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dexter6 posted:Booking a ski trip with MY GIRLFRIEND and she's recommending we use Hotwire. I've never used it and it feels scammy to me. I've used that and Priceline before with good success and significant savings. Use http://www.betterbidding.com to figure out what the going rate is and guess what hotel you may get in a particular area. Priceline is particularly good at getting much cheap rental cars.
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Dec 8, 2016 02:39
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| # ? May 15, 2024 06:59 |
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I use Kayak, which has you purchase direct from the airline or hotel. Third party reservations get bumped compared to normal reservations and if poo poo hits the fan you deal directly with the vendor, not with hotwire/expedia/etc
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Dec 8, 2016 02:48
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Whenever possible, always deal directly with the company providing the product or service. Having someone in the middle can be a bitch if things go tits up.
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Dec 9, 2016 03:38
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Hotwire is hilarious. One time I got the Renaissance in Seattle and they fully honored my Marriott benefits. So um, yeah, free breakfast, upgrades, lounge access, on a stay for like $100? That was nice.
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Dec 9, 2016 06:59
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If you do Hotwire or Priceline don't book anything less than a 5 star hotel. Their 3-4 star hotels are like, Howard Johnsons and Motel 6s.
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Dec 9, 2016 15:02
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Ah yes, the good old "ankle deep water" 3 star hotwire express. So glad I don't have to that anymore.
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Dec 9, 2016 15:45
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Hotwire is great. I've gotten fantastic deals in NYC and Vegas. With some research you can frequently get a good idea of what hotel you're getting.
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Dec 9, 2016 23:20
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TheWevel posted:If you do Hotwire or Priceline don't book anything less than a 5 star hotel. Their 3-4 star hotels are like, Howard Johnsons and Motel 6s. Yeah, the only time I used them I got a Days Inn, not going to bother rolling the dice again.
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Dec 10, 2016 02:58
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Thufir posted:Yeah, the only time I used them I got a Days Inn, not going to bother rolling the dice again. I got the Mark Hopkins. Don't cheap out.
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Dec 10, 2016 05:26
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The whole point of using sites like that is to cheap out.
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Dec 10, 2016 06:37
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monster on a stick posted:I got the Mark Hopkins. Don't cheap out. How much for the Savoy??
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Dec 10, 2016 07:59
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Midjack posted:The whole point of using sites like that is to cheap out. Or you can spend a similar amount of money and get a much nicer place.
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Dec 10, 2016 08:32
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If anyone is staying at the Savoy in London their Hummus is phenomenal.
sellouts fucked around with this message at 08:47 on Dec 10, 2016 |
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Dec 10, 2016 08:42
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sellouts posted:If anyone is staying at the Savoy in London their Hummus is phenomenal. What kind of English Breakfast doesn't have meat and gives you hummus instead? 1 star.
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Dec 11, 2016 00:15
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The Emirates First Class lounge's restaurant is pretty fantastic, btw. The red was a 1998 Bordeaux.
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Dec 11, 2016 00:41
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Kase Im Licht posted:Hotwire is great. I've gotten fantastic deals in NYC and Vegas. With some research you can frequently get a good idea of what hotel you're getting. Yep, typically I've been able to look at an "opaque" Hotwire hotel listing and either deduce exactly what hotel it is, or narrow it down to 2-3 possibilities, with maybe 10 minutes of googling. The listed amenities on the Hotwire listing are usually enough to help you with this. Hotwire for opaque airline fares is another story, don't do that. Hope you like 5am flights or redeyes because that's most likely what you're gonna get. You also seem to get put in the shittiest of the shittiest buckets when it comes to resolving missed connections/cancelled flights/etc. Had an former girlfriend get told by a gate agent, "if you hadn't booked through Hotwire we'd have a lot more options to help you."
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Dec 11, 2016 01:47
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I already know the answer to this question is 'no' but I'm going to ask anyways: is there ANY way to grind through Delta's MQDs besides racking up $25k on their credit card? I'm still boarding with the peasants and it's killing me
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Dec 11, 2016 04:05
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Also someone please offer me, a lowly travel scrub, guidance. Just started a 75% travel gig a few months ago and I'm going to be mostly flying Delta. I have to book all travel through the company agency but all that means is that airline charges go to the company card and my mileage account while all other charges go to my card & account. I'm grinding through these MQDs but hitting silver is going to suck because I'm only offered the cheapest $300 round-trip tickets each time and there doesn't seem to be any other trick to level those up. I was a Marriott guy at my last job but I'm only silver and don't care about switching over to another chain if they meld better with Delta. Basically what I'm asking is if I'm flying with Delta then what card should I be getting / what hotel should I be staying at assuming that all charges will go on said card EXCEPT air travel. The new chase hotness looks tempting but others were saying amex has better offers? I looked at it and that seems to only be the case if you're booking your actual air travel on the card.
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Dec 11, 2016 04:16
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AdrenalinG posted:What kind of English Breakfast doesn't have meat and gives you hummus instead? 1 star. When you're there 3 days you gotta switch it up. And I kind of wanted to see if the Savoy service would flinch (it didn't )
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Dec 11, 2016 06:41
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Rex-Goliath posted:Also someone please offer me, a lowly travel scrub, guidance. Just started a 75% travel gig a few months ago and I'm going to be mostly flying Delta. I have to book all travel through the company agency but all that means is that airline charges go to the company card and my mileage account while all other charges go to my card & account. I'm grinding through these MQDs but hitting silver is going to suck because I'm only offered the cheapest $300 round-trip tickets each time and there doesn't seem to be any other trick to level those up. If you're 75% travel and everything but airfare can go on a personal card then you probably want to decide if you want to hit spend numbers on multiple cards or pile up points on a single card. Also I wouldn't worry about hotel status. Just pick a major chain with a good option or options where you travel. With that many nights you'll hit top status quickly and have enough points to vacation wherever. Thoguh fucked around with this message at 16:47 on Dec 11, 2016 |
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Dec 11, 2016 06:53
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If your rolling Delta a lot I'd say Amex Plat over CSR because you get "free" Delta lounge access included. It's also a transfer partner for points. There are no bonus categories however.
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Dec 11, 2016 09:02
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Untagged posted:If your rolling Delta a lot I'd say Amex Plat over CSR because you get "free" Delta lounge access included. It's also a transfer partner for points. There are no bonus categories however. 5x MR on airfare purchased directly from airlines
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Dec 11, 2016 15:46
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pig slut lisa posted:5x MR on airfare purchased directly from airlines Yeah the catch is airfares have to go on the corporate card
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Dec 11, 2016 15:48
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Rex-Goliath posted:Yeah the catch is airfares have to go on the corporate card Yeah I get it in your case. Just correcting the idea that the Amex Plat has no bonus categories, which used to be true up until a couple months ago but now is not.
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Dec 11, 2016 16:07
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Rex-Goliath posted:Also someone please offer me, a lowly travel scrub, guidance. Just started a 75% travel gig a few months ago and I'm going to be mostly flying Delta. I have to book all travel through the company agency but all that means is that airline charges go to the company card and my mileage account while all other charges go to my card & account. I'm grinding through these MQDs but hitting silver is going to suck because I'm only offered the cheapest $300 round-trip tickets each time and there doesn't seem to be any other trick to level those up. Get the Ritz Carlton card that comes with Gold status. You'll get status immediately for your stays, so you can enjoy it right away, instead of having to count the nights until you hit tiers. You can even sign up for a challenge to expedite to Platinum which requires 9 stays in 3 months, which is absolutely nothing. Delta partners with SPG but they're merging with Marriott anyways.
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Dec 11, 2016 21:31
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Rex-Goliath posted:Yeah the catch is airfares have to go on the corporate card Get either the AMEX Platinum or the AMEX DL Reserve card. Both will get you into DL Sky Clubs. I prefer the AMEX Platinum for Centurion Lounges, but if you're flying DL there's not too many of them around in DL hubs or DL-accessible terminals. A lot of people also like the MQM bonuses from the DL Reserve cards to top DL status. I think the CSR is actually not a great card for traveling. The sign-up bonus is great and it has various perks but it doesn't come with many actual benefits for frequent travelers: namely specific hotel and airline benefits. It seems to be a card designed for points collectors/credit card bloggers, and the occasional traveler, as it competes directly with the AMEX Plat. Except the AMEX Plat gives you Hilton Gold, SPG Gold, Centurion Lounges, Delta Lounges, Boingo Wifi, and their luxury hotel booking portal is actually decent.
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Dec 11, 2016 22:28
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Just got off a coach flight back from Israel with a layover in Germany. I'm sitting in Dulles waiting for my last leg on a loving prop plane. I realized a few things: - Dulles is a shithole. - All the airport lounges I can get into are worse than nothing. The United lounge's spread is literally just cubed cheese, celery, and carrots. Priority pass has 2 very nice looking lounges in this airport (Air France and British Airways), but I can't get in either because they restrict PP entry to literally a few hours a day during times nobody ever has a layover. Ever. gently caress you, PP. - I am going to be about 100 miles short of Plantinum on United this year. - Flying is never going to be good or fun or rewarding. I used to think that once you flew more than a few times a month, you suddenly become part of this super-secret club where airlines throw free poo poo at you because you're such an amazing customer. I thought nobody actually paid for first class - it's just a perk the frequent flyers get. But that's not true at all. People throw thousands of dollars at airlines every time they fly, just to make those hours slightly less miserable. It's crazy - "For an extra thousand bucks, you can spend the next 10 hours in the equivalent of a mediocre hotel bar instead of a prison bus." I guess most companies just factor it in the cost of doing business, but when you work for a company who's thought process is "how cheaply can we get him there alive?" your options are go bankrupt trying to maintain some minimal level of comfort or learn to be okay spending literally hundreds of hours a year giving yourself back problems. But you know what? I bet even if you're a high roller with Global Services and first class lounge access, it's still lovely. "Oh man, they get shrimp up there! And fruit!" gently caress you. I can eat shrimp and fruit for 20 bucks. I'm sure spending 10 hours in a glorified hospital bed is better than spending it sitting straight up in a torture device, but why do we have to pick between those? So gently caress it. I went to Smash Burger instead of wasting my entire layover trying to find a "lounge" more comfortable than my DMV.
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Dec 11, 2016 22:40
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KillHour posted:- Dulles is a shithole. Confirmed. The C/D concourses are lovely because United declined to pay for upgrades; in a better world they'd be more like the A/B concourses that are spacious and well-lit. Decript, hopelessly clogged, unable to keep up with the modern world, and full of thieves from all over the world, Dulles International Airport is much like the city it serves and is the airport the United States deserves.
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Dec 11, 2016 22:49
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KillHour posted:Just got off a coach flight back from Israel with a layover in Germany. I'm sitting in Dulles waiting for my last leg on a loving prop plane. If you are UA Gold, use the Turkish Airlines CIP Lounge or the Lufthansa Senator Lounge if you are on an international itinerary. And yes, flying coach is miserable.
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Dec 12, 2016 00:02
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Midjack posted:Confirmed. The C/D concourses are lovely because United declined to pay for upgrades; in a better world they'd be more like the A/B concourses that are spacious and well-lit. True but they have Five Guys 
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Dec 12, 2016 00:08
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KillHour posted:But you know what? I bet even if you're a high roller with Global Services and first class lounge access, it's still lovely. I was traveling with a concierge key on my last trip. Couldn't get them to clear my SWU upgrade before I got to the gate. The flight was J7 and I was 6 on the upgrade list and we asked 90 min before flight. He was paid J along with 3 other clients on that itinerary alone, flies 20+ paid F flights domestically, controls booking for groups of 5-10 that are paid J/F internationally. Didn't matter. I still cleared so all we were asking was to do it so I didn't have to wait. The point is even with status airlines in particular are very limited in what they will do. And the amount of money that's spent on premium travel is more than you can imagine. Remember that American flies planes hourly to NY that are 3 class, with only 12 rows of economy. And those flights depart F0 and J0, often filled before any of the 100 economy passengers could upgrade, complimentary or not. So yeah, all paid. Hotels? Especially at the super premium level? Different story. But that's based on a relationship that is not defined by points and rules but spend and familiarity with the specific GM at the property. Anyways. The worst airport bar is better than the best domestic lounge in my opinion. International the lounges are better but I would still take a bar. Exceptions: emirates in Dubai, qantas in Singapore and Sydney, wing in HKG. sellouts fucked around with this message at 01:18 on Dec 12, 2016 |
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Dec 12, 2016 01:16
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That plane's seats had literally zero recline. What a loud and lovely way to end an absolutely miserable 22 hour itinerary. Why am I putting up with flying coach twice a week nearly every week for under 100k? KillHour fucked around with this message at 01:32 on Dec 12, 2016 |
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Dec 12, 2016 01:28
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sellouts posted:I was traveling with a concierge key on my last trip. Couldn't get them to clear my SWU upgrade before I got to the gate. The flight was J7 and I was 6 on the upgrade list and we asked 90 min before flight. He was paid J along with 3 other clients on that itinerary alone, flies 20+ paid F flights domestically, controls booking for groups of 5-10 that are paid J/F internationally. Didn't matter. I still cleared so all we were asking was to do it so I didn't have to wait.  There are some other fantastic first class lounges that you can't access if flying economy or business class, like Lufthansa's First Class Terminal in Frankfurt, Air France's La Premiere in Paris, Thai Airways' Royal First Lounge in Bangkok, and Qatar Airways's Al Safwa in Doha. I haven't been through any of these except Qatar's, which was quite amazing, since it was so huge that you didn't even feel like you were at an airport.
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Dec 12, 2016 01:51
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pig slut lisa posted:Yeah I get it in your case. Just correcting the idea that the Amex Plat has no bonus categories, which used to be true up until a couple months ago but now is not. Meh, not really. They really blew their wad on that one. It's only a bonus category if you do one thing one way through them specifically. It's like saying you got a PenFed card for the x5 Gas Bonus, but then PenFed said you could only get the bonus on gas at one brand of gas station and they had to pick which one, and tough poo poo if it costs more than the competition. Most people wouldn't call that a bonus category.
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Dec 12, 2016 02:47
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Untagged posted:Meh, not really. They really blew their wad on that one. It's only a bonus category if you do one thing one way through them specifically. It's like saying you got a PenFed card for the x5 Gas Bonus, but then PenFed said you could only get the bonus on gas at one brand of gas station and they had to pick which one, and tough poo poo if it costs more than the competition. Most people wouldn't call that a bonus category. It's 5x for flights booked directly with any airline or via Amex travel. It's not limited to the airline that you choose for the fee credit. It's still kind of mediocre compared to a travel category, but if you book a lot of airline travel on a personal card then it's a decent perk. I don't really know who that would be, but 
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Dec 12, 2016 04:34
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Untagged posted:Meh, not really. They really blew their wad on that one. It's only a bonus category if you do one thing one way through them specifically. It's like saying you got a PenFed card for the x5 Gas Bonus, but then PenFed said you could only get the bonus on gas at one brand of gas station and they had to pick which one, and tough poo poo if it costs more than the competition. Most people wouldn't call that a bonus category. I think you may be confusing the $200 annual travel credit (where you have to pick one airline) with the new 5x bonus (which applies to all airlines)
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Dec 12, 2016 05:27
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Yeah, it's very specific. I just used a lot of words to explain, in my opinion, that Plat doesn't have any rewards categories. Yes there is a bonus from airfare (if you can get it to work when going direct), but that shouldn't make or break the card for most people. Platinum is my go-to card outside of the CSP, but it's because of the benefits and connections more than anything.pig slut lisa posted:I think you may be confusing the $200 annual travel credit (where you have to pick one airline) with the new 5x bonus (which applies to all airlines) I can see where what I wrote looks like that, but no I was talking about the "bonus". I was good with the airline credit until I found out the MPX app side hustle stopped working. Untagged fucked around with this message at 05:35 on Dec 12, 2016 |
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Dec 12, 2016 05:31
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Looks like I'm finishing up the year with 60 segments and $5300 spent on Delta. I'm boned right? Can I buy $700 worth of Delta gift cards to get gold or something?
Residency Evil fucked around with this message at 05:56 on Dec 12, 2016 |
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Dec 12, 2016 05:33
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Oh wait do MQDs not roll over? Is it only MQMs that roll over?
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Dec 12, 2016 05:50
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MQDs don't roll. How are you people spending so little on flights? I'm at like $0.15 per mile in terms of MQD/MQM ratio which puts me well over at every single status level. Even cutting out my one full-fare J Asia trip, I'm still comfortably above the spend threshold at all levels.
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Dec 12, 2016 14:11
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