Need to head from SYD to GUM to catch up with some friends. Wanted to know how to best expand the use of my 25,000 award. Can I do a stopover in GUM and then head to another part of Micronesia (any good connections to the CNS flight)? If so -- where would be the best place to go? Also would appreciate any feedback on the best time of the year to visit (keep in mind I would love to escape the awful weather we have been experiencing in SYD this winter as quickly as possible!).

I am assuming I will need to get from SYD to CNS on my own --- although when you purchase SYD to GUM on CO it does allow for a QF flight to CNS.

No. Also keep in mind that the CNS-GUM flight is not daily.

To your other questions, you should be able to do a stopover in GUM and then continue on to any of the other islands as your "destination" on the single ticket, since GUM is on the most direct routing. As for when to visit and where to go, that depends a lot on what you're looking to do.

S.

Purchased fares on CO from SYD may include the domestic QF segment, but the OP is right that when on an award, travel to/from CNS is on your own.

To clarify,the 25k award is valid to any CO destination west of HNL-- including Bali, HKG and Japan. As for best value, that's pretty much left to interpretation, but it may be interesting to hit some of the island spots you may never otherwise see (i.e. along the Island Hopper) instead of a place like Bali or Tokyo that you may possibly pass throgh at some future point. Just my thought.

Another clarification re. the connection: depending on how long you want to be in GUM, you might be able to spend a couple days for free: you are entitled to one destination and one stopover, plus an open jaw at your election. So, if you opted to do something like an open jaw into NRT, return from HKG with a SPN stopover, you could time your return to arrive into GUM just after the CNS flight, and connect into the "next" CNS flight 3 days later. The max GUM connection would be an hour shy of 3 days, and could only be done on the return. But, my hunch is that if you're gpoing through such effort to see your friends, you may want to spend more than 2-3 days.

CO arrival and departure times for CNS are god-awful. IIRC the arrival into CNS is just after 11pm and the departure is just after 12am. When arriving into CNS and trying to connect on to SYD, you usually have to kill ~6-7 hours either at the airport or trying to find something to do in Cairns (with your bags). There is a casino open till about 3 or 4 am, which is where I headed instead of trying to sleep at the airport while waiting for my 7 am flight to SYD on Virgin Blue.

That is a great suggestion. Now the question is what island would be the best to go and visist?? This is such a good value at 25,000 -- it is close to the Star Alliance (AU/Oceania) award for 20,000 that allows a stop in NZ and then onward travel to Tahiti!

I vote against ROR. It was nice, but only for the diving, and for that you should do a liveabord, which is not a quick stopover event. Nothing of substance to do on the islands, IMO.

Just got off the phone with CO and the long connections (i.e. 3 days) is deemed to be a stopover.

Am now looking at CNS-GUM-HKG returning HKG-GUM (stop)-CNS.

Still at 25K miles a steal.

Wanted to know if you thought the QF 932 connection would be valid. It leaves SYD at 7:20 and arrives at CNS at 10:30pm. That would give me about 1:40 to make the CNS-GUM co flight. Any thoughts? Should I not risk it and take the 3pm Virgin blue getting in at 6:30?

First, I misspoke: I thought CNS operated 3 days a week. In fact, it operates 2 times a week, from GUM at 6:35pm Sundays and Thursdays.

If you arrive into GUM on Sunday 8pm and connect onto the "next available flight", which happens to be on Thursday at 6:35pm, it is NOT a stopover, only a connection. Insist on that! The agent should know better, once they look at the schedules. BTW, the above illustrates the very longest possible connection you can do in GUM, so if you would like to do this, then build your schedule around a Sunday evening GUM arrival on the return. And, don't forget the dateline if flying from the east!

Connecting with 1:40 may be just enough time.. remember you will arrive at the CNS domestic terminal and then you'll need to walk with your bags over to the international terminal and check in at CO. If you arrive too early, then the CO counter will not be open and you'll need to wait around with you bags. Since the HK flights are FRIDAY and MONDAY, you'll need to see how that fits into your connection.

If you want to go to an island...I actually like ROR...don't agree with the earlier post. If you at least appreciate snorkeling or like islands, take a boat to the rock islands.

Did you now its also only 25K to Beijing on CO/NW...at least it is from Guam...so it should be from CNS....!!

My "problem" with ROR is that snorkeling/diving is all there is to do, and most of the better options are an hour or more offshore. So you'll spend a lot of time back and forth on a boat. If that's what you're looking for, go on a liveaboard. If your quick stopover is a week then that won't be a problem.

Thanks again for all of your help. My only worry with the 1:40 is if I am delayed -- there is no other connection till Monday! Knowing this is the case -- I might look to take an earlier flight to CNS.

At this point I think I will stick with CNS-GUM-HKG-GUM-CNS. Will have to the leave the other isalnds for some point in the future.

Any idea why this award is such a steal? It costs 50,000 to fly AU to Asia on UA/*

The key is that CO considers CNS part of the Asia/Micronesia zone as opposed to part of Australia--- and it makes sense, given the flight is a few hours from the GUM hub on a 737, just as the rest of the Pacific destinations.

Then again, the same kind of argument could be made for why a 40 min. RJ from Houston to Mexico prices higher than a multi-hour Canada/Alaska. Hmm.....


FWIW, the CNS airport has a free shower you can use-- that will help you kill some time. City bus service runs into the city about hourly that time of night, although there are limited things to see and do after hours, and you have to walk about 1 1/2 km from the terminal to the main drag to catch the bus. Bus schedules are at http://www.sunbus.com.au/tt_cairns_northern.php and if you look at the route map, you can see where the airport is located with respect to the route 1.