Got Australia and Hong Kong on your bucket list? You can have a luxury trip on a budget. Here’s how to spend almost two weeks in Hong Kong and Australia on $93 a day.
A long trip doesn’t have to be expensive. Nor do you have to backpack or stay in hostels. You can have a First Class luxury trip by following my tips.
Tricks on How to Spend Almost Two Weeks in Hong Kong & Australia on $93 a Day
Australia is one of my favorite places in the world. So I’ll jump on any chance to visit. Jeff and I have been to Brisbane and Sydney and loved both of those cities.
I travel hacked our Australia trip so instead of paying $26,000 we only paid $208.
But this trip, I wanted to explore more of the country. And I love visiting Hong Kong for the food. After all, it’s home to the cheapest Michelin starred restaurant in the world.
Here are a few tips, tricks, and secrets to enjoy 12 days in Hong Kong and Australia for $93 a day.
Read: The how to luxury guide to Sydney on $85 a day
Melbourne, Canberra & Perth Winter Vacation Costs
You can spend a summer vacation in Hong Kong and Australia for about $93 a day. Here’s how I did it and how you can too.
1. Airfare
- First Class one-way ticket on Cathay Pacific from Los Angeles to Hong Kong
- Business Class one-way ticket on Cathay Pacific from Hong Kong to Adelaide
- One-way Business Class ticket on Qantas from Adelaide to Melbourne
- Coach one-way ticket on Qantas from Melbourne to Canberra
- One-way coach ticket on Qantas from Canberra to Perth
- Business Class one-way ticket on Cathay Pacific from Perth to Hong Kong
- First Class one-way ticket on Cathay Pacific from Hong Kong to Los Angeles
The total cost for airfare: $470.06. But you can also do it for $172.66
Read: Our First Class Hawaiian Airlines Honolulu Sydney Flight for $63
2. 9 Nights Lodging
I generally switch hotels each night. So I can earn elite status faster with stays vs nights and try a variety of hotels to review. But you don’t have to. You can still save on accommodations without changing hotels every night.
- Hyatt Regency Hong Kong Tsim Sha Tsu
- Park Hyatt Melbourne
- Grand Hyatt Melbourne
- Airbnb stay at a converted warehouse
- Doubletree Melbourne
- Hyatt Hotel Canberra
- Airbnb stay at in an apartment for two nights
- Hyatt Regency Perth
For our Sydney trip, we used points so we had $0 accommodation cost.
This time I paid cash and used points.
Where it made more sense to pay cash because the cost to earn those points would be more than paying cash, I paid cash. Otherwise, I used points.
Here’s how to decide when you should pay cash or use points for hotels.
The accommodation was my biggest expense for this trip. Way more than I would have liked to pay.
But I also got to see if there was a benefit to booking via a Virtuoso agent (more on that in another post).
The cost of accommodations: $1,184.15 included free breakfast.
But you can do it for $424.09 using points from your World of Hyatt credit card, Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, and Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card.
If you have a Capital One card like the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card, you can reduce your accommodation expense to $0.
3. Transportation
Hong Kong, Melbourne, Canberra, and Perth are very walkable cities. I walked everywhere, except for very long distances and going from one accommodation to another.
You can ride the train, tram, and bus cheaply. In Melbourne and Perth, there are also free city trams and buses. And there’s always Uber.
The total cost for transportation: $311.54. I used Uber a LOT. You can reduce this to $231.54 by using the bus instead of Uber.
4. Activities and Tours
Because I’ve visited Hong Kong before and visited the Big Buddha and other places, I stayed in and tried to get over my jet lag.
Like Sydney, a lot of activities in Melbourne, Canberra, and Perth are free. You can read all the fun, free things to do in Melbourne, Canberra, and Perth in another post.
Cost for activities and tours: $15.09
5. Food
You can eat cheaply in Hong Kong. But food is expensive in Australia.
But you can save money if you have hotel lounge access or book through Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts or Virtuoso. You can also save by finding inexpensive local places and shopping at the grocery store.
Food: $182.74
6. Sim Card
I have a Google Fi data card (thanks, Steve), but bought a local sim card. Having cell service is important if you need to reach your Uber driver. 🙂 And for safety when you’re traveling as a solo female.
Conclusion
You can spend two weeks in Hong Kong and Australia for less than $100 a day, including airfare, hotel, activities, transportation, and food.
What are your tips on doing Hong Kong and Australia on a budget?
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glenn
Thursday 9th of February 2017
Really great advice for me. Australia is on my list of places to visit with my family!!
Anita hendrieka
Wednesday 14th of September 2016
Really great advice here. It's amazing how cheap you can get airfares and so on if you look hard enough!
Jasmine
Tuesday 13th of September 2016
Now that is really impressive! I would never have thought it was possible to affordably visit either of these places. Both Australia and Hong Kong are my bucket list and now you've made it seem more realistic!
Ryan | Blogging From Paradise
Tuesday 13th of September 2016
Hi Debra,
Super impressive.
Walking is huge for lowering travel and overall costs. We walk everywhere - in walk-able cities - and do public transport too. Last month in Instanbul we spent like $30 on transportation. 15 smackers to and from the airport, bus-style, and 0 transport costs for the month. Of course, we happened to travel on post coup attempt days where free public transport was available to encourage folks to get out and celebrate democracy ;) But even if we paid it'd have been $1 to $2 per trip.
Thanks for sharing!
Ryan
Kristy @ Mommy Hates Cooking
Tuesday 13th of September 2016
I am impressed! I never would have thought it was possible to travel abroad so frugally. Australia has been on my bucket list for years, and I've always thought it would take far more than that to travel there. Thank you for these great tips!