Stayed at the Hyatt Regency Maui first week of November all on points for insanely good value; I think the cash rate on our room was just over $4,300 for 150k points total
My best friends mom is a travel agent and thank god for her. I didn’t even think about filling out declaration forms for our layovers to and from Portugal. I have done all I can do for this trip, now we just need to avoid getting Covid before we leave.
Portugal literally just put in new restrictions, including negative Covid tests to get into restaurants. I think we might have to bail if that’s the case because I’m not going to get tested multiple times throughout the trip. Time to pivot.
just came back from baha mar and had a great time. had an amazing steak at the steak house. gambled a shit ton and hung out by the pools
Is Bogota even worth it for a few days? Spending about 2 weeks in Medellin before heading to Sao Paulo. There are some easier/cheaper flights out of Bogota vs Medellin, but don't really have much of a desire to check out Bog. Connor Norman you've spent a lot of time down there, right? Should I just maximize my time in Medellin and spend a bit extra to fly out of there?
Also just booked a 4-day trek to Ciudad Perdida in North Colombia, approx 650 years older than Machu Picchu https://expotur-eco.com/en/tour/lost-city-trek-4-day-tour/ Currently researching a week in Chapada Diamantina, beautiful national park in NE Brazil: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapada_Diamantina_National_Park Got an alarm set for 3:45 AM tomorrow for the flight to Oaxaca -- so about 7 hours. RTR
Bogota sucks. If you want to get away from Medellin for a few days, check out Pereira, Cali, Santa Marta or San Andres. I’ll be down in Colombia Dec 24 - Jan 2. We are going to San Andres Dec 25-28. The rest of the time will be in Medellin.
Used Turo for the first time this past week. Traveling with 2 little ones so fairly stressful and my dumbass forgot to take any pics of the car beforehand AND forgot to checkout officially until like 12 hrs after I actually dropped it off. Fingers crossed my host isn't a dick and doesn't try to exploit that.
i didn’t hate Bogota, it’s not Medellin but I had a great time in Bogota as well…..I definitely think it’s worth a couple of days
I fly into Cartagena and spending my first 10-12 days in Santa Marta/Tayrona. Think I'll just spend around two weeks in Medellin, get to know the city a bit. But currently in route to Oaxaca City for 10 days, somewhere over the Gulf of Mexico right now. Holy shit I can't wait to gorge. Like 90% of these restaurants are walking distance from my Airbnb: https://www.eater.com/maps/best-restaurants-oaxaca-mexico These Mexican and Colombian prices are a welcome reprieve after Costa Rica.
Man, I know I just got here and there's some first impression energy, but Oaxaca city is blowing me away. No building is allowed to be more than two stories tall. City is at 5,200 ft and surrounded my mountains, so also ideal temp. The colors of every building are amazing. The city itself is pretty small, mostly cobblestone streets, and super walkable. Did a free walking tour this afternoon and feel like I saw the whole city. The murals/artwork is phenomenal. And the fucking FOOD. Had the best chilaquiles (con chorizo) of my life this AM. Had mind blowing street tacos for lunch. Had Camarones en mole last night, and I fucking LOVE mole. And I bet I've spent like $25 usd so far. 4 tacos + water was 75 pesos--under $4. Finishing a mezcal tasting right meow and going to try pork suckling tacos from here on my walk home: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaur...Lechoncito_De_Oro-Oaxaca_Southern_Mexico.html Looking at properties in Oaxaca y Mazunte LFGGGGGG. Summers in PNW, winters in Oaxaca.
Cross-posting from the credit card thread: Could use some suggestions/ideas from the TMB think tank. GF has never been overseas and I just got a job that allows actual vacations, so time to spend my points on a nice trip for the two of us. She wants Italy and I want business class to make the trip memorable for her, despite the terrible expectations I’m setting. We’re looking at mid-March, so spring break is screwing us I’m sure. I’m looking at UA flights from IAH (Houston) to FCO (Rome) (potentially returning from Milan, but it doesn’t matter) and they’re 155k each way, so 620k miles for the two of us. Open to DAL, but their flights are ~1.5x the mile cost for business, about the same as UA business class for Comfort+ Premium or whatever. Collectively, we’ve got the following points/miles: 560k Chase Points (between the two of us), 440k Amex Points (mine), 130k DAL miles (between the two of us), minimal UA and AA miles. Cards we have: Me: Amex Plat (2015), Citi AA (2015), CSR (2018), CF (2018), CIP (2018) Chase UA (2017), Hyatt (2018), DAL Plat (2019). (2018 was a biggun for me haha). Trying to stay under 5/24 (or is it 4/24) to re-double dip or modified version, or whatever, in summer 2022 after the 4 year waiting period on chase has lapsed. Her: CSP (2019) and DAL Gold (2019). (When we started dating and I convinced her to stop using her East Texas bank debit card for everything). Could use some ideas for: 1) how to make up those 60k miles we need for the UA flights. If I can get Amex points there somehow (through a partner?) or if I should move Marriott points (only 100k) or Hyatt (70k) I guess that works, but I’d rather use them for rooms. 2) I checked Avianca and ANA for using my Amex points for the flights and no luck. I think SB being around then likely caused UA to pull those flights off partners. Other routes to use Amex points are welcome. 3) Any cards I should have her churn? And assuming its a UA or Chase card, can I get those points/miles moved over to me? (We live together, so address should match which I think used to be the rule). 4) Anything else. Been out of the game since COVID started up, so looking to get back into it, despite the golden era being behind us. 5) I know there are prob dozens of Italy writeups on TMB, but if anybody has some COVID travel experience they can point me to, that would be great. Many TIA.
You’re not going to get great value on the points if you try and game the system by transferring them around. It’s likely that you’d be better off flying UAL one way and DAL the other. Maybe you pay and use points+cash for one leg? If you’re willing to eat some transaction costs, this site does seem to link to others that allow you to transfer points: https://awardwallet.com/blog/can-transfer-miles-frequent-flyer-programs/
The Biden administration is preparing stricter testing requirements for all travelers entering the United States, including returning Americans, to curb the spread of the potentially dangerous omicron variant, according to three federal health officials. As part of an enhanced winter covid strategy Biden plans to announce on Thursday, U.S. officials will require everyone entering the country to be tested one day before boarding flights, regardless of their vaccination status or country of departure. Administration officials are also considering a requirement that all travelers get retested within three to five days of arrival. In addition, they are debating a controversial proposal to require all travelers, including U.S. citizens, to self-quarantine for seven days, even if their test results are negative. Those who flout the requirements might be subject to fines and penalties, the first time such penalties would be linked to testing and quarantine measures for travelers in the United States. What to know about the omicron variant of the coronavirus The two testing measures are detailed in a draft public health order written by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that is under review by officials at the U.S. Health and Human Services Department and the White House. The self quarantine-related measures are not in that draft but could be added later if the proposals win broader signoff, said the officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the order has not been finalized.
God fucking damnit fuck that noise. It's $80 for the antigen test, $160 for the PCR. Never coming back to the US.
Should probably get someone to ship you the self administered tests. They were $25 each. Also, please don't make these changes while I'm out of the country next week
Was this for traveling? Where did you go and how long are the results taking to come back? We have ours scheduled for CVS and a local drive-thru place in case one of them doesn't come back in time.
Yup, all for travel to get into Nicaragua. Took my son to a local drive through and got the test back in 10 hours (went this am at 10am, got tests at 8pm). Wife and I both went to different CVS today at noon. Expect them back tomorrow.
Nice, let me know how the CVS goes. I'm assuming your requirements are the same as ours (negative test < 72 hours prior to boarding)?
Also, how old is your son? Am I wrong in thinking under 2 and they dont need to get tested for traveling purposes?
Yeah. We board at 9:50 so my son was tested around 1030 and wife and I tested at noon. Hoping CVS comes back tomorrow.. So he doesn't have to get tested coming back into the country, but I couldn't find anything specifically regarding age waivers for entry into Nica. So got it just in case
https://www.emed.com/products/covid-at-home-testkit-six-pack?hsLang=en They have different pack sizes. I think they have a 4 pack for $100 top. You have to register the person using them when you purchase
Yeah, this is my anxiety kicking in, but what's your plan if the CVS results don't come back. A lot of these places are saying 24-48 (some even 72) hours for results so its got me trying to squeeze it inside that 72 hour window requirement.
Return home says no tests if you're under 2. I can't find anything about entering Nica that is dependent on vaccine. They just want tests.
My assumption was just they put that in there to cover their ass in case they got really backed up. I’d hope they could get it back quicker
What are thoughts on $1000 more to do business class on Turkish Airlines vs prem econ on Canadian? Thats for 2 people, not 1.
if that's round trip i wouldn't even blink at paying that premium for 2 people turkish supposedly has great business class, and the lounge in istanbul supposed to be nuts
I flew business on Turkish airlines from Cairo to Seattle, for similar prices. Highly, highly recommend. Food was the-bomb.com I used points, but it was around $500 one-way. Pull that trigger yesterday IMO
Yeah I think I'm going to do it. $3500 for us both round trip to Istanbul/Italy in business class seems very worth it. Wish they would bring back their stop over system though.
I am ready to declare Oaxaca the culinary capital of the Americas. No interviews at this time. Still deciding whether it beats out Thailand or Vietnam -- but the high end restaurants of Oaxaca are second to none. With SE Asia, I feel like the street food everywhere will be bomb, whereas I've had some average-to-bad street tacos/tortas in MX. But I've also had the best street food tacos of my life these past few days. Maybe Quantity - SE Asia, but Quality - Oaxaca? Documenting everything Pasta88