Scoop Airport/Hotel/Travel Thread

[🏀]

Vegas tomorrow, haven't been in five years, anything new?

[ZiggysFryBoy]

Vegas tomorrow, haven't been in five years, anything new?

Legal weed.

[4everwarriors]

Take a can of Lysol and spray down da bed reel well. Viruses 🦠 are a bitch, hey?

[warriorchick]

Vegas tomorrow, haven't been in five years, anything new?

East Fremont. Lots of cool bars and music venues.

[Galway Eagle]

Vegas tomorrow, haven't been in five years, anything new?

https://www.muscoop.com/index.php?topic=47811.msg735721#msg735721

[Dr. Blackheart]

Vegas tomorrow, haven't been in five years, anything new?

WCC Championship, Orleans Arena.

[dgies9156]

On my way to DC tomorrow. Last time I checked, I'm tougher and meaner than the CoronaVirus.

Not letting a little bug get in the way of making money!!!

[🏀]

WCC Championship, Orleans Arena.

Yeah leaning toward that.

[🏀]

Left Vegas a day early. Wasn't dead, but a noticeable drop off in crowds no doubt.

[Dish]

Left Vegas a day early. Wasn't dead, but a noticeable drop off in crowds no doubt.

Just curious, were the casinos dead? I can see either scenario...people being scared to go and be at a blackjack table next to other people, or people bored out of their mind and hitting the casinos more.

[BM1090]

Likely going to be in LA in two weeks. Anyone have any good ideas of things to do outside?

Not really sure how to spend 3-4 days. Going to do a lot of hiking, maybe Santa Monica Pier, beaches, etc.

[🏀]

Just curious, were the casinos dead? I can see either scenario...people being scared to go and be at a blackjack table next to other people, or people bored out of their mind and hitting the casinos more.

Not dead, not empty seats everywhere. I went to the Sportsbook at Caesars to bet some Wednesday action, there were 6 dudes in there.

[4everwarriors]

Likely going to be in LA in two weeks. Anyone have any good ideas of things to do outside?

Not really sure how to spend 3-4 days. Going to do a lot of hiking, maybe Santa Monica Pier, beaches, etc.

Hang out on Wilshire and Rodeo. Watch da young ladies and grab a Go Greek, hey?

[Hards Alumni]

My parents got on a cruise last Friday in Buenos Aires against all of my warnings... It was supposed to be a month long, and it has been cancelled after going 1/4 the trip.  They have now been told they can't dock in Argentina at all.  So they're hoping for Chile.  Who knows when they'll be able to go ashore.

[forgetful]

My parents got on a cruise last Friday in Buenos Aires against all of my warnings... It was supposed to be a month long, and it has been cancelled after going 1/4 the trip.  They have now been told they can't dock in Argentina at all.  So they're hoping for Chile.  Who knows when they'll be able to go ashore.

If there are no cases on board, maybe chillin' on the cruise ship is actually safer. Isolated from the rest of the world.

If there is a case on board, it is one of the worst places to be.

Hope all works out best for your parents.

[Hards Alumni]

If there are no cases on board, maybe chillin' on the cruise ship is actually safer. Isolated from the rest of the world.

If there is a case on board, it is one of the worst places to be.

Hope all works out best for your parents.

Can't dock in Chile either, they're anchored a mile off shore near Punta Arenas... so the end of the world.  So far, no one appears to be sick.

[Dish]

I contemplated putting this in the Investing thread, but the airlines can eff off in asking for a bailout. For the amount they've collectively spent on stock buy backs, eff them.

I totally get that the airline business is fragile, more so than other industries. But spending all that cash on stock buy backs, while delivering a mediocre at best product, with record profits...eff em, let them go to bankruptcy and figure it out.

[Bad_Reporter]

I contemplated putting this in the Investing thread, but the airlines can eff off in asking for a bailout. For the amount they've collectively spent on stock buy backs, eff them.

I totally get that the airline business is fragile, more so than other industries. But spending all that cash on stock buy backs, while delivering a mediocre at best product, with record profits...eff em, let them go to bankruptcy and figure it out.

Amen Dish, could not agree more.  F##k them

[JWags85]

I contemplated putting this in the Investing thread, but the airlines can eff off in asking for a bailout. For the amount they've collectively spent on stock buy backs, eff them.

I totally get that the airline business is fragile, more so than other industries. But spending all that cash on stock buy backs, while delivering a mediocre at best product, with record profits...eff em, let them go to bankruptcy and figure it out.

I'm with you.  The products are continually declining, service has been abysmal for years, I too find it hard to sympathize.  Ive griped many times on here recently about United's degradation of their FF program.  And that's not even company specific, as we've seen MANY times over the years that the Big 3 US airlines just follow each other.  One tests a new charge or devaluation, it sticks, and the others adopt it posthaste.  They all race to the bottom in lockstep and are happy to each have their hubs and routes they dominate, no need for meaningful differentiation.

On United, I flew last Wed, my plane boarded about 30% full in 10 min.  If I wanted to same day change, I could have switched to ANY flight.  They were ALL wide open.  However, if you looked to book a flight later in the week, nothing had changed.  The "regular" price for MKE to EWR is $194-203ish.  But it jumps to around $400-425 if its within the magical 1 week window.  When I looked, flights with 60%+ seats open were still at that level due to the threshold.  If you're that rigid, you deserve what you get.  (Since then, I looked today and it was the same $200 price, 2 days from now, but it took long enough).

[jesmu84]

I contemplated putting this in the Investing thread, but the airlines can eff off in asking for a bailout. For the amount they've collectively spent on stock buy backs, eff them.

I totally get that the airline business is fragile, more so than other industries. But spending all that cash on stock buy backs, while delivering a mediocre at best product, with record profits...eff em, let them go to bankruptcy and figure it out.

Vegas hotels will be next

[dgies9156]

I'm with you.  The products are continually declining, service has been abysmal for years, I too find it hard to sympathize.  Ive griped many times on here recently about United's degradation of their FF program.  And that's not even company specific, as we've seen MANY times over the years that the Big 3 US airlines just follow each other.  One tests a new charge or devaluation, it sticks, and the others adopt it posthaste.  They all race to the bottom in lockstep and are happy to each have their hubs and routes they dominate, no need for meaningful differentiation.

On United, I flew last Wed, my plane boarded about 30% full in 10 min.  If I wanted to same day change, I could have switched to ANY flight.  They were ALL wide open.  However, if you looked to book a flight later in the week, nothing had changed.  The "regular" price for MKE to EWR is $194-203ish.  But it jumps to around $400-425 if its within the magical 1 week window.  When I looked, flights with 60%+ seats open were still at that level due to the threshold.  If you're that rigid, you deserve what you get.  (Since then, I looked today and it was the same $200 price, 2 days from now, but it took long enough).

Brother Wags and Brother Dish:

Sorry dudes but I REALLY don't agree with you. The product quality has nothing to do with the situation the Big 3 are in right now. They could have been Emirates Light or Singapore Air Midwest and it would not have mattered. These lines are critical components of the USA economy and they did nothing to cause this problem.

What needs to be done is a situation similar to what the country did with the auto industry in 2008. Issue convertible preferred securities with a 0.02 percent coupon rate. The convertibility occurs at the average price the airlines traded one month before the market tumbled. Sell at $1,000 a unit and give 'em as much as they need. When the market recovers, the government converts the preferred to common and sells it. The risk is the government pumps billions into an enterprise that fails anyway. The government agrees if it converts and owns the securities not to vote them except on M&A issues.

Sure beats giving a blank check away.

[Dish]

Brother Wags and Brother Dish:

Sorry dudes but I REALLY don't agree with you. The product quality has nothing to do with the situation the Big 3 are in right now. They could have been Emirates Light or Singapore Air Midwest and it would not have mattered. These lines are critical components of the USA economy and they did nothing to cause this problem.

What needs to be done is a situation similar to what the country did with the auto industry in 2008. Issue convertible preferred securities with a 0.02 percent coupon rate. The convertibility occurs at the average price the airlines traded one month before the market tumbled. Sell at $1,000 a unit and give 'em as much as they need. When the market recovers, the government converts the preferred to common and sells it. The risk is the government pumps billions into an enterprise that fails anyway. The government agrees if it converts and owns the securities not to vote them except on M&A issues.

Sure beats giving a blank check away.

My issue is the airlines have made billions in profit for years, and rather than knowing the volatility that can quickly exist in their industry, the airlines were buying back stock like drunk sailors.

How does an industry like the airlines not have cash reserves set aside for "Act of God"?

The quality of the product pisses me off, and if this crisis means all airlines have to re-examine things, I'm good with it. To me, I'd rather this be a watershed moment where the domestic airline industry resets.

[The Sultan]

My issue is the airlines have made billions in profit for years, and rather than knowing the volatility that can quickly exist in their industry, the airlines were buying back stock like drunk sailors.

How does an industry like the airlines not have cash reserves set aside for "Act of God"?

The quality of the product pisses me off, and if this crisis means all airlines have to re-examine things, I'm good with it. To me, I'd rather this be a watershed moment where the domestic airline industry resets.

Because the stock market punishes them when they carry large reserves, and everyone knows they'll get bailed out anyway.

Maybe as a condition of any loan or grant they would have to commit to a certain level of cash?

[Dish]

Because the stock market punishes them when they carry large reserves, and everyone knows they'll get bailed out anyway.

Maybe as a condition of any loan or grant they would have to commit to a certain level of cash?

You're certainly not wrong. If there's an industry that "should" have to (by law) carry a certain level of cash, it should be the airlines. Maybe that's opening up a huge can of worms, there's certainly much smarter people here than me about these things. Somebody can probably better eloquently explain why that's a good or bad idea.

I'm just overall jaded by the flying experience and seeing it with those glasses on, and want to stick it back to the airlines for it.

[jesmu84]

Because the stock market punishes them when they carry large reserves, and everyone knows they'll get bailed out anyway.

Maybe as a condition of any loan or grant they would have to commit to a certain level of cash?

Maybe there's a deeper problem than the airlines?