Points, Miles & Martinis is a project by Points, Miles & Martinis LLC. Some of the links within Poin

I pride myself on a 'book first, think later' mentality when it comes to using points and miles.  I wish I had some fancy story as to why a trip to Australia and the Great Barrier Reef needed to happen but in reality, it was the result of the decisions that are found at the bottom of a 45 1/2 oz. margarita.
Our 'margarita' discussion revealed that a friend of mine and I shared a strong desire to visit the land down under with a specific goal of SCUBA diving the Great Barrier Reef before it deteriorates .  I strangely enjoy planning out award trips in my head even if I don't intend to take them and fortunately Australia has been on my mind for a few years.  I was able to quickly propose a few cool hotels, airlines, and lounges off the top of my head that could be included in this trip and a mutual agreement was quite easy to arrive at.
The route we decided on would originate in Denver, stop in LAX briefly before airline points on credit cards taking the long haul to Sydney.  From there we would explore Sydney for a few days and fly up to Cairns, grab a rental car and drive to Port Douglas to SCUBA dive the Great Barrier Reef. After 5 nights near the reef, we would backtrack and spend a few more days in Sydney before returning home.  Because I was using two one way AA awards, I was able to consider a Hawaiian island as my final destination on the return one way which prices as the same as considering LAX my final destination.  It is always fun to see the puzzled look on someone's face when you ask them which Hawaiian Island they want to go to for free as a result airline points on credit cards of your award trip to Australia.  We chose Maui though that trip will be covered separately.
For the international flights, I used 150k AA miles to redeem airline points on credit cards for two round trip tickets in Economy on Qantas from LAX to SYD. The tack-on flight on American Airlines to OGG is essentially at the cost of a few extra taxes. Taxes and surcharges came to 310 USD including a 50 USD telephone ticketing fee that I could not avoid if I wanted to add the free tickets to Maui.
For the US domestic flights, I used 10,920 Southwest Points and my Companion Pass for two round trip flights from DEN-LAX, where Qantas departs its A380's from the US for SYD. Taxes and surcharges came to 10 USD.
For the Sydney hotels, I booked a two night stay at the Park Hyatt Sydney at the beginning of the trip and a three night stay at the end of the trip.  As a category 6 Hyatt hotel, I redeemed 22k Hyatt points per night or a total of 110k Hyatt points for the pleasure.
For the Port Douglas Hotels, I used SPG's 5th Night Free benefit and booked 5 nights at the Category 5 Sheraton Mirage Port Douglas at a total cost of 48k SPG points. airline points on credit cards In addition to using points, I used 5 Suite Night Upgrades to confirm airline points on credit cards a suite for all 5 nights.
Aside from both wanting to visit Australia since we were young, there were a number of other frequent traveler motivating factors that I, as a points and miles fanatic, used to decide airline points on credit cards on taking this trip:
Awesome report! I am going to Australia in February and staying at the Park Hyatt Sydney for 6 nights. Were those pictures from your actual room? I thouhgt reward nights at that hotel were only garden view rooms?
@Charles Excellent choice. Yes, the pictures are the real deal. This hotel will upgrade elite members up to an Opera Deluxe room, the room shown in the pictures. Most every room has a view of the Opera House.
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