joeaf

In July, I cancelled my planned Oct 2020 trip, and I started replanning for 2021, but now I am rethinking that decision. I am 69, diabetic, and cautious and I will not travel internationally until there is a vaccine. The following 10/7/2020 Fodor’s Travel article is making me rethink my future travel plans based upon the various opinions until 2022 and beyond. https://www.fodors.com/news/coronavirus/what-international-travel-may-not-resume-until-when?utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign= Fodor’sTravel | Blake Snow | October 7, 2020 What?! International Travel May Not Resu

I retired at age 60 after 37.5 yrs with the US govt. After my first trip to Thailand in 1999, I found something better to do than working. My pension provides me financial security for the rest of my life and I am very happy to be retired with NO regrets. I enjoy my retired life by: taking classes, working on home projects, shopping online, watching YouTube videos, exercising, traveling to Thailand and Japan.

I need PC speakers too and I have decided to replace them with Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 Computer speakers which lists on their website at $129 for the set. https://www.klipsch.com/computer-speakers I had an old 6.1 Cambridge Soundworks Megaworks THX 650 speaker system but it stopped working. I read that many speakers fail because of bad/cheap/blown capacitors and the glue they used degrades and becomes conductive. I tried replacing the capacitors and removing the degraded glue but that failed. https://forum.lowyat.net/topic/2873671/all I would avoid used speakers from ebay because of t

Spam is quite popular in Hawaii where according to your Wikipedia article, Hawaii residents have the highest per capita consumption of spam in the US. In Hawaii, you can get spam & eggs at McDonald’s and Burger King. Spam musubi is a popular native dish where cooked spam is placed atop rice and wrapped in a band of seaweed. Watch out since spam is so popular there, its often referred to as “The Hawaiian Steak.”

That construction behind the Sky Fitness gym and Blue Ocean pool is not part of Areca Lodge. It is the Centara Avenue Residence & Suites Pattaya built by the Tulip Group, a combination hotel/condo. The Tulip Group is building another larger hotel/condo project (Golden Tulip Hotel & Residence) across the street on Soi 15 when you exit the Evergreen wing side.

An impressive sight is all the floating lanterns lighting up the night sky launched from Beach Rd in front of Central Festival mall. You might want to launch one yourself, but it can be tricky if you let it go too early. From the rooftop bar on the 34th floor of the Hilton hotel offers an excellent view of the all the floating lanterns, but be warned, drinks are pricy w/17% added to the bill, e.g. Pattaya Sling specialty drink (wine mixture) 420bt=357bt+63bt.

Partly true, FF programs have gutted and increased the mileage requirement for award tickets, but the quality of the “comfy ride” sections has significantly improved. When I took my first award trip to Thailand on UA, the comfy bus class section from DCA-ORD-NRT-BKK in 1999, it cost me 90k FF miles w/seats reclining about 150 degrees, whereas today it will cost you 160k UA FF miles but you get a fully flat seat/bed in the comfy section. But AA program is still a bargain since it cost 110k for a bus award ticket and 135k for FC using partner Cathay to fly US-Thailand, But even if one does

FlyerTalk FFs are creative but they usually look for a cheaper way, and your scheme is “small potatoes” compared to other bigger schemes/loopholes that generate millions of FF miles. The only scheme I read about that drew the attention of the US govt was the “baht run” discussed in the link below. One bigger loophole that lasted for years was the pin based (not signature) debit card and it did not draw the attention of the IRS. In the 2000s, one could use a pin based debit card to rack up 100K miles for $125 or $46 by making money order (MO) purchases. Back then, a $1000 money order pur

I stayed at April Suites Nov 5-18, 2013 and paid 1550 baht/night for a standard room w/o breakfast. I was satisfied with the accommodations, Wi-Fi, pool, and hotel staff. The April Suites rooms are smaller but large enough to include a sofa, a small balcony, and a large refrigerator (4 foot tall), which they do not stock with any mini bar type items. April Suites has a rooftop pool while the pool at August Suites is on the second floor. The fitness room at April Suites is very small with limited equipment (1 treadmill, no bike, exercise station) and is very hot since it has no has no AC

Noise was not a problem on the back side. I stayed at PBR for 7 nights from 29Oct-5Nov 2013. My room was a standard room on the back side (#204) away from the front side construction, so noise was not a problem. On several nights, I noted construction going on until about 9.00pm.

Not all airline frequent flyer (FF) miles programs are the same. Watch out for the added items ie + taxes, fees, and carrier charges. When flying on British Airways (BA) metal, the fuel surcharges can be very high. The $70 in fees previously mentioned is right, but not on BA metal. See example of how high these fuel surcharges can be in the link below. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/american-aadvantage/1347804-help-understanding-ba-fuel-surcharge-yq-aa-award-ba-9.html Post #243_Last night I got on the the AA site to check/book 2 R/T Mile Saver Bus seats from JFK/LHR for next July

The shower facilities cost $3 for 30 minutes and they accept US dollars. The shower room is small and they provide the towels and amenities. I have used the shower facilities twice, and it was worth the price after a long flight.