The Chinese Las Vegas...

... or in the other way round : Las Vegas is the western Macau (there are 5 times more money spent gambling in Macau that in the Nevada state capital)

Another quote to understand the size of the gambling in Macau (the only place where gambling is officially allowed in China, since Macau had the Special Administrative Region stamp like Hong Kong, following retrocession from Portugal):
"Chinese punters bet around £70bn on Macau's baize tables (they prefer baccarat) last month alone. This year it could reach £1tn, an almost unimaginably colossal sum. Think of all the cash issued from all the UK's ATMs last year. Then multiply it by five."
Yet seven years ago there was just one casino on the peninsula.

Anyway, I'm not going there to gamble, but to experience a new country in a couple of hours, (I plan only a 5km stroll along the most famous landmarks)... and a new way of travelling : Couchesurfing !


View Macau Touristic Map in a larger map

The Airports - Part I

One of the objective of the trip was to meet the busiest airports in the world. Including my previous trips and my future segment, I will have visited 80% of the top 15 busiest airport by passenger traffic (see below)... (Missing only Beijing, Jakarta and Guangzhou)

Taking off from Nice, I will fly to the congested London Heathrow (operating at 98+% of its capacity, it has very few room to recover from averse weather or aircraft issue on the runway). Maybe one day politicians in charge in UK will have the guts to act and choose: the solutions to add more capacity have all been defined/proposed  (like building a third runway or extending other airports)...

View Larger Map of Nice Cote d'Azur

View Larger Map of London Heathrow
Story about the other airports I will visit will follow in other posts

Rank	Airport	Location	Code (IATA/ICAO)	Total Passengers	Rank Change1	% Change2
1.	Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport	Atlanta, Georgia, United States	ATL/KATL	38,154,391		0.1%
2.	Beijing Capital International Airport	Chaoyang, Beijing, China	PEK/ZBAA	33,917,960		4.0%
3.	London Heathrow Airport	Hillingdon, London, United Kingdom	LHR/EGLL	27,878,945		1.9%
4.	Dubai International Airport	Garhoud, Dubai, United Arab Emirates	DXB/OMDB	27,124,195	6	16.8%
5.	Tokyo International Airport	Ōta, Tokyo, Japan	HND/RJTT	26,522,936	1	1.1%
6.	Los Angeles International Airport	Los Angeles, California, United States	LAX/KLAX	26,163,993		3.8%
7.	O'Hare International Airport	Chicago, Illinois, United States	ORD/KORD	25,804,530	2	3.2%
8.	Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport	Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, United States	DFW/KDFW	24,313,911		3.8%
9.	Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport	Roissy-en-France, Tremblay-en-France, Mitry-Mory, Île-de-France, France	CDG/LFPG	23,994,717	2	0.6%
10.	Soekarno-Hatta International Airport	Cengkareng, Tangerang, Banten, Indonesia	CGK/WIII	23,780,418	1	2.8%
11.	Hong Kong International Airport	Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong, China	HKG/VHHH	23,780,000	1	4.4%
12.	Suvarnabhumi Airport	Bang Phli, Samut Prakan, Thailand	BKK/VTBS	21,784,782	2	6.8%
13.	Frankfurt Airport	Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany	FRA/EDDF	21,731,996	2	1.5%
14.	Singapore Changi Airport	Changi, East Region, Singapore	SIN/WSSS	21,573,445	1	4.8%
15.	Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport	Huadu, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China	CAN/ZGGG	21,232,272	3	7.3%

2013 - Source Wikipedia/ACI

The Itinerary - Final

Here are the combined 44 hours of time difference my body will have to endure, through 5 bookings and 15 flights


View RTFW in a larger map

which gives, in List view

Origin				Flight details			Destination
Date	Time (local)	airport code	city name	Airline	Flight number	Duration	Date	Time (local)	airport code	city name
31-Oct	13h40	NCE	Nice [Côte d'Azur], FR	BA	347	2h10	31-Oct	14h50	LHR	London [Heathrow], Middlesex, England, GB
Connection 3h45
31-Oct	18h35	LHR	London [Heathrow], Middlesex, England, GB	BA	25	11h35	1-Nov	14h10	HKG	Hong Kong [Intl - Chek Lap Kok], HK
Hong Kong + Macau ~28 hours
2-Nov	16h55	HKG	Hong Kong [Intl - Chek Lap Kok], HK	FJ	392	10h15	3-Nov	8h10	NAN	Nadi [Intl], FJ
Connection 1h35
3-Nov	09h45	NAN	Nadi [Intl], FJ	FJ	411	2h00	3-Nov	12h45	AKL	Auckland [Intl], NZ
New Zealand - Northern Island 5.5 days
9-Nov	18h50	AKL	Auckland [Intl], NZ	EK	407	4h00	9-Nov	20h50	MEL	Melbourne [Tullamarine Intl], Vic, AU
Melbourne 36 hours
11-Nov	11h20	MEL	Melbourne [Tullamarine Intl], Vic, AU	AA (QF)	7349 (93)	14h20	11-Nov	06h45	LAX	Los Angeles [Intl], CA, US
Connection 3h00
11-Nov	09h45	LAX	Los Angeles [Intl], CA, US	AA	2434	3h00	11-Nov	14h45	DFW	Dallas-Fort Worth [Dallas/Fort Worth Intl], TX, US
Connection 2h05
11-Nov	16h50	DAL	Dallas [Dallas Love Field], TX, US	WN	103	1h20	11-Nov	18h10	MSY	New Orléans [Louis Armstrong New Orléans Intl], LA, US
New Orleans to Memphis 3 days
15-Nov	07h30	MEM	Memphis [Intl], TN, US	WN	654	1h45	15-Nov	09h15	HOU	Houston [William P Hobby Airport], TX, US
Connection 0h45
15-Nov	10h00	HOU	Houston [William P Hobby Airport], TX, US	WN	7	1h50	15-Nov	12h50	ATL	Atlanta [Hartsfield - Jackson Atlanta Intl], GA, US
Connection 8h35
15-Nov	21h25	ATL	Atlanta [Hartsfield - Jackson Atlanta Intl], GA, US	AA	3143	1h55	15-Nov	22h20	ORD	Chicago [Chicago O'Hare Intl], IL, US
Chicago 36 hours
17-Nov	10h35	ORD	Chicago [Chicago O'Hare Intl], IL, US	AA	289	14h30	18-Nov	15h05	PVG	Shanghai [Pudong Intl], Shanghai, CN
Connection 2h20
18-Nov	17h25	PVG	Shanghai [Pudong Intl], Shanghai, CN	KA (CX)	5369 (369)	2h50	18-Nov	20h15	HKG	Hong Kong [Intl - Chek Lap Kok], HK
Hong Kong ~27 hours
19-Nov	23h25	HKG	Hong Kong [Intl - Chek Lap Kok], HK	BA	26	13h25	20-Nov	4h50	LHR	London [Heathrow], Middlesex, England, GB
Connection 3h35
20-Nov	8h25	LHR	London [Heathrow], Middlesex, England, GB	BA	342	1h55	31-Oct	11h20	NCE	Nice [Côte d'Azur], FR

The Deep South

The original plan was, in 4.5 days, to drive from Dallas to Atlanta, with a stop in New Orleans to enjoy the US deep South...geee 14 hours drive.. ok, boring (I'll drive all the route..), but doable... and wait, I want also to visit Memphis, and Graceland, with the famous house from Elvis... The driving time climbed to 19 hours... it was really becoming hard to fit in such a short time...

View Larger Map

Original program

Anyway, my flights are booked, I don't have the choice... Locationdevoiture.fr 's 5% discount in the pocket (cf earlier post), I've confirmed a Dodge Grand Caravan (once the 5 back seats are folded, there is a fully flat area on which I will sleep, saving on the hotels)

The American Dream ?

What is this in the confirmation email... ? 300 USD one way fee?? ok, let's find a cheaper solution...having a 100 USD one way fee on a shorter distance, I've tried several combinations) for the price difference I've booked with SouthWest Airlines (really the guys who invented the Low Cost model cf wiki), I've selected a Dallas Love Field (there are only 2 hours between the flights, and I need to change airport... yes, I like challenges :) ) to New Orleans, I will rent the car there, and drop it off in Memphis (after stops in Natchez, Vicksburg and Hot Springs), to board a plane to Atlanta via Houston... (I've hesitated to fly to ATL via Chicago Midway or Denver...)

Awesome news (Ryanair and other European LCCs: read this and learn...) Southwest offer 2 FREE checked bags... no fee to check in, no fee to change your flight... and I had to amend one of the two flights, the new flight selection was cheaper, I've been REFUNDED of the 10 USD difference by Southwest...)

Here is the outcome

Final Deep South Program

Note : When you book your car in a large US chain, take the time to register to the loyalty program of the car rental company, it will save you a lot of time at the pickup counter: last April, when arriving in LAX, the queue at prepaid vouchers counter in the Dollar Agency lasted more than 25 minutes...

The HK segments

Once the circle Pacific was booked, I had to travel to HK. From Nice, there are few carriers flying there, and once again, I choose the matrix to get me a flight...

These were the chapest options to travel to HKG

The BA flights booked (their brand new A380 is scheduled on this route), I checked from time to time if other fares could be more interesting on the matrix... and the answer was no... but wait, yes , 2 weeks later BA published an end of summer sale... which was not on Matrix, even forcing the airline ba+ (and same for Turkish Airline which published a promo as well ...)

So you really need to register to as many airline newsletter as possible to get a good deal (like the France > Tokyo @440 Euros from Emirates last Feb), as search engines (even matrix) may not have the best fares...

for the record, the discounted BA offer was 11 euros cheaper than my regular flight (including the cxl fees)... but they charge a 15 EUR per cancellation, which made the deal not worth the change...

edreams offer a calendar of lowest fare, which may be convenient for popular destinations

HK means hold and confirmed in Amadeus terminal

The cheapo ?

That's the name of the cheapest car category of one of the most famous New Zealand Car rental company (Jucy). Indeed these are very affordable cars, but you get what you pay :)
The El Cheapo is great for the budget traveller! Having been on tour around New Zealand for a few years already, they're slightly older (and wiser) and have around 200,000km (yes... 200'000 kms...) or more, but still meticulously serviced and groomed by JUCY with love.

It's written on the door, so other people on the road know that you are driving a cheapo...

Jucy offer also campervans, fully equiped. This would have been nice, but not within my budget... tant pis, I will sleep in the car :)

not for me :( 

I was about to book this cheapo for the official website (they have a very good e marketing departement as I've had for months the adds for their website...), but the meta car rental search tool I use locationdevoiture.fr had a 5% discount via their newsletter (once again, I can not stress enough the importance of registering to the newsletter to get discounts), so I've had a look... and it was a nice surprise...

for 5 days, El Cheapo was quoted 160 Eur, the unknown local car rental company ("Letzrental", no review on locationdevoiture.fr) was 60 euros cheaper... I don't know the mileage of the car (all I know is Nissan Sunny (2000-2005)), but for 35% less, I'm OK to give it a try... the confirmation email is nevertheless funky... the car rental is not even close to the airport, but instructions are given :) 
"Shuttle Bus Service (Please call 0508 736 825 once you have cleared customs for shuttle service to letz office at the "Hotel Grand chancellor Ak Airport" ."


Next objective for NZ... get an itinerary.. :)