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You'll be fine, just show up over an hour early.
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Apr 6, 2016 18:14
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I'm flying back to the US from Milan MXP next month. How early should I get to the airport  ? As an admirals club member and AA platinum, can I access the BA lounge at MXP? E: flying AA out of MXP to MIA Cacafuego fucked around with this message at 14:49 on Apr 7, 2016 |
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Apr 7, 2016 01:32
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Cacafuego posted:I'm flying back to the US from Milan MXP next month. How early should I get to the airport Me too, but I'm flying into Linate instead of Malpensa. IAD-AMS-LIN, will be first time in KLM business class. Usually I'm passed out before passing Newfoundland on this route.
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Apr 7, 2016 14:10
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Make sure you get your house! I'm always a bit annoyed that all the flights out of my city are Delta, not KLM, so I never get a house 
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Apr 7, 2016 15:40
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:Make sure you get your house! What's in those things anyway? I have like six of them and never have figured it out.
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Apr 7, 2016 16:08
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Bols genever - Dutch gin.
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Apr 7, 2016 16:10
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:Bols genever - Dutch gin. Welp.
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Apr 7, 2016 16:23
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KLM also serves stroop waffels
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Apr 7, 2016 16:53
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Midjack posted:Welp. It probably kept, right?
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Apr 7, 2016 17:05
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:It probably kept, right? There's still some sloshing around in them but they're going on nine years old so I'll probably not roll the dice.
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Apr 7, 2016 17:27
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Midjack posted:There's still some sloshing around in them but they're going on nine years old so I'll probably not roll the dice. The story is kind of interesting - back in the days of regulated air travel, there were restrictions on value of gifts that airlines could give to customers. It was something absurd, $0.75 or whatever. So they're filled with gin because they aren't a gift, they're a complimentary alcoholic beverage!
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Apr 7, 2016 17:39
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:The story is kind of interesting - back in the days of regulated air travel, there were restrictions on value of gifts that airlines could give to customers. It was something absurd, $0.75 or whatever. So they're filled with gin because they aren't a gift, they're a complimentary alcoholic beverage! That's pretty neat.
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Apr 7, 2016 17:50
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Cool. How much jenever do they contain?
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Apr 7, 2016 17:59
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Not a lot, just leave it in because it's cheap booze that's typically used for mixing or, if you're over the age of 80, pure with some sugar. If you want to try genever get some aged.
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Apr 7, 2016 22:46
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:Make sure you get your house! I was so confused when the old lady started pushing that cart around first class. When she finally got to me, she told me to pick one, and then gave me 2 more for whatever reason. I didn't find out until later that they were full of Gin.
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Apr 8, 2016 16:05
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The wines on QR in business are pretty fantastic, even if I never got the Krug experience. Also all you folks complaining about customs/security until you've landed in Iraq and get pulled aside for extra screening.
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Apr 9, 2016 18:39
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Oh, man. How did I miss this thread? Crosspost: I have a job that requires me to travel. Like a lot. Like 75-90% of the time. I'm trying to figure out which Airline to make my primary, but comparing their frequent flyer mile programs and cross-checking that across my credit cards and hotel chains and car rental places is making my brain hurt. Here's what I have to work with now: - I will be flying primarily out of Buffalo. The big carriers here are Delta, United, and American Airlines. Delta is generally the cheapest, and I have to stay within $50 of the cheapest price when choosing tickets. - I have an apartment in north Jersey that I may have to fly out of occasionally. Newark airport is primarily United, but others fly out of there as well. - The card I plan on putting most of my expenses on is an American Express Gold Premier charge card. I expect to have between $2k and $5k / month in expenses on it. They have mile transfer deals with Delta and Jet Blue. I am open to getting rid of this card and getting a different one if that makes more sense in terms of points/miles/whatever. - My company uses Avis for car rentals. I don't think I can use anyone else. - I prefer Marriott to Hilton because Hilton keeps calling me with their dumb marketers that make me want to scream at them. - I'm a tall guy so things like free upgrades to preferred seats or first class are a big deal for me. More so than free flights, probably. How do I go about making sure I have the best synergy between my rewards programs / credit cards / whatever else?
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Apr 10, 2016 06:50
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Narrow it down to one airline and then open the matching card so that you can take advantage of your expenses to hit spending requirements. Churn the card (maybe get one with a hotel brand), rinse, repeat. Pony up the cash to do a challenge to quickly gain status if you want.
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Apr 10, 2016 07:21
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Is there a good reason not to pick Delta, since I already have a matching card? Would it be worth it to upgrade to a Platinum AmEx if I fly a lot? My main problem is looking at the different airlines, their frequent flier programs have so many variables, it's hard to do a direct comparison. Is there anyone that had to decide between those airlines before that can give me some insight into why they picked the one they did?
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Apr 10, 2016 14:40
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KillHour posted:Is there a good reason not to pick Delta, since I already have a matching card? Would it be worth it to upgrade to a Platinum AmEx if I fly a lot? I picked Delta for a few reasons: 1) Hubs. Being based out of BNA, I can be to ATL in about 35 minutes, and then to pretty much anywhere else I need to go from there. Even if I have to go to DTW, thats still only 45-50 minutes, and both of those airports are pretty easy to get around, and are fairly reliable for on-time departures. Looking at every other major airlines major hubs? ORD and EWR are loving terrible and I'd rather walk. CLT isn't bad. DFW is a clusterfuck. 2) They've been the best BY FAR when it comes to IRROPS handling. I've flown nothing but Delta for almost 2 years now, and I've never had a flight cancelled. A few delays, and a few rebookings because of a missed connection, but never a straight up cancellation or other major event. On the other hand, the few times I've flown United, I've been cancelled on twice and stranded at EWR once. gently caress them. 3) Their hard product is pretty good, at least on the routes I fly. I'm usually never in anything smaller than a 717, 737, MD-88/90 or A319. Out of BNA, AA and United both fly a lot of CRJ and ERJs. I started with the Delta platinum card, but upgraded that to the reserve card once I knew what my spending habits would be like. The free 30k MQMs help, and so does the domestic first class companion pass.
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Apr 10, 2016 14:50
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A platinum amex is only worth it for a first year sign up bonus on MR points (doubt there's one running right now) and if there's a centurion lounge at your base airport. If your employer covers the pricy annual fee though, then why not.
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Apr 10, 2016 14:57
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Oh man do I wish there was a Centurion lounge at Dulles.
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Apr 10, 2016 15:46
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I'm just sad you have to use avis.
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Apr 10, 2016 17:51
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If you can use SPG for hotels and you're not I think that is a mistake Points are portable and I've had great customer service.
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Apr 10, 2016 18:22
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sellouts posted:If you can use SPG for hotels and you're not I think that is a mistake SPG is in the process of getting eaten by Marriott, and remember that no merger ever benefits customers.
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Apr 10, 2016 18:26
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I know and there's absolutely no evidence that they are taking away every single benefit that spg has and also their properties are nice and the people are great and I hope none of those things are affected by signage changes.
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Apr 10, 2016 18:34
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The merger is going to take like two years anyway. Might as well enjoy it while it lasts and then choose amongst the other mediocre programs.
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Apr 10, 2016 19:07
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Hot Dog Day #91 posted:I'm just sad you have to use avis. Not empty quoting. sellouts posted:If you can use SPG for hotels and you're not I think that is a mistake I can use whatever hotels I want, as long as they're under the cap ($150/night for most areas, more for major cities). air- posted:A platinum amex is only worth it for a first year sign up bonus on MR points (doubt there's one running right now) and if there's a centurion lounge at your base airport. If your employer covers the pricy annual fee though, then why not. The platinum Amex also gets you into the Delta lounges, which costs quite a bit by itself. I would be responsible for paying the annual fee, though (I think).
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Apr 10, 2016 20:59
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KillHour posted:- I will be flying primarily out of Buffalo. The big carriers here are Delta, United, and American Airlines. Delta is generally the cheapest, and I have to stay within $50 of the cheapest price when choosing tickets. My experience, from about 4 years ago, was that Delta had a pretty good domestic product and that upgrades and good seats were pretty easy to come by at about 50k miles a year. Now, they've changed the program since then, but out of PHX I had a pretty good flying experience.
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Apr 10, 2016 21:30
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KillHour posted:The platinum Amex also gets you into the Delta lounges, which costs quite a bit by itself. I would be responsible for paying the annual fee, though (I think). Get the Platinum Delta Amex if you are going to be getting status from miles instead of segments. You will get 10K MQMs for spending $25K a year and another 10K for $50K. It doesn't get you into lounges but the annual fee is only $150 (the Amex Delta Reserve is the $450 lounge access version). You also get a companion pass which is essentially a continental US buy one get one free and using it to fly my folks cross country to see us every year has it paying for itself.
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Apr 10, 2016 21:46
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I've never understood why people who already travel a lot for work and have a ton of miles racked up get a credit card that gives them more miles. I guess jump-starting your status on an airline makes sense, or using it to get access to a lounge or whatever, but I've heard people say they do it to get more miles from their card, even though they have more miles than they know what to do with. I'd rather have a cash back card than get miles once I have status, but maybe that's just me.
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Apr 11, 2016 00:05
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The point is using reimbursable expenses to hit spending requirements then churning credit cards. Doesn't necessarily have to be for miles, can do hotel points or whatever else.
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Apr 11, 2016 00:30
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ObsidianBeast posted:I've never understood why people who already travel a lot for work and have a ton of miles racked up get a credit card that gives them more miles. I guess jump-starting your status on an airline makes sense, or using it to get access to a lounge or whatever, but I've heard people say they do it to get more miles from their card, even though they have more miles than they know what to do with. I'd rather have a cash back card than get miles once I have status, but maybe that's just me. 1) Even though I travel a lot for work, I burn through my airline miles quickly. I went to Germany first class last year for Christmas, I'm headed to Japan first class next week (crossing the upper deck of a 747 off my bucket list), and I'm going to Germany later this year first class again for Oktoberfest. 2) I do it for the MQMs to get me status faster, which in turn gets me more upgrades, and more miles 3) As soon as I churn through my Delta card, I switch over to my IHG card and get more hotel points too, because I burn them up, but not as fast as airline miles. I pay for all my own travel on a personal card, and then get reimbursed by my company, so I get to double (or triple) dip on points, depending on how you look at it.
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Apr 11, 2016 01:07
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Is there a good way to guestimate if miles or segments are going to be more important? A lot of the places I fly are pretty close (Boston, NY, Chicago), but I sometimes have to go across the country.
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Apr 11, 2016 04:14
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KillHour posted:Is there a good way to guestimate if miles or segments are going to be more important? A lot of the places I fly are pretty close (Boston, NY, Chicago), but I sometimes have to go across the country. Divide the mileage by the number of segments for your target reward level. If your average flight is higher than that, you'll make it on miles. Less than that, segments. Go on the website and see how many miles you get credited for the flights between your common travel points and estimate how many of those flights you'll make by year's end.
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Apr 11, 2016 04:28
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KillHour posted:I can use whatever hotels I want, as long as they're under the cap ($150/night for most areas, more for major cities). What I meant was more that you travel to cities with spg properties. Although 150/night may be tough.
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Apr 11, 2016 04:33
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sellouts posted:What I meant was more that you travel to cities with spg properties. Although 150/night may be tough. 150/night in SPG is tough, unless you want to stay at four points. The westins, W's, sheratons, le meridiens I book for work are usually all >$200/night. Although I think I did book the Westin Richmond for like $159/ night 3 or 4 times.
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Apr 11, 2016 12:52
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The only places I get more than $200/night in the US are like Manhattan and SF. Even downtown Boston is $200.
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Apr 11, 2016 13:16
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What do you guys do about getting sick when you travel. Aside from workout before you sit down? I always wind up with a sinus infection or some loving variant of a norovirus when I travel.
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Apr 11, 2016 14:35
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Hot Dog Day #91 posted:What do you guys do about getting sick when you travel. Aside from workout before you sit down? I usually just get allergies when I'm out, but i have a pretty well stocked pharmacy in my carry on. Saline spray, allergy nasal spray, Claritin D, melatonin, advil PM, tylenol, eye drops, carmex, neosporin, a small assortment of bandaids, and cold/flu daytime/nighttime pills. Worst that's happened to me is getting really bad strep throat (twice actually), but a quick trip to an urgent car/little clinic/minute clinic, a shot of antibiotics and some pills have usually gotten me up and around the next day.
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Apr 11, 2016 14:39
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