Sailfast

Sorry, to the OP, but you put your advert here so I suppose it's open to opinions... I watched the video and thought...hmm for the right price maybe I'll check it out next time I'm in town.... then I read the price, I've stayed in much bigger rooms with things like big jacuzzi tubs for much less. On top of the prices, you have to pay extra for the maid service. I agree with others, the RG has a lot to offer for less. Again, sorry...

Thanks for posting that Shilo, I could only find the preview on Youtube. Your link worked fine that first night, but when I tried searching, it hadn't shown up yet. Now today I searched and found it straight away... Strange time space thingie?

I think it's friggen brilliant. Brilliant no one was killed or at least set ablaze. Brilliant the landscape was not set ablaze. Brilliant it went up as planned. Brilliant the shute deployed. Thanks for sharing the video!

Hey, hey, now, no spoilers! Some of us have to wait for the youtube version. :)

Coming from someone stuck in hell that has frozen over for at least the next month or so, I found it amusing enough to keep me watching. Just hearing a Thaigirl accent or catching a glimpse of the world outside the airport is enough :)

I need to be in England and Asia in the next couple of months. JFK - England is around US$1250 JFK - HKG or BKK is around US$800 I don't get it, but it is what it is... I'll probably end up doing a multi stop ticket, make it all one trip and save some time, even though it will probably cost more money.

I disagree, with all due respect. It was not a gamble, it was sheer stupidity in the heat of the moment. The pressure is immense but he does not get a pass, he's a pro. One does not gamble on second down and a few feet to the win. They had a couple more chances and they pissed them down the shitter with an immature call. That poor fucker will wake up at 3 am at least once a week for the rest of his life regretting that call :)

Makes me feel for the first responders. Poor cops, firemen and paramedics, imagine having to go home and sleep after that days work.

Glad to hear you are still off the cigs. I should be around in a few weeks. ...If all goes according to plan....

I keep thinking back to those funny US Direct TV adverts about the Russian dude and all his excesses, like the tiny giraffe and the guy doing his workout for him.

Kind of funny that the Ruble is about to tank and no one outside of Russia seems to care or think it will effect other major economies...at least not here in the US media that I have read or seen. One minute you are waxing your Bentley with caviar, the next...

I don't see any evidence of gutting or illegality by those in question. For the average traveler, booking in advance is how one gets FF award flights, always has been. The mythical "upgrade just because there is room up there" has been reserved for business travelers with high miles on that particular airline since as long as I have been around. My old man is in his 70's and still traveling internationally as a contractor. Back in the "old days" he was a Delta million mile, top 5% of their customers, they gave him anything. But no other airline cared unless he had miles with that particular airline. Now every airline needs an alliance to share expenses with because they would rather give you miles to change mortgage companies, buy wine every month or open more credit cards. If anything has changed the awards system it is awards credit cards and getting emails every day to buy this or that for xxx $$/mile. Opening a Chase United business, personal and explorer card will get you enough miles for a saver award, first class, anyplace. Float hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars in business expenses will get you a lot more, without ever stepping on a plane. What it won't do is get you the upgrades and favoritism that serious business travelers get. I have a small, very, very small side business. This month, so far, I have wracked up nearly 11K in miles, all in legitimate expenses. That's a lot of domestic air miles for the average business traveler who might fly domestic six times a month. Credit cards and related financial awards are why these folks don't get the upgrades they used to. And even more to the point, I rarely carry a balance on these cards so the banks make the same from me if I was 'scamming' 11K miles a month or purchasing things. They make the fees either way. Don't you wish you could make 2% on your money every time you loaned someone money for 30 days or less? Then charge the people on the other end 2% per month plus fees for carrying a balance? Hell I'd be buying people first class tickets too! :) Anyway, it's an interesting conversation...

Joeaf, Yea I read about the "pudding guy" Brilliant. The US government $1 coin promotion is the one that still cracks me up. Buying US currency with a credit card and having it shipped to you for free...who would have thought anyone would try some scams with that...lol

I've spent a couple of days perusing Flyertalk and doing some real life research. Over at FT they are creative, to say the least, and the gist is that my method might work, could create some red flags with the IRS but is definitely not illegal. What I learned is that with some time on my hands this winter, some expendable income to float around, I'll be flying in a first class suite again soon enough. I would note that I could also get a part time job that paid a middle class salary and get the same results by paying cash but that would be boring. Quoting Paul Newman in one of my favorite movies of all time, The Color of Money.... "Money won is twice as sweet as money earned" I'll be sure to PM Evil if they put me in a labor camp. :)

There is a famous event were the US Government was selling US dollar coins at face dollar with free shipping, payable by credit card. Kind folks wracked up millions and millions of miles buying the coins and depositing them in their bank and paying off the charges.

Martin & LBJ, Anyone who has a paypal account can rack up miles by attaching a credit card to that account. The fees associated with paypal, prohibit the financial side of this to work. There are so many upstart companies that offer scanning hardware for you smartphone with financial software that charge very low fees to make charges. Just charge your own personal card and then pay off the balance with the funds. Evil, I'm pretty well versed in FinCen, the bank secrecy act, the patriot act, suspicious activities reporting. I do some of this reporting on a regular basis. I may in fact raise some suspicion if it ever got that far. However, I am not convinced what I am proposing is anything close to felony fraud or even illegal. The could they freeze my miles and/or close my accounts completely and report me to any one of several federal agencies. Nothing much would come of it I'm afraid. Since I am paying all fees to the credit card company issuing the miles, I'd like to see some evidence to support your theory that it's felony fraud. I looked and could find none, but of course it could be there. i did find lots of evidence of airlines freezing accounts, but none were law enforcement got involved. Sail

I'll PM you... Hope you understand I was just joking about the morality police bit... all in good fun!

Your not going to turn me over to the airline morality police are you? :) (just kidding) I fly out of JFK in the winter. Sometimes to BKK, other times to HKG for a stint in Macau. Last year I flew into Manila and out of BKK.

Evil, Just about anyone can except credit cards with a smart phone and the fees are bargain basement now as there is so much competition. I was actually referring to the idea that one might open an account, charge their own credit card, then pay off the balance in full. Now, obviously, I'm purchasing nothing, but, the credit card company makes exactly the same amount either way. For example, I use my airline cards for just about everything but carry little to no balance on them. I do pay the yearly fee and the credit card company makes money off the merchant through the fees they charge them. If I do make a huge purchase that I cannot pay off in cash, I use money from other sources or even equity lines off property I own. The credit card companies "gamble" that I'll pay ridiculous interest rates by spending more than I can afford and carrying a large balance in exchange for the carrot at the end of the stick that are ff miles. In effect, they hope I'm stupid. I have to plan my trips far in advance so I'm able to book my awards tickets as soon as the airline posts them (approx. 330 days advance). I get first dips on "saver" business class awards that have been in the 130K mile range. Last year I traveled Asiana first class suite one way and business class on ANA return for 135K miles. I think "fraud" might be a strong word here. As fraud pertains to criminal activity, and although what I'm discussing may or may not go against credit card "rules", it would certainly not be considered it criminal. My partner and I also lived, more or less for free, at one of the biggest casinos in the world 20-25 nights a month for over three years using methods that might be considered devious by some, but certainly not illegal or even immoral. They no longer do business with me but the staff misses us and our propensity to over tip. :)

I did a search, but couldn't find anything here that may have covered this before so, here goes; Has anyone ever tried producing frequent flier miles by signing up for an account that accepts credit card payments and charging their own credit card to produce miles? There are services that charge as low as 1% - to accept payment via credit card. According to my super-advanced calculations, 100,000 miles can be racked up with a fee of $1000 . Purchasing 100,000 miles from United costs $3700 A 'saver' business class ticket from the US to Asia should, with plenty of advance booking, cost less than 200,000 miles. or $2000 plus some fees. As long as the balance is paid in full by the next billing cycle, is there a downside to this, besides the fact that it's sort of immoral, but probably not at all illegal? What am I missing? p.s. I'd never try this sort of tactic with a local merchant or any type of mid sized business. Airlines, credit card companies, big banks can all blow me. Raise your hand if you have never been fucked over by an airline or bank... OK, settle down then. :)

Is it Pooh... or Winnie the pooh or? I can't remember her name but she's a big un... That just seems so... I'm at a loss for words here. That being said, to each their own and good luck to her. Hell, maybe her skills are as good as her personality behind the bar.

I can't comment on Metro, but to be more specific, I stayed at Destiny. Above a GOGO... Now that was loud. As a bonus you get the clopclopclop of dancer shoes on the tile hallway as their changing room was two doors down from mine.

That's why it's called a muff. I like two muffs at the same time. Ear muffs.

I stayed there last March. It is loud. The music and street sounds go until 4 AM, then noise of the locals doing their thing starts up by 7 AM. I had a blast staying there, but it's not for the light sleeper. Rooms with windows facing the street should be reserved for the undead and hard core mongers.

Another masterpiece. Thanks Monkey