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Talk about anything non-hockey related.
Dickie Dunn
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Post by Dickie Dunn »

Airlines are price gouging mother ****. Supply far outweighs demand so they’re just bending over the few that choose (or have to) fly.
NTP66
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Post by NTP66 »

I have a companion ticket that expires 3 days prior to departure, too. Gonna call AA to see if I can guilt trip then into allowing me to use it, because this is all some bullshit.
willeyeam
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Post by willeyeam »

ntp vs airlines round 33
NTP66
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Post by NTP66 »

I expect to lose this bout, but I’m still going to try. Worst they can do is say no. Not like they can terminate my AAdvantage account a second time. :lol:
NTP66
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Post by NTP66 »

Yeah, they won't budge. They extended through 6/30, and that's final. That sucks, and I basically have no other recourse unless I want to drive to NY to fly a different airline, but that's just dumb.

My wife has enough miles for her ticket to be free, but I can cover all of us using Chase UR from my CSP, and that's what I'll probably do since the mileage redemption is decent right now. I would expect next summer to be high again, so I'll save my wife's miles for then.
NTP66
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Post by NTP66 »

Some of you have Chase cards, no? I don't know why I never heard of this benefit before, but for some cards Chase has a 'Pay Yourself Back' feature in the UR portal, and if you have a Sapphire, Freedom Flex, etc., you can redeem UR points with a 25% bonus on grocery stores, restaurants, and home improvement store purchases - the same value as using the Chase UR travel portal. I was going to just redeem these flights there, but it's a better redemption using this because I'll earn 2x points on the tickets, and will just pay for them with the statement credit.

The only thing that sucks is that this benefit is temporary, and going away at the end of April.
RonnieFranchise
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Post by RonnieFranchise »

I do have a Sapphire card, unfortunately it is one I don't use. This sounds similar to the Capital One purchase eraser that uses points to pay your travel purchases.

The Chase card I use occasionally is the IHG card I got back when I stayed at Holiday Inns a lot. You used to be able to milk IHG for all kinds of bonus points when you got the codes from the Flyertalk boards. They shut that down and really restricted the rooms you can get with IHG points and the card's free night- pretty much all you can get anymore without spending money is a basic two queen. It's not worth the $95 a year fee anymore, especially since I've become pretty much 100% Hilton.

My go to is the HHonors AMEX at this time.
NTP66
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Post by NTP66 »

Yeah, I'm all but locked in to Chase because it seems to have the best value overall for me. Since PHL is an AA hub, I'm screwed there and can never take advantage of Chase's 1:1 transfer, unless I go the BA route. And BA never has award availability, somehow even less than AA.

My only real issue with Chase is that the UR portal is showing different pricing when you get to the final screen. They're backed by Expedia, which shows the correct prices, but Chase's portal always tells me that the price just changed and jacks it up another $300. I don't have to deal with that for this trip, but will in the future.
dodint
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Post by dodint »

I don't follow any of that.
NTP66
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Post by NTP66 »

Yeah, I did a poor job with it. Pay Yourself Back with the bonus is like this. Say you spent $100 at the grocery store. Normally, it’d cost 10,000 Chase UR points. With the 25% bonus, it now just costs me 8000 points. It’s basically using your points to reimburse yourself for those purchases in the way of a statement credit.
dodint
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Post by dodint »

Oh.

How do you pay yourself back for the time managing all this stuff?
NTP66
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Post by NTP66 »

Managing? It’s like 5 minutes of effort, my man. And I usually do it during business hours, so work is paying me to do it.
NTP66
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Post by NTP66 »

Oof, $125-$150/person for rapid covid testing pre-arrival.
LITT
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Post by LITT »

i know there are some OBXers here. never been. going to Avon at the end of June. will be driving with a 17mo old and a 1mo old. any recommendations on stuff?
DigitalGypsy66
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Post by DigitalGypsy66 »

I haven't been to that part of the OBX in a while, sadly. But I would definitely recommend taking the ferry to Ocracoke Island for the day. Lots of beach, wild native horses to check out, and some good restaurants and shops in the village itself. Free ferry in that direction and the kids would enjoy that, too.

Wright Brothers Memorial in Kitty Hawk is always a good idea. And Brew-Thru for the parents...lol
robbiestoupe
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Post by robbiestoupe »

and Duck Donuts
shafnutz05
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Post by shafnutz05 »

LITT wrote: Thu Mar 04, 2021 10:18 am i know there are some OBXers here. never been. going to Avon at the end of June. will be driving with a 17mo old and a 1mo old. any recommendations on stuff?
My man! We actually stayed in Avon for the first time in the fall. It is much quieter down there--you are about 50 minutes from the super touristy stuff in Nags Head, but your kid's wont be old enough for most of that anyway.

Highly recommend the short drive down to Hatteras. It's a beautiful drive, get up first thing in the morning and time your trip to get to the lighthouse site when it opens. I don't believe you can climb the lighthouse but still fun walking around down there.

Mad Crabber is a good place to take the kids.

Taqueria Las Ahumaderas (sp) is a nice Mexican food truck if you are looking for a quick bite to grab.

Avon Fishing Pier is a fun excursion.

Our trip down there was the first time we have stayed outside the Kitty Hawk - Nags Head corridor and we really enjoyed it. There is also a long rec path that runs the length of Avon and much of Salvo, right along NC 12. Good for strollers.
DigitalGypsy66
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Post by DigitalGypsy66 »

OBXers, here’s some sobering news about climate change and flooding.

the wicked child
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Post by the wicked child »

Ugh. Really hate to see that.
shafnutz05
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Post by shafnutz05 »

DigitalGypsy66 wrote: Sun Mar 14, 2021 1:08 pm OBXers, here’s some sobering news about climate change and flooding.

I was in Avon in October. That is sad.
NTP66
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Post by NTP66 »

I had a potential renter contact me a month or so ago about renting one of my timeshares for next February. First time trip for her and extended family, so she is also looking for another unit.

Fast forward to this morning, and she says she’s good on the other unit, and wants to see if I’d accept a little less for mine. It’s only $200, so I agree. Waiting to hear back from her, but I saw that she posted in the same FB group I’m a member of for this resort looking for availability for the same week, posted after her email. So now I’m wondering what’s going on. If she pays for the unit, whatever, but I have another person interested in the rental now. She has until Tuesday to pay before I contact the other person.

On a related note, I think covid is causing much fewer people to rent out their units, and instead just use them. There are usually many units available for whale season, but as of today, there are very few. I could probably get even more for my unit if I wanted to.
NTP66
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Post by NTP66 »

Welp, first person's other rental fell through, so I guess that explains their post. Just sent my rental agreement to the second person for full price, so I'll be happy if it goes through.
MalkinIsMyHomeboy
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Post by MalkinIsMyHomeboy »

I’m going to South Dakota in July and reached out on Reddit about certain car rental options (I want a convertible). A user responded that I can rent his 1970 Cutlass and we’ve been talking; all seems well

He did ask for my credit card and that’s the only part that gives me some pause. I get giving card info to a company but in a p2p transaction I’m a little hesitant

Thoughts?
dodint
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Post by dodint »

Have you tried Turo?
MalkinIsMyHomeboy
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Post by MalkinIsMyHomeboy »

dodint wrote: Mon Mar 22, 2021 10:32 pm Have you tried Turo?
Yeah. No convertibles

Rapid City is depressingly small for car rental options
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