bend over their looms.  They can only work a couple of hours at a time.  The salesman, who went to college in New Mexico, explained how the various threads used and the number of knots per inch can impact the price of the finished product.  The more knots, the more expensive the carpet.

The salesman's helpers kept tempting us by throwing out all of these lovely rugs.  And I mean literally throwing them out.  The carpets are stored either rolled up or folded neatly in such a way that for the smaller ones, the men could just unfurl them like a banner or unfold them while spinning the smaller ones like a Frisbee.  We ended up with a big pile open on the floor and D found them so lovely she just had to take a closer look.

D inspects the carpets