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A number of my coworkers do frequent domestic travel with nothing international. Then again, they just this year gave all of us DoD civilians precheck anyway (our DoD ID number is our KTN) so they wouldn't be paying for precheck anyway. Of course, they did that a few months after I paid for mine, but eh, it was still worth it.
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Dec 13, 2014 14:11
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FFs without passports are soon to be FF scrambling to get an expedited passport. Alternatively they remain FFs wasting their miles on domestic awards. Get a goddamn passport.
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Dec 13, 2014 16:38
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sellouts posted:My wife and I took less than 5 days each and that was through lax interview center which was booked 3 months solid at one point. Same for Nexus too, at least in terms of watching the cancellations. I waited a few weeks for my Nexus background check to clear. When I got the conditional approval they were booked quite a ways in advance, but I checked every morning and managed to snipe a cancellation. Also remember that if you have Nexus you get Global Entry for free. I can't remember if you have to fill anything out, or your info is automatically good at the GE kiosks, ask at your interview.
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Dec 13, 2014 17:53
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kitten smoothie posted:
I'm not a frequent enough flier that I stay on top of stuff like expedited border programs, so I'd never heard of GE until a couple years ago when I landed in New York (from Oslo I think?) and was met with what appeared to be a multi hour wait. I wasn't really thinking and figured there was a chance there would be Nexus machines so I joined the few people skipping the line. I guess to combat the crowds there were attendants "helping" people use the GE machines, when I got there they didn't even give me time to mumble something about making a mistake, and jammed my passport into the machine and sent me on my way. Away I went, unsure of what actually happened, since I didn't look into any iris scanner or speak with anyone, but appeared to be in the US legally.
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Dec 13, 2014 20:16
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Kreez posted:I went, unsure of what actually happened, since I didn't look into any iris scanner or speak with anyone, but appeared to be in the US legally.
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Dec 14, 2014 05:34
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Aristotle Animes posted:FFs without passports are soon to be FF scrambling to get an expedited passport. People don't get passports? What the hell?
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Dec 14, 2014 09:20
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caberham posted:People don't get passports? What the hell? It's a thing specifically in the US. At least in the south, it's easy to run into people who don't know what it's like outside of their state, or even their city.
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Dec 14, 2014 12:20
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caberham posted:People don't get passports? What the hell? In the early 2000s I saw a stat that claimed that before 9/11 only 20% of US citizens had a passport. Apparently, that roughly doubled after new passport requirements were instituted for Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. Google results are telling me 1/3 of Americans hold passports now.
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Dec 14, 2014 16:52
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MickeyFinn posted:In the early 2000s I saw a stat that claimed that before 9/11 only 20% of US citizens had a passport. Apparently, that roughly doubled after new passport requirements were instituted for Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. Google results are telling me 1/3 of Americans hold passports now. I wonder what the % of the public that flies >1/year is.
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Dec 14, 2014 17:41
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air- posted:It's a thing specifically in the US. At least in the south, it's easy to run into people who don't know what it's like outside of their state, or even their city. Heh, thought it would be more of a Mid West thing since nothing ever happens  I guess the South tends to be poorer and have fewer airports and actually cost more to travel? Well, flying a family of 5 is never as cheap as using the family car for a road trip I guess
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Dec 14, 2014 17:45
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The US is a really big place. You can do a whole lot of travel without needing a passport. That's less true than it used to be (since you now need one to go to Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean) , but still holds for the majority of people.
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Dec 14, 2014 17:51
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caberham posted:Heh, thought it would be more of a Mid West thing since nothing ever happens It's nationwide.
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Dec 14, 2014 19:01
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A few months back my work asked me to commute more frequently to other sites. This means typically ~ 2/ week hotel stays. I make my own travel arrangements and am reimbursed. What chain would be recommended for accumulation of free stays? I've been reading the thread and saw someone recommend Hyatt's reward program a few pages back.
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Dec 15, 2014 00:21
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caberham posted:Heh, thought it would be more of a Mid West thing since nothing ever happens Yeah like everyone else said it's nationwide. Many people do road trips and people consider me "well traveled" since I've gone to almost every state in the US, but I honestly feel like this is nothing since I have such little international travel experience. sweet_jones posted:A few months back my work asked me to commute more frequently to other sites. This means typically ~ 2/ week hotel stays. I make my own travel arrangements and am reimbursed. What chain would be recommended for accumulation of free stays? I've been reading the thread and saw someone recommend Hyatt's reward program a few pages back. SPG or Hyatt. HHonors is a loving joke.
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Dec 15, 2014 10:28
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Hey air, will you be in Changi? I really crave some giant cup peanut butter cups
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Dec 15, 2014 12:37
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air- posted:SPG or Hyatt. HHonors is a loving joke. SPG is nice but they do tend to keep making desirable properties more points to reimburse. Like anything in a big city is probably 10k points. Something fancy is 20k. Which is a lot of points for one night.
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Dec 15, 2014 13:57
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sweet_jones posted:A few months back my work asked me to commute more frequently to other sites. This means typically ~ 2/ week hotel stays. I make my own travel arrangements and am reimbursed. What chain would be recommended for accumulation of free stays? I've been reading the thread and saw someone recommend Hyatt's reward program a few pages back. The best answer, i think, when selecting airlines/hotels, is which chain serves you needs best in the places you plan to go. SPG or Hyatt are arguably better programs than Marriott or Hilton but I suspect many of us end up with MR or HH because Hamptons, HGI, Homewood, Springfields and Courtyards are like Starbux; there's usually one somewhere near where you are. So, if I was you and knew I had to make 2wk stays in known locations (as apposed to my travel which is i don't know where i'm gonna go one quarter to the next) I would select a chain with the best properties in the cities I was going to, get a branded CC, exist and learn that point system and start dreaming about a vacation in one of the chain's exclusive spots. Some "soft" bennies show differences in how they treat an elite but pretty much all the hotel programs are cookie cutter in earning : redemption. They "align" (read collude) with each other every year.
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Dec 15, 2014 17:25
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Aristotle Animes posted:So, if I was you and knew I had to make 2wk stays in known locations (as apposed to my travel which is i don't know where i'm gonna go one quarter to the next) I would select a chain with the best properties in the cities I was going to, get a branded CC, exist and learn that point system and start dreaming about a vacation in one of the chain's exclusive spots. Some "soft" bennies show differences in how they treat an elite but pretty much all the hotel programs are cookie cutter in earning : redemption. They "align" (read collude) with each other every year. Do exactly these things. I'll agree with everyone that HHonors is worthless. Personally I'm an IHG guy because I can find a Holiday Inn/Express/Select, Crowne Plaza, Candlewood, or Staybridge 99% of the time I need to go somewhere, and their points are actually worth a poo poo. I used some of mine not too long ago at the Venetian in Las Vegas, and since I was a Platinum member (and it wasn't a busy weekend), I got bumped up to a suite. You do have to stay on top of the promotions though. IHG usually has something going on where you get 25% more for this quarter, or some kind of challenge where you have to stay a certain amount of nights, or at a number of different properties, etc. to get any bonus points.
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Dec 15, 2014 18:43
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Yeah all of that is generally true, I just tend to pounce on HH when given a reason to. I racked up points via a shitload of Hampton Inn stays. I plan on burning them all in one go via more trips to Asia since these redemptions tend to be way better than most in the Hilton program. The first remarkable HH stay I've had in years was this week at the Doubletree in KL. 4k points plus 111 MYR a night is a crazy deal, and if you have gold/diamond, their executive lounge is far above average as far as their hot breakfasts and happy hour. Apparently this rate used to even include free laundry service if you were checked into a room in the executive floor, but that recently changed. The property itself is nice enough to be a cat 6/7, so it was quite a nice experience, and there's even a huge FT thread on the property.
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Dec 15, 2014 20:55
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Thanks everyone. 90% of my work-reimbursed hotel stays will be in the same two areas. The hotels in the first area I really like are a Springhill Suites and an Aloft. The most convenient hotels in the second area, well everything I've tried so far I haven't been into. There is both a Hyatt House and a Hyatt Place reasonably close by. There are scores of Marriott hotels (didn't like their Residence Inn there) but no SPG hotel. No one mentioned Marriott rewards - hopefully not as bad as HH?
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Dec 16, 2014 00:42
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I thought Aloft was part of SPG? I'd go with that! I think MR is about identical to HH.
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Dec 16, 2014 01:56
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air- posted:I thought Aloft was part of SPG? I'd go with that! I think MR is about identical to HH. Aloft is Starwood, yes. Marriott is slightly better than Hilton, but not enough that I'm going to switch after several years of Hilton concentration.
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Dec 16, 2014 02:29
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In my experience, Starwood is good if you are going to be in cities or airports. If you are along some random interstate or out at some corporate HQ in the middle of nowhere, there's probably not going to be an Starwood property. They also have pretty good international coverage, especially at the high end. A lot of the old classic hotels are now Westins or Sheratons.
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Dec 16, 2014 15:32
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ICH is buying Kimpton for 430m. That's a nice boost.
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Dec 16, 2014 18:38
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if you're in bum gently caress Egypt a good portion of the year like I am, Hilton is probably the best bet. Marriot and to a lesser extent, IHG are usually fine too. I like Hilton because HGI is the best ubiquitous mid tier hotel by far. They always have comfy beds
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Dec 17, 2014 03:21
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I'm on my last work flight of the year. Suck it, work! Thanksgiving - Now was easily the worst period of my career thus far. I have one more quick hop to The D and back just after Christmas to visit my girlfriend's family, but I have never been happier to be done.
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Dec 19, 2014 16:59
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Home for the holidays, sort of... I have a sea-sfo-sea mileage run to hit 125K on the 25th. But yesterday was the end of my last work trip for the year and I will have a good stretch at home before more go go go in mid jan into feb. Yesterday was my first time immigrating to the US through YYZ. What a mess... have better signage for GE and consistent Nexus/GE verbiage from signs and agents. I had one agent refuse me at the security checkpoint, insisting I needed Nexus only to force my way through after appealing to another agent. This after failing GE for the first time and getting the dreaded X through my receipt meaning I had to immigrate the regular way. This was happening to everyone at GE and evidently it was because none of our continuing flights were loaded into the system. Decent Maple Leaf Lounge there tho in the F term. Was my first time using the MLL in YHZ because the UA gate is separated by security, that was also alright. All done with long hauls till next year. AgrippaNothing fucked around with this message at 17:15 on Dec 20, 2014 |
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Dec 20, 2014 17:13
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I spent 5 hours once in that lounge, I hadn't eaten all day and just loaded up on free Guinness and bowls of thai curry. It was actually pretty boss
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Dec 20, 2014 17:25
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Food was good in both locations. Curry soup hummus and garlic olives, fresh veggies, good bread; all was very good and the self serve alcyhol is always appreciated by me. UA has moved to rot gut comp'd booze and i always want to just tell the bartender to fill a pint glass 3/4 with ice and dump 6oz of swill vodka into it because i don't really feel like tipping you three time today.
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Dec 20, 2014 17:54
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Yeah gently caress tipping on free poo poo
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Dec 20, 2014 18:45
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sellouts posted:Yeah gently caress tipping on free poo poo I usually do it if the barkeep treats me like a paying customer and/or is generally busting his rear end.
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Dec 20, 2014 20:07
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Work travel is complete but we leave for BRU on Monday. Should end the year just over 150K PQMs on UA for the year and 76 nights with SPG. Not bad. 
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Dec 21, 2014 01:28
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I really hate tipping in general but will gladly tip on free poo poo just because people won't go home empty handed. Ugh, just have better wages.
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Dec 21, 2014 07:07
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Meeting business travel goon I'm so scared. Within 5 minutes we talk about ATM fees and expense reports
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Dec 21, 2014 11:00
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Never pay ATM fees (within the U.S.); if there's truly no ATM that won't charge you a fee where you're going, just go to Walmart or Walgreens or something, buy a drink or snack with a debit card, and get cash back.
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Dec 21, 2014 14:29
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Join a bank-by-mail credit union. Because they have no atms, they will refund x atm transactions a month. edit: atm to expense reports for the boring biz travel jerk fait accompli; i'm doing my last expense reports for this year this morning whilst listening to the Vikes game. AgrippaNothing fucked around with this message at 19:37 on Dec 21, 2014 |
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Dec 21, 2014 19:34
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Our suck rear end reimbursement policies at least will give back for ATM and banking fees, so at least I can roll up to any ATM in the world and get paid back. And then the cheese dicks in finance leave we twisting for six weeks on a $12K voucher, after I had to pay the credit card bill. I had enough cash reserves to float that, but holy poo poo I did not need that in December. All reimbursement people can loving hang.
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Dec 21, 2014 20:41
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Charles Scwab and USAA are the best bank by mail options. No ATM fees, no forex fees. All free.
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Dec 21, 2014 22:15
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Midjack posted:Our suck rear end reimbursement policies at least will give back for ATM and banking fees, so at least I can roll up to any ATM in the world and get paid back. And then the cheese dicks in finance leave we twisting for six weeks on a $12K voucher, after I had to pay the credit card bill. I had enough cash reserves to float that, but holy poo poo I did not need that in December. I have had the discussion about reimbursement with my boss and I can understand if I'm down to the wire but if i get this poo poo in to her and she approves and passes it to finance with +5days and they kick it back after the cutoff, then they have to cut an advance that cycle. I can float just about anything I rack up but if someone left me twisting for +45 days, I would be making noise. Not that it would do any good really. So, yeah, hang 'em all. And the pencil dicks that make travel policies as well. edit: USAA owns. Except their security brokerage platform, that thing is a stinky pile of crap. AgrippaNothing fucked around with this message at 22:24 on Dec 21, 2014 |
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Dec 21, 2014 22:21
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My buddy used a SWU on my HKG-DFW flight tomorrow as a birthday present for me and I got confirmed in business class  If anyone here flies there often, which lounge do you prefer between The Wing vs The Bridge (I think business class means I have access to both)?
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Dec 22, 2014 09:24
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