Common Sense and Whiskey

When Money Doesn't Matter #9

Michele Bachmann's in the news for politics, but more importantly, how does she travel?

Ryan Lizza's long biography in the current New Yorker informs us that Bachmann's campaign has traveled in a Dassault Falcon 900, and that she told Lizza, "Isn't this an incredible way to fly? I've never been on a nicer plane in my life."

So let's see.

The Dassalut Falcon is a trijet. Various iterations of the 900 can fly from 4150 to 4750 miles. Here's the web site. I found several used Falcons on sale, ranging from a 1986 model for just $6,700,000 to a nice 1994 for $15,300,000.

 

Fabulous Destinations When Money Doesn't Matter #11

The Million Dollar Valentine's Date at the InterContinental Hong Kong is a bargain at only US$130,000 or so. It's a million HONG KONG dollars, see. It's a night in Hong Kong's largest Presidential Suite, 7,000 square feet, available between the 11th & 14th of February.

For just a million Hong Kong dollars you'll get airport transfers by Rolls Royce, "a custom-designed Valentine's message displayed by banner via a private boat at a designated time as seen from your rooftop terrace" and several other amenities.

The InterContinental Hong Kong is in Kowloon. We stayed there on our most recent visit to China, three years ago. No Presidential Suite for us, a mere Executive Harbour View or something like that. It does have a really nice view back across to Hong Kong island:

See the China Gallery at EarthPhotos.com for more photos from Hong Kong and all of China.

Fabulous Destinations When Money Doesn't Matter #10

Survey after survey ranks Singapore Airlines at the top, and no wonder. These are photos from the airline's web site of the suites aboard Singapore's A-380s.

Checking on a suite on a random Sydney to London Heathrow roundtrip, departing SYD on 1 January and returning two weeks later, the price came back at AUD$16353.16. That's AUD$32706.32 for the two of you, or USD$31323.48, according to the currency converter in the column on the right.

But now the big news: Now, instead of spending more than the gross national per caita income of all but five countries in the world, you can cash in some of your frequent flyer miles for those suites. How many miles for a a couple of suites, SYD-LHR-SYD? According to this flyertalk thread, just 6,200,200.

Get yours today.

 

Fabulous Destinations When Money Doesn't Matter #9

Proximity to Power is Pricey.

This surely wouldn't appeal to everybody, but it's right up my nerdy alley:  

Global Challenges in a Post-Perestroika World

World Leaders Symposium: Russia & the Black Sea

With Condoleezza Rice, William Perry, Mikhail Gorbachev, and other special guests

Aboard the Silver Wind • August 30 — September 15, 2010

I'm no cruise fan, but this is no ordinary cruise. It's a symposium that begins in Moscow, travels to Istanbul, and then continues by ship and local transport to Batumi and Tbilisi, Baku, Sochi, Yalta, Sevastopol and Odessa. 

I'd say put me down for that in a flash. Just one tiny problem: The least expensive accommodation is $47,980 for a "Vista Suite," based on double occupancy.

*****

There are photos from Moscow in the Russia Gallery, Istanbul in the Turkey Gallery, Tbilisi in the Georgia Gallery, Baku in the Azerbaijan Gallery and Odessa in the Ukraine Gallery at EarthPhotos.com.

Travel Lists & Visited Countries Maps

Much of a perfect spring Sunday morning here on the farm was spent posting a chronological list of our travels to the web site Passportstamp.com (here's how we did). It's another one of those sites, like Douwe Osinga's Visited Countries project, that allows you to compile a map of your travels. Here's our PassportStamp map, followed by our Douwe Osinga map:

Close enough to the same that I'm wondering why I spent multiple hours on a gorgeous morning painstakingly clerking in every trip all the way back to my first drive to Canada in 1980 (Or maybe it was 1979).

But I know why, really. It was in the spirit of competition. See, you'll be ranked among the other site members, stacked up against the competition, sized up and told where you stand. And our results weren't bad:

105 countries visited, ranking 109th overall. Our most-visited countries are the predictable European ones, and many are because they were transit stops on the way elsewhere. The top ten: Germany 11 visits, Finland 9, Austria & France 8, Thailand 7, Italy, Russia, Switzerland & the UK 6, and China 5.

The trouble is the arbitrary rules.

Fabulous Destinations When Money Doesn't Matter #8

We're not much for cruises. There are good, practical reasons like this, but also because after four or five days of lockdown with strangers, it just seems like time to move on.

It's not the cruise itself - I began to feel the same way after a few days in Zermatt one winter. Same folks, same single main street, same couple of restaurants. Just a little stifling.

But here's one cruise that just might work - fifteen days aboard the icebreaker 50 Years of Victory, for a trip to the north pole. Might work except for one teeny detail - money really has to be no object, because the price tag is, um, well, a little robust.

Here's another cruise that doesn't have the cachet of the North Pole, but which cruises around above the Arctic Circle. And hey, it's a bargain, starting at a mere $10,000 per person.

(Photo from the Greenland Gallery at EarthPhotos.com.)

Fabulous Destinations When Money Doesn't Matter #7

Fabulous transportation, in this case. Money clearly isn't the first concern to the person, apparently from New Zealand, who writes the blog Musings of the Global Traveller. Or perhaps to whomever pays his/her expense account.

Check out this post, "A380 first class suites comparison - Emirates, Qantas and Singapore," which compares flights in the first class suites on Emirates - Sydney to Auckland, Qantas - Sydney to Singapore and Singapore - Singapore to Melbourne. 

For the record, I checked prices for first class flights at each of the airlines' sites for an arbitrary 1 February one-way flight on these routes. Converted to USD, the rates came back: SYD - AKL $1122, SYD - SIN $5655 and SIN - MEL $5080. That's $11,860 of first class suites.

We can enjoy the reviews, anyway. And the Global Traveller has some tips on the cheapest way to book these flights at the end of his/her post.

Fabulous Destinations When Money Doesn't Matter #6

This time it's the fabulous trip, not the destination. Emirates Airlines offers first class passengers on its A380s a "shower spa," reservable for thirty minutes per passenger, which includes five minutes of water for your shower while in flight. It comes complete with a gauge of how much water you have left.

Check out a trip report posted this month on FlyerTalk, which has lots of photos. Here's the entire FlyerTalk thread.

A search for a round trip fare in a first class private suite on an Emirates A-380 with access to the shower spa on the Dubai to London Heathrow route next month turned up a modest fare of $8779 per person.

Photo is a screen grab from the Emirates web site. Watch two short videos featuring the shower spa on the Emirates site.

(See the other Fabulous Destinations, and see photos of Dubai in the U.A.E. Gallery at EarthPhotos.com.)

Fabulous Destinations When Money Doesn't Matter #5

The Presidential Suite at New York's Waldorf Astoria Hotel costs $7000 per night. Two stories (1, 2) covering President Obama's stay there for the U.N. General Assembly. 

(Photo from WaldorfNewYork.com.)

Fabulous Destinations When Money Doesn't Matter #4

Money better REALLY not matter. Welcome to the Hotel President Wilson on the shore of Lake Geneva, Switzerland. Various web sites suggest various prices, so show up ready to negotiate.

Details conflict between these three sites, but the top floor suite has four bedrooms, each with views of Lake Geneva. The suite comes with dining for 26 and bullet proof windows and doors, and "can hold up to 40 guests in its cocktail lounge." 

Price, variously, is quoted at $9090.00, $23,000, or $33,000 per night.

(Photo via the Guardian newspaper.)

Fabulous Destinations When Money Doesn't Matter #3

 

The Otemanu Over-Water Bungalow at the Four Seasons Bora Bora "affords the kind of privacy honeymooners crave while keeping them in the lap of luxury. The spacious one-bedroom suite has a plunge pool, deck, covered dining pavilion, and unobstructed views over the lagoon and of Mount Otemanu, the stunning jade-green volcanic rock that rises from the center of Bora Bora. A large glass floor panel—otherwise known as “Tahitian TV”—gives guests a fascinating perspective on the lagoon life below," as described by Travel & Leisure.

A random night next January came back quoted at 179,300 Polynesian Pacific Francs, which the hotel web site converted to $2,094.01. Not entirely out of the question for a really, really special occasion like, say, a honeymoon or a 25 anniversary?

Ah, but don't forget the extras: VAT - 5%, "Resort Fee" - 7.7%, Regional Polynesian Tax - 5%, "Service Charge" - 3% and City Tax (what city is that?) - 300 XPF. New, actual nightly total: $2530.97.

(Photos from the Four Seasons Bora Bora web site.)

Fabulous Destinations When Money Doesn't Matter #2

Put this one on your list:  Namibia may be better known as a desert destination than for game viewing. But up in the north the Etosha Pan and the Etosha National Park rival, and compete with, Botswana's Okavango Delta.


Top of the line up there, far as we can see, is the Ongava Lodge's Little Ongava, with a rack rate of N$8990/US$1116.96 (today's rate) "Per person per day fully inclusive of all accommodation, meals, activities, guided tours to Etosha and on Ongava" based on a double room.

Sure looks nice, though.

See the Namibian desert in the Namibia Gallery, and the Okavango delta in the Botswana Gallery at EarthPhotos.com. See also Namibia's Top Safari Lodges.

(Ongava banner from the Ongava website.)

Fabulous Destinations When Money Doesn't Matter #1

Here's a new series featuring destinations where the only word that applies is fabulous. Put this one on your list:  Next time you're anywhere near Adelaide, check out Kangaroo Island's Southern Ocean Lodge.

Pricey? Sure. At today's exchange rate, according to xe.com, the rack rate for two nights for two people in the Osprey Pavilion is US$5577.99. Cheapest room, the Flinders Suite, is half that, or a mere $697.25 per person per night.

But what a fabulous place.

Explore the Southern Ocean Lodge's website.