Every once in awhile we splurge, and treat ourselves to a luxurious vacation. Ok, it’s not like we can claim that we ever deprive ourselves; we are so lucky with the amount of traveling we’ve done. But we have definitely done our fair share of budget travel.
The number of night buses we’ve taken is laughable. I’ve slept on bus station floors, in airports, and hotel lobbies, all in an effort to avoid paying for expensive hotels.
As a result, we really, really appreciate it when we get to stay in luxurious hotels. Backpacking has made us value flashy travel even more. For example, after having taken a 24hr bus ride, we now truly acknowledge how nice it is to fly business class.
So, recently, we treated ourselves to a high end vacation in Sydney. Now, when I say “high end”, I don’t mean that we dropped a ton of money. I mean that it was a high end vacation, but we used miles and points to get this vacation.
We had two free Hyatt night certificates from the Hyatt credit card that were about to expire, so we booked a weekend at the Park Hyatt Sydney, which is where celebrities tend to stay when they’re in town. Most recently, it was in the news when Pippa Middleton stayed there on her honeymoon.
To get there, we used British Airways Avios to book business class flights on Qantas, since they’re partners. Our flight back to Adelaide was economy class, but hey, it was a free flight. We can’t complain.
| Item | Miles/Hotel | Actual amount paid | Value | Which credit cards helped |
| Flight ADL—> SYD (business class there) | 45,000 Avios (British Airways) |
$71.56 |
$1472.00 |
Chase British Airways |
| 2 nights Park Hyatt Sydney | 2 free night certificates |
$75.00 |
$1680.00 |
Chase Hyatt |
That’s a $3152.00 luxury vacation, that we paid under $150 for.
Sydney is a great city, full of trendy restaurants, accessible beaches, and green parks.
The Park Hyatt is in the old section of Sydney, called The Rocks, where there are handfuls of old pubs, and steep, narrow alleys. It’s also right on the harbor.
Anyone visiting the most populated area in Oceania should see the Harbour Bridge, Darling Harbour, Opera House, Taronga Zoo and Botanic Park.
But we have found that we really enjoy the beaches surrounding the city.
Sydney is a very water oriented city, as it’s situated on the world’s largest natural harbor. Ferries are a big component of the public transportation system, making it easy to navigate the surrounding suburbs and beaches tucked into the coves. 
Of these beaches, the most famous are Bondi and Manly. Fun fact: Manly was named after the very buff aboriginals who lived in the region when the English settlers (convicts) first arrived.
Another popular beach town is Coogee, where we spent a very enjoyable Sunday Funday with some friends at a rooftop bar. The high cliffs and long sandy beach make this town, like the other beaches around Sydney, very popular on sunny days.
We always enjoy our trips to Sydney, but this one was a little different, because we got to really appreciate the benefits of miles and points.
Beer of Choice: Willie the Boatman Australian brown porter