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FrozenVent posted:Late July slot, wooo! I'm assuming this works on the same system as Global Entry? For mine, even though my interview was scheduled a month later at a different airport (IAD), I was just passing through EWR and poked my head in at their office and got interviewed after a fifteen minute wait or so. Might be worth trying if you are passing through an airport with an interview location.
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May 22, 2013 06:05
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taco show posted:Speaking of credit cards, I'm considering dropping my Citi AAdvantage for Chase Sapphire Preferred. I get enough miles from work travel, and I think UR points are way more valuable than what I get from my Citi. However, I don't know if I like the idea of having to book fun travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards. I've heard hotels are often more expensive, it's a huge hassle, etc. Thoughts?  Nifty posted:The value of the Sapphire Preferred is far more in the flexibility of transferring points to multiple airline/hotel partners than it is booking travel through the portal. You get 1.25 cents/UR point in the UR portal, but for example a United mile or Hyatt point are worth about 2 cents. While these points do not transfer to AA, they do transfer to British Airways, and you can book AA saver awards via BA. (Typically not a good deal for long-haul flights, but you can often get short-haul AA domestic flights for very few BA points.) Nifty posted:Booking award travel through United is so much easier than AA though.
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May 22, 2013 10:16
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I finally hit Delta Silver again this year  ! Vancouver is awesome, by the way. I also had a cat as a seat mate for the first time. The couple next to me had brought their cat with them. Best seat mate ever!
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May 22, 2013 17:36
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Morby posted:I finally hit Delta Silver again this year Hah never flown with an animal. I know it must have been in a carrier but I'm imagining this very laid back cat with the buckle fastened around its waist working on a crossword puzzle or playing Sudoku. How is everyone else doing mileage wise so far? I'm sitting at 30k on US Airways, so I've hit Silver for 2014 already but I'm pretty sure I'll easily hit Gold at 50k. It would be really nice to reach 75k and get Plat because I'm not sure what will happen to the status tiers with the American Airlines merger. I have another 7k miles booked for June already and might get some more tacked on to the end of the month.
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May 22, 2013 20:55
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Mileage not doing great but on track to hit Diamond on Hilton!
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May 22, 2013 21:53
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Lyon posted:Hah never flown with an animal. I know it must have been in a carrier but I'm imagining this very laid back cat with the buckle fastened around its waist working on a crossword puzzle or playing Sudoku. Actually, because it was listed as a service animal, they were able to bring the cat out of his carrier and put him on their laps. Their cat did a great job with it, too, and was perfectly content that way. My cat would have been tearing the plane apart, so kudos to him for that.
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May 22, 2013 22:05
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Lyon posted:Hah never flown with an animal. I know it must have been in a carrier but I'm imagining this very laid back cat with the buckle fastened around its waist working on a crossword puzzle or playing Sudoku. Still at 100k but I haven't traveled for 31 days now and my next flight isn't until June 3rd. I bet I won't even hit 200k this year!
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May 22, 2013 23:17
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Delta - 42 segments / 47k MQMs SPG - 44 nights YTD / 88k SPG points (incl pts from Amex CC and Delta Crossover). Also earned Gold for life!  Marriott - 80 nights YTD / 162k points Edit: 1 lowly night at Hilton sink the biz fucked around with this message at 00:55 on May 23, 2013 |
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May 23, 2013 00:51
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sink the biz posted:Delta - 42 segments / 47k MQMs Holy poo poo.. 123 hotel nights YTD?! There's only been 141 nights in the year so far!! I mean even if you include the 5 nights that SPG gives credit for with the Amex that's still insane. Edit: just checked your post history I forgot you're the one who posted this image 
Nifty fucked around with this message at 02:36 on May 23, 2013 |
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May 23, 2013 02:33
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Lets see... Delta - 64 Segments / 43,000 MQM Marriott - 42 Nights I finally hit Gold on Delta. I just found out that I am being extended till the end of September on this project so I'll definitely hit Platinum before I roll off. Unfortunately I moved into a corporate apartment a month ago so no more Marriott points for me.  At least I completed the Platinum challenge before I moved  .
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May 23, 2013 02:52
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No more soft landing for status on AA. I've used it before and definitely won't make status this year. Oh well, better use it while I got it.
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May 23, 2013 03:25
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Nifty posted:Mileage not doing great but on track to hit Diamond on Hilton! Congrats! I'll make gold, but probably not until late August. At least the Hilton Gods take pity on me with occasional drink tickets. Unfortunately, hotel bars are a minefield... today, some old drunk guy followed me from the lobby bar and tried to kiss me in the elevator. Free drinks =  As for miles, I have discovered that AA Plat gets me practically nothing over Gold, and Gold gets me nothing over having the Citi credit card.
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May 23, 2013 07:31
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taco show posted:Congrats! I'll make gold, but probably not until late August. At least the Hilton Gods take pity on me with occasional drink tickets. Unfortunately, hotel bars are a minefield... today, some old drunk guy followed me from the lobby bar and tried to kiss me in the elevator. Free drinks = 
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May 23, 2013 07:42
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Small White Dragon posted:AA Plat gets you double miles flown, and gold gets you 25% bonus When I was a young lad and only doing about 60k miles a year I used to get upgraded all the time out of ORD on AA Plat with the exception of SFO/SJC routes  Plat on AA is pretty decent for now, who knows after the US merger.
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May 23, 2013 15:30
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Plat will get you MCE, Gold is going to lose that benefit.
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May 23, 2013 15:33
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kansas posted:Plat will get you MCE, Gold is going to lose that benefit. What, really? That kinda sucks, I figured Gold would at least get some say in those seats. drat, really no difference between the credit card status and that now.
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May 23, 2013 17:41
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Belldandy posted:What, really? That kinda sucks, I figured Gold would at least get some say in those seats. drat, really no difference between the credit card status and that now. Oh weird, you guys were making me nervous, AA Plat is the equivalent to US Gold in terms of miles flown so I should be fine as I will pretty much always hit at least US Gold/AA Plat. US does Silver at 25k, Gold at 50k, Platinum at 75k, and Chairman's at 100k. I'm surprised AA doesn't have a 4th tier, seems like a reasonable place to put one. Maybe it will be added after the merger since US has it, who knows!
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May 23, 2013 18:59
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Apparently I'm the only business traveler that flies Southwest? Is there a reason why no one likes Southwest here? I've probably flown 15 round trips this year and specifically only go on SWA, never have anything against them.
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May 23, 2013 19:16
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To Vex a Stranger posted:Apparently I'm the only business traveler that flies Southwest? Is there a reason why no one likes Southwest here? I've probably flown 15 round trips this year and specifically only go on SWA, never have anything against them. Very limited route network, domestic only, no business/first, etc.
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May 23, 2013 19:20
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Never had a problem getting where I need to go on Southwest, then again I'm flying out of Midway and it is one of their big hubs. Cheap flights (when using points) and quick to status were the reason I chose them. Not to mention fully refundable and easy flight changes when the projects I'm on have halts or speed bumps. One business select trip to Nashville gave me enough points for a round trip to Florida. Coworkers that fly United say that it usually takes them like 10 segments to even get a one way.
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May 23, 2013 19:34
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In our case, they almost never show up in our travel booking site. Once they did, and I decided to try to book them, both to see what the Southwest experience was like, and because it gave me a trip through Midway, which was an airport I had not yet been through. Our travel agent called me half an hour later, saying that Southwest had refused our ticket purchase. According to her, for whatever reason, they often reject purchases from our system, and she doesn't know why we continue to list their flights. 
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May 23, 2013 20:36
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Ah that makes sense. Southwest pretty much doesn't let booking through external sources, never actually seen it show up anywhere, even in price comparisons. We get the privilege of paying for our own airfare and then expensing it back. I happen to prefer Midway over O'Hare, small, quick and easy. I was just curious though, are other airlines perks that much better? Should I start flying someone else? The biggest perk I see with SWA is the Fly-By lane with Business Select flights (or hitting A-List status) as well as the companion pass (free flights for your companion, even when booking reward travel which I find awesome. Too bad I'm still 60k points away.) I've also heard nothing but issues about my coworkers who fly united, lost luggage, delayed/cancelled flights, way too small of planes. We like to make fun of them when they do arrive, and then ask them why the hell they would check luggage in the first place.
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May 23, 2013 21:23
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P.D.B. Fishsticks posted:In our case, they almost never show up in our travel booking site. Small White Dragon fucked around with this message at 21:29 on May 23, 2013 |
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May 23, 2013 21:26
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Small White Dragon posted:Southwest is famous for not allowing their flights to be listed/sold on third party sites -- you can often only book a ticket through them directly. This has proved very advantageous now that Southwest is no longer significantly cheaper than the legacies. The thing I hate about southwest now, is that literally starting last Friday, my most flown trips increased by 18% each way through the rest of the schedule (January 5th), and I can't find anyone else that has actually noticed this. Flights that were $250 are now $316. Looking at trips that i've taken before and comparing them to now the prices are also significantly more money, which is why I'm trying to see if there is a better airline to get on, but the points from SWA just seem to be way more rewarding and flexible. "I need 30 legs to get status on United and then get a free flight" is what my coworker said last night.
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May 23, 2013 21:34
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To Vex a Stranger posted:The thing I hate about southwest now, is that literally starting last Friday, my most flown trips increased by 18% each way through the rest of the schedule (January 5th), and I can't find anyone else that has actually noticed this. Flights that were $250 are now $316. Looking at trips that i've taken before and comparing them to now the prices are also significantly more money, which is why I'm trying to see if there is a better airline to get on, but the points from SWA just seem to be way more rewarding and flexible. To Vex a Stranger posted:"I need 30 legs to get status on United and then get a free flight" is what my coworker said last night. I believe it's similar for other legacies but I haven't done the math lately.
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May 23, 2013 21:59
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Small White Dragon posted:What do you want to do with your points? I want to go on vacation with my points, but they can also get me the companion pass. And I'm just repeating what they said about United, they don't have status anywhere so they won't be getting platinum level points, they are getting standard lovely levels of points.
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May 23, 2013 22:11
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To Vex a Stranger posted:I want to go on vacation with my points, but they can also get me the companion pass. Basically, with AA/US/UA/.etc, the biggest "bang for your buck" is to redeem for international and/or premium cabin flights. As a frequent flier, you're eligible for free upgrades on paid domestic travel, so it's often not worthwhile to use your miles domestically, anyway (IMHO). NOTE: British Airways does offer a companion pass for international award travel, and you can credit flights on AA to your BA account, but the companion pass is only good on actual BA flights and they do levy fuel surcharges. To Vex a Stranger posted:And I'm just repeating what they said about United, they don't have status anywhere so they won't be getting platinum level points, they are getting standard lovely levels of points.
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May 23, 2013 22:23
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Southwest shows up on Concur if you do very specific searches for it. Otherwise, you won't find it if you do a standard search through it. I managed to finally get status on Southwest. Since most of my personal flights are to LA (yay LD relationshiup) from SF and my business flights are SF - BOS, its advantageous for me to build up with SW. That being said, I've been very seriously thinking about building up status with United since I have a Sapphire Preferred card and figure I can leverage the United Points transfer there. If I get status with United, that status carries over to their partners correct?
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May 23, 2013 22:35
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Shadowhand00 posted:Southwest shows up on Concur if you do very specific searches for it. Otherwise, you won't find it if you do a standard search through it. I managed to finally get status on Southwest. Since most of my personal flights are to LA (yay LD relationshiup) from SF and my business flights are SF - BOS, its advantageous for me to build up with SW. That being said, I've been very seriously thinking about building up status with United since I have a Sapphire Preferred card and figure I can leverage the United Points transfer there. If I get status with United, that status carries over to their partners correct?
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May 23, 2013 23:27
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I fly Southwest exclusively for business (though I don't fly especially often). I don't really care about no first class. The biggest perk for me is how much better the return on investment is. I have only flown 4 times this year, but because they were business select fares, and Southwest has been running a double points promotion for the past couple months, I am already A-List Preferred (free wi-fi, priority boarding, 100% point bonus). If you fly Business Select on the Company's dime, and fly Wanna Get Away for personal, your return on business expenses is 20% (12 points per $1 spent, 60 points per $1 redeemed). And when they are running double points the return is 40% which is absolutely ridiculous. Nifty fucked around with this message at 01:23 on May 24, 2013 |
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May 24, 2013 01:21
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Nifty posted:I fly Southwest exclusively for business (though I don't fly especially often). I don't really care about no first class. The biggest perk for me is how much better the return on investment is. I have only flown 4 times this year, but because they were business select fares, and Southwest has been running a double points promotion for the past couple months, I am already A-List Preferred (free wi-fi, priority boarding, 100% point bonus). The promotion was awesome. I'm finally A-list (I don't always have the option for A-list Preferred unfortunately, only if I book a few days in advance rather than planning my trips). I can't wait for free wifi.
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May 24, 2013 01:26
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I've been A List preferred for my last three flights and finally they have wifi! I'm on the plane listening to the Blackhawks game I'm missing out on watching. Not the greatest perk, but it'll do.
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May 24, 2013 02:07
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Southwest is always as expensive with me, has more stops, the perks dont extend internationally, and the miles are useless for me. Also no tsa precheck. But im of the theory of saving miles and booking $20k multi week and stop awards that I would not purchase in the first place. Getting award trips on little flights here and there just don't do it for me. Also system wide upgrades rule.
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May 24, 2013 16:23
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For me, it's Delta or bust. We fly out of Atlanta all the time because it's only an hour and a half north, and that's a Delta hub. We can fly out of our small, regional airport to Atlanta for an extra $200 ($100 each way), but for me it's not a huge perk to do that when the regional shuttle is $70 round trip and I can drive myself for $40 round trip. I've never had an issue with Delta or any of their affiliates (though British Airways and Air France are way better in some ways).
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May 25, 2013 22:38
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Nexus interview report: showed up fifteen minutes early, walked out of the airport two minutes after my interview was scheduled to start. Spent most of the time shooting the poo poo with the CBP guy. My boss was all "Why do you need a Nexus card, you almost never go to the states."  On the other hand I only traveled about 12 segments this year to date so she might have a point. Expecting to have a few longer flights coming up though, I have a project ramping up.
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May 31, 2013 22:28
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I've got 8 segments booked in the next 3 weeks and then I'll have silver 
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Jun 1, 2013 02:26
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sellouts posted:Southwest is always as expensive with me, has more stops, the perks dont extend internationally, and the miles are useless for me. Also no tsa precheck. That's how to do it, IMO. I'm saving my miles for a pair of Oneworld around-the-world tickets; should have the miles this year. 330k AA miles for a $25k+ ticket isn't a bad deal.
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Jun 1, 2013 04:46
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I just booked 2 of the 180k tier awards, if you need help with it let me know. Or the thread on Flyertalk is pretty good.
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Jun 1, 2013 06:00
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Anyone have any tips for Phoenix? I'm connecting through there tonight on my way home to Philly and with that tropical storm coming up the east coast I'm already preparing for major delays. I have club access but if I get stuck there for a day is there anything nearby worth checking out?
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Jun 7, 2013 15:01
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Scottsdale is nice in a boojy sort of way. Probably better to ask LAN.
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