Great minds must think alike, for my wife and I will also be making the same trip--part mileage run, and partly as a birthday gift to her--and it will be our first time to Australia, thanks to last week's UA fare sale to SYD/MEL!

We'll be flying on UA 187/863 (IAD-SFO-SYD) departing 8/19 and returning 8/24 on UA 870/838 (SYD-SFO-IAD), all in Y.

Now the hard part is to find a place to stay. Typically, I'd pick a Hilton chain(we're Hilton Honors Silver members) but the Hilton Sydney is sold out. I'm looking for something cheap (preferably around US$100-US$150 a night, if possible?) and somewhere downtown (by the harbor, Chinatown, etc. and as close to all the major tourist attractions, etc.) as we'll be spending most of our time exploring Sydney, most likely by foot and by public transportation, doing all the "touristy" things that first timers to Sydney will do in those short days.

Next stop is to check out hotels.com...

Ozstamps - any suggestions?

Thanks,
David

Update: I'm not sure of the proximity to the harbor, etc., but a quick check on hotels.com came up a hotel for US$64/night:

Leisure Inns Barclay Hotel
17 Bayswater Road
Kings Cross
Sydney NW Au 2011

Here's the description:

The Barclay Hotel is a recently renovated property, which is located on Bayswater Road. This is a quieter location, off the main hub of Kings Cross in Sydney. This neighborhood is where the nightlife is exotic and the food varies to suit the most discerning palettes from restaurant to restaurant - in the heart of Sydney's famous cafes. It is just 5 minutes from Sydney CBD and 10 minutes from Double Bay and Paddington. These are all within easy access from the Barclay Hotel. There is also a bus stop right outside the hotel door and the subway train station is just a 5 minutes walk from the hotel.

-Opera House 1 Mile / 2 Kilometers
-Sydney Harbour Bridge 1 Mile / 2.5 Kilometers
-Center Point Tower 1.5 Kilometers

You'll find me in the SFO RCC and then 42K on the way out and 41K back (although I might try to score a center section "bed" if things are still empty in the back. Sometimes it's nice to be short.)

Well coff, the Hilton is not "sold out" - it is a construction site pretty much, and has been totally closed for a year or two.

Well I have made my suggestion twice of a hotel that suits your requirements perfectly, and is THE best value in Australia, but you appear not to like that one. It suited perfectly nearly everyone here for OzFest in May, from all over the globe.

If however you insist on paying a silly price like $100-$150 you have then choice of anything you wish downtown pretty much:

www.lastminute.com.au

From the site above I just noticed this - saves $27 and I highly recommend you do this when in town:

http://www.au.lastminute.com/lmn/pso...075&POSITION=1

Lesves 100 yards from Four Points too.

And this would be superb:

http://www.au.lastminute.com/lmn/pso...ODID=381258629

Glen--

Didn't realize that, and naturally, HHonors made no mention of it.

You mean the Starwood/Westin with points? That may work for you guys with a gazillion Starwood points but doesn't help me as I've never stayed at any Starwood properties before.

$100-150 is an arbitrary number that I threw out since I wasn't sure what constitutes the "average reasonable" cost of accomodations in Sydney as I've never been to Australia before, but if you know of a decent place that's less than $100 (heck, even $50-75?), I'll take it!

Looks like you're only a row or two away from us.

My wife and I will be at 41F/G (UA 863) and 40C/B (UA 870).

We'll probably hang out at the SFO RCC after arriving from IAD but if you happen to see us walking by (our carry-on's will sport the yellow FlyerTalk tags), holler!

Well, then I'll be on the lookout. If nothing else we are likely to meet up at the gate at boarding.

So, can I interest you in an airport tour?

I'm trying to decide what I want to do about that. I think part of it depends on how likely I'll be able to get into the RCC when I get there because I'd have several hours to kill. There was some discussion that I'm not technically holding a same-day international ticket because, according to the calendar, I'd have left SFO two day previous. EPS suggested that RCC matrons like chocolate.

Oh, and Jetdillo suggests I should ask if the aircraft is still fumigated upon arrival. Apparently he had this on his visit some years ago and it left him coughing.

The airside tarmac tour sounds interesting (I also convinced the wife to agree to go along ) but wouldn't it be easier to do this tour on the day of the departure back to the U.S. instead of the day of arrival, due to luggage issues? The reason is that since we're flying out on Tuesday 8/24 on UA 870 at 1:50 pm, it might be easier to do the tour after checking in. I don't think my wife would be thrilled with the idea of dragging a luggage all over the airport on a tour after arriving from a 25+ hours of flying in Y if you know what I mean.

The trouble is I don't know if there will be a tour on Tuesday. All it says about that is "selected weekdays". But Saturday is for sure, which is why I suggested it. Personally, I won't have much baggage but I realize not everyone crams several days' worth of stuff into a backpack. 'Spose I can send them another email. It's a bother to make international phone calls else I'd do that.

Oh, and the tour appears to be all by bus. It's outside in the secure airside area.

We'll be staying at the Sydney Harbour Marriott on a priceline.com bid of $85/night. I originally tried bidding for $75/night which apparently were accepted bids mentioned elsewhere on FT and also at the biddingfortravel.com site/forum but mine was rejected; finally, it took $85/night. It was my first time using priceline too!

Now to read up on Joh's list on things-to-do in Sydney...

Glen - thanks for the links on the Matilda 2-for-1 offers; those look great, especially for the dinner cruise.

Anybody know if the Sydney zoo offers a chance to hug/carry a koala bear? I know my wife would love a photo-op of that!

Thanks for the heads up on the entertainment books. Can I get one when I get there, since there is not enough time to mail one. Also, the best I could do at the 4 Pts. was 18,000 for four nights starting on Friday. Maybe they are giving me a "Harbour side" room.

My son and I will be in 42 a & c. We'll be on the lookout for all of you at the SFO RCC