Travel Thread

[nocera]

This is amazing and I'm putting it here because I don't know where else to post it.

[shafnutz05]

This is amazing and I'm putting it here because I don't know where else to post it.

This is awesome! Thanks for sharing.

[Dickie Dunn]

Had an interesting conversation with Delta last night. We received emails last Tuesday stating "Sorry, but due to the Rona your flights have been cancelled and you'll receive an eCredit refund within 24 hours". So, being that last Tuesday is a bit more than 24 hours and neither of us had the described refund certificates in our SkyMiles accounts, I gave them a call. Per the rep, because Delta initiated the cancellation it is on us to call and ask for a refund, provided in the form of the SkyMiles being redeposited to our accounts instead of the described certificate, otherwise the miles used to book our flights would just float out there in the black abyss, both unused and un-refunded, until the end of days.

**** STUPID

[NTP66]

That also applies to AA. **** them all.

[Dickie Dunn]

While we're at it, **** Airbnb as well. We have one hold out reservation with a strict refund/cancellation policy so to get our money back instead of an Airbnb credit (because who knows when the **** I'm gonna want to stay in some strangers house), this is the **** you need to provide to get a refund initiated by corporate:

Required:
- Proof of flight, train, or boat cancellation showing your name, travel dates, and locations matching the reservation details

Plus one of the following documents is also required:
- Email or official announcement from the transportation provider confirming the suspension of all trips to the impacted area
- Confirmation of total airport/train station/port closure in the your or listing’s location, with closure dates coinciding with the reservation

Planes are still flying **** and there are also no closed airports or shuttered train stations. I can somehow re-book our May 7th flight to London right now with no issue, but my flights getting cancelled by Delta in the midst of a **** pandemic isn't enough for me to get a refund.

[NTP66]

I've heard nothing but horror stories about Airbnb, for years now. We rented somebody's condo in 2018, but I booked through TripAdvisor because they had a decent protection policy compared to **** like that.

[RonnieFranchise]

We used AirBnB for a cottage at Holiday Valley last year and had a fabulous experience.

[obhave]

We used AirBnB for a cottage at Holiday Valley last year and had a fabulous experience.

I use AirBnB all the time and have always had a good experience. Only once was it sketchy, but I wasn't traveling on my own that time. However, they seem like the type of company that would be hard to work with during a time like this.

[DigitalGypsy66]

We've used VRBO and AirBnB interchangeably for years without issue. Many of the properties are listed on both fwiw

[RonnieFranchise]

We used AirBnB for a cottage at Holiday Valley last year and had a fabulous experience.

I use AirBnB all the time and have always had a good experience. Only once was it sketchy, but I wasn't traveling on my own that time. However, they seem like the type of company that would be hard to work with during a time like this.

Yeah I could see them being difficult to deal with if something goes wrong.

[DigitalGypsy66]

The companies themselves are usually easy to deal with, it’s the owners that aren’t always sensible.

For instance, we had a spring break trip planned for Williamsburg and a summer vacation trip planned for Hilton Head in June.

We canceled the Williamsburg VRBO fairly early in March, but it was past the cancel date (which was 30 days before your stay, which is a long time for most short term rentals in our experience). Washington DC had just declared a state of emergency, and Virginia was going to do so a few days later. The owner wouldn’t budge on a full refund, so we only got back our deposit. This was before VRBO and AirBnB changed their policies to be more lenient.

Hilton Head was June, so we had more time to work with the owner. We first switched to July (for no charge), and then canceled it completely, and the owner was very gracious all the way through the process. Some of it was the virus was grabbing headlines and things were beginning to shut down all over the country, but the HHI owner was a lot more pleasant to deal with - and had been from the first day we booked back in January.

YMMV

[the wicked child]

@NTP66 This will probably make your head explode, but out of the items I've had from Joe's, the brisket has been my least favorite - this is not to say it is bad, but the pork is miles above it (important to note this is just the sliced brisket, not burnt ends). That **** is **** awesome. I had to restrain myself from just eating half the shoulder on its own.

[NTP66]

@NTP66 This will probably make your head explode, but out of the items I've had from Joe's, the brisket has been my least favorite - this is not to say it is bad, but the pork is miles above it (important to note this is just the sliced brisket, not burnt ends). That **** is **** awesome. I had to restrain myself from just eating half the shoulder on its own.

Their pork is phenomenal, so I don't take offense to that at all. I've still got 1lb of both brisket and burnt ends in our freezer.

[NTP66]

I swear, if AA wasn't the only real player at PHL, I'd never fly them again. They apparently changed their refund policy to require a 4-hour flight change in order to receive a full cash refund, up 2 hours from the previous policy. Thankfully, I was able to argue my case with the CSR who was adamant that I was ineligible until I asked her to look at the purchase date, clearly showing that it was prior to the new April 2020 change. So my refund requests are submitted, but I doubt I'll see that $4500 for another month. Who knows, the bean counter who reviews all refund requests may try and deny it again, too.

[nocera]

Reposting this from the COVID thread since it might make more sense here:

Plans unveiled to reopen Walt Disney World. Magic Kingdom & Animal Kingdom open July 11, Hollywood Studios and Epcot open July 15.
https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/ ... ey-stores/

Mask required
no Fireworks or parades
on site temperature checks
mobile ordering
enhanced cleaning
touchless payments
limited capacity

Having gone to WDW many times during hot summer months, I can tell you that wearing a mask in that heat and humidity is going to be awful. Best of luck, folks.

[NTP66]

We’re going to hear so many stories of people havi Nd heat stroke this summer at Disney.

[nocera]

We’re going to hear so many stories of people havi Nd heat stroke this summer at Disney.

It wasn't unusual to see people going down with heat stroke at Disney anyway. Non-locals doing 12+ hours in the Florida sun will do that to you. I feel bad for the cast members who are going to have to fight with people to put their masks on.

[MrKennethTKangaroo]

i question how any of these places are going to make money based on limited capacity

[obhave]

i question how any of these places are going to make money based on limited capacity

I imagine they had to do extensive internal calculations based on this, but I know this is an issue for a lot of restaurants that do not believe it is worth it to open at lower capacity.

[NTP66]

Disney is still going to make money hand over foot, even with limited capacity.

[CBear3]

@NTP66 This will probably make your head explode, but out of the items I've had from Joe's, the brisket has been my least favorite - this is not to say it is bad, but the pork is miles above it (important to note this is just the sliced brisket, not burnt ends). That **** is **** awesome. I had to restrain myself from just eating half the shoulder on its own.

Their pork is phenomenal, so I don't take offense to that at all. I've still got 1lb of both brisket and burnt ends in our freezer.

Did lunch at the Filling Station yesterday, thought of you...

[NTP66]

@NTP66 This will probably make your head explode, but out of the items I've had from Joe's, the brisket has been my least favorite - this is not to say it is bad, but the pork is miles above it (important to note this is just the sliced brisket, not burnt ends). That **** is **** awesome. I had to restrain myself from just eating half the shoulder on its own.

Their pork is phenomenal, so I don't take offense to that at all. I've still got 1lb of both brisket and burnt ends in our freezer.

Did lunch at the Filling Station yesterday, thought of you...

I’ll never live anywhere near you, but you are so damn lucky in the food department. I still have a pound of Joe’s KC burnt ends in my freezer.

[LITT]

c2i, are you putting the charges on your own cards and getting reimbursed? For airlines, I'd make sure that you were going to use United exclusively before getting one of their own branded cards. Same goes for the hotel chain. If you want flexibility, you can always look at one of the Chase-branded cards where you can convert your points.

That's the plan... put it on my own cards and then get reimbursed. United is almost a lock as it's the most versatile out of State College.

In that case, I defer to TPG: https://thepointsguy.com/guide/best-cre ... ng-united/. Note: Unless your company is crazy and will reimburse you the annual fee, ignore any of those $450+ AF cards.

I'm the newest of newbies to credit cards. I've had one since I was in my early 20s and have never applied for another since. The Chase Sapphire Preferred card is $95 yearly, but it's offering 60,000 points if you spend so much in the first 3 months which won't be a problem. What exactly would I be able to do with 60,000 points?

60,000 points = $600. You can use it as a statement credit, purchase gift cards, stuff like that. If you use the Chase travel portal thing you can book flights, hotels, vacation packages, etc. and travel goes at a 1.25 rate so the 60,000 points is worth $750.

question about trying to get more sign up bonuses
my wife and both have chase sapphire cards. based on the R&R it looks like we can combine her points to my account, cancel hers and have her sign up for a new card to get the bonus? does this make sense?

[NTP66]

That's the plan... put it on my own cards and then get reimbursed. United is almost a lock as it's the most versatile out of State College.

In that case, I defer to TPG: https://thepointsguy.com/guide/best-cre ... ng-united/. Note: Unless your company is crazy and will reimburse you the annual fee, ignore any of those $450+ AF cards.

I'm the newest of newbies to credit cards. I've had one since I was in my early 20s and have never applied for another since. The Chase Sapphire Preferred card is $95 yearly, but it's offering 60,000 points if you spend so much in the first 3 months which won't be a problem. What exactly would I be able to do with 60,000 points?

60,000 points = $600. You can use it as a statement credit, purchase gift cards, stuff like that. If you use the Chase travel portal thing you can book flights, hotels, vacation packages, etc. and travel goes at a 1.25 rate so the 60,000 points is worth $750.

question about trying to get more sign up bonuses
my wife and both have chase sapphire cards. based on the R&R it looks like we can combine her points to my account, cancel hers and have her sign up for a new card to get the bonus? does this make sense?

When did she open her Sapphire card? She needs to go at least 48 months between that one and opening a new one to be eligible for the bonus again. And yes, she can transfer her points to your account (add her card on your account).

[nocera]

Re: WDW re-opening. The rumor is capacity will be at 1/3 of total capacity, since this is what Shanghai Disneyland has done. Magic Kingdom has a capacity of about 100,000, so theoretically 33,000 people will be allowed in. Epcot would go down to 32,000, Hollywood Studios would go down to 25,000, Animal Kingdom to 20,000.

That's still a **** ton of people. We attended After Hours at Magic Kingdom a few years ago and it was estimated that about 3,500 tickets were sold. The park felt empty, but the damn 7 Dwarfs Mine Train still had a 15 minute wait.