can't find the oregon thread but portland build some hotels not smack dab downtown rare place I still predominantly stay in airbnb's. snagged one near mississippi ave with free parking for way less than a hotel + parking.
super long range bump how did you go about paying for the metro? seems to have a bunch of different passes and nonsense
For the metro/subway, I would suggest pay-as-you-go. I say that because they basically have 2-3 different metro systems in Tokyo that are all owned by different people/companies. So if you buy a day pass for one of the lines and your travels take you on one of the other lines then your day pass is worthless. We made this mistake one day thinking we were getting a great deal. Turns out, not so much. I think a day pass for one of the lines would be great as long as you have mapped it out and know you will only be on that metro/subway system all day.
I keep seeing these deals that come out immediately after I got back from somewhere or already booked tickets. My schedules basically full until next fall anyways. What kind of recs you looking for? Where you staying? Fran Tarkenton has written up a bunch of London stuff in here if you search for that
Where do you see these deals at? I've got a little over 100k Delta miles and am looking to spend them.
Let me know if you have any questions. Just got back from there not too long ago. Its a massive city, so really can choose your own adventure.
First time going; just me and the wife for 5 nights. Literally open to anything. Staying at the Conrad St James, so we're walking distance to the major stuff, and have a tube station across the street.
we just got back a week ago but stayed on the complete opposite side of the city favorite meals were Dishoon for breakfast (which there's multiple locations), and BAO at Borough Market. BAO was incredible if you like taiwanese fare. the aged steak dish was probably single best thing we eat on the trip. Hawksmoor was killer for more British stuff like potted beef and yorkshire pudding. Their sticky toffee pudding was the best I've ever had. (another one where there's multiple locations)
Borough Market is awesome. Go to a soccer game while you're there, there are a million teams in London.
Two effusively large gay gentleman have commandeered the priority lounge TV, are blasting WWE on it, and fanning themselves with the “These seats are reserved” plastic placards. While reminiscing nostalgically about cancelled Fanta flavors. I learned more about Roman Reigns in the last 10 minutes than I knew was possible. They’ve also changed clothes in the middle of the lounge into skin-tight joggers. And they seem to have acquired approximately 15 embassy suite tote bags. I must learn more about this pair, they’re the most intriguing couple I’ve run across in a year, easily.
What's emboldened should be a requirement for all laptop/briefcase bags. Nothing better than strolling through the airport unencumbered while your Away bag and personal item are basically walking themselves.
Anyone know anything about this company? https://modernegentleman.com/collec.../the-moderne-executive?variant=30978865397871
I'll second these suggestions. Dishoom is renowned. Get a sausage roll from the Ginger Pig in Borough Market. Just try as much as you can in Borough Market. Hawksmoor is great. I particularly like the location in Seven Dials. I'm not sure when you are going, but if it's in warmer months, go to a performance in the open air theater in Regents Park. I've spent quite a bit of time in London and this is my favorite thing to do. Favorite museums are the Victoria and Albert Museum, Churchill War Rooms, and the Museum of London. Evensong at Westminster Abbey is also a nice experience. Feel free to pm me if you have any questions. To anyone else going to London, look into staying at a Hoxton property. They are pretty cost effective and have excellent bars/restaurants andggreat atmosphere. List of cities they are now in: London (3 locations: Holborn, Shoreditch, Southwark) Amsterdam Paris Chicago LA Williamsburg, NY Portland, Ore
Here in Dusseldorf right now. Any recommendations? I did go by their Red Light District because I was always curious what it was like. Ive never been so sketched/creeped out by something in my life
That had me scared. This place was just so disgusting and dirty. I always wanted to see what they looked like and I never expected them to be that gross and disgusting.
For the Marriott Bonvoy guys, does anyone have a rough thought on the conversion or preference of using Chase vs. Marriott Bonvoy points? Trying to plan two nights at a nice hotel in Miami over Christmas, dollar prices are outrageous so trying to use points. I can get a nice 4 star Marriott property for 60k Marriott points a night or a nice 4 star (Marriott or otherwise) for ~40-45k Chase points a night. The Points Guy has Marriott points around a cent and Chase points around 2 cents, so he would say the Chase points are more valuable, but my understanding is that's because Chase points have more flexibility, but are typically considered the same value when you know you are using it for a specific purpose. So directly vs. Marriott I'm feeling the Chase points are the better deal. I have enough of both for it not to be a consideration over what to use, thoughts on using them?
9/10 you don't want to use the chase portal to book. Would you only ever use your chase points for Marriott? If yes, use them. If you'll use them for other things and be able to get better value save them for that. I get way better value so I'd never transfer them to Marriott tbh.
Do you typically use them for special promotions to get value (e.g. if you fly business on Emirates to Singapore on Saturdays in February you save a shit ton of points) or are there just day-to-day better uses for them (e.g. transfer to Amazon gift cards, etc.)? I have a bunch of Chase points and don't want to do something stupid so want to maximize value, but rarely have the schedule flexibility to take advantage of the once in a blue moon promotions.
Any tips/recs/advice for Brazil? Looking at flying in to São Paulo for 24 hours then doing Rio for thanksgiving break. Want to do Florianopolis, but don’t know if I can fit it in. BamaNug it looks like you may have been?
I'd sneak a trip TO iguazu falls if you can. Absolutely amazing. I liked Rio. Christ the Redeemer was cool. Ipanema Beach getting smashed on Caparinias (SP) during the day and then sunsets were dope. I was beat/drunk and didn't make it to Lapa, unfortunately
I did Rio --> Iguazu --> Buenos Aires. Rio is one of my favorite places I have been. How long is your itinerary? Have heard so-so things about Sao Paulo -- think it's just a big concrete jungle, but that's only what I've read. I'd try to maximize time in Rio, though. Absolutely stunning city. Amazing party scene. Go hanggliding. Stay in Leblon or Ipanema. Don't stay in Copacabana.
Another option that's a lot closer than Florianopolis is Ilha Grande -- I'd look into that if you're looking for pristine beaches. Only 2-3 hours from Rio, I think. Also I would second a trip to Iguazu falls. Really, really dope. Short flight, and you can knock out both the Brazil and Argentina side in 2 days/1 night. Really depends on how long you're going to be there. Need at least 4-5 days in Rio.
Pulling the trigger on South Africa flights once my Chase $300 travel credit hits in December. Flying into Cape Town, immediately going to Afrikaburn. Think I'm going to depart the burn on Friday, after 5 days, to maximize the 2nd half of the trip. I really, REALLY want to see Madagascar, but I think 6 days is too short. Developing/3rd world country, pretty terrible roads, takes 8-10 hours to get pretty much anywhere in the country. National airline is described as "suspect at best." But on the other hand, probably won't be returning to that part of the world for a long time. It's between Namibia, Madagascar, maybe Botswana (known for some of the best safaris, but I did an amazing safari last year, so would like to change it up). Namibia makes the most logistical sense since I'll be coming from Cape Town.
I was there for a Sunday after landing that morning. Just ate and drank at some places along the river and walked around the old town area. It was nice
Marriott is one of the worst transfer values but if that's all you want, you go for it. Better to spend 20,000 Chase points on a $200 room than $200
I think I'm going to go with a non-Marriott hotel booked through Chase (unless there's something weird about the Chase travel site I'm missing). At the top of the Chase travel portal it tells me how many points I have, and what the approximate dollar value is, which is exactly 1.5 cents per point. I did the math on what the hotel we want is on a dollar basis and how many points it is, and its exactly 1.5 cents per point to use points vs. dollars. So I don't think I'm getting a screaming deal, but it seems like I'm using points at their value roughly. I have a weird aversion to using points so don't know if I'm missing something though, or just using points at the conversion rate is a waste.
Leave Wednesday afternoon and arrive in São Paulo at 11AM Thanksgiving Day. I can immediately fly to Rio or florianopolis from there? I’ve done zero research. Basically winging the whole trip. Want to see the redeemer and hit up copacabana for a couple hours. I was looking at party hotels in Santa Teresa, but that seems more downtown. I’ll look at leblon and ipanema since that’s closer to the beach. I had another friend highly recommend hang gliding, so I’ll check that out.
If you book through the portal it will always be exactly 1.5 cents v an expedia price. You may be able to book cheaper through a hotel (and even if you can't, booking through a hotel directly means less likely to be walked, status and you earn points) So here's a pretty standard breakdown: Hotel is: $300 cash $300 on expedia (so 20,000 UR through the portal) 40,000 Marriott points (so 40,000 UR through transfer) You can either: 1. Just take the portal price, knowing 1.5 cents per point is low but at least you're not paying cash 2. Pay in cash and try and catch a great deal later When I first started out, I would always do #2. Now I have so many points I don't worry about value, I just don't want to ever spend real money on hotels/flights again EDIT: I still care about value, just value between programs (i.e. would I rather spend 30,000 Hyatt or 50,000 Marriott) not points v cash
Santa Teresa is a cool area (you'll pass through going to Christo and seeing some other stuff), but I wouldn't want to stay there. Everything at night happens on or near the beach -- Leblon, Ipanema, Copacabana. I mentioned NOT staying in Copacabana because it can be pretty dangerous. Lots of people I met had been robbed in Copa. The city can be dangerous, but be smart and you'll be fine.
Botswana is sweet if you’re doing Chobe (elephants everywhere!). I lived in Namibia for over two years so I’m partial to it (Swakopmund, Skeleton Coast, Etosha for game parks). Can’t go wrong with either of those. I’ve never been to Madagascar but it sounds sweet.
I didn't work very much today, and pretty much decided on Namibia, so I'm sure I'll be peppering you with questions. Cape Town has direct flights to Walvis Bay, which is super convenient. Loose plan is to fly into Swakopmund/Walvis Bay, then down to Sossusvlei, then up to Etosha for the final part. May 1 - leave AB, back to Cape Town May 2 - fly to Walvis Bay, explore Swakopmund/general area May 3 - explore Walvis and the coast/dunes to the South, probably do a 4x4 tour or something of that nature May 4 - Travel to Sossuvlei (4-5 hours from Walvis, correct?), camp for 2 nights May 5 - Sossusvlei / Dune 45 / etc. May 6 - Drive to Windhoek, catch an afternoon flight to Etosha May 7 - Etosha May 8 - Etosha May 9 - fly back in the AM to Windhoek, fly out that evening Any thoughts on self-driving versus a tour guide? Chance I'm by myself, so will probably go with a tour. And wouldn't want to haul around camping equipment. I think camping in/around Sossusvlei looks fucking incredible -- and the Namib desert is rated as one of the best places for star gazing in the world. I've actually read that Skeleton Coast is a little overrated and hard to get to -- also read that most of the cool scenery (dunes right on the Atlantic Coast, abandoned ships, etc.) are also on the Coast South of Walvis Bay. Would you agree?
Found out yesterday the markets open today. Last night here so I will definitely be checking them out.
You'll see more than enough dunes and wrecks in Walvis/Swakop so I agree you can skip the skeleton coast. I'd look for a tour company since you won't have equipment and are alone. The roads to Sossusvlei can be pretty bad so you getting stranded alone, if something were to happen, is bad news bears. Your itinerary looks awesome. You're definitely hitting all of the highlights. I lived 30 minutes from Etosha in Ovamboland so I'm really curious to hear your thoughts on the area. While Namibia is much more undeveloped than South Africa, it's still an awesome experience.
Has visiting Victoria Falls crossed your mind? I’ve kept my calendar clear for a bit in April for a possible trip to South Africa and I’ve wanted to sit in that damn Devil’s Pool ever since I first saw it. May have to push my trip back a few weeks so I can steal your itinerary.
I just went to look at this and holy shit Hostelworld fell off a cliff. They got rid of filters/sorting and changed it to this: The sort order reflects your search criteria, property ratings/rates/availability and commission paid.
I'm pretty stoked. The rolling sand dunes into the Atlantic Ocean have been at the top of my list for a long time. I looked into camping in Sossuvlei last night, looks like there are only a few companies that let you camp inside the gates; but a lot of accommodation immediately outside the gates. However, the gates open at sunrise/close at sunset. Would really want to sleep in the park, if possible. Just need to do some more research. Ethosa looks incredible, too. I did a safari in Kruger last year, but this looks like a much different experience. A lot of places suggest self-driving, but I'm fairly certain I'll go with a guide. End of the trip + after camping for more than a week, I'll want to stay in a lodge or something similar. Did you ever catch that flight from the smaller airport in Windhoek up to Ondangwa, north of Etosha? Looks like Air Namibia runs 2 a day, only 45 minutes. Would much rather spend a little more for that rather than drive 5-6 hours.
It has not, but maybe because I've seen so many awesome waterfalls (not to discount Victoria at all). Would certainly be do-able if you're only hitting up South Africa. Include Afrikaburn in your itinerary.
I have taken that flight and you’ll want to too. Saves time and the public transport (if you’re not renting a car) is less than ideal.