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Belldandy posted:First, my condolences for having to visit such an awful city so often. Second, TravelPro is very good and reasonably priced, and that looks like it will fit in an overhead. Plus, it has a suiter! I'd go for it. I actually don't mind it! Boston has pretty good food and the company's paying for it so I've managed to go to some pretty decent restaurants. I'm pretty drat sick of lobster though. I also get to keep up my SPG points by staying in Lexington rather than the hellhole of Westford (where the office is actually located). Thanks for the advice though - I think I'll pick this up before my next trip out there.
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Apr 17, 2014 17:31
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Shadowhand00 posted:What luggage bag is everyone using? I saw that this was on sale and was wondering whether it was worth it. I travel about twice-three times a year to Boston for work. I prefer backpacks/duffels to wheeled luggage. I've got a Red Oxx Air Boss that is my most often used bag, a Red Oxx Sky Train that I use for shorter trips (or as a second bag along with the air boss for longer trips) and an Ebags Weekender if I need a little more room than the Sky Train but want to stick with a backpack. The Weekender is by far the best bang for the buck and I actually like it's design better than the Sky train, but the build quality is pretty low. I'd happily pay three times as much for a Weekender style bag with the build quality of a Red Oxx. Thoguh fucked around with this message at 21:24 on Apr 17, 2014 |
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Apr 17, 2014 18:54
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I like TravelPro's poo poo in general. The Crew line is the only worthwhile one. I will get probably 150-200 round trips out of a bag of theirs that goes through checked luggage. It's tough to beat that on a practical level. I think they strike a nice balance between durability and affordability. I have had trouble with zipper pulls breaking off, but they're easily replaced.
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Apr 17, 2014 18:58
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Big fan of Briggs and Riley's Baseline series. See if you can find some of the older models on clearance somewhere. I just had to buy a new large suitcase (28") and I vastly prefer my older 18" and 22". The newer one feels more plasticky, but it is still backed by the lifetime warranty.
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Apr 17, 2014 20:44
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Timbuk2 Co-pilot is the poo poo. Sturdy, lightweight. With compression bags I can pack for 5 nights, including a hardhat, full FRC jumpsuit, steel toe boots. It has skateboard wheels which really streamlines the whole thing http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004JQQ5D2/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?qid=1397784530&sr=8-2&pi=SY200_QL40
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Apr 18, 2014 02:31
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Huge fan of Tom Bihn's Tri Star here. I travel 1 bag with a laptop for all trips less than 4 days. But I don't carry a suit.
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Apr 18, 2014 04:47
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Belldandy posted:First, my condolences for having to visit such an awful city so often. Second, TravelPro is very good and reasonably priced, and that looks like it will fit in an overhead. Plus, it has a suiter! I'd go for it. Man most places I go I think 'This place is cool, I could live here', but Boston was the first one where I just wanted to get the hell out. The hotels and restaurants are super expensive, and the quality is way under what you'd expect for what you pay. $240 a night and you get bedsheets that are so coarse and itchy that I can't even remember the last time bedsheets caused me to lose sleep since I stayed at a motel 8 when I was like 17.
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Apr 18, 2014 04:53
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Boston is actually cool provided you live there. Let me know if you ever have to swing by and I'll give recommendations. poo poo is very expensive, though. Guy that was looking for a bag earlier - a lot of people are recommending way more bag than you need for three times a year. I would still get something quality, but you shouldn't be dropping three hundred bucks on a bag.
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Apr 18, 2014 13:12
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Uncle Jam posted:Man most places I go I think 'This place is cool, I could live here', but Boston was the first one where I just wanted to get the hell out. The hotels and restaurants are super expensive, and the quality is way under what you'd expect for what you pay. $240 a night and you get bedsheets that are so coarse and itchy that I can't even remember the last time bedsheets caused me to lose sleep since I stayed at a motel 8 when I was like 17. Corporate rate codes help tremendously with that. And I've eaten at several really great restaurants around Boston (whilst on the company dime so limits were in place), so I think it's more about where you're going than the city itself. My only real complaint is how expensive taxis are and how one out of every three drivers will bitch at me about using my corporate credit card (only option for business expenses) instead of paying them cash. 
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Apr 18, 2014 14:08
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Besides this thread, everyone on the internet seems to be into backpacks/shoulder bags over wheeled bags but it just didn't work well for me. 90% of the time I'm schlepping a bag around is in airports and a wheeled bag is so much better there. Plus it's hard to carry a shoulder bag and a small backpack at the same time. Yeah it sucks to drag a wheeled bag over cobblestones, when that comes up, but at least you don't end up with sore shoulders.
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Apr 18, 2014 14:24
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I hate carrying a backpack over a nice suit jacket. It makes you look like a mittenstringer and it fucks up your suit. Taxis in Boston proper are all now required to accept credit cards, Praise baby Jesus.
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Apr 18, 2014 16:21
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Yeah but you get mad respect from Chinese when you do that. Wheelbags aren't good if you have a day trip to some working lunch or consortium meeting, gotta roll with a shoulder bag or backpack then (depending what I have to take)
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Apr 18, 2014 18:38
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Pissingintowind posted:Any of you guys ever use brokers like https://rewards2cash.com/ Curius how these things works, mostly from an academic sense. Quoting myself since nobody answered... any experiences?
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Apr 19, 2014 13:58
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Uncle Jam posted:Man most places I go I think 'This place is cool, I could live here', but Boston was the first one where I just wanted to get the hell out. The hotels and restaurants are super expensive, and the quality is way under what you'd expect for what you pay. $240 a night and you get bedsheets that are so coarse and itchy that I can't even remember the last time bedsheets caused me to lose sleep since I stayed at a motel 8 when I was like 17. Totally agreed. It's 80% the price of NYC with none of the "good".
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Apr 19, 2014 17:56
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Belldandy posted:Totally agreed. It's 80% the price of NYC with none of the "good". Boston has always been angry at New York for beating them at their own game.
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Apr 19, 2014 18:46
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No back packs for suits. Get a nice leather duffel and a decent brief case
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Apr 20, 2014 07:01
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Pissingintowind posted:Quoting myself since nobody answered... any experiences?
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Apr 20, 2014 07:46
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Anyone with experience trying to get a bereavement fare out of US Airways? I know they've mostly been phased out but I have to imagine there is still a backdoor somewhere. If I'm going to be flying to a funeral, I'd just as soon do it first class.
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Apr 28, 2014 22:41
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Shbobdb posted:Anyone with experience trying to get a bereavement fare out of US Airways? I know they've mostly been phased out but I have to imagine there is still a backdoor somewhere. If I'm going to be flying to a funeral, I'd just as soon do it first class. They're pretty much gone industry wide, and even if they have them, they're not going to be in F.
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Apr 29, 2014 14:56
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AirCanada is now pre check eligible. They're the first intl based airline eligible.
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Apr 30, 2014 07:06
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Today is a good day. Although I flew United recently and didn't get pre-check for whatever reason so there might be something wrong with my file. Global Entry is still loving awesome though.
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Apr 30, 2014 12:59
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FrozenVent posted:Today is a good day. Make sure your KTN is in the reservation. I've had that happen before and once I added it in and refreshed my boarding passes, that pretty green check mark appeared.
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Apr 30, 2014 14:55
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Make sure the middle name you have on GE matches your airline record. It doesn't have to print on the ticket as long as it's in their file. When people move from getting precheck via status to getting it via GE this is the main reason for fails according to the FT threads.
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Apr 30, 2014 16:48
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I'll have to double check whether my middle name is on my Nexus card; it's not on my password and I never use it. My name's long and foreign anyway, it gets hosed up every single time for some reason.
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Apr 30, 2014 17:59
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Not plane related! Catching Eurostar to Brussels and back next week, Standard Premier class booked, any tips for getting the most out of it? From what I've read it doesn't look that great a service compared to flying.
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Apr 30, 2014 18:16
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My name shows up wierd in my precheck stuff as FirstMiddle Last instead of First Middle Last. It hasn't caused me an issue yet but I await the time that I'm suddenly not allowed through security because someone decided that it mattered.
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Apr 30, 2014 18:24
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Thoguh posted:My name shows up wierd in my precheck stuff as FirstMiddle Last instead of First Middle Last. It hasn't caused me an issue yet but I await the time that I'm suddenly not allowed through security because someone decided that it mattered. My company for some reason books all my flights like this. Hasn't caused a problem yet though.
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Apr 30, 2014 18:51
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I also have the first middle melded name issue. First time it happened, brought it up to the ticket desk. They just reprinted the ticket and shrugged when it came out the same. No problems during checks yet.
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Apr 30, 2014 19:21
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Change of topic, but we recently switched from Hertz to National as our preferred rental car company and holy crap is it a world of difference. My average car from National tends to be better than the best upgrades I ever got through Hertz.
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Apr 30, 2014 19:24
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Really? What level and what upgrades are you getting? Hertz has been ok but if it's better elsewhere I will switch.
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Apr 30, 2014 19:55
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sellouts posted:Really? Been President's Circle with Hertz the past few years. My "upgrades" half the time were to an SUV (that I didn't want since if I wanted a bigger car I would have reserved one). A Camry was pretty standard. If I was really lucky I'd get a base model Mustang or something comparable. The Gold Aisle was generally unimpressive. The most common locations I rented from were SNA and BWI. With National my company's contract gave me access to the executive side of their version of the gold aisle right away. I've gotten a Cadillac, two Chargers, and a Mustang convertible. Somewhat small sample size so far but they've yet to let me down. These have also been from SNA and BWI.
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Apr 30, 2014 21:09
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Thoguh posted:Been President's Circle with Hertz the past few years. My "upgrades" half the time were to an SUV (that I didn't want since if I wanted a bigger car I would have reserved one). A Camry was pretty standard. If I was really lucky I'd get a base model Mustang or something comparable. The Gold Aisle was generally unimpressive. The most common locations I rented from were SNA and BWI. I have friends that travel for work weekly and swear by National. I use Avis with decent results but so much of the time it depends entirely upon the station you're visiting.
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Apr 30, 2014 21:24
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Looks like National matches Hertz status too: https://statusmatch.emeraldclub.com/index.cfm
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Apr 30, 2014 22:23
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National rules, I miss them so much, they are by far the best car rental program. My last two jobs I have been stuck with Avis, and they are just horrendous. I rented like 120 times in one year and that didn't get me any status outside of Avis First which is "sometimes an upgrade but we will most likely stick you in an Aveo when you order a full size".
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Apr 30, 2014 22:26
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sellouts posted:Really? National Emerald Exec is nice. I have had, in recent history, a couple Chargers, a Camaro, a couple Volvo S60s, a Chrysler 300, a couple Buicks of various sizes and a brand-new Impala. I was very impressed with the Impala. Best big American interior by far. Plus, you can pick what you want. I get a disgustingly good rate through a Penn State alumi association code that I swiped off of someone - $35/day for a midsize. I have a Global Entry interview on the 7th. Can anyone give a quick rundown of that process? I scheduled it in ORD since BOS was booked up through August 
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Apr 30, 2014 23:28
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:
Watch a video, answer any questions the CBP agent has (basically anything that wasn't complete on the information you submitted), finger print, photo. I would be shocked if it took longer than ten minutes.
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May 1, 2014 00:08
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I have National Executive status and agree, the car selection and rates blow everyone else away. All you have to do is make a midsize reservation, then you pick whatever car is available in Emerald/Executive. I somehow got grandfathered into a program that has let me have Executive until 2015 and I'll bust my rear end to keep it going, hopefully move up to Premier/Elite.
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May 1, 2014 00:32
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Yeah National executive owns bones y'all. Some airports don't have a real aisle service and the give you the poo poo cars when you book on a corporate rate. Speaking of our company's travel agency "corporate rate" sucks for flights and hotels for personal use, but the car rates through national tend to be outstanding
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May 1, 2014 00:54
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Mackieman posted:Watch a video, answer any questions the CBP agent has (basically anything that wasn't complete on the information you submitted), finger print, photo. Thanks. The appointment windows are 15 minutes so I figured it couldn't be longer than that. I just checked and I guess I'm Exec Elite for National? I'm not sure what benefits that conveys.
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May 1, 2014 01:29
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:I have a Global Entry interview on the 7th. Can anyone give a quick rundown of that process? I scheduled it in ORD since BOS was booked up through August My Nexus interview took up like half an hour, mostly because I spent twenty-five minutes shooting the poo poo with the CBP agent about custom clearance procedure for cruise ships and fishing boats, and the comparative experiences of getting searched by German, American, Russian and Canadian customs. It was a slow day. Didn't watch a video, but yeah, confirm the information on the form, fingerprints, picture, retinal scan. I don't think you need the retinal scan unless you're getting Nexus.
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May 1, 2014 02:38
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