Saving money in Australia

My wife, Pat, and I have been fans of the Entertainment Book® (Entertainment Publications Operating Co., 1414 E. Maple Rd., Troy, MI 48083; 888/231-7283, www.entertainment.com), with dated coupons, for years. Usually sold by local fundraising groups, such as libraries, clubs and youth organizations, it offers opportunities to save up to 50% on dining, shopping and travel in major cities and geographic areas of the U.S. When planning our November ’06 trip to Australia, we found that the publishers offered versions of the book for major cities in that country as well. You can check the contents of the books at the website.

Our plans called for seven days in Sydney, so we visited the site for that city and found that the restaurants alone were offering savings of Aus$20 to $25 on a meal when a second of equal or higher value was purchased.

Plus, along with many other coupon savings, there was an offer of a free ride on the Zig Zag Railway in the Blue Mountains. The bonus offer was Aus$12 off each ticket for the “Great Australian Outback Adventure” on the Gold Coast in Queensland. Since we were planning on attending this dinner show with four other friends, this savings more than offset the cost of the book, which was US$40 if ordered on the website.

Australia is still a bargain travel destination, with the U.S. dollar being worth about Aus$1.30, and by using our Entertainment book on this trip we saved another US$200-plus.

RICHARD J. SCHALLY

Walnut Creek, CA