Australia September 2013 - Brisbane Marriott & Exploring Brisbane

***This post is part 10 of a full trip report. The index can be found here***

I felt somewhat self-conscious walking through the Brisbane Central Business District in my t-shirt and shorts, hauling a large backpack, while everyone else seemed to be dressed in suits and ties. As I approached the Brisbane Marriott, I began to realize that this was going to be the quintessential business hotel, smack dab in the middle of the CBD, and I would be sticking out like a sore thumb for the duration of my stay. Luckily, it would only be for one night.

Brisbane Marriott

The high-rise building looked fairly new, and the lobby was tastefully designed with a subdued palette of colors that exuded quiet elegance. The gentleman behind the front counter welcomed me and acknowledged my one-night reward booking at a cost of 30,000 points for the Category 6 property (it has since risen to Category 7 with redemptions costing 35,000 points per night).

Unlike the super friendly agent at the Surfers Paradise Marriott Resort, he didn't engage me about my travels through Australia, nor did he give me an amazing suite upgrade. I was provided, however, with a Brisbane River view room and complimentary WiFi as a recognition of my Silver Elite status. In addition, Silver Elites receive a 15% discount on food and beverage items consumed at the Motion Restaurant, M Bar, and in-room dining.

Brisbane Marriott lobby

Lounge area

Room 1804 was bright and clean, although I wasn't a fan of the somewhat dated carpet and furniture. The standard-sized room had two queen beds, a work desk, a comfortable lounge chair next to the window, and a rather small flat-screen TV. I was happy to see a large bottle of water placed on the small table beside the lounge chair, until I noticed a $6.50 AUD price tag. This was definitely a business hotel, nothing more and nothing less.

Despite the "river view" moniker, much of the actual view was blocked by other high-rise buildings. The portion of the Brisbane River and Story Bridge that you could see, however, was quite stunning.

Visiting The Ancient City Of Sigiriya in Sri Lanka

Sigiriya is one of eight UNESCO World Heritage sites in Sri Lanka, and the most visited historical attraction in the country. Located in the Central Province, it is an indispensable stop along the renowned Cultural Triangle circuit. Typically, multi-day itineraries through historic Sri Lanka also include the sacred city of Kandy and the impressive ruins of Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa.

Out of all the sites we visited within Sri Lanka, Sigiriya was the most unique, and certainly my favorite. The name means Lion Rock in Sinhalese, and it refers to a massive 660 foot-tall rock that juts out prominently in an otherwise monotonous jungle plain. During the reign of King Kasyapa (477-495 CE), the capital was moved from Anuradhapura to Sigiriya, and he initiated the construction of an elaborate palace both on the summit as well as in the immediate surroundings of the rock.

A moat and other defensive measures were established, as well as a complex system of gardens, pools, fountains, and reservoirs. Much of the surface and subsurface hydraulic networks still function to this very day, and they remain a testament to the sophisticated engineering that was required for construction.

Sigiriya moat

Gardens and fountains

Pool

The rock itself can be seen for miles in the distance. As you walk through the main western gate and pass the intricate water gardens, it becomes clear just how massive it really is. Although not nearly as large as Uluru in Australia, the prominence with respect to their surroundings is similar.

Walking towards Sigiriya

As you approach the foot of Sigiriya, massive boulders and winding paths form the boulder gardens. Some of these were hand cut and even had buildings and pavilions over and under them. After the reign of Kasyapa ended in defeat, much of the Sigiriya complex reverted back to a Buddhist monastery. A large number of the remaining ruins surrounding these boulders endure from this period.

Le Méridien Kuala Lumpur

After our brief stay in Langkawi, Malaysia, my friend and I continued on to Kuala Lumpur, where we had booked a two-night stay at the Le Méridien. Starwood has no shortage of hotels in KL, where other options include the Sheraton Imperial, Westin, Aloft Sentral, and the upcoming St. Regis and W, both opening towards the end of this year.

The location of the Le Méridien is perfectly ideal for those who are looking for convenience to and from the airport. Literally just across the street from Sentral Station, and exactly 28 minutes on the KLIA Ekspres train to the Main Terminal, Le Méridien shares a twin tower complex with the Hilton Kuala Lumpur. Since we were arriving on Air Asia via the Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT), we first needed to board a shuttle bus, which took us to a connecting station to catch the KLIA Transit train. The total journey from the LCCT is considerably longer, taking approximately one hour to arrive at Sentral Station.

Le Méridien Kuala Lumpur

Upon arrival, we walked out the north exit, crossed the street, and entered the Le Méridien/Hilton entrance from the ground-level doors. After taking the elevator up to the lobby level, we came upon a funny "choose your own adventure" moment, where one set of doors takes you to the Hilton lobby, while the other leads to the Le Méridien lobby:

Choose wisely

The Le Méridien lobby was beautifully modern, with a backdrop of colorful LED lights behind the check-in counter and plenty of couches and seats for lounging in the circular atrium. A coffee shop and wine bar nearby offered a place to recharge or relax, and free WiFi throughout the lobby allowed guests to catch up on email and work. Unfortunately, complimentary WiFi has not been extended to the rooms, although Platinum and Gold members do get this perk automatically.

Check-in counters

Lobby

Wine bar

US Airways Still Not Levying Fuel Surcharges On British Airways Award Redemptions

Since transitioning over from Star Alliance to OneWorld at the end of March, US Airways has been experiencing a number of hiccups when it comes to searching for and booking partner award tickets. One upside that I briefly touched upon in the previous post, however, is that the dreaded fuel surcharges on British Airways appear to be nonexistent when using Dividend Miles, despite claims by US Airways that they will indeed be levied on award tickets.

I assumed this was merely a software glitch, and would be fixed in a matter of days, if not hours. But I was pleasantly surprised to find out that fuel surcharges are still not being collected on British Airways award tickets as of this morning. I confirmed the total taxes and fees on both the American Airlines and British Airways website search tools, then compared them by calling into US Airways to price out the identical itineraries.

Here are the results for three different round-trip cases on random dates, all on British Airways metal in first class (note that US Airways charges an additional $50 award processing fee):

• SFO-LHR-SFO  (BA286/285)
  12/27/2014 - 1/6/2015
  BA: 150,000 + $1268.64
  AA: 125,000 + $1268.60
  US: 125,000 + $325.14 + $50.00

• JFK-LHR-JFK  (BA180/113)
  12/19/2014 - 1/7/2015
  BA: 120,000 + $1192.64
  AA: 125,000 + $1192.60
  US: 125,000 + $325.14 + $50.00

• LHR-JNB-LHR  (BA57/54)
  5/17/2014 - 5/25/2014
  BA: 150,000 + $1006.00
  AA: 100,000 + $1006.10
  US: 100,000 + $405.46 + $50.00

Clearly, US Airways is missing something here. Just to double check, I went onto ITA Matrix and broke out all the taxes, fees, and surcharges, and it appears that US Airways is not only missing the fuel surcharge, but a few other items as well:

ITA Matrix breakdown of taxes, fees, and surcharges

No one knows how long this will last, but I'm torn between saying "this is clearly a bug and US Airways will probably fix it very soon since they are leaving hundreds of dollars on the table", and "US Airways is notorious for flouting their own award booking rules and incorrect award ticket pricing, so this may go on indefinitely". I'm still leaning towards the former though.

Whatever the case is, if you've ever dreamed of trying out British Airways in first class (or any class for that matter) but balked at dropping thousands on taxes and fees, now is the best time to do so using your Dividend Miles!

Some Lessons From Today's US Airways & American Airlines Devaluation

If you haven't heard already, both American Airlines and US Airways made some unannounced changes to their frequent flyer programs overnight, the result of which was the elimination of some of the best "sweet spots" for both award charts. Gary over at View From The Wing wrote extensively about it here and here, while Ben from One Mile At A Time was far more scathing in his critique of the changes that were made without any advanced notice.

While I am just as upset over the lack of communication from American Airlines and US Airways, I am not as upset over the changes themselves. Yes, OneWorld Explorer awards are officially gone, as are the free stopovers at North American gateway cities, but I would venture to say that probably a minority of American Airlines customers actually took advantage of these benefits.

I'm far more heartbroken to see the long-expected demise of the 90k round-trip business class award to North Asia using US Airways Dividend Miles. This was by far the best value of any award program out there, and everyone knew it wouldn't last much longer. Unfortunately, I never had the opportunity to book this award, but coincidentally, I had just placed a round-trip first class award to North Asia on hold using only 120k Dividend Miles. Which leads me to a few lessons I learned within the past 24 hours:

• If you have an award in mind using AAdvantage or Dividend Miles, especially those in the remaining "sweet spots", book it now. As we've seen from the previous mergers, no good can ever come out of combining frequent flyer programs. Award charts will be gutted, and the American Airlines and US Airways award charts are absolutely next on the chopping block.
  
  Even worse, we now know they are willing to do it without any advance notice whatsoever, which makes redeeming your miles for the most valuable awards priority number one. Since I had just placed a first class award to North Asia on hold using Dividend Miles yesterday, imagine my shock when I awoke to news of the devaluation this morning. I was lucky that the first class mileage requirement didn't change. If it did, there is a good chance I would have had to pay the new rate... all because I waited. Don't wait.

• Related to the previous lesson: never, ever, ever place an award on hold using Dividend Miles. The infamous phone agents over at US Airways may not know much about geography (or their own award booking rules for that matter), but any advantages you glean from them will eventually be offset by that one agent who decides to conjure up non-existent issues just to make your life difficult.
  
  After learning of the devaluation, I immediately called in to ticket my itinerary. Unfortunately, the first agent who picked up decided that my routing was illegal (it wasn't), wouldn't let me hang up (she cut me off multiple times and put me on hold), and then proceeded to give me all sorts of reasons why my award wasn't "pricing out correctly".
  

  I was terrified she would dismantle my award or end up charging me more miles. After one hour and twenty minutes on the phone, I finally had my award ticketed for the original price. Something simple that should have taken ten minutes at most ended up almost imploding because of an incompetent agent.

• The next award set to disappear will be the 120k round-trip first class award to North Asia using Dividend Miles. This may be obvious, but it bears repeating. Anytime bloggers or the frequent flyer community point out an "amazing value" on any award chart, be ready for it to disappear. The 90k business class award has now increased to 110k (which is still a good deal...), and the first class award will soon follow. The fact that there is only a 10k-mile difference between the two award levels should be clear enough. It won't last.

All of that being said, I am super excited about the "round-the-world" first class award ticket I booked to North Asia this morning. One of the loopholes left in the US Airways transition from Star Alliance to OneWorld is that fuel surcharges still appear to be missing from British Airways redemptions. These charges can be massive (~$1,000 round-trip), so now is the time to try out business or first class on British Airways. I have no doubt the problem will be fixed within days, if not hours. My itinerary is as follows:

• SFO → LHR:  British Airways First Class
• LHR → FRA:  British Airways Business Class
• FRA → NRT:  Japan Airlines First Class
• HND → HKG:  Cathay Pacific Business Class
• HKG → LAX:  Cathay Pacific First Class
• LAX → SFO:  American Airlines First Class

Total cost was $131.21 plus $50.00 in award booking fees and 120,000 Dividend Miles. Since this will be part of a two-week journey to Myanmar over the holidays, I used British Airways Avios to tack on an additional leg from Hong Kong to Yangon on Dragonair. Total cost for this economy round-trip award was $79.67 and 20,000 Avios. I may also try to book a few AAdvantage awards over the next few weeks in anticipation of a more comprehensive award chart devaluation.

The Andaman, A Luxury Collection Resort, Langkawi

I had the opportunity to stay at The Andaman, A Luxury Collection Resort in Langkawi, Malaysia last week. This was my first time staying at an SPG Luxury Collection property, and I was lucky enough to be traveling with a friend of mine who not only has Platinum status, but also a number of remaining Suite Night Awards that he graciously decided to use for our three-night stay.

Initially, the hotel responded to the upgrade request with three different rooms for each of the three nights. We would start off in a Jacuzzi Studio Suite, then move to an Executive Suite, then to a standard Deluxe Room. Unhappy with this arrangement, we pressed the issue further, and fortunately, they relented with an email letting us know that they were able to accommodate us in an Executive Suite for the entire stay. Even better, they put us in a ground-floor Executive Pool Suite, which included a private plunge pool, cabana daybed, and garden.

Approximately the size of Phuket but somewhat less developed, Langkawi is still home to a handful of high-end resorts, including Four Seasons and Westin. For The Andaman, one of its biggest draws also represents a major disadvantage for many guests. The secluded property is surrounded by a beautiful 10-million year old rain forest, but that means it is completely isolated from the rest of the island, and the drive there from the airport takes approximately half an hour along a small winding road. Airport transfers to and from the resort cost approximately $35 USD each way.

The Andaman lobby

Once there, however, I was completely taken by the pristine environment and surprisingly, the grandeur of the lobby. The centerpiece is a replica of the Balai Nobat, a traditional orchestral platform built for the royalty of the Malaysian state of Kedah. At the check-in counter, we were greeted by a friendly and extremely knowledgeable agent, who gave us an extensive rundown of the resort and all of the amenities and activities available. With her suggestion, we signed up for one of the morning nature walks around the property.

A great tip we received during check-in was to have our SPG Platinum card ready while dining at the resort restaurants for a 15% discount. This came in quite handy as guests are essentially held captive at the property unless you have a rental car or are willing to pay a hefty sum for a long taxi ride into town. If you forgot your card, reception can issue a temporary one during your stay.

Balai Nobat replica

This was one of the most pleasant check-in experiences I've ever had, with our awesome agent anticipating virtually every question and concern we had and addressing them in a remarkably knowledgeable and thorough manner. To our delight, she even gave my friend a hand-written card from the staff thanking him for his continued loyalty and Platinum status.