The all encompassing travel thread (for your tips, tricks, recs, questions, help).

[EmirOfShmo]

Quick trip report: Flew Breeze Airways last Thursday direct to LAX - arrived 12PM.

Flight left RVA on-time & arrived LAX on-time. Wifi was available the entire flight (5hrs 35minutes). I had a 1st class ticket - 1st class is 3 rows with 2 seats on each side, seats had plenty of legroom with footrest & decent recline. The rest of the plane has 3 seats on each side. You get 2 alcoholic drinks & a bag of chips/popcorn/breakfast bar in first class. That's it. Everything else you have to pay by credit card. Flight arrives LAX in Terminal 2. You need to take a shuttle back to Terminal 1.

Departure from LAX on Sunday 12:50PM - took the shuttle from Terminal 1 (after TSA) to Terminal 2. TSA lines were small so I was through pretty quick. Shuttle bus to Terminal 2 takes about 10 minutes. Arrival at Terminal 2 take the escalator upstairs. Once upstairs you will see food places. Not gonna list them because it appears they change on the regular. The info on the LAX website is wrong. This are is the only area that has food & drink. I'd say there are 4-5 places to eat. I had ramen at one of the places - good but pricey (typical airport prices). Flight home took 5 hours & we were delayed about 15 minutes so we were late arriving RVA. No wifi on the return trip. My understanding is they are in the process of putting wifi in all of the jets. Same type of plane on the return flight. 

I will definitely fly these guys again. Very good experience except for the missing wifi on the return. But, that allowed me to miss watching the 'manders loss to SEA.

[ixcuincle]

I was doing some instagram browsing and this lady said she went to Japan and almost got the police called on her because she didn't check out of her hotel and just left. I wasn't aware auto checkout was even a thing in America, I always go to the desk or an employee to check out, even if I'm just dropping my room key off

 

DAE?

[The Evil Genius]

Looking at a return flight using Alaska Air miles from Paris (Charles De Gaulle) in mid May and Aer Lingus (partner airline) has one with a 1:45 layover in Dublin.

 

Anyone know if this is doable? Do you go through a separate customs/passport check in Dublin?

 

I know I'll have to when getting back to SFO but that's what Global Entry is for...

Edited December 1, 2023 by The Evil Genius

[Fan since a Fetus]

27 minutes ago, The Evil Genius said:

Looking at a return flight using Alaska Air miles from Paris (Charles De Gaulle) in mid May and Aer Lingus (partner airline) has one with a 1:45 layover in Dublin.

 

Anyone know if this is doable? Do you go through a separate customs/passport check in Dublin?

 

I know I'll have to when getting back to SFO but that'd what Global Entry is for...

Generally you only have to go through customs if you are leaving the airport. I cannot speak specifically on Dublin, but when I’ve travelled I’ve never had to check with customs unless I was leaving the airport for any length of time. 

[EmirOfShmo]

21 hours ago, ixcuincle said:

I was doing some instagram browsing and this lady said she went to Japan and almost got the police called on her because she didn't check out of her hotel and just left. I wasn't aware auto checkout was even a thing in America, I always go to the desk or an employee to check out, even if I'm just dropping my room key off

 

DAE?

It's definitely a thing when staying at a Marriott - leave the key cards in the room & leave. No need to stop by the desk to check-out. They'll email the receipt to you. 

[PleaseBlitz]

5 hours ago, EmirOfShmo said:

It's definitely a thing when staying at a Marriott - leave the key cards in the room & leave. No need to stop by the desk to check-out. They'll email the receipt to you. 

 

A lot of hotels these days let you check out either on their app, or they send you an email with a one-click checkout button. 

[The Evil Genius]

SFO to London and Paris to SFO booked using Alaska miles and few hundred out of pocket. 

 

Flight to London is via British Airways and is direct. Flight back via Aer Lingus with a 2hr or so layover in Dublin. 

 

Sucks that neither let you freely pick seats until check-in.  Junk fees for seat selections are a joke. 

Edited December 1, 2023 by The Evil Genius

[China]

Don't get me started on the junk fees for car rentals.  I was astounded by one of them, a $2/day facility fee.  WTF, when I'm using the car it's not at the facility.  Why am I being charged a facility fee?  Anyway, taxes and fees accounted for a third of the cost of the rental.  Worse, the taxes are applied to the fees as well as the rental.  

[The Evil Genius]

As a follow-up,  called Aer Lingus and they had plenty of complimentary seats to pre-select. So flights back are taken care of.

 

British Airways still wants $200+ from us to pre-select our seats...or wait until checking (24 hrs before) and select them free. Smh.

 

Guess I'll have to monitor if the area we want starts to fill up. 

Edited December 1, 2023 by The Evil Genius

[ixcuincle]

**** universal is expensive. looking over admission for my trip to Florida in 2 weeks and universal tickets are wild

 

if there any way to get cheap discounted tickets let me know

[Ball Security]

Flying commercial sucks. Sit in a tube for hours while someone coughs on you. Internet goes down so there is in no way to do a transaction for an overpriced drink. Keep hearing about CA homeless problems with poop on the sidewalks, but I saw more dog **** in LAX than I did LA. 

[PleaseBlitz]

1 minute ago, Ball Security said:

Flying commercial sucks. Sit in a tube for hours while someone coughs on you. Internet goes down so there is in no way to do a transaction for an overpriced drink. Keep hearing about CA homeless problems with poop on the sidewalks, but I saw more dog **** in LAX than I did LA. 

 

Agree on all counts.

 

The alternative (if I'm going from DC to LA) is driving for 40 hours.

 

So I suck it up, pay for one too many overpriced drinks (so 11 total), and make the best of it. 

 

[Ball Security]

1 minute ago, PleaseBlitz said:

 

Agree on all counts.

 

The alternative (if I'm going from DC to LA) is driving for 40 hours.

 

So I suck it up, pay for one too many overpriced drinks (so 11 total), and make the best of it. 

 

I couldn’t pay for the drink though. I offered cash, but they wouldn’t take it.  They were unable to take credit cards mid-flight. 
 

 

[TheGreatBuzz]

18 minutes ago, PleaseBlitz said:

 

Agree on all counts.

 

The alternative (if I'm going from DC to LA) is driving for 40 hours.

 

So I suck it up, pay for one too many overpriced drinks (so 11 total), and make the best of it. 

 

 

If you're on a budget, add 4 benadryl.  That's how I would do DC to Tokyo.

[PleaseBlitz]

1 minute ago, TheGreatBuzz said:

 

If you're on a budget, add 4 benadryl.  That's how I would do DC to Tokyo.

I go with the Trazadone and 11 bourbons method. 

[purbeast]

On 12/1/2023 at 2:15 PM, China said:

Don't get me started on the junk fees for car rentals.  I was astounded by one of them, a $2/day facility fee.  WTF, when I'm using the car it's not at the facility.  Why am I being charged a facility fee?  Anyway, taxes and fees accounted for a third of the cost of the rental.  Worse, the taxes are applied to the fees as well as the rental.  

Where did you do car rentals from?

 

When I'm in the US I always use costco travel to rent a car and get really good prices.

 

When out of country, I always go with a local (to the country I'm visiting) company and not an American company that is setup over there.

33 minutes ago, Ball Security said:

Flying commercial sucks. Sit in a tube for hours while someone coughs on you. Internet goes down so there is in no way to do a transaction for an overpriced drink. Keep hearing about CA homeless problems with poop on the sidewalks, but I saw more dog **** in LAX than I did LA. 

I just pop my headphones on and play Switch for a few hours while sipping on some Jack and Cokes.  I fly SW a lot and I'd say more than 50% of the time they don't even charge me for the drinks.  They just never come back to charge me.  You just have to be nice to the staff on board and they will hook you up half the time.

 

I don't really mind flying at all at this point.  It was definitely a lot easier and less stressful when I fly without my kids though.  We went to Belize a couple weeks ago with the kids and we had to take 3 flights each direction, 1 of them being a tiny puddle jumper.  It was fun, but it's just stressful carrying all the **** you need especially with a 3 year old.

[ixcuincle]

Flying commercial is okay, I always insist on sitting in the aisle seat so I can just get up and take a piss if need be. I was jammed in the middle like a sardine on my way to Florida last week though. And I always get seated next to a baby. Always.

 

Again biggest tip is to bring noise cancelling headphones.

 

And these airports these days are so huge, have to tram from terminal to terminal everywhere now. Landed in Newark and had to transfer to my connecting flight, well we got held up in DC so I had to run like 25 minutes across the airport to another terminal, just to find out I was 2 minutes late and the gate was closed. Had to rebook a flight and arrived in FL 3 hours later than intended.

[ixcuincle]

16 hours ago, Ball Security said:

Internet goes down so there is in no way to do a transaction for an overpriced drink

Found the problem

 

Don't drink at the airport, and don't drink on the plane. I was offered complimentary non alcoholic beverages so I just took those.

 

They all take credit card payment or you have to load your card on the united app for actual meals though and not minor snacks.

[bearrock]

On 12/4/2023 at 5:44 AM, ixcuincle said:

**** universal is expensive. looking over admission for my trip to Florida in 2 weeks and universal tickets are wild

 

if there any way to get cheap discounted tickets let me know

 

Probably too late based on your itinerary, but for future reference, Get away today and Undercover Tourist has a bit of a discount compared to official prices.  They are legit resellers/travel agents, so no worries about scam tickets.

[PleaseBlitz]

“Don’t drink at the airport” lol. 

[ixcuincle]

36 minutes ago, PleaseBlitz said:

“Don’t drink at the airport” lol. 

Drink water from the filtered water machines.

 

Alcohol, meh. Overpriced.

 

And deffo not on a plane.

[purbeast]

Drinking on an airplane is either #1 place to do it or a very close #2 with the beach being #1.

[EmirOfShmo]

🤣

 

 

[ixcuincle]

https://thepointsguy.com/news/sober-travel-airline-hotels/?utm_section=ts&utm_source=TPG Daily Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=8725316&utm_usr=8a722006eb4b16b5c166b677100494345e8947afeecff7107358029ea7d4b890

 

Forget "dry January" — sober travel is becoming more than a New Year's trend; it's a movement, and hotels and airlines are finally taking notice. According to a 2023 survey by Hotels.com (shared via PRNewswire.com), "More than 40% of travelers say they are likely to book a detox trip in the next year, and half of travelers say they would be interested in staying at hotels that offer easily accessible alcohol-free options."

[EmirOfShmo]

Anybody have a recommendation for a voltage converter 220V to 110V? Headed to Curacao next weekend & just realized I need it at the hotel. Last time we were there the Renaissance didn't require it.