The New Travel Thread: Now with write ups in the OP

Discussion in 'The Mainboard' started by Jax Teller, Apr 8, 2015.

  1. Room 15

    Room 15 Mi equipo esta Los Tigres
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    Gonna keep an eye on cheap Greece flights if they open up
     
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  2. COVIDiskilingme79

    COVIDiskilingme79 Well-Known Member
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    Bailed on Maui because of the testing. Went to Puerto Vallarta instead.
     
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  3. C Yank

    C Yank #WalkOnCoach
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    I think we were at the same place, just got home today.
     
  4. Eathan Edwards

    Eathan Edwards Well-Known Member
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    Any Aspen recs?

    Going in a few weeks with a group.
     
    #22654 Eathan Edwards, Mar 24, 2021
    Last edited: Mar 24, 2021
  5. BayouMafia

    BayouMafia Thought Leader in Posting
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    Got to get a pic doing a yoga lose in front of Maroon Bells for the gram
     
  6. Oranjello

    Oranjello Well-Known Member
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    The Little Nell, but probably won’t fly with a group.

    Aspen is so awesome. Big (relatively) Mississippi/Ole Miss presence, too. Have fun.
     
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  7. Oranjello

    Oranjello Well-Known Member
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    Didn’t realize US Customs and Border Patrol was using facial recognition technology these days. Just went through customs, and the guy took a picture of my wife’s face and before he opened her passport he said “hello [wife‘s name].” Was quite surprising and also a bit scary to think about
     
  8. Where Eagles Dare

    Where Eagles Dare The Specialist Show On Earth
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    Whammy have you gone to Nosara yet??

    Think my wife is going to veto Santa Teresa. First time leaving child it's an extra flight back home vs drive to the airport.
     
  9. WC

    WC Bad Company, ‘til the day I die.
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    Anybody itt have any experience with United updating a booked flight to say “this flight segment is waitlisted.”? A Google seems to suggest it’s likely been canceled but I’m not sure what the best step is going forward.

    Also why the fuck would United not just notify me and offer to rebook?
     
  10. letan

    letan Just looking for the gator board
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    I can’t recall what trip I encountered facial recognition for the first time but I was quite surprised when they didn’t even ask for my passport bc they already knew who I was
     
  11. Oranjello

    Oranjello Well-Known Member
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    Yeah, after some googling it's apparently been tested out at select border crossings for a few years now, and they're trying to roll it out everywhere. The fact the agent knew who we were before looking at our passports was shocking. The agent said he thinks (but doesn't know for certain) the images used to confirm identities were mined from Facebook. I haven't had any approved pictures posted to Facebook in at least 5+ years (i.e., me confirming that I am in a picture) and haven't had an account for the majority of that time, so who knows.
     
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  12. rcragg82

    rcragg82 Well-Known Member
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    Now that my wife is vaccinated and I have my first shot scheduled, we are looking to go to a beach for 3-4 days in 2 months from now (late Mayish).

    We will be with our 5-year old so need a suite or a 2BR room. Currently looking in Florida but open to NC and SC as well.

    Currently looking at resorts vs AirBnb as it will have more stuff to do for the kid and the notion of having a pool bar sounds great right now. Our current preferred spot is

    * South Seas Island Resort in Captiva Island: https://www.southseas.com/

    We also liked the Sandpearl Resort in Clearwater but at $1800/night, we are going to pass

    Budget is flexible but I'm guessing I'll need to spend between $500-$1000 a night for anything good. Requirements are essentially beach and pool access, restaurants/bars on site and leaning more to the secluded resort vibe vs a hotel in the middle of a city like Miami.

    Any and all suggestions/feedback is appreciated.
     
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  13. bwi2

    bwi2 Not affiliated with BWI
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    Per the privacy statement, it compares your photo to your passport photo and maybe other photos CBP has taken of you during prior entries into the country.
     
  14. Where Eagles Dare

    Where Eagles Dare The Specialist Show On Earth
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    This might be my #1 reason why I hate going to beaches in the US. Damn that's expensive.

    I'm also in the same boat. I want to go somewhere in late May/early June. I need a fucking vacation.
     
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  15. Oranjello

    Oranjello Well-Known Member
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    Sure - I'm just relaying what the agent said his thoughts were. I figured they were only using pictures the feds have in their archive (passport pictures, maybe NCIC-information?) but was wondering if they hadn't perhaps reached out to states for drivers license photos as well.

    Nevertheless, using biometric info at borders is wild to me. It's not unexpected by any means, but the fact that it is finally here is jarring.
     
  16. DuffandMuff

    DuffandMuff Well-Known Member
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    I flew United to Frankfurt last year and they didn't even check my boarding pass at the gate. Stood there for the facial recognition and walked down the boarding bridge.
     
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  17. Tarpon Nole

    Tarpon Nole Well-Known Member
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    Man, I haven't been to South Seas since before hurricane Charley and it was south Seas plantation. Used to love that place as a kid

    Just a heads up, the water quality in that part of Florida (among others) has been absolute shit last handful of years and real risk of red tide exists. It's already flaring up down there and it's not even warm water yet.
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    https://myfwc.com/media/26272/03-18-25-2021-combo.jpg
     
  18. jaygabriel

    jaygabriel Well-Known Member
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    Heading to Maui in June with the family for 8 days. First family trip in three years, and after moving them twice all over the country (KC to ATL to PHX) wanna make it amazing.

    Looking at Wailea for the first leg for the beaches, be closer to Haleakala (doing the sunrise first day there since our bodies will still be on PST) and doing the Hana trip. Second leg on either Lahaina/Kaanapali.

    Any recs on rentals or hotels and local (non-chain) must hits?
     
  19. Menelaus

    Menelaus The Red-Haired King
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    Rosemary Beach is fantastic IMO. Going in mid May for a 5 nights. Pricey but worth it.
     
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  20. PJP3

    PJP3 Well-Known Member
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    Depends how old your kids are and what the budget is, but I can't imagine a better place to stay than the grand Wailea. We used to go there pretty much every summer as kids and its has the greatest pool. Probably pricey, but if your kid/s are are like 8-18 or so ages, they will love it.
     
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  21. THEBLUERAIDER

    THEBLUERAIDER Well-Known Member
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    We are staying here https://www.kahanavillage.com/ in August based on the recommendation of AptosDuck in this thread. Got a great deal.
     
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  22. Russellin4885

    Russellin4885 Well-Known Member
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    Been super slammed since getting back from Aruba so finally getting around to writing a trip report. Big shout out to everyone that suggested Aruba, never gave it much thought but it was one of our favorite places we have ever traveled.

    Airbnb is a really solid way to go. I had a lot of credit card points and my wife really wanted to spend a couple days just chilling out resort style so we split the trip up between the first 4 days at an Airbnb and then a couple at the Marriott Stellaris resort. If you do want some resort time I would recommend this resort. Very nice with great staff and amenities, also have a casino if you like to lose money like I did. With all that said the price difference is steep. Airbnb was like $120 a night and the Marriott was around $600 a night. We both thought if we went back we would just do an Airbnb for the whole trip. We stayed in the Pearl Condos near Eagle Beach and that is where we would stay again if we went back. Very central location, easy to get everywhere on the island, and a really good value with pricing. The whole condo community looked nice, looked to be mostly filled with people working remotely from Aruba.


    100% rent a car, and I would do it for the whole time you’re there. We went through enterprise who I would recommend and originally I only had the car for the days we were at the Airbnb but we ended up renting another for the whole trip. Taxis are great there, and we took plenty of those when drinking, but they are going to be at least $10 for any trip no matter where, and if you’re going any distance it’ll be $20+. The rental was around $40 a day so doesn’t take long where the rental just makes financial sense, plus it’s great to have that convenience of having your own car.


    Restaurants we ate at that I would highly recommend:

    - Barfoot (most the seating is right on the beach in the sand, we went later on in the night but I would imagine they have an incredible sunset view, the food alone is worth the trip though)

    - Yemanja (really solid food, wood fired grill, would rank Barefoot ahead of here though)

    - Zeerovers (such a cool restaurant, right on the water with super fresh seafood)

    - Senses (this was a chef tasting that was absolutely incredible. Wife is a big foodie so this was a bit of a birthday present for her and she thought it was one of the coolest thing’s we have ever done. Did the wine pairing as well which was incredible. Pricey though, ended up being around $500 total but I would 100% do it again)

    - Local Store (nothing fancy, felt like a bit of a local scene but the food was really solid. Just a burger and wraps kind of place but worth going for something more low key)

    - Alfie’s (really really enjoyed this place. Owner is a Canadian guy that moved down like 4 years ago, but cool hole in the wall type place with a bunch of locals and super surprisingly good food. Well worth a stop and if they are serving the Nashville chicken that was great. )


    We drove quite literally the entire island. First day we drove south and just kind of beach hopped our way back. Two beaches that were awesome are Baby beach and Mangel Halto.


    Second day we visited North and North East side. Went to the California light house. It’s closed right now but worth the drive up for the view alone. Went there our last night for drinks at sunset and got some incredible pictures. The beach just south of it, think it’s technically called Arashi beach was really nice and we went there a couple of times. Drove through a lot of the central part of the island this day too and the Aruba factory was pretty cool and the Donkey Sanctuary was also worth a stop. Also hit up the Bushiribana Ruins and New Natural pool over on that side. Both were incredible and worth the drive.


    Our favorite day was when we rented a 4X4 jeep and went exploring through Arikok National Park. So cool and beautiful. Was planning on renting a UTV to do it but luckily one of our Taxi drivers clued us in that they don’t allow UTV and ATV into the park. So I rented a 4x4 jeep for the day as I knew I wanted to see the natural pool and that is the only way to get there with out taking some kind of tour. It was pretty legit off roading to get there which no one really warned me of. It’s a good 30-45 minutes of large rocks and ravines to get there but easily worth it. I’m sure this was probably mostly covid related but we didn’t see another vehicle on the entire drive to the natural pool. The beach you see after the Natural Pool, Dos Playa, we were the only ones on the whole beach, which was incredible and surreal.[\spoiler]
    Edit: looked back at page 452 for suggestions people gave me that I forgot to include. Heard great things about Italy of the World but they were always booked, Apotheek Speakeasy was really cool, Pika's corner was pretty bad. Incredibly slow service and food was not good.
     
    #22672 Russellin4885, Mar 31, 2021
    Last edited: Mar 31, 2021
  23. jaygabriel

    jaygabriel Well-Known Member
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    They're 8 and 12, so they would definitely love that.

    You book through them, travel site or doing a VRBO/AirBnB there (I remember a bunch of their listings on here).
     
  24. THEBLUERAIDER

    THEBLUERAIDER Well-Known Member
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    Called them directly. Very easy process. Also I slid into their DMs on Instagram and got 20% off.
     
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  25. AptosDuck

    AptosDuck Pedantic Hausfrau
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    FWIW Kahana itself is IMO a great place for families to stay right on the water, either at Outrigger or Village. Not the best beaches, but nice for a morning/evening dip. Kaanapali's Kahekili Beach Park has always been a good place for snorkeling, the water is pretty calm and clear there. Napili is the most fun beach for kids, with the waves coming straight in and beating the hell out of you in a good way, great for boogieboarding or bodysurfing. We don't stay at either of those places because we need a 3bdrm place to stretch out in with our three kids, and Kaanapali is full of hotels that would require multiple room rentals and the rentals at Napili are generally studio and 1bdrm places. So we stay in the quieter Kahana and drive a few minutes to those other places. Lahaina is only maybe five miles away, and Kapalua is a few miles the other way, so it's pretty central to getting to places on NW Maui.

    If the kids are over 60lbs. and it's open, I'd recommend Kapalua Ziplines. And if you can leave the kids at home for a bit and it's open, Warren and Annabelle's in Lahaina is a great evening magic show
     
  26. Jimmy the Saint

    Jimmy the Saint The future is a benevolent black hole
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    That sucks Pika's was bad. Complete opposite experience I had although I guess things can change drastically over four years.
     
  27. jaygabriel

    jaygabriel Well-Known Member
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    [​IMG]
     
  28. Russellin4885

    Russellin4885 Well-Known Member
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    Something seemed up, there were only two people working that I saw and they looked really stressed out, saw them arguing a few times. Probably just caught them on a bad night but it was the only meal in Aruba that I would consider bad. A couple were just average like the lunch we had at Lola Taqueria, and then the vast majority were good to incredible.
     
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  29. Jimmy the Saint

    Jimmy the Saint The future is a benevolent black hole
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    We ate at a few of the beach restaurants and they were mostly just ok. Most everything else "inland" (to the extent that exists on Aruba) were good. Although I still think about Zeerovers all the time, it's one of the best food experiences I've ever had.

    I haven't done a lot of Caribbean travel but Aruba seemed like a weird place. I think there's a good bit to discover if you put in the time but you can easily be an American tourist and just eat at a chain every night. It seemed like a lot of the Americans we encountered there were after that.
     
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  30. Jimmy the Saint

    Jimmy the Saint The future is a benevolent black hole
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    Booked a trip to San Diego in mid-June. :blessed:
     
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  31. Russellin4885

    Russellin4885 Well-Known Member
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    North Carolina State Wolfpack

    Last two days we did at the Marriot just chilling on the beach. I heard several people talking about how they had been coming to Aruba for years and never left the resort other than for food. That's just so wild to me and I'll never understand.
     
  32. Pelican

    Pelican COOL huh
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    Is there anything cool to do in Punta Gorda, Florida? Just remembered I'm going there at the end of April and I know nothing about the area. Unfortunately it looks like there aren't any pelican sanctuaries nearby.
     
  33. Fran Tarkenton

    Fran Tarkenton Hilton Honors VIP
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    going in 2 weeks as well. Bartscott.
     
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  34. THEBLUERAIDER

    THEBLUERAIDER Well-Known Member
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    Booked my flights for my August trip to Maui this morning.
     
  35. Lawnole23

    Lawnole23 FSU Seminoles 2020 National Champions
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    I’m sure this has been asked a million times but need dinner recommendations for Honolulu.

    Also just booked 2 days in London and 3 in Iceland for first class both ways for $850 round trip. Excellent.
     
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  36. THEBLUERAIDER

    THEBLUERAIDER Well-Known Member
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    I
    can’t remember where all we ate in Honolulu, but for a lunch-type meal, we really liked Goofy’s. It’s close to the Hilton property.

    http://www.goofy-honolulu.com/
     
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  37. THEBLUERAIDER

    THEBLUERAIDER Well-Known Member
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    And I just realized you said dinner, so my recommendation doesn’t really help you. Sorry.
     
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  38. Spontaneous Cumbustion

    Spontaneous Cumbustion Well-Known Member
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    Russellin4885 how was customs coming back from Aruba and how did covid testing go down there? Did yo sign up for the Aruba travel insurance that included a covid test? Tring to figure out flights and wondering how much time I'll need for customs. I imagine they're not super crowded, plus the wife and I both have global entry.
     
  39. Lawnole23

    Lawnole23 FSU Seminoles 2020 National Champions
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    Will need a lunch spot as well so that works.
     
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  40. Russellin4885

    Russellin4885 Well-Known Member
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    We also have global entry and coming back was super easy, airport was dead. Now getting there was a very different story. In all my research I somehow missed that for international travel you have to do some pre flight covid screening at the airport. I was planning on getting to the airport around 2 hour before the flight which has always been way overkill, our flight was at 7am so was trying to leave our house a little before 5am as we live just a few minutes from the airport. Went to get an uber and there were no cars available, same thing for lyft. Never had this happen before so that was interesting. After about 20 minutes I started to panic and was like fuck it, I'll just drive and leave the car. Nope, with covid you have to pre pay online 24+ hours in advance. Finally got an uber and got to the airport 1 hour before our flight. Got in the covid screening line and it was quickly obvious we weren't even going to be close to making our flight. Wife went and found an attendant and told her what was up. Lady apparently was quitting the next day and was like fuck it, went behind the counter and printed our tickets off. Still had to run Home Alone style to the gate and barely made it.

    Now, to your original question. I'm sure you read up on this but you will have to get a negative PCR test within 72 hours from your departure time to Aruba. Make sure you look on Aruba.com as they are pretty specific on what all the results have to say. Once you have your negative test you can fill out their ED card and pay for the travel insurance. Unless I missed something, that does not include a covid test to get back to the States. Make sure you have that negative test and ED card handy as you will need to show them to get on the flight and also at the Aruba airport when you arrive. It's a lot easier to get back home, you just need a negative covid test. It wasn't super clear and no one seemed to totally know if a rapid test would be ok so we ended up just getting PCR test. Almost every resort has testing there so we just did it at the Marriott we were staying at. It was $100 and had test results back like 6 hours later. I saw tons of testing facilities though everywhere as we were driving around so I think even if you're not staying at a resort it's super easy to get a test. As far as timing getting back through customs for our flight to the States. I bet it only took 30 minutes but I was so freaked out from our experience getting to Aruba that we got to the airport 3 hours early.
     
  41. Oranjello

    Oranjello Well-Known Member
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    lol what a headache. I just went to the Bahamas and got no less than 3 emails from AA and a similar number from the Bahamas Tourism ministry discussing COVID testing. Did you ignore every single one? At a minimum, they make it clear you only need a rapid test to get back into the US

    The only trick to the testing is counting the days. For coming back into the US, you must have a negative test within 3 days of your return. The day you get the test is day 0.
     
  42. Russellin4885

    Russellin4885 Well-Known Member
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    Guess so :idk:
    It was like an extra $80 to do PCR so no big deal.
     
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  43. Spontaneous Cumbustion

    Spontaneous Cumbustion Well-Known Member
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    That's weird about the parking. What airport did you fly out of? I know some family/friends that traveled internationally recently so I'll ask them if there's anything like this. I live in Cincy and would go to Aruba through Atlanta, so not sure if that extra screening would be here or in ATL or not at all. Our flight to leave is also at 7 am so would prefer not to have to get to the airport more then 2 hours early.
     
  44. Russellin4885

    Russellin4885 Well-Known Member
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    Fly out of RDU here in Raleigh, NC. We flew through Charlotte and the screening was here, would think that would mean the screening is in Cincy for you.
     
    #22694 Russellin4885, Apr 6, 2021
    Last edited: Apr 6, 2021
  45. two

    two Hello
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  46. Lawnole23

    Lawnole23 FSU Seminoles 2020 National Champions
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    Going to Mexico in June. Think it will be Cancun. We will have 4 adults and 4 kids ages 3-8. I haven't been to Cancun since middle school and don't remember much. Is there a specific area that's recommended? Close to Cancun versus Playa del Carmen? Looking for a resort with good food, all-inclusive with a ton of stuff for the kids to do. Not looking to be cheap but not looking to blow it out either.
     
  47. Menelaus

    Menelaus The Red-Haired King
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    Delta with stopover in Minneapolis? Ive made that flight before.
     
  48. two

    two Hello
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    Air Canada with stopover in Toronto
     
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  49. Lyrtch

    Lyrtch My second favorite meat is hamburger
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    i really want to book a japan trip but pretty sure they'll be on the shortlist for last countries to open to recreational travelers
     
  50. laxjoe

    laxjoe Well-Known Member
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    Where to in San Diego? Any specific plans?