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You can do OK at Hampton inn if you stick to to poo poo that hasn't been prepared in any way by their staff - bananas, yogurt, cereal. After that, it gets rugged, and quick. I usually eat a banana and some yogurt in the morning anyway, so it's not a problem for me, but every time I decide to sample their eggs I regret it instantly.
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Sep 26, 2014 12:53
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The Hampton Inn next door to my work got bought and flipped to Marriott. They spent a bunch of money updating the outside to look all new but the inside looks exactly the same. Its the long stay hotel for people visiting our work. One guy stayed there for 6 months with his wife and 3 kids, it must have been mental.
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Sep 26, 2014 14:47
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I never feel any obligation to eat a lovely hotel breakfast. I'll go to Starbucks/Panara/Some local cafe and grab something if the options at the hotel are bad. I wouldn't eat stuff like that at home, why should I be expected to do it on travel? Nobody has ever complained about it on my expense reports. A lot of hotels can even gently caress up oatmeal and fruit.
Thoguh fucked around with this message at 15:28 on Sep 26, 2014 |
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Sep 26, 2014 14:53
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Thoguh posted:I never feel any obligation to eat a lovely hotel breakfast. I'll go to Starbucks/Panara/Some local cafe and grab something if the options at the hotel are bad. I wouldn't eat stuff like that at home, why should I be expected to do it on travel? Nobody has ever complained about it on my expense reports. A lot of hotels can even gently caress up oatmeal and fruit. Do people legitimately have travel policies that give a poo poo about this type of stuff?
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Sep 26, 2014 16:29
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:Do people legitimately have travel policies that give a poo poo about this type of stuff? I doubt about that specifically, but many places set a daily limit on eating out that's easy to hit if you are paying for breakfast, too. Edit: although probably not an issue eating at Starbucks/Panera
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Sep 26, 2014 16:34
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I'll eat the hardboiled eggs at Hampton. They're over cooked and misshaped from being vacuum sealed but thats as far as I go with Hampton eggs. Those little omelet things are horrible. Breakfast on styrofoam is just loving sad as all hell. I will do panera and Starbucks any day over hgi or Hampton when available. Our corp rate give us free breakfast at most hgi without having to give up the 750 points but I still go to Starbucks or whatever else. Hgi breakfasts can be pretty rough sometimes and they are always rip off anyhow. With tip its like 14? Jesus. I can go to Starbucks for under 10. No one gives a poo poo what I do for breakfast but me.
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Sep 26, 2014 16:47
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:Do people legitimately have travel policies that give a poo poo about this type of stuff? I've run into policies that don't allow you to expense breakfast if it is offered free at the hotel, or reduce per diem to account for it being in the room rate. There's a lot of lovely expense policies out there.
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Sep 26, 2014 17:04
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Nthing Homewood Suites. They are far-and-away my favorite Hilton property. So, I killed all my Hilton points on my wedding and I didn't travel much this year so I'm gonna lose my Diamond status. What is the current "in" chain? I've heard good things about Starwood.
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Sep 26, 2014 17:11
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I eat the hotel breakfasts because I don't directly expense meals, I get a flat per diem no matter what I spend. So by eating hotel breakfast, taking a couple yogurts and bagels to work for lunch, and eating Homewood Suites dinner for free, I spend $0 on food but still pocket the entire per diem. The per diem is just like added salary so spending money on food still is coming out of my pocket
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Sep 26, 2014 18:43
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Shbobdb posted:Nthing Homewood Suites. They are far-and-away my favorite Hilton property. Hyatt has the best program if they have properties where you travel. They have the smallest footprint of the major chains so that can be trouble. SPG is probably just under that; I've enjoyed SPG's program for the last several years. In other news, hello from scenic Indianapolis, site of my diversion when MDW shut down thanks to that cock who set the CHI TRACON facility on fire. I was flying Southwest over to BUF but have since called an audible and booked an award on UA to go home instead of upstate New York. 
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Sep 26, 2014 19:24
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NeuralSpark posted:Back when I was bouncing around to multiple cities in a week, I had several instances where I woke up and didn't know where I was. Generic hotels don't help with stuff like that. Same. There were a few times I'd wake up in the middle of the night and I'd have to check the phone next to the bed to remember where I was. Thoguh posted:I never feel any obligation to eat a lovely hotel breakfast. I'll go to Starbucks/Panara/Some local cafe and grab something if the options at the hotel are bad. I wouldn't eat stuff like that at home, why should I be expected to do it on travel? Nobody has ever complained about it on my expense reports. A lot of hotels can even gently caress up oatmeal and fruit. Neither do I. I hope I never ever have to eat a reheated cheese omelette thing or powdered eggs or those god awful cinnamon rolls at a Holiday Inn Express again. However, I'm not quite as bad as my coworkers who can easily spend $15 plus at Starbucks between coffee, bottled water, yogurt, oatmeal and whatever else they get. I'd rather cheap out on breakfast and lunch and spend my money on a nice dinner after I leave work for the day.
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Sep 26, 2014 19:24
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Mackieman posted:Hyatt has the best program if they have properties where you travel. They have the smallest footprint of the major chains so that can be trouble. SPG is probably just under that; I've enjoyed SPG's program for the last several years. You booked an award to get home on company travel??? gently caress. That. Especially a wasteful domestic award...oh, man...im sorry. Irrops are why I refuse to travel on WN.
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Sep 26, 2014 19:58
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Aristotle Animes posted:But he's The Great White Angel, accruing spiritual merit through Good Works, saving lives by throwing that worthless savage currency at people wherever he goes.... Or, he just didn't realize you don't tip in Thailand. I get that it's gauche, but an honest mistake is an honest mistake.
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Sep 26, 2014 20:57
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Aristotle Animes posted:You booked an award to get home on company travel??? gently caress. That. Especially a wasteful domestic award...oh, man...im sorry. I got the value of my work-paid WN ticket as a credit for a future flight and they also bought me a day room at the Westin and a rental car for the day plus meals which included some locally brewed beverages. More or less, we're even. Especially given the pantload of miles I'm earning on thier dime with my upcoming trip to CTU. But I agree on the WN for business travel, never again unless it's nonstop.
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Sep 27, 2014 00:38
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Ynglaur posted:Or, he just didn't realize you don't tip in Thailand. I get that it's gauche, but an honest mistake is an honest mistake. Mackieman posted:I got the value of my work-paid WN ticket as a credit for a future flight and they also bought me a day room at the Westin and a rental car for the day plus meals which included some locally brewed beverages. More or less, we're even. Especially given the pantload of miles I'm earning on thier dime with my upcoming trip to CTU. Direct on WN would be ok but I have to schlep it west to east coast and that poo poo doesn't work. I love getting the ding of an email from UA that I'm already booked to get home. Call and point out another flight leaving in 20 minutes "Mr. Nothing, we have you protected on that flight as well, we just didn't know you'd make that one. Are you near the gate now, ok, let me get your seat..." love it. WN is more like, Oh i'm sorry youre in ABQ but there isn't another flight to TPA from there today and no connecting flights either, sorry youre hosed but flying in and out of assholes like ABQ and MDW is how we tell you that we are cheaper without actually being cheaper! Sorry to rant about WN. I like their flight crews... and ground staff. I just don't like their model that ends up saving you no time and no money.
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Sep 27, 2014 02:02
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Holy poo poo, ABQ, not a drat thing to do when your flight gets canceled.
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Sep 27, 2014 02:58
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Aristotle Animes posted:The bit about accruing spiritual merit is the OP's not mine. I'm sure he's very well meaning but then again, so is any missionary that thinks they are god's gift to the poors. I find it distasteful despite his undoubtedly genuine intent. If he wants to do the Thai Buddhist thing and earn merit, fine. Feed the monks in the morning, give alms to the beggars, visit the temple. Earning merit is a good thing! If you tip extravagantly in a culture that does not tip and wonder if what you're doing is normal you're just a moron. Trebly so if you have internet access to look this stuff up and have moved to live in this country months ago.
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Sep 27, 2014 03:32
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When you've got as many miles as mackieman it ain't no thang. Getting home is worth it sometimes.
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Sep 27, 2014 03:59
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The steak place at IND is pretty good. And, like, normalish prices for an airport but clearly the same price they are charging to people who actually live there at the real restaurant. Loses points for airport ambiance, but we're all used to that. Get the fried green tomatoes.
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Sep 27, 2014 07:33
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IND is about the nicest airport in the US in terms of amenities and feel relative to size.
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Sep 27, 2014 15:18
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Bar Symon at PIT is great and probably one of my favorite airport restaurants. Schnitzel and sausages and fat head beer on tap at reasonable prices.
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Sep 27, 2014 16:04
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:IND is about the nicest airport in the US in terms of amenities and feel relative to size. I feel the same way about BOI, and AUS is pretty  but I'm a tad biased.
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Sep 27, 2014 20:05
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With next years earning cut, I've actually thought of doing manufactured spend but I still can't bring myself to risk/hassle with it in a significant way. Does anyone use pay services to pay rent/mortgages/loans and get the CC spend? That's not MS, and may be as far as I'm willing to go. I don't want any trouble with Chase, amex, etc.
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Sep 28, 2014 00:51
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One Flew South in ATL is the best. Go there.
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Sep 28, 2014 02:28
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MickeyFinn posted:Holy poo poo, ABQ, not a drat thing to do when your flight gets canceled. Go find the Breaking Bad locations
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Sep 28, 2014 04:01
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Aristotle Animes posted:With next years earning cut, I've actually thought of doing manufactured spend but I still can't bring myself to risk/hassle with it in a significant way. One, to meet some high spend threshold on a credit card. For example, if you got a Citi Executive card that awards you 100,000 miles after $10,000 spend in 3 months or to you want to get that extra 15,000 MQM on your Delta Amex, and save yourself the hassle and expense of a few mileage runs. Two, if the expense is tax deductible. In this case, the effective cost of the point could be dropped down to 1.5 cents or so, where some things make more sense. Of course, you should check with a tax advisor before doing this, since lots of gotchas apply. But in most cases, it doesn't make sense, so definitely run the math first.
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Sep 28, 2014 07:40
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B&R Baseline Expandable is on sale for 20% at Blomingdales. It comes out to $397 after tax in California. Worth it?
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Oct 1, 2014 00:42
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B&R is worth it at full msrp. The warranty service is incredible in that it covers damages caused by airline handling (is there any other kind?), they'll take care of the cosmetic stuff when you send it in and they'll clean it up before returning it. I had a wheel bent, sent it in, they replaced zipper pulls and the handle where the rubber was getting ratty. The bags are solid, well thought out and hold up to a lot of miles. I love B&R.
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Oct 1, 2014 12:25
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Anyone have the carryon garment bag? How's the interior design?
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Oct 1, 2014 13:26
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:Anyone have the carryon garment bag? How's the interior design? I'm also curious about this, I was considering the Red Oxx lightweight garment bag but open to alternatives too.
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Oct 1, 2014 13:36
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Anybody run into issues where ITA/Google flights price out a trip at a significant amount off of what the airline is actually willing to sell the tickets? I'm trying to purchase some tickets for personal travel around christmas and I'm getting prices from ITA for ~450 a ticket, but then when I actually try to buy them Delta insists it is ~1000 a ticket because they're only willing to sell me an "A" fare on one of the legs, calling in didn't help. I'm just going to sit on it because it is a route with lots of competition and options, so I'll wait for them to actually open up the empty back of the plane. But I've never run into this with ITA before. Is it less reliable than it used to be?
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Oct 1, 2014 14:33
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I get the same using Skyscanner quite often (just today in fact), where travel agencies offer a lower fare class than the airline. The obvious answer would be that it isn't available anymore and it hasn't updated yet, but you can still book them. Maybe look around on travel agencies to see if it's still available through them.
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Oct 1, 2014 15:52
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:Anyone have the carryon garment bag? How's the interior design? drat, I should have taken a picture earlier when I was there. Its pretty nice but you can also see the interior herE: http://www.briggs-riley.com/category/productDetail.aspx?id=Carry-On-Wheeled-Garment-Bag_U174&sec=travel So I got the bag. I've been in the habit of replacing a bag every year (I get cheap ones from TJ Maxx). 15% + 20% (Opening a Bloomingdale's card for the purchase), + $50 free gift cards, it came out to just about $340 total.
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Oct 2, 2014 06:19
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Hot drat that's a nice bag. I am glad I don't have a need for it but if I ever do that seems really worth it. Edit: my life has been reduced to admiring luggage what have I become
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Oct 2, 2014 09:01
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sellouts posted:Edit: my life has been reduced to admiring luggage what have I become This is a safe place.
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Oct 2, 2014 14:15
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Shadowhand00 posted:drat, I should have taken a picture earlier when I was there. Its pretty nice but you can also see the interior herE: I think I'll buy the garment bag when my Crew9 garment bag finally dies, which could be in a decade.
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Oct 2, 2014 14:48
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sellouts posted:Edit: my life has been reduced to admiring luggage what have I become We're all God's children in the dark.
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Oct 2, 2014 16:49
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Just booked my flights through November, looks like I'll be hitting UA Platinum a month earlier than expected. Spend is probably going to hit 10k this year, won't quite make it on miles for 1K however. Not a bad travel year at all. Wish I had done the same thing last year.
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Oct 2, 2014 17:31
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Kinfolk Jones posted:Just booked my flights through November, looks like I'll be hitting UA Platinum a month earlier than expected. Spend is probably going to hit 10k this year, won't quite make it on miles for 1K however. Not a bad travel year at all. Wish I had done the same thing last year.
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Oct 2, 2014 18:51
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I assume at least some of you saw this thing that went viral a couple of days ago: https://medium.com/travel-adventure/what-its-like-to-fly-the-23-000-singapore-airlines-suites-class-17d9f3fee0d I was lucky enough to get upgraded to Business on a SFO-ICN trip on Singapore and it ruled but it doesn't even hold a candle to this level of ridiculousness. I took an Asiana A380 flight recently as well but I didn't get a chance to see their first class suites.I bet cleaning out old rich man jizz from the corners is not fun for the flight attendants, though. canoshiz fucked around with this message at 19:25 on Oct 2, 2014 |
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Oct 2, 2014 19:23
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