DD sent hers in at the end of August. Check cleared immediately. She needs it by the last week in November. Hope it gets here.
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All govt employees received pay for time they werenāt at work. was at an agency that worked right on through, and our pay and deductions went on as normal. If we needed to take leave, we did.
@thumper1 two of my kids applied for new passports the first week of August (not renewals as their passports were from before they turned 16 so they needed ānewā ones). I did not expedite them, but I did pay for priority return shipping with tracking info. We got their passports last Friday, just over 7 weeks after the applications were sent in. We were told to expect 10-13 weeks turnaround so I was pleasantly surprised.
Hopefully since your kid paid for expedited processing, it will come soon.
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My brother is going on a tour in Nov., and the travel agency noticed his passport was expiring (not enough time left on it to travel) so he had to apply, through them, for a new one. I think he sent it in mid Sept, and the agency seemed to think it would be fine (with expedited). I told him to just wait until 2 weeks before travel and apply for an emergency one, but travel agency said to do it this way.
Yep, a lot of anger at Delta. Not sure what the Delta executives actually thought was going to happen when they let people roll their status over for a couple of years with no MQM deduction. Of course they will have far too many elite status folk. Itās like these idiots canāt think one minute ahead. And of course people will be angry when they change the rules quickly. Maybe they should have consulted some actual Delta frequent fliers, because I really doubt that they did. Otherwise they wouldnāt be saying,āThis is what you asked for!ā And then had to say, āOops, too much, too fast. Sorry.ā
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Yeah, I looked at that offer from Alaska, seemed like a great deal to get their 100K status. But then I started thinking, do I really want another credit card? And if you arenāt going to fly on Alaska that much, why bother?
Alaska Airlines changed their Lounge access policy - used to be all first class passengers, now only if flying 2100 miles or more. Son lucked out when he flew from Seattle to Newark in June, but no more access when flying to see us.
Is there a generic lounge at BWI? We have (or maybe itās hadā¦I havenāt been in a while) an Escape Lounge that anyone could buy entrance to. I have a very long layover at BWI, and would be very willing to pay to sit in a lounge.
Yes, and you can buy day passes: https://www.bwiairport.com/at-bwi/places-to-go/lounge
Thank you!! I think this place @ BWI will see me!
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My son got his updated passport yesterday, after six weeks. He went through regular channels. Mine took five weeks. I received mine last month.
Oooh! I have a piece of cake next to my screen name today for my cc anniversary.
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Thatās pretty good. Took about 10-11 weeks to get mine renewed at the start of the year.
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I just asked DDā¦she paid for expedited, and expedited delivery. Applied at the beginning of August. Has it back! Has had it back for a few weeks, she says!
I can see Deltaās problem of being too successful in the rewards program and having to cut down.
One of the major cruise lines (Norwegian?) announced that they couldnāt honor all the perks on an upcoming transatlantic voyage because there are too many qualified people on the sailing. They canāt all get priority boarding, canāt all get priority seating in the dining room, canāt all use the suite lounges if they arenāt staying in suites, etc. They normally donāt have this issue, but transatlantic sailings tend to attract older people who have attained the higher status with the cruise line.
I would have said American slightly, but that may be because I have status (Emerald for Life on OW) that makes some problems go away. But, that may have changed in the last few years. I have a general sense that AA has become less customer-focused. United never was customer-focused, so unclear which is better at this point.
Iāve found JetBlue easier to deal with for domestic flights (to Florida, Charleston, SF). Recently took JB to London. But again, I have status so maybe that makes some problems go away.
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Weāve had good results with United. Wife is now a United Global Services member and things are pretty good with that. We just booked some vacation travel in Asia and we used miles for all our flights on United and Singapore Airlines.
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This can make a big difference, especially if you are at the level where you get to the top of the upgrade list. I have more status with United but hardly what others (ie, my boss!) have. At the top tiers, youāre quite well cared for. (Weāve traveled togetherā¦)
For those of us that are everyday precious metals level (gold), it matters very little, except for the award travel.
Ime, though, status still doesnāt do much if thereās a cancellation or interminable delay.
@gardenstategal, It helps sometimes with cancellations.
I was stuck in London when the volcano shut down air traffic from Europe. One of the folks I was with had been part of a conference of hedge fund and HNW investors on social investing. These folks were looking at all possible ways to get home. Train to Calais, boat, rental car, donkey etc. to get to Barcelona. BA would keep calling my travel agent telling me to stay put. I got a call one day from the travel agent saying BA says to be at the airport for the first flight tomorrow and I was in first class on the first flight out of London to get home. First class was less than half full and I asked if my friend could join me in the forward cabin. They said, āWe really arenāt supposed to but I donāt suppose it will be a problem today.ā Iām sure I got home faster than train/boat/donkey/car/plane from Barcelona folks.
In the old days, you could call the designated customer service line for elites and they would reschedule you while everyone else was still waiting in line, but I think there is no staffing on those lines anymore. this largely reflects the switch from valuing $$ spent rather than BIS miles.
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Yes this has been the best thing with BA and the separate phone line for top tier travelers is still good and empowered to do far more than the regular call center in India. You donāt get priority for upgrades (in fact sometimes the reverse), but they are great at accommodating changes due to circumstances beyond your control.
For example when spouseās father was terminally ill, they repeatedly switched flight dates at no charge (and Iām the gold member who booked the flights, spouse has no status). Likewise when my mother had an operation, and the hospital dates changed, they allowed me to switch return flights and break a through trip in the UK. All without even needing doctors letters etc.
Iāve also had good experiences with accommodating me during weather cancellations and air traffic control strikes, including no questions asked about covering hotel and meal costs (of my choice).
Yes, good clarification. I guess where I am coming from is that resources are all so tightly scheduled that when things go wrong, there simply isnāt a flight to be squeezrd onto. Top of a list that has no optionsā¦
And yes, I have been the friend who was moved from steerage to first under similar circumstances - great to have friends like you!