Hiking Wentworth Falls, part 1

Australia Travelog #21
Wentworth Falls, NSW - Thu, 28 Dec 2023, 2:30pm

I'm titling this entry "Hiking Wentworth Falls, part 1" though in a sense it's already part 2. That's because we've already been to this trail twice today. We came came here first thing in the morning and couldn't see anything. Well, the canyon, yes, but not the falls. We decided to get more information about which hike(s) would provide great views at the information center— which is over at Echo Point. At that info center we learned that, hell yes, we need to hike Wentworth Falls because it's amazing. But then we hiked the Three Sisters first because it was right there. 😂

Back at the Wentworth Falls trailhead after lunch we found that the trail was way more crowded than when we visited in the morning. In the morning the parking lot was mostly full but there was no wait to get a space. This afternoon cars were already parked up and down the street for 1/2 mile outside the park and several were vulturing inside. We waited patiently in traffic for a few minutes and slipped into a space as some of the midday crowds were leaving.



The thing about Wentworth Falls is that the views really aren't at the trailhead. That's despite there being not one but two named vista points right near the parking lot. If you want to see anything at all, and especially if you want to see the falls, you have to hike more than the paved sidewalk. The photo above is from Fletchers Point. It's about 1/2 mile in and a few hundred feet down from the parking lot.

Fletchers Point offers more sights than just a nice view out the canyon. Turn to the left and you catch a nice glimpse of Wentworth Falls. Or, should I say, a small part of Wentworth Falls.



Yes, this is really just a small part of Wentworth Falls. It's just, like, the upper part of the middle part of the falls. As beautiful as it looks already you can just imagine what's coming soon. Notice in particular on the cliff on the far side of the falls there's a lookout high up on the cliff above the falls and narrow stairs carved into the rock below the falls. We saw those spots, imagined how amazing the falls must look from over there, and found energy to push farther along the trail.

The next photo comes from a spot you can see in the photo above. Notice that section of trail that crosses above falls. There's a metal railing there. Here's what you see from that crossing, looking up the stream:



It's another set of falls! This is the lower upper part of Wentworth Falls. Yes, it's right above the upper middle part. If you were to turn 180° here and take a running jump into the water, you might go over the edge and fall hundreds of feet. But on this side of the rail it's pretty safe, and as you can see, a lot of people of all ages are enjoying the falls and pools on this summer afternoon. (Actually there are 4-5x as many people in the water as you can see in this photo. I captured several pictures and picked the one with the fewest people in the middle then cropped it.)

Stay tuned.... We're going to hike out along those paths carved into the side of the cliff opposite the big part of the falls!

2023 Frequent Flyer Wrapup: Airline Points & Status

Around every New Year I take stock of my balances in various frequent traveler points programs, both to see how well I've done in accumulating & using miles as well as to set goals for the coming 12 months. One thing that's different this year is now all the airlines I fly with and the hotels I stay with are doing it, too. They've been emailing me "Your Year in Travel" summaries. If nothing else it's fun comparing my records to theirs to double-check my accuracy— and theirs.

As I go through these balances you'll see that I refer to having a big balance as bad and having a smaller one, especially spending to get down to a smaller one, as good. That may seem contrary to common wisdom; isn't earning and saving a good thing? Sure, earning points is good, but their value doesn't come until they're redeemed. And that's where the rub lies. Loyalty points only ever lose value. Saving them up for too many years hoping to take "the trip of a lifetime" is a mistake. By the time that opportunity comes years later you'll find that the points price has increased 2x, 3x, or worse. The bigger the points balance you carry, the bigger the risk. Thus the more you have the more important it is to have a plan for how to spend them, soon.

I'll split airlines and hotels into two posts to cover a few of each. Here's where I landed in the various airline programs at the end of 2023:

⬆️ Southwest Airlines: Earn and Burn (Needs More Burn)

I have been busy with Southwest this year. I flew 31 segments with them and earned 202,000 Rapid Rewards points. In addition I renewed both A-List Preferred and Companion Pass elite status. And unlike some previous years where I only made it by a whisker, in 2023 I cinched A+ in August and crossed the finish line for Companion Pass in October.

On the other side of the ledger I redeemed 154,000 points this year on Southwest flights. The difference between that and the points I earned boosted my balance by over 50k. So now I'm sitting on nearly 450,000 RR points with Southwest— even more than the nearly 400k I held a year ago.

A lot of people would celebrate, "Woohoo! I have 450,000 points!" I don't celebrate it because carrying a big balance is a bad thing. Points only ever devalue so it's a poor idea to keep them banked for too long intending to use them later. For 2023 my goal was to burn faster than I earned. Well, I earned too much and didn't burn enough. Thus "Burn more than I earn" is my goal again for 2024.

⬇️ United Airlines: Yay, Redeeming Points!

Finally I've had a good burn year with United. A year ago I was sitting on 450k with United, similar to what I'm sitting on with Southwest now, but in the past 12 months I redeemed a whopping 187k on award flights. And I didn't just buy piddling little flights here and there. The bulk of those points I spent on two round-trip tickets to Australia for a fantastic vacation late in the year. That's the kind of trip I've been looking to spend points on for years. Alas, it's gotten more expensive over the years— because of how miles and points only ever lose value (see above).

In addition to spending a boatload of UA points I earned a few from flights and credit cards. One weird thing about how airlines have retooled their frequent flyer points programs in recent years is that they pay way fewer points now for actually flying. 5 paid flight segments earned me only about 8k points. I got another 6k from barely using my United credit cards before canceling them. Anyway, these few extra points land my year-end balance at about 280k. That's enough for another awesome trip like Australia! ...Most likely not Australia again but somewhere similarly far off and exciting and new. And hopefully in 2024!

Status-wise I maintain Premier Gold with United, a benefit of reaching Million Miler lifetime status years ago. What's the value of that status? Well, on all the United flights I flew I was able to reserve a room seat in Economy Plus. Those seats with extra legroom are a valuable perk that make flying more comfortable. What's it worth, though? At least a few tens of dollars per flight. That's what other airlines charge to reserve comparable seats without sufficient elite status. Then there was the huge upgrade we scored, unexpectedly, on the flight home from Australia. (Details on that are still in my blog backlog.) That was worth hundreds of dollars to each of us. Too bad such things are rare and completely unpredictable with merely Gold status, but Yay, status!

↗️ American Airlines: The Mountain Beneath Me Grows

I've had a crazy big balance with AA for years now. In 2022 I chipped away at it to get it down below three-quarters of a million. Well, now it's back up again. I finished the year at just over 800k AA miles.

Really what makes my AA balance crazy big is that I barely ever fly them! In 2023 I only flew 3 flights on American. Two were a quick round trip to Seattle paid for by others, one was a flight to Charlotte, NC on points.

While I wasn't busy flying American I was busy using their affinity credit cards. I opened not just one but two AA affiliated cards this year. I cinched the big 70k sign-up bonus on one already; the other I'm still working on. That 70k bonus is most of the new points I've gained this year. The bonus I'm still working on will give me a 75k+ boost this coming year. In a year's time I'll be nearing one million points on AA— and that's not a good thing unless I spend them. Thus my plan with AA in 2024 is the same as it has been for years now: find good ways to spend all those points!

↔️ Delta: Not a Mountain but a Molehill (15k)

Rounding out the list here is Delta Airlines. As little I flew AA in 2023, I flew Delta even less. I flew zero on Delta. And I retain a pile of points with them— though it's a waaaay smaller pile than with AA. It's not a mountain but a molehill. My balance of Delta Skymiles is a mere 15k.

My plan with Delta in 2024 is also the same as it has been for a few years new. I will keep ignoring Delta until their flights and offerings seem relevant to me again. Meanwhile, my paltry 15k miles never expire. If/When I start earning points with them again I'll see if I can grow that balance into something useful.

2023 Frequent Flyer Retrospective: Hotel Points & Status

Every year around the start of the year I take stock of my balances in various frequent traveler points programs, both to see how we'll I've done in accumulating & using miles as well as to set goals for the coming 12 months. Earlier today I posted a wrap-up of my airline miles and status for 2023. Now it's time for the same with hotel points and status.

As I noted with airline miles, hotel points only ever decrease in value over time. That's because airlines and hotels only ever increase the amount needed for redemption. It's a form of inflation, but way worse than the 5-10% annual dollar inflation we've seen in recent years. Thus as I inventory my points and status I indicate accumulating too many points as a bad thing and managing to spend down my balances as a good thing.

⬇️ Marriott: Bonvoy-age, Points!

Marriott continued being my #1 hotel chain in 2023, at least in terms of nights stayed. I stayed 21 nights with them. The count rises to 23 if we include nights Hawk paid for with points or certs from her account. Of course, these numbers are way down from the 60, 70, or more nights per year I logged with Marriott in my business travel heyday years ago.

Of those 21 nights, 11 were paid with money— mostly other people's money (e.g., my company as I traveled for work)— and 10 were redeemed on points. Over the year I burned more than I earned, which has been my goal for some time now. I whittled my points balance down from 400,000 to 243,000.

As I explained above, I burning more than I earn a win. And also as above I spent my Marriott points not on a dream trip but on... plainer trips. Three nights outside of Las Vegas for a fun, outdoors oriented vacation. Four nights visiting family ahead of Thanksgiving. A night here or there on the way to somewhere else. While these were unspectacular stays they were at least decent uses of points, saving us from laying out cash.

Elite status-wise, I hold Lifetime Titanium status in Bonvoy, the second highest of five elite levels. It's a benefit of my past years of much heavier travel. Not that it's often much benefit at all. There aren't a lot of upgrades and other elite perks to be had at the basic suburban hotels where I spent many of my Marriott nights. Though we did enjoy five days of a great breakfast buffet comped at the Westin Seven Mile Beach in Grand Cayman. Nominally that was a $500 benefit. I peg the real value to us at maybe half that— lower, but still nice perk.

For 2024 my goal remains the same as the past several years: Spend points and get value from them. My stash of Bonvoy points is smaller now than in years past... so in 2024 I might boost it by another 100k or so with another credit card. But either way, I'll be looking to spend at least as much as I earn, since holding onto points long term doesn't pay.

⬆️ Hilton: Earn and Burn

Hilton remained my #2 hotel chain in 2023 with 16 nights stayed. The majority, 9 nights, were actually paid. The other seven were on points and free-night certificates— 2 nights at a waterpark in Phoenix and a 5 night stay in North Carolina for waterfall touring. The nine I paid for were 3 nights in Sydney, Australia, 3 nights in Vegas for a trade show, an overnight business trip in an office park, and two roadside Hampton Inns on weekend trips where the points rate wasn't worth it.

It was an earn-and-burn year for Hilton Honors points. I spent a good deal of 'em on those award stays but I earned a lot, too. In addition to earning for stays I earned through affiliated credit cards. In 2023 I not only kept my Aspire card but opened a new card, too. I earned 180k through these two cards. Despite redeeming 212k on awards stays in 2023 I finished the year higher than I started, up from 365k a year ago to 430k today.

Status-wise I remain Diamond elite (top tier) with Hilton because of that Aspire credit card. Hilton Diamond, like Marriott Titanium, isn't worth much in terms of elite upgrades at the limited-service properties where I often stay. At full service hotels the value comes more into play. When Hawk and I were at what we call the splashy pools hotel in Phoenix we did get a $60 food and beverage credit. That bought us a few piña coladas and munchies at the pool-side bistro. 😋 And it bought me a couple of modest dinners in spendy Las Vegas. And several free breakfasts, a few dinners, and lots of drinks at the executive lounge in Sydney last week. 🦘

My goal for 2024 with Hilton is the same as with Marriott: Find awards redemptions for enjoyable stays. I did do that this year; I just happened to earn even more than I spent! With over 400k banked now I'll be looking for a big redemption, like 5 nights at a spendy resort. We'll see what the coming year brings!

⬆️ IHG: Burn, Baby, Burn! (But not Enough)

Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG), whose portfolio includes Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express, remained my #2 hotel chain for 2023. For most of the year it was set to overtake Hilton, but a spree of nights late in the year put Hilton ahead. I logged 8 nights with IHG on my membership plus another 8 on Hawk's.

Most of our nights with IHG were free, as both Hawk and I worked on burning off points accumulated in recent years. Among my "wins" in spending points was a 4 night stay at The Room of the Seven Gables in New Orleans's French Quarter. Hawk used points and certs on various shorter stays, including three nights in West Virginia. Our one paid stay was two nights in a balcony room overlooking San Antonio's Riverwalk. I chose cash rather than points for that one because the points rate was terrible. (When spending points you've got to know what your points are worth.)

While numerous points redemptions brought my balance down, the 140k credit card signup bonus I completed early in the year and another 50k I earned from credit cards across the year brought it back up. I finished the year at 240,000 IHG points, up about 60k from 179k at the start of the year. A balance of 240k isn't bad, per se. It's better than having 400k like I did at one point a few years ago. Yet it's big enough that I'll be looking for a nice multi-night stay to redeem it.

Status-wise I remain Platinum with IHG, a benefit of owning their affiliated credit card. Platinum is their second highest tier. In the past I've groused it's not worth much because there really aren't elite benefits to be had at the limited-service properties I make most of my stays at. Though once again those limited-service properties occasionally come through with small but meaningful upgrades such as "The Room of the Seven Gables" I mentioned above.

↔️ Hyatt, Choice, Wyndham, Best Western: Whatever

I have memberships in several other hotel rewards programs. Some still have scraps of points left in them from years past. Others are zeroed out due to expiry. I've barely paid attention to these chains over the past year because I've been busy with the three above, which largely meet my needs— as they control a huge portion of the mid-scale and upper mid-scale hotel market. I'll look at others again if their properties and loyalty programs become compelling... but for the past few years they have not been.