Planning to visit Melbourne but discouraged by the surging Aussie dollar? You are not alone if you are giving the world's seventh most expensive city a pass.
An all-inclusive Melbourne package tour with a full-service airline will easily set you back by at least RM5,000. And for that budget, you have many tour options and chances are that you would be looking elsewhere.
I did not pay RM5,000 or even RM4,000 for the Melbourne trip in May 2011. About RM2,000 was what I paid for a return air ticket and ground arrangement (excluding meals). And it has a lot to do with timing and a little bit of luck.
Check this out ... RM754 for the return Air Asia X flight. You can call it a steal and the fare was inclusive of in-flight meals, baggage and airport tax.
It was A$385 (about RM1,200) for the five-day ground package – four-night accommodation (twin sharing) at Causeway 353 Hotel, two full day tour plus a bonus half day city tour, and airport transfer.
I booked the package after the usual survey among the popular Australian tour specialists at MATTA Fair in March. Malaysian Harmony offered the perfect deal with one of my preferred hotels in the list. And a pleasant surprise – free half-day city tour thrown in with Causeway 353.
Interestingly you can choose to pay in A$ inst
ead of ringgit. Travel agents’ exchange rates are usually less attractive and at the time of booking, the standard rate among the agents was RM3.25 to A$1. It was then less than RM3.10 to a Aussie dollar at the money changers. Obviously I opted to pay in A$.
Causeway 353 Hotel was a natural choice – a popular and highly rated tourist class hotel (ranked 32nd in TripAdvisor). You can’t find a better hotel for value or location. It’s a fairly new hotel, less than 3 years, with an excellent location (Little Collins Street) – walking distance to the busy Bourke Street and Flinders Street.
Perhaps the only gripe with the Causeway chain is breakfast – it’s continental rather than usual lavish and hot breakfast spread we are used to in most Asian cities. Internet at the hotel, like most hotels in Australia, is not free. It's A$20 a day and way too expensive but you can enjoy free WiFi at McDonald’s. Across Causeway 353, there’s a great food court at The Galleria and Internet is also free. The food court, however, closes by 6pm.
Entertainment aside, Melbourne is a wonderful place for foodies. A decent meal will cost you anything between A$15 and A$20. Want cheaper meals? No worries and the common choice is Subway or McDonald’s.
Enjoy the great sights in Victoria during autumn and forget about shopping in Melbourne. It’s so much cheaper in KL and other Asian shopping havens. Product offerings in Melbourne are no better either.
Travel Tips: book the ground packages, inclusive of day tours in Malaysia. Full day tours conducted by APT or Gray Line will cost a bomb in Melbourne. It’s A$150 for a full day tour of the Great Ocean Road.
Do your research and plan your trip ahead. You will discover in no time Melbourne is an exciting city and is far from expensive.
