Any Y'all Typically Fly Virgin America?

[keefe]

What's with flying scheduled carriers? I head over to the Aero Club and check out a twin-engine Bonanza Baron or Cessna 310 for a week's skiing at Taos. Total air cost is $238 Round Trip Seattle to Santa Fe. Divided by 5 PAX that's $47.61 each RT. No parking at the airport, no lines at ticketing, no TSA Bull Sheet, no waiting at the gate, no delays, weather is never a problem, no baggage fees, no surly flight attendants, no fat guy reeking of BO sitting next to you, no elbow wrestling for the arm rest, no conga line to disembark, no waiting for baggage/lost luggage/broken skis. The only tips accepted by flight crew is Islay single malt.

C 310



Baron 58

[keefe]

Speaking of traveling, warm weather vacation next December...all inclusive...no more than a day of travel...what you got? Location and resort recommendations greatly appreciated. Not looking at a five digit vacation, but somewhere below that mark.

If you want some gouge on great Asian locales I can fill you in. There is travel to and from but you can get  a lot of quality for few $ and the experience of a lifetime. Culture, archaeology, diving, climbing, sailing, diving, naked Scandinavian women, golf, cabanas, etc... PM me if that might be of interest.

[reinko]

Speaking of traveling, warm weather vacation next December...all inclusive...no more than a day of travel...what you got? Location and resort recommendations greatly appreciated. Not looking at a five digit vacation, but somewhere below that mark.

Honeymooned at Iberostar Grand in Punta Cana,  DR.   Loved it,  adults only (no kids or teens), beachside drink service,  solid food,  about 25 min from the airport.  Did 8 nights there,  with flights came to around $5K.

[4everwarriors]

Hands down, the best hotel experience is the Peninsula. However, their only American presence is in NY, Chicago, and Beverly Hills.

[keefe]

Hands down, the best hotel experience is the Peninsula. However, their only American presence is in NY, Chicago, and Beverly Hills.

Five Best hotels anywhere: Mandarin Oriental Bangkok, Raffles Singapore, Connaught Mayfair, Peninsula Hong Kong, Imperial Tokyo.
 

[🏀]

If you want some gouge on great Asian locales I can fill you in. There is travel to and from but you can get  a lot of quality for few $ and the experience of a lifetime. Culture, archaeology, diving, climbing, sailing, diving, naked Scandinavian women, golf, cabanas, etc... PM me if that might be of interest.

I do want to do Asia soon, but we don't want to dump our will be year old daughter on family for more than 5 days.


I figure anywhere past Hawaii might be pushing it for a shorter trip.

[ZiggysFryBoy]

I do want to do Asia soon, but we don't want to dump our will be year old daughter on family for more than 5 days.


I figure anywhere past Hawaii might be pushing it for a shorter trip.

Hedonism II

[🏀]

Hedonism II

Gross.

[Coleman]

I do want to do Asia soon, but we don't want to dump our will be year old daughter on family for more than 5 days.


I figure anywhere past Hawaii might be pushing it for a shorter trip.

If you are looking for 5 or less days, stick to Mexico or the Caribbean.

Playa del Carmen and St Maarten, or the Virgin Islands are a all a quick nonstop flight from Chicago

[Sir Lawrence]

If you are looking for 5 or less days, stick to Mexico or the Caribbean.

Playa del Carmen and St Maarten, or the Virgin Islands are a all a quick nonstop flight from Chicago

Agree, or even PR.
St. Johns is an easy trip.  Caneel Bay is a nice resort for a four night trip.

[muarmy81]

There is no worse airport in America than MIA.

LGA and Reagan are second/third worst.

Best airport is Charlotte. McCarron is much much better since the rehab, Denver is pretty nice except it's so far from downtown.

My biggest irritations...car rental facilities miles away (Sky Harbor the worst, BWI, Sea-Tac, Dulles, MIA close for second).

Other is that everyone has status it feels like. As someone who is on the road constantly, the proliferation of Group 2 at United has been annoying to watch.

You road warriors...what hotel brand you guys/gals loyal to?

Hilton.

Also, I avoid SWA if I can. Even if they do have more direct options I still prefer delta.

[Benny B]

There is no worse airport in America than MIA.

LGA and Reagan are second/third worst.

Best airport is Charlotte. McCarron is much much better since the rehab, Denver is pretty nice except it's so far from downtown.

My biggest irritations...car rental facilities miles away (Sky Harbor the worst, BWI, Sea-Tac, Dulles, MIA close for second).

Other is that everyone has status it feels like. As someone who is on the road constantly, the proliferation of Group 2 at United has been annoying to watch.

You road warriors...what hotel brand you guys/gals loyal to?

I second MIA... I've flown through five times in my life.  I hope that's an accurate statement 50 years from now.

DEN is very inconvenient, but easy to move through at least.  Love MSP... quick, simple and rental cars on site... uncommon for a major hub.  SLC and EGE are my favorites because I don't even care about the airport.

I have used Hyatt for the last few years... They had the best earn/redemption value of all major hoteliers until they screwed it up a few months ago. Almost always get an upgrade at the Regency properties and Hyatt Place are great for when traveling with kids. I'll probably stick with them for now, but may have to look at Marriott again.

[LloydMooresLegs]

Honeymooned at Iberostar Grand in Punta Cana,  DR.   Loved it,  adults only (no kids or teens), beachside drink service,  solid food,  about 25 min from the airport.  Did 8 nights there,  with flights came to around $5K.
.

Same place hopefully not the same room (or we stayed there first  ).  Love it and easy to get to. 

Recommend Traveloni.com for the non stop from Chicago to Mexico and the Caribbean all inclusives.  Not my favorite type vacation, but a really warm simple quick winter break sometimes is just the ticket

[real chili 83]

What's with flying scheduled carriers? I head over to the Aero Club and check out a twin-engine Bonanza Baron or Cessna 310 for a week's skiing at Taos. Total air cost is $238 Round Trip Seattle to Santa Fe. Divided by 5 PAX that's $47.61 each RT. No parking at the airport, no lines at ticketing, no TSA Bull Sheet, no waiting at the gate, no delays, weather is never a problem, no baggage fees, no surly flight attendants, no fat guy reeking of BO sitting next to you, no elbow wrestling for the arm rest, no conga line to disembark, no waiting for baggage/lost luggage/broken skis. The only tips accepted by flight crew is Islay single malt.

C 310


Figured you'd be a King Air kinda guy.


Baron 58

[real chili 83]

You road warriors...what hotel brand you guys/gals loyal to?

If you travel to the Twin Cities try the Bloomington Hilton.  GM is Jim Waldvogel, '83 and last year's Bus Ad Service Award winner from the alumni association....and a heck of a nice guy. 

Keefe, he's also a Schroeder 10 North alum too.

[Sir Lawrence]

If you travel to the Twin Cities try the Bloomington Hilton.  GM is Jim Waldvogel, '83 and last year's Bus Ad Service Award winner from the alumni association....and a heck of a nice guy. 

Keefe, he's also a Schroeder 10 North alum too.

Jim comped me four tickets to the MU/Kentucky game in '03.  My daughter was working at his hotel while attending St. Thomas.  He was managing the Crowne Plaza at the time.  That and the Bloomington Hilton are actually owned by Marcus Corp.

Jim is a wonderful man.

[real chili 83]

Jim comped me four tickets to the MU/Kentucky game in '03.  My daughter was working at his hotel while attending St. Thomas.  He was managing the Crowne Plaza at the time.  That and the Bloomington Hilton are actually owned by Marcus Corp.

Jim is a wonderful man.

Agreed.  A couple of us '83 alum in the cities (including Jim) get together a couple times a year to watch MU games.  We pick up right where we left off, if you know what I mean.

Jim's hotel hosted MU for the Sweet 16.  The reception at his hotel was great, got the whole team's autograph, with the exception of Denier.  Even got Hank's autograph on that same t-shirt.  Hank was great to talk to that night....a great memory.

[Jay Bee]

All hotels are nasty and infested.

The Heritage in Nashville gets my vote as one of the biggest surprises - one of my all time favorite hotels... and in Nashville.

Phones in the bathroom used to be a big selling point for me. That's gone away. Good audio or TV can be nowadays.

One thing I'd like more hotels to do is have check-in procedures that allowed you to not talk to a human and get checked in quickly. It's awful starting your day in one city at 4am, working until 9pm, then waiting 12+ minutes for some dink to get you a damn key to your room.

I stopped checking under the mattress for magazines years ago. I miss those days.

That Boston Harbor spot was good.. for views and meeting rooms and the bar... Hotel Monaco in Seattle.. a little bit goofy, but I liked it and IIRC the W is across the street - easy to hop over to their bar if desired. Waldorf Astoria in NYC... as unreasonably priced as any other OK NYC hotel. Blah. Beverly Hilton - lots of good times.

Cranberry Suites in Tomah!!!!!!!!!!!

[keefe]

I have never piloted a King Air but have PAX'd on them as the USAF, USMC, and USN use them as utility trash haulers. I fly Barons or C 130's for capacity reasons. When my wife was still here and we had the kids we would give the whole commercial aviation nightmare a miss and fly ourselves to and from. These aircraft hold six with ample cargo space. King Air is a great bird but I didn't need that much payload. And the King slurps JP8 like Scoopers swill Kool Aid. The smaller airframes also have the same power plants which gives a lot more thrust to weight.  

Interesting side note, I ran into a Marquette alum, Lloyd Knight, who was flying the military variant of the King Air, the C 12, for the USN over in the Sandbox. I was hitching a ride to Qatar from Al Taqqadum and he was the Command Pilot for the mission. Despite being a Navy Puke he is a great guy. He's the brother of MU soccer star Haydn Knight.

[warriorchick]

All hotels are nasty and infested.

The Heritage in Nashville gets my vote as one of the biggest surprises - one of my all time favorite hotels... and in Nashville.

Phones in the bathroom used to be a big selling point for me. That's gone away. Good audio or TV can be nowadays.

One thing I'd like more hotels to do is have check-in procedures that allowed you to not talk to a human and get checked in quickly. It's awful starting your day in one city at 4am, working until 9pm, then waiting 12+ minutes for some dink to get you a damn key to your room.

I stopped checking under the mattress for magazines years ago. I miss those days.

That Boston Harbor spot was good.. for views and meeting rooms and the bar... Hotel Monaco in Seattle.. a little bit goofy, but I liked it and IIRC the W is across the street - easy to hop over to their bar if desired. Waldorf Astoria in NYC... as unreasonably priced as any other OK NYC hotel. Blah. Beverly Hilton - lots of good times.

Cranberry Suites in Tomah!!!!!!!!!!!

I believe you mean "The Hermitage". My brother had his wedding there.

[keefe]

If you travel to the Twin Cities try the Bloomington Hilton.  GM is Jim Waldvogel, '83 and last year's Bus Ad Service Award winner from the alumni association....and a heck of a nice guy. 

Keefe, he's also a Schroeder 10 North alum too.

Then he stands in well in my book. Schroeder 10 North: If those walls could speak...

[keefe]

I stopped checking under the mattress for magazines years ago. I miss those days.

Well, we all know who to blame for that lost slice of Americana. That sonuvabitch Al Gore had to go and invent the internet...

I remember as a lad at Georgetown Prep's boarding school the thrill of finding a stash of gentlemanly reading material. The kid's nowadays have no idea just how precious such discovery once was... 

[Sir Lawrence]

Agreed.  A couple of us '83 alum in the cities (including Jim) get together a couple times a year to watch MU games.  We pick up right where we left off, if you know what I mean.

Jim's hotel hosted MU for the Sweet 16.  The reception at his hotel was great, got the whole team's autograph, with the exception of Denier.  Even got Hank's autograph on that same t-shirt.  Hank was great to talk to that night....a great memory.

Then you and I were in the same room.  What a wonderful night that was.  I recall Tony Smith there, being Tony Smith, if you know what I mean. 

[keefe]

being Tony Smith, if you know what I mean. 

Share the wealth, brother

[real chili 83]

Then you and I were in the same room.  What a wonderful night that was.  I recall Tony Smith there, being Tony Smith, if you know what I mean. 

I remember Tony being there too.

Not sure...not familiar with your Tony Smith reference.

Agreed, great night.