Last Minute Business Trip to Sydney, Australia
Aug 16, 2019, 8:39 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: New York City
Programs: UA: 1K, Hyatt: Explorist and Marriott: LF Titanium Elite
Posts: 1,268
Last Minute Business Trip to Sydney, Australia
Introduction:
As of week of August 13 – after 4 months of taking break from my previous Big 4 Consulting company.. I decided to join.. another consulting company! After a day of getting used to the new laptop, system and software – I get a ring stating that “would you like to go to Australia to facilitate/help out a workshop for a major client”?
After getting agreement/green light from the wife – I booked my hotel and flight to Sydney, Australia. I haven’t been down in 6 years and I assume a lot has changed but I’m looking forward to escaping the hot/humid (the week that I’m writing it wasn’t so bad) New York summer heat.
Table of Content:Route:
As an OneWorld Emerald member for the last 7 years, I’ve had couple domestic AA experiences in the United States that wasn’t fitting – so I decided to get status match to Delta and give Delta/Sky Team a shot! With the recent Joint Venture with Korean Air as well as Delta’s generally superior domestic experience – SkyTeam (at least for this time being) will get the bulk of my business.
Since this was a last minute booking on flexible business class ticket – you can imagine the $$ (circa $13k):
Hotels:
As mentioned in my previous trip report – I’m a huge fan of SPG properties. However, since this was a last minute booking, I didn’t have a huge picking of hotels but managed to book Deluxe City View (King Size) room at the Sydney Harbour Marriott Hotel at Circular Quay. I also recently got a new Ambassador in June of this year and she has been fantastic and extremely proactive. Once the booking was confirmed she immediately called the hotel to highlight my preferences (e.g. high floor, away from elevators, quite side of the hotel) and highlighted that I will be arriving at the hotel early in the morning. She also managed to get me an upgrade to the Spa Suite (confirmed after 1 hour of booking).
Conclusion:
My first time in Australia in 6 years will be exciting but also in comparison to my previous trip report – I think this one will be a little bit more high level/30,000 mile view.
As of week of August 13 – after 4 months of taking break from my previous Big 4 Consulting company.. I decided to join.. another consulting company! After a day of getting used to the new laptop, system and software – I get a ring stating that “would you like to go to Australia to facilitate/help out a workshop for a major client”?
After getting agreement/green light from the wife – I booked my hotel and flight to Sydney, Australia. I haven’t been down in 6 years and I assume a lot has changed but I’m looking forward to escaping the hot/humid (the week that I’m writing it wasn’t so bad) New York summer heat.
Table of Content:Route:
As an OneWorld Emerald member for the last 7 years, I’ve had couple domestic AA experiences in the United States that wasn’t fitting – so I decided to get status match to Delta and give Delta/Sky Team a shot! With the recent Joint Venture with Korean Air as well as Delta’s generally superior domestic experience – SkyTeam (at least for this time being) will get the bulk of my business.
Since this was a last minute booking on flexible business class ticket – you can imagine the $$ (circa $13k):
- Delta 975: JFK – LAX
- Delta 41: LAX – SYD (Delta One Suite)
- Delta 40: SYD – LAX (Delta One Suite)
- Delta 2164: LAX – JFK
Hotels:
As mentioned in my previous trip report – I’m a huge fan of SPG properties. However, since this was a last minute booking, I didn’t have a huge picking of hotels but managed to book Deluxe City View (King Size) room at the Sydney Harbour Marriott Hotel at Circular Quay. I also recently got a new Ambassador in June of this year and she has been fantastic and extremely proactive. Once the booking was confirmed she immediately called the hotel to highlight my preferences (e.g. high floor, away from elevators, quite side of the hotel) and highlighted that I will be arriving at the hotel early in the morning. She also managed to get me an upgrade to the Spa Suite (confirmed after 1 hour of booking).
Conclusion:
My first time in Australia in 6 years will be exciting but also in comparison to my previous trip report – I think this one will be a little bit more high level/30,000 mile view.
