kenish

Not necessarily. I just booked a r/t ticket MCO to LAX for 45k miles, first on all legs. The best I could do in economy was 35K miles, and the ticket would have run me $700 paying cash. It was a no brainer to book it as a first class r/t using miles.

Thus the words in my post, "Very roughly". There are a zillon specific counter-examples like yours...good you found award availability in F for only 10k more miles.

OP- Just noticed you're from Reno. IMO, that favors flying over driving even more...no parking expense or hassles versus flying out of the Bay Area (unless there's some other reason you're there).

There are 3 airports in the Bay Area (SFO, OAK, and SJC), and 5 airports in the LA metro area. If you're going straight to the cruise and not spending time in LA, then Long Beach (LGB), LAX, and Orange County (SNA) are the best.

SF/LA is the world's busiest air corridor. There are flights from any of the SF airports to all of the LA airports. AA, Delta, United, Alaska, Southwest, JetBlue and Virgin America are all choices (though not all airlines fly a specific airport pair). Since volume is high and competition is keen, fares are very reasonable and I agree it makes more sense to fly.

And don't forget the UK carbon tax charges, which for premium cabin are quite steep, IMO.

 

But, at least you would be saving the planet....;)

 

(Which somehow got along fine without saving for billions of years.)

If I bring chunks of carbon to the UK government, will they pay me for it? :) Agree that the planet has survived some massive catastrophes and come out fine, though very changed and different for the experience. My saying..."respect the planet and it will respect you....but don't love the planet because it does *not* love you back!!"

Sorry to be OT....

The problem with that is you are using an inflated "feel good" or "sticker" price for that calculation - a price that you would otherwise never pay.

If someone is truly indifferent to whether they sit front or in econ, then it's pure "feel good" as you say. Miles shouldn't be wasted. Then again, flying First or Biz has tangible benefits such as expedited check-in, security, and baggage claim....no bag fees, better meals (at no extra cost), and priority if something goes amok due to a delay or cancellation. On top of that, there are the "feel good" items that can include more legroom, the ability to sleep, more attentive service, better IFE, quieter cabin, etc.

Very roughly, a first or biz class award requires 2-3x the miles of econ for the same flight. So the choice is whether to use the miles to fly First or Biz for the "feel good" and savings in time and money, or use it for 1-2 other trips in Econ instead.

Another decision point is what trip to use the miles on. Let's say you live in DEN and have a trip to SF and trip to Wichita coming up. Both require the same mileage spend....paid fare to Wichita is far higher than SF, so it's pretty obvious where to use the award miles. (Pointing this out for people on the board who are learning the ropes of frequent flyer awards).

The only other thing as suggested is Amtrak to Union Station and then cab to the port. But this would also be over $200 for party of two.

Amtrak has service from San Diego to San Pedro but the schedule won't work for OP. Train from SD to LA Union Station, transferring to an Amtrak bus down to SP. It's about $55 per person, but unfortunately the buses don't get to SP in time. Might consider going up to SP on Saturday night instead.

Another option is gotobus.com from SD to LAX, and then to a shuttle van. Gotobus is $25 for "basic" service that provides transportation mainly for people needing cheap transportation between the Mexico border portal and points in LA. There's also a faster Luxe bus for $70. A shuttle van from LAX to the port is $17 before tip (all these are per person).

Frankly, a rental car is still the best value IMO. You will have to shop the different companies to find the one with the lowest one-way drop fee.

There's other options I haven't listed which are near the cost of a direct shuttle.

We need to be in LA at the cruise port by 2:00 P.M. on a Monday. What time would you suggest we leave San Diego?

Agree w/ Donray if you're doing it on Monday. 830-9am will allow the SD morning rush hour to subside, although most of the traffic will be southbound into downtown SD. Once you get up to the San Juan Capistrano area, rush hour in Orange County will have cleared as well. But you will still be early enough to have a "buffer" for accidents, traffic, and returning a rental car without getting frantic.

Do you have a smartphone? Google Maps has a traffic layer you can turn on. It highlights freeways and streets in green/yellow/red. Two major LA stations, KFI 640 and KNX 1070 both broadcast traffic every 10 minutes. The problem is they won't be easy to decipher if you're not familiar with the area.

The toll road is the 73 from Mission Viejo to Costa Mesa. Pretty expensive, about $6 IIRC. It saves very little time or distance unless 5 or 405 is bad on the section the 73 bypasses.

Last thing, from Capistrano there are continuous HOV lanes on the 5 and 405. There's a direct "flyover" ramp from 5 north to 405 north, so you don't have to cross through the regular lanes to change freeways. Follow the "405 North/ Long Beach" signs. You eventually get on 110 South, which does not have HOV lanes.

A business has to cater to the needs of their customers.

 

The point is some airlines are reducing the width, and pitch while their customers are getting bigger.

Both are absolutely true. Customers have made it clear to airlines that low, low, prices are more important than seat comfort. Attempts to increase seating space fleetwide with a fare increase of a few dollars caused passengers to fly other airlines. Lesson delivered to the airlines by their customers.

Most airlines offer regular and upgraded economy seats. The latter are about $20-$150 more. The regular seats sell a lot more quickly than the upgraded seats, from personal experience on flights I've booked and flown. On AA, the "Main Cabin Extra" section often has open seats while regular economy is packed.

Yes, we plan to spend a couple of days in San Diego but we thought we could leave early enough to get to the cruise ship in time.

Assuming you would be driving up to SP on a weekend, you will probably be OK if you're on the road from SD by 8am. That will leave enough time in case of traffic problems. North of Oceanside there are no alternates to I-5. About once or twice a year a bad accident will shut down the freeway and that could add a lot of time to your drive, especially if cars are turned around to head back south. Again, this isn't common, but it does happen. Farther north on I-5, the stretch between San Juan Capistrano and Irvine slows to a crawl on Saturday and Sunday. I cross the freeway on my weekend errands and it's often slowed to 10 or 20mph. Add 30 minutes to your drive time for that.

I'd be inclined to drive up the evening before. If it's Friday night, wait until 630pm to leave SD.

If there's an airline that changes aircraft as we change underwear, it's Turkish.

Careful...it could mean you rarely change your underwear ! :)

We are flying Emirates JFK to Dubai this November, EK 202 and EK 203 on the return. Isn't it one of the Worlds longest non-stop flights?

JFK-DXB is a long flight at 6849 miles but handily beat by Emirates' LAX-DXB flight at 8339 miles.

Sorry-one more question (hopefully). I have been corresponding with a travel agency in Istanbul about tours. The agent there has offered to book our air as she said it can be less expensive if booked through a Turkish agency than through the website. Any dangers booking this way? Thanks!

You won't have the same consumer protections that you would if a US agency messed up the reservation, went out of business, never paid the airline, etc. OTOH if they seem like a major, reputable agency then it's not as much of a concern.

The bigger issue is the exchange rate and credit card transaction fees applied. Some foreign companies provide the "convenience" of converting the cost to US dollars at a very unfavorable exchange rate. Insist they submit the credit card charge in local currency and let your CC company do the conversion. Also, your CC may charge a fee from 0-5% for non-US transactions. Be sure all this will result in real savings...it sounds like the agency hasn't provided the actual cost.

Lastly, be sure the tickets aren't bulk or consolidator tickets, or be aware of the difference.

Hope this helps!

Zephyr,

Do you know if the VanCity ATM is connected with any international networks (like the Plus network)?

If you're with Bank of America, they have a reciprocal agreement with Scotiabank. You can use a Scotiabank ATM free of any fees and get the interbank exchange rate. If you're not with BofA, check your bank if it's a major one..they may have a similar agreement.

Good decision to get Canadian dollars. Although US$ are accepted in Vancouver and Whistler, it's not being a very good guest. Local stores in my area don't accept Canadian dollars and shouldn't be expected to.

Another seawall trail / Stanley Park suggestion is renting bikes and riding around the trail. There are 3-4 shops that rent bikes near the park entrance. (Denman between Robson and Georgia) . Usually the rental includes a helmet and lock. IIRC, bike helmets are required by law in BC for all riders.

The last time I used SS (I live about a mile from Disneyland)

Ron

I live in RSM but grew up in Garden Grove near Chapman and Euclid. Small world!

Do you know how shuttle2Lax is?? As I see it it looks like I can get a shuttle from Anaheim to Long Beach for $20??

I don't think that's true. If you look on their website, you can only go to/from LAX and not between two outlying points. I suppose you could make 2 reservations and "connect" at LAX.

Definitely google "Shuttle to LAX reviews". There are 69 Yelp reviews that seem to be either 1 or 5 stars (the average is 2.5, halfway between the extremes). Since they resell capacity on other shuttle companies it probably depends on the shuttle you actually get.

Also there's a sticky that covers this same topic. Some coaching...it's generally bad netiquette to make a separate post on a topic covered by a sticky. CC is pretty laid-back but some forums I'm on have very strict mods, and a post duplicating a sticky will result in a temporary or permanent ban!

Just saying....

We booked a private tour through Woody, based on this thread. It was great; we are interested in nature, history, and culture and Woody catered to that. At the beginning of the tour and during the tour we were given options on where and what to do next. As others mentioned, Woody is known all over Dominica and it seemed like locals provided us with more "perks".

Some very minor things- he does not have permits to visit the "mainstream" sites like Emerald Pools...so he visits alternate sites. The benefit is they are not crowded with buses and tourists. Also, he is keenly interested in politics...we had interesting conversation but if you don't wish to engage in that, just let him know.

I highly recommend Woody and Off the Beaten Path.

And if you want to get REALLY technical, the gaspers in passenger service units can be considered "jets". So even more than 4.

 

Now, if we are talking about ENGINES.....;)

Well a bit of geeky fun at the expense of further hijacking the thread (sorry)...

In an engineering / thermodynamics context, the things on the wing, the APU, and the RAT are all "Engines". And if a jet (popular term) is an engine that uses the Brayton Cycle, they are all jet engines too! Trust me, I'm an Engineer! :D

Now, back to the original programming with my profuse apologies!

777s have 2 jets. Trust me, I am an aerospace engineer ;)

Well, 4 if you include the APU and the RAT. :)

Our choice was to bring CAD$ with us even though it probably cost us a bit extra getting them through Bank Of America's on-line service. While traveling, I would rather pay cash for smaller purchases and whenever possible I prefer paying in the host country currency.

Right on! It sort of frosts me when American tourists expect Canadians to accept US dollars. Yes they will, but I'm sure the ever-polite Canadians are grumbling inside. I wonder if the same tourists would accept Canadian dollars in their hometown?

FYI, Bank of America has a reciprocal agreement with Scotiabank in Canada. You can use any Scotiabank ATM in Canada or parts of the Caribbean free of fees. They have similar agreements with banks in a number of other countries...it's a bit difficult to find but it's on the B of A website.

Kenish, I to worked summer camp at White Point? My brother did as well.He was a director of some sort.. Does Mike Shaw ring a bell? Small world!

I'm not from SP, just ate at Papadakis a few times a year. (I grew up in Garden Grove).

So sorry to hear that Papdakis and Di Orio's are no more. They were great places! I loved to Greek dance at Papadakis (I am greek...so I know the 'steps').

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jan/29/local/la-me-papadakis29-2010jan29

There's a large and current thread on this board about San Pedro. The city is not unsafe at all; you're probably hearing about how it was decades ago. Yes it's a port city and pretty industrial but use the common sense you would in any city and you will be fine. The Crowne Plaza is frequently used by cruise passengers and there's a ton of info, reviews, and Priceline bidding strategies on this board.

You might check sister website http://www.tripadvisor.com for recommendations and reviews of hotels, restaurants, and things to do in San Pedro.

BTW, note the correct spelling of the city.

Yeah, you'll find CYCW on every $100 burger site. In fact I'd wager a guess that if you phoned to file a flight plan in western Canada and said "for a piece of pie" as your destination, they'd file CYCW.

 

If you make downtown in time for lunch, or a beer after work, let me know, and I could drag you out somewhere unusual.... just let me know your email addy, and we can trade info.

My addy is kenish01 (at) gmail. Send me an email so I can give you more detail.