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Here were our destinations:
June had occasionally mentioned how fun it would be to make the long voyage to the lonely, unpopulated, south side of the planet. Frankly, I was never very excited about it. I figured I would just ignore her and, after I croaked from too much alcohol and fast food, she would eventually go by herself.
So by and by, June and I visited So. Cal (San Diego and So. Cal trip) in August, 2016. The last leg of our trip was so that June could attend Alicia's baby shower. On the day of the shower, the guys played golf at a local course. I rode to and from the course with Alicia's husband, Garrett, the professional golfer. We talked mostly about golf, including his upcoming schedule. He mentioned that he was thinking about playing in the Australian Open in November. As June and I were driving back to Nor Cal, I started thinking how fun it would be to caddy for him. June, lit up at the idea of going to Australia. So when we got back home, I wrote to Garrett asking what he thought. He was game to have us join him, and for me to caddy for him in Sydney. And so we started planning.
The following two 'situations' arose which challenged our plans:
Of course, the big expense would be the flight. And we wouldn't want to just go for the week, but instead we agreed it would take at least three weeks to make the long journey worthwhile. After looking at many itinerary possibilities, I stumbled upon a link to AirTahitiNui website. They were offering a 3-stop Explorer Pass: From LA to Tahiti, then New Zealand, then Sydney Australia, and back to LA, all starting at $1270! From what we had seen up till them, that was a ridiculously low price. We explored the possibilities for several days, looking at how long to stay in each location, possible hotel accommodations, and so forth. We decided to pull the trigger. As it turns out, the return flight is with American Airlines, and they set the fare for that leg. Since we would be flying home around Thanksgiving, the price goes up to $1450. Oh well, we'll take it! We give our credit card #'s in return for a confirmation and itinerary. Done deal!
Over the next two weeks, we book all of our accommodations, two car rentals, and six interim flights. I then get a call from Air Tahiti Nui.
"I am so sorry Mr. Farrell, but I charged you the wrong price, and it would now cost $1850 for each of you. I cancelled your original itinerary, and if you still want to go, you will have to rebook within the next day or it will be offered to someone else."
Can they do that? Sounds like a perfect 'bait-and-switch' scam. I then talked with her supervisor (who was the one who caught the error) and she was definitely NOT going to absorb the cost of their error. June and I were both livid, but we reluctantly agreed to the new fare since we were already locked into going. I let the supervisor know that she has NOT heard the last of this! That evening, I was in the process of contacting the airlines management when I got a phone call. Mysteriously, they reconsidered and decided to absorb the cost of their error after all.
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Itinerary for our trip |
We learned the following lessons over the past couple of trips:
If you are on a budget and have done any international traveling (besides Mexico and Canada) you know how expensive an international data plan can be.
June got an international plan and here is what it cost us:
A fixed cost upfront, includes 300 MB of data: $60
Calls to anywhere - $.50/minute (even a 10 second call is a minute) = $9.00
Unlimited texting - free with the plan
Data overage (91 MB) = $18.20
Total for one month of being very careful = $92
This trip, I learned about putting a local SIM card in my phone. At the airport in Sydney, I went to the OPTUS counter (a local cell phone company) and bought a local calling plan. It was on sale for $20/month. It was good for unlimited texting, calling, and a ridiculous amount of data while inside Australia. At home, I first had my phone 'unlocked' by AT&T. Locking a phone is apparently unique to the US, which means that I am LOCKED to using AT&T SIM cards. If your phone is paid off and not stolen, AT&T will unlock YOUR phone for you if you ask nicely. Once the new SIM was activated, the phone worked great in Australia, just like having a phone at home. However, I later learned that Optus had charged me an extra $100 on the day I signed up, and then I learned that they have virtually NO support. If I had used the much bigger and better 'Vodaphone' in Australia, I probably would not have had to call try to battle Optus. In the end, I called Capital One and they credited my account and took up the battle for me. The new Australian SIM card would not have worked in Tahiti or New Zealand, so we really only used June's phone while there.
No international fees. Great customer service. You need a backup card, but this is our everyday card of choice. EVERYTHING that could go on it, DID go on it.
We still needed cash, so we brought some (get it at any bank), then we used June's Schwab debit card. Again, NO international fees! (very unusual for a debit card)
Yes, we still have an antique Garmin, and it works great for international traveling. Great peace of mind when driving and absolutely NO data usage.
But you do have to get international maps in advance. So, if you are on a budget (or don't like throwing money away) do NOT get the maps from Garmin. There is an open consortium for maps at: http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/. It was wonderfully simple, so I made a small donation. These maps do NOT have destinations like 'gas, food, etc.'
Another 'map' alternative is to download an area of a google map to your phone while you are home. It takes a bit of time and data but who cares if you are on wifi. And when you need these maps, it is fast and free. This also works well if you are going to be in an area in the US with crappy cell service. Push a few buttons in Google Maps and it is pretty easy to figure out.
On big trips like this, with accommodations, many flights, car rentals, and other plans, it is best to keep ALL of the relevant information on hand...somewhere. On this trip, we found it best to keep a single WORD (or other) document that contains all of this information in Itinerary format (by date) downloaded loaded on our phones, in email, and in hardcopy. The only problem we had with this strategy was that the information was not complete enough. It must have ALL of the information, such as addresses of hotels, flight numbers, and so forth.
The Australian government requires that visitors obtain a VISA online before traveling. June got her's and, with one week left before we were scheduled to leave, I went online to get mine. Since the VISA is tied to your passport, I went to the file cabinet to get my current passport. Oops! It isn't there! I tried to contain my panic as I recalled the last time I remembered having it: when we arrived in St. Thomas from the British Virgin Islands last February. Ugh! What a cluster-f%#k that place was!
So I spent the next five hours or so frantically searching for my passport. With nothing but frustration to show for my time, June convinced me to see what it would take to get a replacement. I made an appointment with the San Francisco branch of the US Passport Agency. Without going into detail, the process worked AMAZINGLY WELL. I was in and out of the downtown SF office in about 20 minutes, and the passport was mailed to our house in a couple of days, several days before we left. I LOVE the US government! BTW: You can pay companies to do this for you, but they don't guarantee that you will get it on time. And it's not as much fun!
Update: Around summer 2017, 6 months after our trip, I found my old passport. It was in a rarely-used pouch of my butt bag. I carried it with me everyday for all that time and didn't know it. Ugh!!
