The "I'm Traveling somewhere" Thread

[Lonk]

I'm not ready to get on a plane yet, but I am driving to Cape Cod next week. Will be there for a few days.

Lucky for me, MA is lifting Covid restrictions on the day I get there.

[Chino]

I'm not ready to get on a plane yet, but I am driving to Cape Cod next week. Will be there for a few days.

Lucky for me, MA is lifting Covid restrictions on the day I get there.

Where are you staying in the Cape? I'm a big fan of the South Yarmouth area myself.

[Lonk]

I'm not ready to get on a plane yet, but I am driving to Cape Cod next week. Will be there for a few days.

Lucky for me, MA is lifting Covid restrictions on the day I get there.

Where are you staying in the Cape? I'm a big fan of the South Yarmouth area myself.

I'll be staying in Falmouth, but planning to explore different areas there.

[cramx3]

I've never been to Aruba but the few people that I know rave about it. Wasn't a wedding the last time you went?

I went for my own leisure fall of 2019 and absolutely loved it.  It's been my favorite of the islands in the Caribbean so far.

[TAC]

I'm not ready to get on a plane yet, but I am driving to Cape Cod next week. Will be there for a few days.

Lucky for me, MA is lifting Covid restrictions on the day I get there.

V, I just saw this. Are you still down the Cape? Where are you coming from?






And after Covid wiped out our trip to Italy last year, the Annual Summer Family TACation is officially on for 2021.
Just booked our trip to Arizona!!

[Lonk]

I'm not ready to get on a plane yet, but I am driving to Cape Cod next week. Will be there for a few days.

Lucky for me, MA is lifting Covid restrictions on the day I get there.

V, I just saw this. Are you still down the Cape? Where are you coming from?

And I just saw this I was there until June 3rd. Drove there from NYC. Explored some areas nearby, had some really good food in the immediate area.

I'm going to Philadelphia this Sunday for work training. I'll be there for the entire week. I don't know the city all that much.  I spent a night there a few years ago for a DT concert, so any food recommendations is much appreciated 

[TAC]

I'm not ready to get on a plane yet, but I am driving to Cape Cod next week. Will be there for a few days.

Lucky for me, MA is lifting Covid restrictions on the day I get there.

V, I just saw this. Are you still down the Cape? Where are you coming from?

And I just saw this I was there until June 3rd. Drove there from NYC. Explored some areas nearby, had some really good food in the immediate area.

OK.


Yeah if you drove from NYC you probably went 95 and picked up 195 in Providence. You likely drove through my hometown on 195 very close to the Cape.

Where I live now, I'm like 30 miles to the bridge.

[cramx3]

I've got my first business trip in like 20 months next week when I go to LA for 9 days.  I've got slight travel anxiety thinking about it, not so much from covid but just from not traveling for so long.

[Cool Chris]

On a houseboat for 5 days on Lake Powell. First time in 3 days I've had cell service. Hope all is well here and in the world. Is that Covid thing still going around?

[MirrorMask]

My two weeks of holidays are starting! 

First the mountains, my beloved Dolomites, and then the sea in a Venice-like quaint and colored town. Wanna stalk me? google images for Moena, Siusi and Caorle!

See you in a couple of weeks folks, I'll be. back alongside Maiden's new album 

[El Barto]

Anybody got any experience with ONT? It's either that, LAX, or paying out the ass for other SoCal options. I figure it can't really be any more obnoxious than LAX, and may actually be pleasant, for a change. Drive time isn't really a huge concern, as I'll be going and coming from pretty far away regardless. Unfortunately, flights into SNA are hugely expensive, for some reason, as that would be my first choice.

[pg1067]

Anybody got any experience with ONT? It's either that, LAX, or paying out the ass for other SoCal options. I figure it can't really be any more obnoxious than LAX, and may actually be pleasant, for a change. Drive time isn't really a huge concern, as I'll be going and coming from pretty far away regardless. Unfortunately, flights into SNA are hugely expensive, for some reason, as that would be my first choice.

I've never flown out of ONT and only flew into it once, and that was more than 20 years ago.  You can look on the map and see where it is in relationship to the other Socal airports.  If that's not an issue for you, then I can think of no good reason not to use it.  It's just not geographically convenient for me (it's about twice as far as LAX and about thrice as far as SNA).

[El Barto]

Anybody got any experience with ONT? It's either that, LAX, or paying out the ass for other SoCal options. I figure it can't really be any more obnoxious than LAX, and may actually be pleasant, for a change. Drive time isn't really a huge concern, as I'll be going and coming from pretty far away regardless. Unfortunately, flights into SNA are hugely expensive, for some reason, as that would be my first choice.

I've never flown out of ONT and only flew into it once, and that was more than 20 years ago.  You can look on the map and see where it is in relationship to the other Socal airports.  If that's not an issue for you, then I can think of no good reason not to use it.  It's just not geographically convenient for me (it's about twice as far as LAX and about thrice as far as SNA).

Yeah, location isn't really an issue. For me it's more an issue of how hard it is to get in and out, and rental cars, and so forth. Rental cars add easily 45 minutes to each leg at LAX. BUR is probably even more annoying.

[cramx3]

Anybody got any experience with ONT? It's either that, LAX, or paying out the ass for other SoCal options. I figure it can't really be any more obnoxious than LAX, and may actually be pleasant, for a change. Drive time isn't really a huge concern, as I'll be going and coming from pretty far away regardless. Unfortunately, flights into SNA are hugely expensive, for some reason, as that would be my first choice.

I've never flown out of ONT and only flew into it once, and that was more than 20 years ago.  You can look on the map and see where it is in relationship to the other Socal airports.  If that's not an issue for you, then I can think of no good reason not to use it.  It's just not geographically convenient for me (it's about twice as far as LAX and about thrice as far as SNA).

Yeah, location isn't really an issue. For me it's more an issue of how hard it is to get in and out, and rental cars, and so forth. Rental cars add easily 45 minutes to each leg at LAX. BUR is probably even more annoying.

For the rentals, do you sign up for the fast pass or whatever it is called for the rental company?  I have hertz gold and I was out of LAX1 very quickly a couple weeks ago and historically that's always the case from my experience (with Hertz or Budget).  I signed up for Avis' version of this but ended up using Hertz.

[Lonk]

Anybody got any experience with ONT? It's either that, LAX, or paying out the ass for other SoCal options. I figure it can't really be any more obnoxious than LAX, and may actually be pleasant, for a change. Drive time isn't really a huge concern, as I'll be going and coming from pretty far away regardless. Unfortunately, flights into SNA are hugely expensive, for some reason, as that would be my first choice.

I've never flown out of ONT and only flew into it once, and that was more than 20 years ago.  You can look on the map and see where it is in relationship to the other Socal airports.  If that's not an issue for you, then I can think of no good reason not to use it.  It's just not geographically convenient for me (it's about twice as far as LAX and about thrice as far as SNA).

Yeah, location isn't really an issue. For me it's more an issue of how hard it is to get in and out, and rental cars, and so forth. Rental cars add easily 45 minutes to each leg at LAX. BUR is probably even more annoying.

For the rentals, do you sign up for the fast pass or whatever it is called for the rental company?  I have hertz gold and I was out of LAX1 very quickly a couple weeks ago and historically that's always the case from my experience (with Hertz or Budget).  I signed up for Avis' version of this but ended up using Hertz.

The one time I flew into LAX, I used Avis and from the point I left the airport to the point I got the car it was about 20 minutes (including the shuttle to the rental office). Returning with Avis took less than 5 minutes.

[El Barto]

I see they've moved all of the rental agencies quite a bit closer from the last time I was there. That will certainly help. They're also no longer tucked away on tiny side streets. That'll help more. Still, aside from the departure I've just always found LAX annoying (save for the white zone, red zone couple--they crack me up).

[cramx3]

it looked like a few of the rental companies were all in the same lot.  Hertz and 2 others (maybe avis and budget) but it didn't seem any further or closer than before.  Maybe it was and I didn't realize.  I took more time figuring out which car I wanted from the lot than actually getting out.

[Anguyen92]

All right, as some may know, I'm heading to San Francisco the week before Christmas to see Metallica's 40th anniversary shows.  Given that it's during the holiday season, should I go ahead and buy the tickets for flight/hotel now, wait until Black Friday, or when should I buy it at a price most reasonable?

[El Barto]

All right, as some may know, I'm heading to San Francisco the week before Christmas to see Metallica's 40th anniversary shows.  Given that it's during the holiday season, should I go ahead and buy the tickets for flight/hotel now, wait until Black Friday, or when should I buy it at a price most reasonable?

I'd check deals on Black Friday. That might be at the ideal time pricing wise, as well. Still, given the current circumstances, I'm highly inclined to wait until the last possible moment. Too much can change between now and Christmas.

Airfare is what you need to book a few weeks in advance. Hotels you can wait until pretty close to the date. Rental cars are really subject to availability. Just keep an eye on who's got what and for how much. Like hotels, they price generally doesn't go up as you get closer to the date, though it occasionally goes down. You just don't want them to sell out.

For what it's worth, I booked hotels the day before I left for SoCal last week. Car was a few days before that. Also, depending on where you're flying from, airfare may well be a disposable purchase. I paid $107 R/T from DFW to LAX on AA. If the show had been canceled it wouldn't have killed me to eat that.

I've purchased airfare and hotels on Black Friday in the past. Given the climate right now I doubt you'll get much cheaper airfare. Base fares are just so cheap right now as it is. As for hotels, what you'll typically find on BF-CM are better quality hotels steeply discounted. If your MO is to crash in a Ramada on the side of the highway BF won't make much difference. If you want to stay someplace posh, then BF is often times a great score. That's where you'll find 4* hotels discounted down to 2* prices.

[chknptpie]

I like to use apps like Hopper to see price ranges and shifts in flights and such. I haven't used it in over 2 years, but you could set up an alert for certain travel dates to watch for price drops. Pretty awesome.

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

I used to ski alot when I was a kid with my family and I absolutely loved it. I often think it would be so much fun going on a ski trip but non of my friends are skiing or have done it. Someday though and while I probably go on a resort I can't help of dreaming of doing something like this:

The FIFTY - Ep. 27 - Mt. Moran, WY - The Best Line Yet?!?!

Those shots of when they climb the mountain with the view in background is just breathtaking and the skiing down looks like soo much fun although the journey to the summit is no joke.

[pg1067]

I'll be heading to Nashville in a couple weeks for a work conference.

Any suggestions for good BBQ places (or otherwise)?  I'll be in the downtown/arts district area of the city.

[El Barto]

I'll be heading to Nashville in a couple weeks for a work conference.

Any suggestions for good BBQ places (or otherwise)?  I'll be in the downtown/arts district area of the city.

Papa Turney's, out on a marina at Lake Shores. Dude that owns it is a super nice guy, and he smokes a damn fine brisket (even if he does chop it all up).

That's assuming you've got car, of course.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/papa-turneys-hermitage-3

[TAC]

So we had a trip booked to Texas this morning. I'm against booking anything in the winter, but it's my son's freshman year of college, and my wife wanted to do something this year.

We are Disney Vacation Club members, so we use our points to go elsewhere now, and we found a nice place between Austin and San Antonio. Had tix to the Spurs game Wednesday night too.

So the one day we book a flight out of Boston is the one fucking day of snow. We were notified yesterday at 3:30 that our flight was cancelled and they put us on a flight Sunday morning. OK, not ideal, but whatever. We were still going to go. My wife called the resort last night and said that we'd be coming in two days late. The guy told her they couldn't hold the room and we'd forfeit the points. WTF?? He gave us a number to call (not Disney, but the time share company). DVC partners with a company called RCI.

Well, if we won't have our accommodations, fuck it, we'll cancel. I called Jetblue, and they couldn't have been nicer. They refunded our flights, no penalty, no problem.
We called DVC this morning to get our points back. This ended up being a three hour call, mostly on hold throughout. DVC said there was nothing they could do, that's the cancellation policy within 7 days. They called the resort and the resort told them that they'd save our room. That was completely the opposite of what we were told last night. Seems they wanted to try and resell it and tell us we were screwed. But when Disney calls them on it they change their tune.

Anyway, DVC still says we're SOL. We went fucking crazy. That was unacceptable. The lady said she'd call back the resort and see if they'd give us back half of the points. We said anything less than a full refund was completely unacceptable. She puts us back on hold. After an hour and twenty minutes, she comes back and says RCI will refund our points in total.

[El Barto]

So we had a trip booked to Texas this morning. I'm against booking anything in the winter, but it's my son's freshman year of college, and my wife wanted to do something this year.

We are Disney Vacation Club members, so we use our points to go elsewhere now, and we found a nice place between Austin and San Antonio. Had tix to the Spurs game Wednesday night too.

So the one day we book a flight out of Boston is the one fucking day of snow. We were notified yesterday at 3:30 that our flight was cancelled and they put us on a flight Sunday morning. OK, not ideal, but whatever. We were still going to go. My wife called the resort last night and said that we'd be coming in two days late. The guy told her they couldn't hold the room and we'd forfeit the points. WTF?? He gave us a number to call (not Disney, but the time share company). DVC partners with a company called RCI.

Well, if we won't have our accommodations, fuck it, we'll cancel. I called Jetblue, and they couldn't have been nicer. They refunded our flights, no penalty, no problem.
We called DVC this morning to get our points back. This ended up being a three hour call, mostly on hold throughout. DVC said there was nothing they could do, that's the cancellation policy within 7 days. They called the resort and the resort told them that they'd save our room. That was completely the opposite of what we were told last night. Seems they wanted to try and resell it and tell us we were screwed. But when Disney calls them on it they change their tune.

Anyway, DVC still says we're SOL. We went fucking crazy. That was unacceptable. The lady said she'd call back the resort and see if they'd give us back half of the points. We said anything less than a full refund was completely unacceptable. She puts us back on hold. After an hour and twenty minutes, she comes back and says RCI will refund our points in total.

Sorry to see that. That sucks.

Out of curiosity, couldn't you have just eaten the first two days of the reservation? It was paid for, so they wouldn't have needed to hold it vacant. All they'd have to do is not cancel the reservation.

[TAC]

Yes Bart, we were willing to lose the two days worth of points, but the guy at the resort told my wife that because we were coming in two days late, they wouldn't be able to hold it for us and we'd be SOL. Yes, that sounds fucked, but that's what the guy told us. He even gave us another number to see if someone else could help us.

It was just funny when DVC called them, they changed their tune. Fucking smarmy.

So at that point, there was no point taking the Sunday flight if they weren't going to hold our room. So I cancelled Jetblue last night.

At the end of the day, we were made whole, so that's fine. Just going to lose money on the B-ball tix, but I put them back up for Ticketmaster resale for try and recoup some money, which wasn't a lot to begin with. Seems we can buy four upper arena seats in San Antonio for HALF the price of ONE ticket in Boston.



My wife was talking to her sister today, and we may reschedule our Texas trip to coincide with the Sox down there in May, so for that trip, we might be up your way.

[wolfking]

I hate companies like that that think they can fuck you but when the pressure is put on, change their tune.  Proves they are being dicks for no reason.

That sucks though mate.

[MirrorMask]

Going against the proper form of the title, I'm not traveling, I already did travel.... took the chance in the early days of the year to visit my own capital, Rome, for the fourth time (or fifth? I  truly don't remember).

Rome is kinda a mess to live in, but seen as a tourist for several days, it's drop dead gorgeous. Had lot of luck with the weather and I even saw the Pope, Francis got the "honor" of being the first head of state, and the first pope obviously, I have seen in person, even if from afar 

[Stadler]

Yes Bart, we were willing to lose the two days worth of points, but the guy at the resort told my wife that because we were coming in two days late, they wouldn't be able to hold it for us and we'd be SOL. Yes, that sounds fucked, but that's what the guy told us. He even gave us another number to see if someone else could help us.

It was just funny when DVC called them, they changed their tune. Fucking smarmy.

So at that point, there was no point taking the Sunday flight if they weren't going to hold our room. So I cancelled Jetblue last night.

At the end of the day, we were made whole, so that's fine. Just going to lose money on the B-ball tix, but I put them back up for Ticketmaster resale for try and recoup some money, which wasn't a lot to begin with. Seems we can buy four upper arena seats in San Antonio for HALF the price of ONE ticket in Boston.



My wife was talking to her sister today, and we may reschedule our Texas trip to coincide with the Sox down there in May, so for that trip, we might be up your way.

We have Wyndham, which we like a lot, but have RCI as the "bank" for points we don't use in the calendar year.  My wife brought that to the marriage, so I've been going through Wyndham for going on eight years or so, and I don't think I've used RCI ONCE.   Every time I try to use them, the resorts are full, or there's some bullshit to go through (they have a property on Block Island I would LOVE to go to, and in eight years haven't been able to find one fucking week - or even a partial week - to book.  A-holes (RCI).

Sorry your trip was screwed up.   I know I use Wyndham to stay in New York frequently, and the place is a two night minimum, and they're pretty good at letting me come and go within that two days, even if I only stay one night. 

[El Barto]

Going against the proper form of the title, I'm not traveling, I already did travel.... took the chance in the early days of the year to visit my own capital, Rome, for the fourth time (or fifth? I  truly don't remember).

Rome is kinda a mess to live in, but seen as a tourist for several days, it's drop dead gorgeous. Had lot of luck with the weather and I even saw the Pope, Francis got the "honor" of being the first head of state, and the first pope obviously, I have seen in person, even if from afar 

I wanted to like Rome a lot more than I did. It'd be awesome if not for all of the damn tourists. 

[Stadler]

Going against the proper form of the title, I'm not traveling, I already did travel.... took the chance in the early days of the year to visit my own capital, Rome, for the fourth time (or fifth? I  truly don't remember).

Rome is kinda a mess to live in, but seen as a tourist for several days, it's drop dead gorgeous. Had lot of luck with the weather and I even saw the Pope, Francis got the "honor" of being the first head of state, and the first pope obviously, I have seen in person, even if from afar 

I wanted to like Rome a lot more than I did. It'd be awesome if not for all of the damn tourists. 

I want to go.  Of all the cool places I've been - including driving across Turkey - I've never been to Rome.  My parents have, and despite my mom being petrified of leaving the country ("it's EUROPE!" as if we should all know what that means; turns out she meant flying over the ocean which scared her) she had the best time.

[TAC]

We had a trip to Italy booked for the summer of 2020 as a graduation present for my oldest son, who wanted to see the Coliseum. Even had a hotel with a Coliseum view. Thanks Covid!

[El Barto]

We had a trip to Italy booked for the summer of 2020 as a graduation present for my oldest son, who wanted to see the Coliseum. Even had a hotel with a Coliseum view. Thanks Covid!

A view of the Coliseum actually means a view of 2000 American tourists in cargo shorts, 40 gelatto carts, 100 African hawkers selling trinkets, and a handful of guys dressed as gladiators posing for pictures with people for 10e a pop. If you decide to try again, do yourself a favor and book a room far away from the historical stuff. It's a 10 minute ride to Termini which will take you pretty much anywhere, and you'll have a much more pleasant experience. You'll be with actual Italians and you'll eat actual Italian food rather than the Olive Garden stuff the tourists are eating.

[TAC]

Will definitely keep that in mind. Nothing worse than the Olive Garden.

[Stadler]

Unlimited bread sticks!!!!