Scoop Airport/Hotel/Travel Thread

[Hards Alumni]

Co-sign.  Capri is also a very cool day trip.  Rent a boat, see the grotto, stop off at Capri and roam around.

Herculaneum is also an awesome trip, a little less touristy.

Can't co-sign Tuscany enough.  Florence is beyond incredible, obviously, but that whole region is sublime.

Capri is great if he's there in season.  In my experience the island is super cool but a total ghost town in November.   

[pbiflyer]

Capri is great if he's there in season.  In my experience the island is super cool but a total ghost town in November.   

He said end of may, so should be good. But yeah.

[drewm88]

Hey all!

Thinking about heading to Napa/Sonoma next summer/fall. Any recommendations on places to stay, taste, and eat?

A must for me is going to Seghesio which is on the Sonoma side. Appreciate it!

If you make it out to Sebastapol, Small Vines was a lovely little spot. Very small, family-run, and you may need to be in their club to get a tasting? Not sure. Their wine is amazing.
Benziger does an interesting tour if you're interested in learning about biodynamic farming.

I met Dwyane Wade at El Molina Central, but YMMV. (Food is good, too.)
Bouchon Bakery is fantastic.
La Calenda is a nice spot for lunch in Yountville.
Valley Bar & Bottle in Sonoma Square was a different vibe than most restaurants out there, including most of their wine being non-Californian.

[mubb3434]

If you make it out to Sebastapol, Small Vines was a lovely little spot. Very small, family-run, and you may need to be in their club to get a tasting? Not sure. Their wine is amazing.
Benziger does an interesting tour if you're interested in learning about biodynamic farming.

I met Dwyane Wade at El Molina Central, but YMMV. (Food is good, too.)
Bouchon Bakery is fantastic.
La Calenda is a nice spot for lunch in Yountville.
Valley Bar & Bottle in Sonoma Square was a different vibe than most restaurants out there, including most of their wine being non-Californian.

Thank you & everyone else!

[CreightonWarrior]

Rhode Island man arrested after TSA detects disassembled gun concealed in two peanut butter jars at JFK Airport

[jesmu84]

https://twitter.com/WilliamJMcGee/status/1607896829038891020?t=nsMJUm6bYBRq_FrJQb1K3w&s=19

Should the federal (or state) govt be doing more regarding the airlines?

[4everwarriors]

Nah, keep government outta it, hey?

[Hards Alumni]

Nah, keep government outta it, hey?

"It hasn't affected me yet, so I don't care"

[shoothoops]

Limited shuttles from Grand Central to Jamaica Queens (F train still available) are up and running. Full service Grand Central LIRR still not there yet but getting closer. It will cut down on travel times with more direct routes, and it will alleviate some traffic from Penn Station.

[JWags85]

Random question, those of you that travel overseas, do you use Wi-Fi on the plane?  And further, if traveling for business, would your company reimburse that?

I was in a conversation with a friend's husband and he was INSISTENT that, and i quote, "very few people use Wi-Fi on a long haul flight" and furthermore said hardly any company would reimburse it.  I can't think of a long flight Ive been on in the last 5-6 years that I didn't purchase Wi-Fi on, and I regularly see plenty of computers and phones out, even in economy, and they certainly aren't all in bricked airplane mode or working solely in offline spreadsheets or the like.  And Ive traveled abroad for 3 different companies and inflight Wi-Fi was never questioned.  I asked 3 different friends, one in PE, one in CPG, and another in tech and all said the same.

[Goose]

Wags

I always do the Wi-Fi on international flights and could not handle the flight without the Wi-Fi. Granted, I am self-employed but would pay out of my own pocket if it came to that. Pre-pandemic I flew 6-8 roundtrips a year to Asia and 95% of the time in economy premier and would say it appeared I was in the minority in using the pay Wi-Fi on the flight. That said, I never checked all that closely on other people using it or not.

[DegenerateDish]

I don’t travel internationally, but I do buy in-flight wifi almost every time.

I expense it 100% of the time, and have never had an issue.

(Now that I say that out loud, when I head out west next week, I’m sure I’ll get asked about it.)

[cheebs09]

I don’t travel internationally, but I do buy in-flight wifi almost every time.

I expense it 100% of the time, and have never had an issue.

(Now that I say that out loud, when I head out west next week, I’m sure I’ll get asked about it.)

Your HR department has likely been notified by now.

[jesmu84]

Your HR department has likely been notified by now.

Only if Keefe is still here

[BM1090]

Random question, those of you that travel overseas, do you use Wi-Fi on the plane?  And further, if traveling for business, would your company reimburse that?

I was in a conversation with a friend's husband and he was INSISTENT that, and i quote, "very few people use Wi-Fi on a long haul flight" and furthermore said hardly any company would reimburse it.  I can't think of a long flight Ive been on in the last 5-6 years that I didn't purchase Wi-Fi on, and I regularly see plenty of computers and phones out, even in economy, and they certainly aren't all in bricked airplane mode or working solely in offline spreadsheets or the like.  And Ive traveled abroad for 3 different companies and inflight Wi-Fi was never questioned.  I asked 3 different friends, one in PE, one in CPG, and another in tech and all said the same.

I usually don't use Wi-Fi on the plane, but my organization would definitely allow it to be expensed if I were traveling for business.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Public employee here. I would be tarred, feathered, and fired (okay I would just be asked to remove it from my expense report and pay out of pocket) if I tried to expense in-flight wifi.

[pbiflyer]

God yes I use wifi all the time on planes. Most of my overseas trips are for leisure and I always get it.
Can't be 8+ hours without access to scoop. I might miss something important about Marquette, or Arby's, or dental crime.

[Galway Eagle]

I'm super stingy about my days off so I work from the plane on travel days which means I always purchase the Wi-Fi.

To me it's logical to bank an extra day for the future when I'd just be sitting there twiddling my thumbs anyways.

[DegenerateDish]

Your HR department has likely been notified by now.

This is most likely true.

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

I put my phone on Airplane Mode and don't look at it the entire flight. 
An international flight is great way to unplug for a lengthy duration. 

My employer would pay the Wi-Fi expense.  I believe Delta is going to Free Wi-Fi on flights.  I just got the email this week.

[lawdog77]

This is most likely true.

I am pretty sure HR already knows about your gambling problem, so wifi is pretty minor.

[DegenerateDish]

I am pretty sure HR already knows about your gambling problem, so wifi is pretty minor.

This is also most likely true.

[MU82]

Only if Keefe is still here

Sat there on a tee, and you did a nice job knocking it out of the park!

[BLWarrior91]

  I believe Delta is going to Free Wi-Fi on flights.  I just got the email this week.

Yes, Delta will have free WiFi. I would think the others will follow suit as this is a nice perk that would give them an advantage on competitive routes. 

[WarriorFan]

Random question, those of you that travel overseas, do you use Wi-Fi on the plane?  And further, if traveling for business, would your company reimburse that?

I was in a conversation with a friend's husband and he was INSISTENT that, and i quote, "very few people use Wi-Fi on a long haul flight" and furthermore said hardly any company would reimburse it.  I can't think of a long flight Ive been on in the last 5-6 years that I didn't purchase Wi-Fi on, and I regularly see plenty of computers and phones out, even in economy, and they certainly aren't all in bricked airplane mode or working solely in offline spreadsheets or the like.  And Ive traveled abroad for 3 different companies and inflight Wi-Fi was never questioned.  I asked 3 different friends, one in PE, one in CPG, and another in tech and all said the same.

I'm somehow doing 1-2 international round trips per month recently from my new base in Dubai.  Emirates gives Wifi for free when you hit gold status.  Etihad charges an arm and a leg for full wifi but have a text only service that lets one use WhatsApp to stay in touch.  I like that and use it for like $5/flight.  I only recently started using Wifi on flights because I previously used flying time  as total "downtime".  Mostly, though, I use it to communicate with family and friends and to keep up with sports scores.  Very rarely do I work on a flight, so I never even try to claim it - even if I do a little work.