Travel hacks and advice

Thanks - helpful input, much appreciated. Phuket is also on the itinerary if we can fit it in.

I don't have any concerns about booking two one-way tickets - - if I can make it an open jaw and all on one ticket, great, but I don't think it's that important.

It seems like it'd be a bit less hassle if I can route through Siem Reap or Phuket on our way to (or from) the US - - rather than bouncing back and forth between Bangkok and one of them. Maybe not...

I need to spend some time on Google flights just to see what flight routes exist, and on what airlines, and see what I can put together. I've flown Singapore, ANA and JAL before - Singapore was nice, I'd happily fly them again for a long trans-Pacific flight.

It’s been ten years since I was there, but we did Siem Reap via BKK and back. It was super cheap then and the other options were poor. I remember there being probably 3-5 daily non stops to get there and back. I think we flew back to BKK late, stayed in the airport hotel and then left the next morning back to the US to minimize airport transfers.

Also, check and see what the visa fee is for Cambodia and try to have that in their currency upon arrival. When we arrived they were only accepting cash and the one ATM was mobbed. Here again, that was 10 years ago and things may be different.

Thanks - I knew there's a visa requirement for Cambodia for US citizens, I still need to look at that and sort out how much time we'd need there.

Looking at flights - unfortunately the time of year we're going is near the Christmas holidays due to a friend's schedule (we're going with two other people and had to fit their schedule). So flights are more expensive and award availability is lower than typical.

What I'm seeing as best options so far are LAX-BKK via Singapore, on Singapore airlines, with a return from Siem Reap straight back to LAX, also via Singapore. We can get to/from LAX free on Southwest. That routing also works in reverse, if we were to go to Siem Riep first and then on to Bangkok.

Alternately, a cash ticket on Singapore can be booked for that route, but from (and back to) Reno for about $2100 each - - we also have points on "erase the purchase" type credit cards that we could use if we go that route.

We are planning flights around a package trip that we already booked with friends - the last part of the package trip is in Chiang Mai, and then we fly from there to Bangkok, have one more night there, and the package ends. In lieu of that, we could fly straight from Chiang Mai to Phuket - if so, I'll ask the tour operator if can get some credit for abandoning that part of the trip, but I don't have high hopes. It's not going to be much money so not too concerned.

For anyone searching, AmEx added the ability to use point.me which is supposed to search Membership Rewards transferable partners for airline redemptions. I tried it today, and it's not very good. Maybe it'll improve.

More info:
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/ameri...edium=facebook

The Mrs and I have an awkward international layover in HNL in October. We land off a red eye at 6 AM and have a 17 hour layover before flying home at 11 PM.

We are going to book a hotel for the layover and we currently have one booked for two nights for the night before we land and the night we fly out to ensure that we have a place to stay. It's annoying to pay for two nights when we will actually not even stay the night.

I tried to work a deal with the hotel over the phone, but they understandably want me to book two nights because of the weird hours. Are there any known hotel brands that would allow us to book a single "night" with a 6 AM check in and an 8 PM check out? Has anyone had success with that kind of thing?

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Originally Posted by Kevo

The Mrs and I have an awkward international layover in HNL in October. We land off a red eye at 6 AM and have a 17 hour layover before flying home at 11 PM.

We are going to book a hotel for the layover and we currently have one booked for two nights for the night before we land and the night we fly out to ensure that we have a place to stay. It's annoying to pay for two nights when we will actually not even stay the night.

I tried to work a deal with the hotel over the phone, but they understandably want me to book two nights because of the weird hours. Are there any known hotel brands that would allow us to book a single "night" with a 6 AM check in and an 8 PM check out? Has anyone had success with that kind of thing?

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I think you have a better chance of buying a winning lottery ticket than you do of finding a deal like that in or near Honolulu..

I've never booked a day hotel anywhere. I've heard of it though. Try this: https://www.dayuse.com/s/united-stat...onolulu-county. No idea about transportation to and from the airport and Waikiki. It's probably time consuming at rush hour?

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Originally Posted by riser4

I've never booked a day hotel anywhere. I've heard of it though. Try this: https://www.dayuse.com/s/united-stat...onolulu-county. No idea about transportation to and from the airport and Waikiki. It's probably time consuming at rush hour?

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Bus service is available from the airport to Waikiki and back..every 30 minutes 24/7.

Daytime hotel in Waikiki might not be good for sleeping though.

Use a bag drop and go catch some sleep at Ala Moana park.

I was curious and found a couple places on Dayuse app in bith Honolulu and Waikiki for 8-5pm or 10-8pm for around $100

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Originally Posted by riser4

I've never booked a day hotel anywhere. I've heard of it though. Try this: https://www.dayuse.com/s/united-stat...onolulu-county. No idea about transportation to and from the airport and Waikiki. It's probably time consuming at rush hour?

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Originally Posted by riser4

Daytime hotel in Waikiki might not be good for sleeping though.

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Thanks! I had no idea that Day Use was a thing. Looks like were are a bit too far out to book, but we'll keep looking. We would maybe sleep for a few hours early, but mainly we want a place to drop bags and shower and swim.

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Originally Posted by mcski

I was curious and found a couple places on Dayuse app in bith Honolulu and Waikiki for 8-5pm or 10-8pm for around $100

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It seems quite promising!

Bump. Italy trip in August.
Flying into Munich and driving to Northern Italy (4.5hrs). Haven’t rented a car in Europe in a while. Mixed experiences.


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

Take the speed cameras serriously. Our GPS alerted us to them but we ignored the warnings and got a couple of charges for speeding tickets after we got home. The rental car company just charged our credit card. We also got a ticket for driving in a restricted area in the Aosta area but we never figured out where it was.

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Originally Posted by jm2e

Bump. Italy trip in August.
Flying into Munich and driving to Northern Italy (4.5hrs). Haven’t rented a car in Europe in a while. Mixed experiences.


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

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What's the questions here chief?

How bad of an idea is a 4.5 hour flight on Spirit with a 7 year old? I can save roughly $400 by flying with them over Delta after accounting for my carryons.

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Originally Posted by alias_rice

How bad of an idea is a 4.5 hour flight on Spirit with a 7 year old? I can save roughly $400 by flying with them over Delta after accounting for my carryons.

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It won't be a bad idea at all so long as things go smoothly...

:fmicon:

Would you take a 7 year old to Waffle House at 2 am?

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Originally Posted by I Skied Bandini Mountain

Would you take a 7 year old to Waffle House at 2 am?

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Ya, why not? Cheap education.

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Originally Posted by riser4

Ya, why not? Cheap education.

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Right on, jump 'em in early.

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Originally Posted by alias_rice

How bad of an idea is a 4.5 hour flight on Spirit with a 7 year old? I can save roughly $400 by flying with them over Delta after accounting for my carryons.

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Read that as crayons, not carryons.

On my last vacation to the UK I learned the lesson that you shouldn't always count on Google Maps for navigation. It's always worked well for me in the US, but in rural areas of the UK such as Cornwall and the Cotswolds, Google Maps has a tendency to think every road is a good road, so I spent lots of time on very narrow, windy roads that only allow a single car to get through. Lots of stopping and backing up required. Yes, you get to where you're going, but often quite slowly and with additional stress. Next time I'll rely more on printed maps showing where the major roads are and plot my routes accordingly.

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Originally Posted by I Skied Bandini Mountain

Would you take a 7 year old to Waffle House at 2 am?

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Well we are going to Florida…

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Originally Posted by alias_rice

Well we are going to Florida…

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Fuck ya! Fly the airline equivalent of Waffle House. Visit grandma. See the Mouse. Go to actual Waffle House.

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Originally Posted by The AD

On my last vacation to the UK I learned the lesson that you shouldn't always count on Google Maps for navigation. It's always worked well for me in the US, but in rural areas of the UK such as Cornwall and the Cotswolds, Google Maps has a tendency to think every road is a good road, so I spent lots of time on very narrow, windy roads that only allow a single car to get through. Lots of stopping and backing up required. Yes, you get to where you're going, but often quite slowly and with additional stress. Next time I'll rely more on printed maps showing where the major roads are and plot my routes accordingly.

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I recently have experienced this in Ireland, where a ton of roads were narrow, more than the UK I'd guess. The problem was google trying to save me a few minutes by taking me on stressful narrow roads instead of a nearby slower main road. One route had 40 minutes of hellish roads to save 2 minutes - no thank you! I had to set a 'stop' on a major road to take me there, but i often didn't know i was about to drive a backroad until it was too late. I don't think a paper map would have made a difference as google maps does show major roads - I just wish I could override the shit roads easily.