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Joining the ditching Amex Plat this year most likely crew. Got it to help smooth the missing status from not traveling much, but that doesn't mean much when travel is 0 and most of the programs have gutted benefits and services anyway. But I'll probably keep it if they make it free again, which was my 2020 offer. Ended up traveling still in 20, kept it for 21, and now my travel is back to nil. The two places I really wanted lounge access most was LAS and CHS, and I'm not going to either much more. AA Exec handles lounge access most other places for me.
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Jan 14, 2022 04:04
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| # ? Apr 26, 2024 23:35 |
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Retention offers are crazy for the biz version of the Amex Plat right now. Got offered 55k points for $4k spend which more than covers the annual fee for me.
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Jan 14, 2022 04:55
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asur posted:Retention offers are crazy for the biz version of the Amex Plat right now. Got offered 55k points for $4k spend which more than covers the annual fee for me. The annual fee goes up this month.
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Jan 14, 2022 10:02
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i fly airplanes posted:I'm not sure if I am either, even as someone that travels. The most important perk for me is just the Plaza Premium Lounge access. Walmart+ no, but I use the Clear reimbursement, the Saks fifth ave credit, the $200 hotel and resort credit, the $200 airline credit, the $15 a month Uber credits, and the entertainment credit pays for Peacock plus or premium and XM radio, and usually 7-8 of the random monthly deals.
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Jan 14, 2022 14:30
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DJCobol posted:Walmart+ no, but I use the Clear reimbursement, the Saks fifth ave credit, the $200 hotel and resort credit, the $200 airline credit, the $15 a month Uber credits, and the entertainment credit pays for Peacock plus or premium and XM radio, and usually 7-8 of the random monthly deals. We used all of the above last year, except for the Saks credit and plan on using them all again this year. I changed jobs and my new company will no longer allow me to expense an annual airline lounge membership, so the plat will give me access to lounges at most of the airports I'll be going through. My travel will likely decrease by about half this year, bringing me down to a lowly middle tier airline status, so I may switch to Delta this year as you can use the plat at sky clubs if on delta flights.
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Jan 14, 2022 14:44
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Cacafuego posted:We used all of the above last year, except for the Saks credit and plan on using them all again this year. I changed jobs and my new company will no longer allow me to expense an annual airline lounge membership, so the plat will give me access to lounges at most of the airports I'll be going through. My travel will likely decrease by about half this year, bringing me down to a lowly middle tier airline status, so I may switch to Delta this year as you can use the plat at sky clubs if on delta flights. This is essentially what I've done and it has worked out well this far, except when the SkyClub is out of bourbon. I drat near incited a riot.
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Jan 14, 2022 17:40
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i fly airplanes posted:I'm not sure if I am either, even as someone that travels. The most important perk for me is just the Plaza Premium Lounge access. I love the saks credit. There's a pair of boxers that's like $48 a pair, so I'm just building up a luxury underwear drawer every six months. But yeah. Like everyone's saying, you can add up to get $3-400 a year in credits if you do it right, but it's *work* to line out all up.
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Jan 14, 2022 19:30
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JohnCompany posted:I love the saks credit. There's a pair of boxers that's like $48 a pair, so I'm just building up a luxury underwear drawer every six months. Which one is that? I wouldn't mind some actual high quality boxers, my Saks credit usually goes to waste.
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Jan 17, 2022 04:07
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Small White Dragon posted:Which one is that? I wouldn't mind some actual high quality boxers, my Saks credit usually goes to waste. Turns out they jacked the prices all the way up to $54 per pair: https://www.saksfifthavenue.com/pro...wE&gclsrc=aw.ds
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Jan 17, 2022 22:03
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Flew JFK SEA in Delta One on Monday. Upgraded for free. And we flew out with empty seats up front. And the back of plane... was 15% full.
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Jan 26, 2022 09:17
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i fly airplanes posted:Flew JFK SEA in Delta One on Monday. Upgraded for free. And we flew out with empty seats up front. And the back of plane... was 15% full. Seems sustainable. edit: January post-holidays is typically slow though even in non-Covid times
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Jan 26, 2022 19:54
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i fly airplanes posted:Flew JFK SEA in Delta One on Monday. Upgraded for free. And we flew out with empty seats up front. And the back of plane... was 15% full. We're flying Delta One in a few weeks ATL-HNL, looking forward to it
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Jan 27, 2022 00:57
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How early are GUCs supposed to clear, again? I'm not sure I got the A-Team last night when I called Delta, but I really would like mine to clear for JNB-ATL and that flight shows D1 inventory remaining... of course they want to book those vs. upgrade, but I forget if it was 48 or 72 hours prior. That flight is on 2/26, so it is a ways away.
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Feb 7, 2022 18:47
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movax posted:How early are GUCs supposed to clear, again? I'm not sure I got the A-Team last night when I called Delta, but I really would like mine to clear for JNB-ATL and that flight shows D1 inventory remaining... of course they want to book those vs. upgrade, but I forget if it was 48 or 72 hours prior. That flight is on 2/26, so it is a ways away. D1 waitlist clearing for GUCs start at 24 hours out, I believe. https://www.delta.com/us/en/skymiles/medallion-program/medallion-upgrades#certificate
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Feb 7, 2022 19:22
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AA let me rebuy status for either $400 bucks or 40k miles. Ended up using the mile if only because I'll status match on United when we finally travel more.
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Feb 7, 2022 20:29
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Beef Of Ages posted:D1 waitlist clearing for GUCs start at 24 hours out, I believe. https://www.delta.com/us/en/skymiles/medallion-program/medallion-upgrades#certificate Ahhhh, right. It's "only" $2k for the upgrade (which seems low TBH) but I also have 8 GUCs that need using.
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Feb 7, 2022 20:34
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Residency Evil posted:AA let me rebuy status for either $400 bucks or 40k miles. Ended up using the mile if only because I'll status match on United when we finally travel more. UA wanted $5500 to keep Gold for another year. I don't know where their marketing department got the Voit basketballs to suggest such a thing, but it's staggering.
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Feb 7, 2022 20:39
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What's the deal with flying first class on Delta US domestic and access to SkyClubs again? We're in first MCO-ATL, Delta One ATL-HNL, and I'm not sure if we're allowed to access the club in ATL or not. I believe they preclear for Hawaii in the club, so if we could get in that'd be awesome
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Feb 7, 2022 20:46
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Mrs Jackson was offered gold for $2200 which is also deeply lol, no.
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Feb 7, 2022 20:49
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Omne posted:What's the deal with flying first class on Delta US domestic and access to SkyClubs again? We're in first MCO-ATL, Delta One ATL-HNL, and I'm not sure if we're allowed to access the club in ATL or not. I believe they preclear for Hawaii in the club, so if we could get in that'd be awesome Yeah, D1 domestic flights (including HNL) should get in.
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Feb 7, 2022 21:18
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I was annoyed that my company switched from Marriott to IHG until I learned that the *base level* member checkin bonus is two pantry items. Screw two bottles of water and points I’ll never use! I got Pizza Rolls and a Gatorade on day ONE. No more packing my luggage with tuna crackers for dinner after work when everything is closed! I hate the road so much and I want to go home
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Feb 8, 2022 06:37
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movax posted:How early are GUCs supposed to clear, again? I'm not sure I got the A-Team last night when I called Delta, but I really would like mine to clear for JNB-ATL and that flight shows D1 inventory remaining... of course they want to book those vs. upgrade, but I forget if it was 48 or 72 hours prior. That flight is on 2/26, so it is a ways away. It will clear whenever they release the space for it, but it's buggy. If there are empty seats on the plane the day-of at the airport, call in and/or bug the gate agent to have it cleared. JNB is a hell of a long flight, goonspeed
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Feb 8, 2022 07:30
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eddiewalker posted:I was annoyed that my company switched from Marriott to IHG until I learned that the *base level* member checkin bonus is two pantry items. You can just expense that $5 Gatorade anyways though
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Feb 8, 2022 07:37
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KillHour posted:You can just expense that $5 Gatorade anyways though Flat rate per-diem just ends up feeling like “my money I don’t want to spend.”
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Feb 8, 2022 17:39
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yeah if i were on flat rate per diem my travel habits would look very different
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Feb 8, 2022 17:42
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Per diem is a trick to get you used to traveling like a hitchhiker.
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Feb 8, 2022 17:52
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KillHour posted:Per diem is a trick to get you used to traveling like a hitchhiker. 100% and it is a trick i would fall for
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Feb 8, 2022 17:54
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I think my acceptance of per diem over expenses would depend entirely on what the per diem was and where I was going.
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Feb 8, 2022 17:57
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Barry posted:I think my acceptance of per diem over expenses would depend entirely on what the per diem was and where I was going. We're per diem in fedgov, though there are a couple of ways to run it. Many parts do per diem where you get x for lodging + y for meals and incidentals, you keep what you don't spend. Travelers under those rules tend to stay at lower priced hotels that include breakfast. Other parts do lodging actuals up to per diem; those people stay at the nicest places that come in at per diem, and since it's public information the nice hotels often offer fedgov rates that exactly equal per diem.
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Feb 9, 2022 03:53
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Midjack posted:We're per diem in fedgov, though there are a couple of ways to run it. Many parts do per diem where you get x for lodging + y for meals and incidentals, you keep what you don't spend. Travelers under those rules tend to stay at lower priced hotels that include breakfast. Other parts do lodging actuals up to per diem; those people stay at the nicest places that come in at per diem, and since it's public information the nice hotels often offer fedgov rates that exactly equal per diem. I work for an FFRDC, and we used to be expected to get the gov rate for hotels (unless you had a credible excuse), and were expected to be roughly at the per diem for meals, but it came down to your manager approving the actual expenses and we had decent leeway. Now we get flat per-diem for meals, regardless of what we actually do, so yeah, I cheap out when I'm traveling by myself.
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Feb 9, 2022 04:53
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I think I just read the most performative post on Flyertalk: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/33976956-post45.html
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Feb 11, 2022 03:02
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Mandalay posted:I think I just read the most performative post on Flyertalk: At the peak of the CARES act, the US government basically mandated and funded major US airlines fly empty planes because of them being an essential service. Or major airports not making waivers for landing slots if they weren't used. Didn't seem to be many complaints from that crowd about environmental waste.
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Feb 11, 2022 06:35
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shame on me for clicking on a post that I knew was from FT
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Feb 11, 2022 13:17
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Why are upgrade systems so flaky? Used a GUC to get main cabin to premium select (SEA-AMS-JNB is always fucky, no premium select fare available all the way through), which worked fine. Per the policy change, I stop here unless D1 room is still available within a day of departure. Then, 8 D1 seats left… should clear right before flight, but check in folks couldn’t make it happen. Fine, will check at gate… machine doesn’t beep and print me out a new pass. Ask gate agent, gets it sorted after a few minutes but he confers with his colleague and seemed like 2-3 other people boarded already without their (earned) upgrade. I hate to be “that guy” but man I just wish I could trust their system to take care of me instead of politely having to nudge the people just doing their jobs. This time around, I booked JNB-ATL (go back to Nov in this thread where I got the literal last plane out of ZA when the rest of the world hosed them for raising the Omicron alarm) but watch Putin invade Europe 5 minutes before I land in AMS
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Feb 12, 2022 21:51
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The system will never take care of you. It barely takes care of the people who actually pay for the seats you’re trying to get for free
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Feb 13, 2022 00:43
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I booked flights for 4 people on Lufthansa later this year. 2 of the people are no longer going. It looks like I can get a refund for a portion of each ticket from Lufthansa, is that correct? I've never booked a flight with an EU airline, so an actual refund seems odd (but good) to me.
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Feb 15, 2022 18:13
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Cacafuego posted:I booked flights for 4 people on Lufthansa later this year. 2 of the people are no longer going. It looks like I can get a refund for a portion of each ticket from Lufthansa, is that correct? I've never booked a flight with an EU airline, so an actual refund seems odd (but good) to me. If you booked a non-refundable ticket, you'll get a credit you can use under the names of the original passengers. I don't think you'll get a refund back to your original form of payment. That said, you'll need to get the LH agent to split your PNR and then you can cancel the one that has the folks that aren't making the trip on it.
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Feb 15, 2022 18:49
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Beef Of Ages posted:If you booked a non-refundable ticket, you'll get a credit you can use under the names of the original passengers. I don't think you'll get a refund back to your original form of payment. That said, you'll need to get the LH agent to split your PNR and then you can cancel the one that has the folks that aren't making the trip on it. Ok, thanks! I'll give it a try and see what ends up happening.
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Feb 15, 2022 19:00
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Cacafuego posted:I booked flights for 4 people on Lufthansa later this year. 2 of the people are no longer going. It looks like I can get a refund for a portion of each ticket from Lufthansa, is that correct? I've never booked a flight with an EU airline, so an actual refund seems odd (but good) to me. This might be the unused airport taxes that they refund to you due to EU laws. I would not do this if it means forfeiting the entire credit with Lufthansa. Also, next time book on Air France/KLM. All their tickets are fully refundable up until June this year, and they usually extend the window on a rolling basis.
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Feb 17, 2022 01:55
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i fly airplanes posted:At the peak of the CARES act, the US government basically mandated and funded major US airlines fly empty planes because of them being an essential service. Or major airports not making waivers for landing slots if they weren't used. Didn't seem to be many complaints from that crowd about environmental waste. Don't forget pilots NEED so many flights and hours per year to maintain ratings. I think flight attendants have some requirements as well. Not flying at all means all these people fall out of the system and need to be recertified because there is no waver process in place in event all air travel stops for amount of time. Most of the time our systems are built with 0 Slack and everyone assumed demand would come back. Wavers only happen because the public notices something.
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Feb 17, 2022 04:05
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