Cheapskate month in SE Asia with status

[froggerADL]

At the end of March Hilton had a 40% off Flash Sale. I have HH Diamond status so decided to look into spending all of August in SE Asia as Hilton treat Diamonds very well over there. As a little bonus Hilton later decided to have a double points offer that covered all of August. It got even better when they decided to have a double dip, up to quadruple Avios offer at the same time. The Hilton points gods were smiling on me! This meant that as a HH Diamond for every US$1 spent I would earn 25 HH points and almost 4 Avios. On top of that I would get 1000 points for each of my seven stays, free breakfast and free canapes and coughtails almost every evening.

So far this year I have had 21 HH reward nights at Category 2 Hotels, including Doubletree Beijing and Hilton Foshan, at an average cost of 8000 HH points per night. This trip means I will hit 60 nights for the year to secure a further 12 months of HH Diamond. Another bonus!

My itinerary eventually consisted of 10 nights in Bangkok, 11 in Hanoi, 4 in Kuala Lumpur and back to Bangkok for 6, so 31 nights all up.

At the same time Qantas had a sale on to Bangkok for $599 return from Adelaide. This coincided with a double QFF points offer. So for $599 I got ADL-SYD-BKK-SYD-ADL with double points and as a QF WP breakfast in the SYD F Lounge, a visit to the Cathay lounge at BKK and 24J bulkhead seats SYD-BKK-SYD secured at the time of booking.

For my flight from BKK to HAN I selected Qatar flight 834 on their B777-300ER in J. This is a nice mid-afternoon departure with a flight time of 1 hour, 50 minutes. Cash price for this flight is a not unreasonable A$470 approx. I had a choice between using QFF points or BA Avios. Both were around A$90 in taxes. BA wanted 9,000 points, Qantas 26,000. I chose BA!

For HAN to KUL I decided on Singapore Airlines via SIN in J. This gets a 3.5 hour flight in a B777-200, a 90 minute layover at SIN and a one hour flight in an A330. The A330 flight has now changed to an A350-900, oh happy days. Karma seems to be visiting me in a good way. Total cost 17,000 Krisflyer miles and A$174.

For KUL-BKK I took Air Asia. That cost A$60 including seat 1D. Due to my current health issues I’ll have to pay another A$30 for checked-in baggage and wheelchair assistance, so A$90 all up. Pretty good for a 2 hours 10 minute flight.

Oh, and another bonus, I was out of the country on Census night .

 

[NZflygirl]

That is SO how travelling should be!!!

Looking many years down the track I really want to go to Asia annually for a trip on the cheap.

 

[froggerADL]

$ cost plus points earn and burn

Being a cheapskate, I obviously have a spreadsheet for this trip. The total cost for the flights was A$955.47, 9,000 Avios and 17,000 KrisFlyer miles, with 5 sectors at the front of Y and 3 in J.

12 nights at Conrad, 12 at Hilton, 4 at DoubleTree and 3 at a Hilton Garden Inn cost a total of A$3413, which is an average of A$110.10 per night.

So the total for flights, hotels and most food and drink (read alcohol) is A$4368, an average of A$140.90 per night. This makes a cheapskate who likes to live the high life very happy.

I will earn 18,800 QFF points and 80 SC. I will also earn around 62,000 HH points and about 8500 Avios. Oh, I nearly forgot the 20 cents worth of Air Asia Big points!

By the way, I intend to use those HH points, plus another 18,000, for ten nights at the soon to open Hilton Kuta Kinabulu, another category 2 hotel with Exec Lounge. At the current advance purchase rate (which is non-refundable), for that hotel 62,000 HH points will have a redemption value of about A$1400.

 

[JohnK]

Re: $ cost plus points earn and burn

Sounds like a fun trip. Hope you are having a great time.

From one cheapskate to another.

 

[bsb]

Re: $ cost plus points earn and burn

I love your style but cannot comprehend what you'll do for 10 nights in KK, no matter how nice the property is.

 

[Simo]

Sounds like we can all learn some great skills from you...

 

[Fifa]

I love reading about the costs (points and dollars) and points/miles earned. Puts it all into perspective .
It's all such a fun game.

 

[froggerADL]

I love reading about the costs (points and dollars) and points/miles earned. Puts it all into perspective .
It's all such a fun game.

So do I, but so few do it.

Here's a previous one I did:
http://www.australianfrequentflyer....p-photos/conrad-koh-samui-on-cheap-53321.html

 

[froggerADL]

Time to go, with a little help

The morning of departure arrived. I like nothing more than getting up at 4am for a 6am flight. Not. My son had agreed to drive me to the airport which I thought was very nice of him. I knocked on his bedroom door to wake him up and he told me to bugger off! Not quite those words but you get the idea. Anyway, I bade him farewell, as my mind wandered to what the lawns would look like on my return, and said “see you in a month mate”. He grunted. I assume that means he was gruntled, but I digress.

This was not a good start to my trip. As a cheapskate, despite my cunning plan, I now had to pay good money for what was likely to be twelve minutes in a dirty, smelly Adelaide cab. A typically dirty, smelly Adelaide cab arrived within a few minutes, driven by a typically grumpy Adelaide taxi driver. After twelve minutes of blissful silence we arrived at the airport at 5:10am. $24 (including tip for not actually being rude to me and assisting me with my small bag) later, I was heading into the terminal.

At this point I should probably tell you a little about my health issue. Feel free to skip this bit if you don’t give a cough, but it does give a little context to my trip report.

I have a condition that means I can’t walk very well. Don’t get me wrong, I can walk, but tend to stumble and bar staff would sometimes refuse to serve me alcohol before I was suitably inebriated. The condition has been getting progressively worse over the last three years or so and has forced me to make some changes in how I live my life. I tend to travel with the same 2 or 3 work colleagues who are quite sympathetic and do all they can to assist me. For example, I never go to the bar to buy drinks when I am with them (I should point out that although I am a self-confessed cheapskate, I always pay for my rounds!), they willingly pick me up when I fall over and they form a human shield around me as I navigate steps.

A couple of years ago one of these colleagues started badgering me about getting a walking stick. As a way to overcome my stubbornness she bought me a foldable walking stick and presented it to me in the pub during a work trip. I soon found that this implement seemed to have magical powers. People stopped bumping into me, and I’ve even had bar staff offer to carry my drink to my table when I’m by myself. They no longer assume I’m drunk and serve me even when I am . I also get fewer looks of disgust from other patrons. And I fall over less.

As I’ve said, the condition is getting progressively worse, there is no cure or even treatment, and I will need a wheelchair in coming years. Peoples’ attitude towards me has completely changed since I started using the stick as they now think I actually have a medical reason for stumbling around like a drunk. I now refer to it as my “sympathy stick”. Two of the worst outcomes of this is that I now have to check-in what used to be carry-on luggage and I can no longer sit in exit rows.

This all came to a head at Singapore airport two months ago. I was travelling MEL-SIN-HKG (funnily enough for an AFF lounge crawl) in SQ F with an overnight stay at Changi Crowne Plaza (using IHG points of course). This meant I was able to access The Private Room (TPR) on arrival at SIN and again pre-departure the next morning. As you can imagine, I availed myself of this privilege. After a glass of Champagne or two in TPR I headed to the Crowne Plaza. Fortunately for my pride, immigration was almost deserted. I had a small roller-board and a backpack. As I got on the escalator at the top of immigration the roller-board slipped down to the lower step and I fell A over T (for non Australians that means buttocks over breast). Fortunately, a staff member below heard the commotion and pressed the emergency stop button. My left shoulder and right shin took the brunt of the impact. Two staff assisted me, put me in a wheelchair, got me to sign a waiver when I refused to see a doctor, wheeled me through immigration, then to the Crowne Plaza, and then to my room! I thought that was exceptionally kind of them.

The next morning I rather gingerly made my way back to TPR via First Class check-in using just my walking stick. When I got to the KrisFlyer lounge they took one look at me and asked if I would like wheelchair assistance to board the plane. I thought about it for a few seconds and replied, “actually, yes please”. This was a first for me. They immediately summoned a wheelchair and took me into TPR. They took my order for a medicinal Champagne and said they would return to take me to the plane. They wheeled me to the plane door, I stumbled into my A380 suite, and they took care of my luggage. Four hours later we arrived at HKG. A wheelchair was waiting for me and I was wheeled through immigration. Having just flown first class they assumed I’d have a car waiting to pick me up. I explained that I would be catching the A10 bus to Aberdeen Harbour. There’s no other way for a cheapskate to travel! I asked to stop at an ATM then gave one of the two lovely ladies assisting me some money and she went off to top up my Octopus card. They then wheeled me to the bus stop. I had to direct them there as they had never done that before!

Anyway, I had now experienced “wheelchair assistance” and I was never going back. Four days later I was flying from HKG to Beijing on Dragonair in J and I requested the wheelchair assistance at check-in. This was the day of the AFF lounge crawl. Before you could blink an eye I was in The Wing First Lounge with Champagne in hand.

A few hours later (about ten) they came to get me for the flight from where they had left me. In the intervening hours I managed to stumble between OneWorld lounges with my fellow AFFers. While being wheeled to the plane I saw parts of HKG “ordinary” people never see. On the plane John & Jeanette Howard were seated in front of me. They had to walk themselves to the plane. Ha! We arrived in Beijing at about 3.30am and I was greeted by my free wheels. This time I did have a car waiting for me. It must have been 3 or 4 kms from the plane to the car with a 30 minute wait for my checked-in bag. All done sitting on my cough. Immigration was a breeze, although my fellow passengers didn’t seem to agree. I saw the Howards at the baggage carousel and they looked a little fatigued. My bag come out before theirs and off we went. I was completely hooked on this “wheelchair assistance” and was beginning to think how blessed I was to be a cripple. I’ll have to see about getting a disabled parking pass soon. Oh, the joy.

I don’t use the stick at work because I don’t want them to think I’m a cripple, they think I’ve got a dodgy back and knees.

Anyway, now that you all feel sorry for me, back to the trip report.

I always use a human at check-in now that I have to check my luggage in as I like to keep people employed. I made my way to the ADL lounge and to my delight the lovely Robyn was on reception. I’ve known her for years, back when she was at the CBR J lounge. I asked if she would be able to arrange wheelchair assistance for me on arrival at SYD and she was only too happy to oblige.

I only had a 90 minute layover at SYD but was still hoping for a quick Champagne breakfast . The bus transfer took quite a while as I was sharing with someone with significantly greater problems than I. When we got to immigration there was a bit of a wait as there were a lot of crew going through. A woman was panicking about missing her flight and she pushed in in front of me saying she had been told to go to the front of the queue. I asked her what flight she was on. QF127 which departs after my flight. I let it go. My flight was now boarding so we were heading straight to the gate. Just as we were passing the escalator to the F lounge I heard an announcement that my flight had been delayed. I asked to go to the F lounge and up we went, after explaining that my economy boarding pass would indeed allow me access. So Champagne breakfast it was. Don’t you just hate delayed flights .

Just as my second glass arrived so did the wheelchair. I feel it’s quite uncouth to skull Champagne, but as my Grandmother used to say, "waste not, want not". A very wise woman. This is the same woman who, in 1985, when I told her that I was moving in with my girlfriend, said "yes, I think it's a good idea to give it a try before you get married". She was 81 at the time! Again, I digress.

After a long delay in the aerobridge I was wheeled to the door and stumbled to my seat. Nothing to do with the Champagne of course. Remember, I have a walking stick.

 

[Hvr]

Re: Time to go, with a little help

And the highlight of the trip so far was meeting me on Wednesday night here in BKK.

Look forward to hearing about your trip as it proceeds.

 

[I love to travel]

Re: Time to go, with a little help

Loving this. Good on you to for pulling together a great itinerary

The morning of departure arrived. I like nothing more than getting up at 4am for a 6am flight. Not. My son had agreed to drive me to the airport which I thought was very nice of him. I knocked on his bedroom door to wake him up and he told me to bugger off! Not quite those words but you get the idea. Anyway, I bade him farewell, as my mind wandered to what the lawns would look like on my return, and said “see you in a month mate”. He grunted. I assume that means he was gruntled, but I digress.

 

[froggerADL]

Seating arrangements

My chariot for the day was a refurbed A330-300. I had selected seat 24J in Y. This is a bulkhead aisle seat in the first row of economy. It provides complete protection from recliners. Expert Flyer told me that the flight was very full and that I would have a human where my shadow prefers to sit.

As I had boarded first I had the pleasure of sitting in my aisle seat for 20 minutes or so while the boarding passengers attempted to bash me with their handbags and backpacks. I spent this time visualising my perfect seatmate in an attempt to influence what the universe would deliver. In case you’re interested, my perfect seatmate is female, about 5’3” and 60kg. The chosen person was one of the last to board and was male, 6’9” and 190kg. I need to improve my visualisation technique.

When I saw this guy I started to panic. How could he possibly fit into the space allocated to him? He didn’t ask me to let him in, he just squeezed past me, so that was a good start. He wasn’t fat, he was just a giant! I don’t know how he did it, but he didn’t encroach into my space once during the entire flight. He turned out to be a really nice guy, as did I . He was traveling for business and I suggested to him that his employer may be in breach of the Work Health & Safety Act by making him fly in Y. I know his height because I asked him, and he volunteered his weight. We had an interesting discussion for a while and shared a couple of drinks. I actually congratulated him on his ability to stay within the confines of his seat given his size.

After a successful take-off I received the WP greeting from the CSM, complete with handshake and an offer to ask for anything that may make the flight more comfortable. I refrained from suggesting that a seat in J would do the trick!

 

[jojen]

Re: Seating arrangements

Really enjoying your report so far froggerADL. Hope you have a great time and enjoy every minute.

 

[Pushka]

Loving the TR. (excuse me for being a grinch but could huge slabs of posts not be reposted/quoted please?)

 

[k_sheep]

Re: $ cost plus points earn and burn

I love your style but cannot comprehend what you'll do for 10 nights in KK, no matter how nice the property is.

KK is amazing - I could spend weeks there! So much hiking, snorkelling, fish markets, heaven!

 

[froggerADL]

The flight + arrival

I had pre-ordered my meal via the Qantas website. As expected, the main was inedible but the desert was OK.

I checked that a wheelchair would be waiting for me on arrival and was assured that it would. We landed safely one hour and 10 minutes late due to the late departure.

I had to wait until everyone had disembarked but that was OK. As I was being wheeled towards immigration we passed a currency exchange booth and I was checking out the exchange rate. My helper noticed this and asked if I wanted to stop, so I said yes. The AUD rate was about 8% below the current mid-rate at THB24.25 but as ATMs in Thailand charge foreigners 150 baht per withdrawal I was going to get fleeced anyway. I changed A$50 and asked for small notes as most of my cash expenditure would be for gratuities. Obviously, as a cheapskate, I use a 28 Degrees MasterCard for purchases and a Citibank Plus for ATM withdrawals when overseas.

We continued on and whizzed through immigration. This is my favourite part of the wheelchair experience, no queueing.

As we approached the baggage carousel I spotted my bag and it was quickly retrieved. Priority baggage worked. Yay.

On this trip I had decided that I would use UberX wherever possible. I had researched using UberX at BKK and it seemed fairly well organised. The app quoted THB425 (A$16) for the trip to the Millenium Hilton which seemed reasonable. The app directed me to arrivals level 2, gate 10. I showed my helper the car rego number and, five minutes later, when the app showed that the car had arrived, he went off to locate it. Once he had found it he wheeled me the 30 metres to said vehicle and helped me to get in. I gave him a 100 baht (A$3.80) tip which elicited a broad smile. I might be a cheapskate but I try not to be a tightarse when it comes to low paid workers in Asian countries who provide good service.

The car was a quite new and clean. It was a Toyota Vios which I think is actually an Uber Black car, but I was paying UberX rates. The traffic was atrocious and the trip took 90 minutes instead of about 40. I gave the driver a 100 baht tip which he accepted with a big smile and a friendly pat on my shoulder.

 

[froggerADL]

Loving the TR. (excuse me for being a grinch but could huge slabs of posts not be reposted/quoted please?)

Not really a grinch, but maybe a little pushy, Pushka

 

[Pushka]

Not really a grinch, but maybe a little pushy, Pushka

Maybe. Scrolling using the app through redone lengthy posts makes me that way.

 

[Anna]

Aw, that's so sweet that I'm your perfect seatmate

 

[froggerADL]

Millennium Hilton Bangkok

The Millennium Hilton bellboys saw me struggling to get out of the car and ran off to get a wheelchair without me asking. Great service again, and they didn’t even realise how important I was yet!

I was wheeled to the check-in desk and I handed over my passport. They saw that I have HH Diamond status so I was wheeled over to the Diamond desk for check-in. That done I was then wheeled to my room.

I got “upgraded” to an Executive room but that doesn’t bother me as I am traveling alone. Given I can’t walk 3 steps without falling over, I’m better off not getting a suite. The bathroom was very nice with a walk in shower and separate bath which is important to me as I don’t get on well with shower over bath setups. I had a good view of the river.

coughtails and canapes had finished so a quick shower and off to bed. It had been a long day and I must have walked at least a whole kilometre.

I was here for four nights. Cost including tax and service charge was A$120.25 per night. WiFi quality was perfectly adequate including for a couple of work related teleconferences dialling into a 1800 number using Skype.

I had breakfast at the Exec Lounge on two mornings and at the restaurant the other 2. They are both very good in my opinion.

The Exec Lounge does fruit juice coughtails all day and I really enjoyed the Rose Quatz. They also do an excellent afternoon tea where you get a plate of savoury and sweet dishes. Evening canapes and coughtails is from 5:30pm to 7:30pm. They have a good selection of hot food, wine and beer and actually serve real coughtails. I was drinking Singha beer but finished off each evening with a Chao Phraya Iced Tea, which is very similar, in fact identical, to a Long Island Iced Tea.

Purchased food at this hotel is very expensive for a cheapskate, so that wasn’t an option. I like the Google Maps Restaurant Search function to find places nearby.

This hotel backs onto the Chao Phraya River. Next door to the right is the Be My Guest Bar & Restaurant. I went there at 4:30 one afternoon and had pork spareribs with roasted chilli and a large bottle of Singha beer for a total cost of 255 baht (A$10). The food was delicious.

To the left is a local market complete with 7Eleven. Large bottles of Leo beer are 56 baht (a little over $2) but you can’t buy alcohol between 2 and 5 pm in Thailand. At the market I bought a leg of barbeque chicken for 40 baht ($1.50) and a dunkin’ donut for 29 baht for lunch.

A bit further to the left is the Never Ending Summer restaurant. It’s not super cheap but it had good reviews. I had fried rice with salted fish and a Coke. Total cost was 365 baht (A$13.75) which I paid for using my 28 Degrees MasterCard. The buggers did DCC on me and my card got charged A$14.49. Ripped of 74 cents for nothing but lesson re-learned! For the extra amount charged it wasn’t worth arguing about but geez, that annoys me.

After 4 enjoyable days it was time to check out. Additional amount to pay – zero.

Points have posted. 9057 HH and 966 Avios. This stay was only triple Avios, the rest will all be quadruple.