Travel Thread

K, thanks for that

Pretty sure mine wonā€™t. Are there advantages in pocket wifi over prepaid sim?

You donā€™t need to swap out your SIM card and fiddle around with your settings re network etc. Just connect to the wifi as usual.

OK, thanks. I can see it would be convenient.
Never had to change settings swapping SIMs in NZ or South Africa though. Maybe Japan is different?

I havenā€™t swapped the sim before, so canā€™t say which was ā€˜betterā€™, but as others have stated, the pocket wifi is good because.

  • multiple devices can be linked
  • some hotels and bnb had them free. Some of the devices were very similar to an iPhone which you could make free calls in the hotel and surf the web on, so not just a ā€˜boxā€™.
  • Seemed to be more reliable in buildings and out and about than my phone.
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Thanks

In Japan I just used the wifis but in Bali recently there was a bit of mucking around with settings.
P.S. DJ thread needs more live 3 song sets. Youā€™d get a go tomorrow for sure.

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Arrived at the Angsana Lang Co resort yesterday after a couple of days in HCMC. The scenery on the drive up from Da Nang airport to the resort was quite stunning and it really is a great part of the world. 3 nights here before a couple of days in Hanoi and then back to Hong Kong via Bangkok. I will really be sick of Bangkok airport be then as that will be our third transit through it and it isnā€™t one of my favourites to start with.

My mates visit us with their families, so multiple phones. As stated by others, renting a single pocket wifi from the airport is the best way to go (if your wife & daughter have phones).

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Iā€™ve used this mob twice and will be using it a third time next month!

Iā€™ve had it delivered to the hotel iā€™m staying at.

https://www.japan-wireless.com/

The only downside to pocket wifi is if you want to split up cause only one of you will have data!

Thanks Soulnet - Iā€™ll look into it.

So pocket wifi is preferred to local SIM because no re-config of phone settings + multiple device connectivity - yeah?

My partner and I prefer it cause we then only need one device. If we both got sim cards weā€™d double the price. We also let the important people know if they want to get us they can sms and weā€™ll call back using for example whatsapp.

If you need to make overseas calls or people need to call you then a sim wins out cause the costs of using your local sim are crazy expensive.

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Qantas First Class lounge in SYD is pretty good and probably 50 times bigger than their crowded MEL 1C lounge. Q always lavishes more on SYD than anywhere else.

Pocket WiFi from the airport is the first thing I recommend to friends travelling to Japan. Itā€™s worth it! Iā€™ll be in Japan next week for a 16 day work stint. Tokyo, Kanazawa region, Kobe/Osaka/Kyoto then Nagoyaā€¦

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Leaving HK to head home in a few hours. The new Hong Kong Airlines lounge is pretty good with a decent spread of food and some great cocktails. Kronenbourg on tap is a bonus aswell. These last couple of weeks have flown and after having spent 12 weeks OS this year already I need to get back to work to replenish the bank account. Only a few small OS holidays planned between now and March at this stage but hopefully we can squeeze another longer break for mid year

Booked a couple of Insight tours for next Octoberā€¦13 days in Southern Italy and Sicily, then 6 daysin Malta.

We always travel on OneWorld Alliance, so have had a few on Emirates recently. Travel agent suggested that a lot of clients are talking favourably about Qatar Airways. Can anyone make an informed comparison?

Usually work off Qantas sales, so it depends on whether theyā€™re to and from a specific destination e.g.Zurich or Rome, or just to and from Western Europe.

Two years ago, went into Barcelona and out of Londonā€¦last year into Frankfurt and out of Warsaw.

There are flights from Valetta to Sydney, but via Dubai AND Singapore.

Moving directly from left-hand drive/auto to right-hand drive manual after only 2 hours sleep really sucksā€¦

Donā€™t forget to look the right way when approaching a roundabout.
Or is that the left way?

K. So Iā€™m wondering about which (if any) JR Pass to get.
Itinerary as follows:

Arrive Narita.
5 nights Shinjuku, mostly in Tokyo environs, maybe a day trip to Hakone.
6 nights Kyoto with a few day trips, e.g. to Nara, Himeji, Fushimi Inari, Arashiyama. Maybe Hiroshima at a stretch.
To Kii Tanabe for 8 day Kumano Kodo hike ending Kii Katsura.
2 nights Osaka.
Depart Itami.

From using the calculator below, seems I get reasonable savings from a 7 day JR Pass starting the day I leave Tokyo for Kyoto and ending the day I arrive in Kii Tanabe. This shows a saving of approx 6500 JPY. Does this seem reasonably accurate?

https://www.jrpass.com/farecalculator/138.427734/35.712616/8/iM3sBdbyAG7qAhZpAMeZ6dHuAdEyAdenAKZrBdDq6dDqAM8yAG7qAhZpBGms6dHuAdEympLvA9i=

Otherwise, looks like 14 & 21 day passes are of marginal or no benefit.

So Iā€™m thinking of getting a 7 day pass for that middle period of intensive travel & a Suica card for the time in Tokyo & Osaka. Seem sound?

@mrjez @JohnRain @Soulnet @crumbs @hambo

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At the risk of being mocked I can only compare business class across different airlines for long haul. For me both Emirates and Qatar are pretty even and in these criteria I would choose:
Seats: Qatar
Food: Emirates
TV/Entertainment: Emirates
Staff: Qatar just edges Emirates
We normally choose on price and what cities they serve. I find Emirates 777 is a shocker so will always look to fly on their A380 so be warned they have cut back their Melbourne A380 flights. Qatar has a good mix of aircraft and their A350 and A380ā€™s are both great.
Dubai is a better airport than Doha but both have stunning first class lounges. Doha itself is a dump of a place to stop over, Dubai kills it. Have a look at Cathay Pacific aswell, they are brilliant in all areas and sometimes up to $2k cheaper in business and $300-400 in economy. After a long holiday in Europe we find the stop over in Asia is better for our bodies aswell but everyone is different.
When booking try to avoid leaving from the UK as their departure taxes are far higher than elsewhere. As a rule we try to fly in to Germany/Italy and the same on departure

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