I know this is a stupid question to ask here but everyones been so helpful, so far....

I have about 10-12 days vacation and I wanted to split between Bangkok and Sydney and I am realizing that I will put about 4 days into travel to just to get between places.

I know these cities are 2 worlds apart, why should I choose Bangkok over Sydney, or vise a versa?

Is 7 days in BKK too long?

I don't see how you need to put 4 days in travel between those places.

TG, BA and QF all have non-stops each night from BKK-SYD. Leave late afternoon and arrive early next morning. You sleep on the plane and don't lose any time.

Coming back, planes leaves around 6pm, and arrive before midnight same day.

If you want to hit both cities, then just do it.

Are you including the initial travel days as well? In that case, I'm not sure I would do all that for only 4 days in each city.

What time of year are you travelling? Remember that in May to Sept, BKK will be very hot, Sydney will be cold. The other months, it will be hot in both. do you want to haul clothing for 2 climates?

7 days in Thailand or Aus will be just barely enough. I'd do only one country, and maybe do a change of cities...

I figures 2 days to get to the other side of the world (loosing a day on the dateline), 1 day returning and then i have arrival day which can sometimes be tiring, even if you arrive in the morning. Then there is another day in transit with prep for a departure from one city and an early disoriented day in another.

P.S. I am coming from Newark, NJ and need to use miles for the trip. My miles are from the Star Alliance so that means flights by United, SAS, Frankfurt, Singapore and Thai.

If I can't get on the convenient Newark-Singapore-Bangkok flight that means I will have to travel through Frankfurt or Copenhagen, but it just adds a few hours.

Did you know that Newark-Singapore is the worlds longest flight?

Yes, I agree, just choose one place. The two cities are very different from each other. Choose the one the most refects your interests.

its not too long for bkk alone...it is a wonderful city with every possible choice available....its very cheap even for lux....or it can be dirt cheap...good food reasonable...good lodging at all levels...wonderful people...fantastic shopping....easy to get too in less time than sydney---tons of flights from everywhere...
has hills, plains, beaches, islands, water, heat and humidity... g

go to bkk

To go all the way to Thailand and just see Bangkok and then head off to an entirely different continent would be a shame, IMO. There is so much you can do in the SE Asia area in 10-12 days, same with Australia itself. They are so far apart, that IMO is not logical to do them both in one trip. It is like going to London for 7 days and then going to Nairobi for the other 7, and missing everything nearby in both. Also, the last thing you want to do after taking that long US-Thai flight is get on another overnight flight down to Sydney, and then an even longer flight to get back to the US.

Time of year is also an important consideration, as you may have to bring different clothes for each climate if you go in the cooler months in Australia, and you may hit the rainy and hot season in Thailand if you want to see Australia in the spring or fall.

BTW, I do agree with everybody else that you should just do one place. From Bangkok, you can go to other places in Thailand, or even Cambodia, if you run out of things to do in Bangkok.

I was simply stating that there are non-stop overnight flights to Sydney.

Two questions from me....

1. What about a short stop in Singapore?

2. What other city in Thailand would I go to?

Are you interested in just the 'cities'? If you fly into either Bangkok or Sydney there are of course plenty of other places to visit outside of those cities. If you travel to Bangkok you can choose from beaches, mountain scenary and jungle, perhaps take a trip to Angkor Wat in Cambodia.
It is really down to how you want to spend your time and whether you just want to stay in the cities or venture further.

I do Bangkok and Singapore and in less amount of time than you have.I have vacation time during different parts of the year and different amounts of time during different times of the year...from one week to eight weeks. But, during the time of the year when I have only a week off, I zip over to Bangkok and Singapore...from L.A.When I have only a week,I prefer to fly into Bangkok and home out of Singapore. I have my frequent flyer miles on United as well.When I pay for this route,it's usually right under $1200.rd.trip...all taxes included. If you fly United you can do this.If you are using frequent flyer miles,then you only have to pay for a one-way ticket between Bangkok and Singapore....you can fly either Thai Air or Singapore Air and then get frequent flyer miles into your United account since it's a paid ticket. I like to leave Singapore for the end of the trip because it's such a relaxing place. Happy Travels!

Well I am going from Newark so it a different direction around the world. For this I will use my miles and fly business, I cant do 18 hours in coach!

If you have such a short time and this is your first trip to Asia, I'd suggest you might prefer to spend as much of your time as possible on the ground. If Bangkok is your choice of place, you could easily spend the whole time in Bangkok with a couple of day trips outside the city (my first trip to Bangkok many years ago was for 9 days/nights in Bangkok). With Bangkok as a base, you could take a few days and fly to Cambodia it see Angkor, or your could go to a beach for a few days or go north to Chaing Mai or farther north to the Golden Triangle. While you could combine Bangkok and Singapore, for a first trip you may want to spend more time in Thailand.