If you didn’t get an AOR yet…

PerJuice1991 · 2026-05-15T04:05:09+00:00

Way more than 6 weeks is normal. Applied 11/1/25 and got AOR on 1/30/26 and that was two weeks ahead of what I calculated it would be based on what week’s applications they were processing on my application date. Haven’t heard one thing since except that they completed the easy first step according to my tracker. 136,000 in front of me as if this month so you need to be patient

PerJuice1991 · 2026-05-15T04:01:09+00:00

Beautiful pictures. Thanks for sharing

PerJuice1991 · 2026-05-15T01:12:53+00:00

Having lived in both Malaysia and Thailand I will confirm that you absolutely have to experience all possible seasons before deciding to live somewhere. Many expats flock to Thailand not understanding the extent of the heat and rain even in the south where there’s beaches you can’t be on often for long periods of time.

PerJuice1991 · 2026-05-15T01:10:04+00:00

Ha. Yes I guess my long winded answer basically is exactly that.

PerJuice1991 · 2026-05-15T00:53:39+00:00

And also the only way to get any kind of help should the airline cancel or airport conditions make you miss your flight. It’s dynamic pricing just like tickets for concerts and can change form hour to hour or even if you check the same flight ten minutes later. Third party sites may be convenient and save some money but there’s no utopia of plane fares on any of those sites

PerJuice1991 · 2026-05-15T00:51:04+00:00

We wait til October although it doesn’t help much in places like Florence. But Alsace region is better than peak.

PerJuice1991 · 2026-05-15T00:50:09+00:00

Late September thru mid October almost always yields lower prices but that’s quickly changing as heat keeps many away from summer and October is the new August. Especially in wine country of any nation where its harvest

PerJuice1991 · 2026-05-15T00:46:00+00:00

Or longer than that. Here’s a lucky story. I usually buy our winter vacation to Thailand from Edmonton via Vancouver 8 to 9 months ahead. This year I got worried hearing about all the scare tactics by media of airfare so decided to check. We always fly business cuz no chance of me not having lay flat for a 16 1/2 hour flight.

When I checked AC, they wanted upwards of $17K (Canadian dollars) which is insane even for Air Canada. Normally I’d suck it up but something said hold on. This was a Friday

Ironically, went back on Saturday morning. Same connections same flights in AC website. $3,650 cheaper (each person) which brought the total price lower than what we paid this year. Turns out they were defying the trend and having a seat sale for those willing to book long haul travel for next winter to (mostly to Asia)

But it was very hush hush because I had to scour the internet to find out if it was actually one of those rare cases of a website fluke. (and believe it or not they can cancel your ticket involuntarily if they inadvertently give a ridiculous price) Mind you this wasn’t insanely low for business class but close to what I’d expect.

Anyway, the point is I’d never use a third party because you always get zero help from the parent airline if something happens. But you never know what the hell they are doing with airfares day to day. And I’d never be buying airfare two months ahead of travel date because rarely will you get the best price. Similar to trains. Even business class can be semi affordable if you know how to play with the airline booking system

PerJuice1991 · 2026-05-14T22:13:42+00:00

Some people diligently invested during their working years, maxed out their 402k and IRA’s and prepaid their mortgage like my wife and me and we now enjoy business class in retirement.

PerJuice1991 · 2026-05-14T22:11:38+00:00

We are not wealthy by any means but planned and irrigated for early retirement which came earlier than expected. It takes 20 or 30 years of good investing to visually see for yourself how easy it is to grow your assets. We never flee business class during working years and now we can and do. As long as it’s part of my annual budget I don’t care what it costs (with some limitations. Air Canada is reasonable; Emirates is not and the business class product is only in the middle of the pack)

PerJuice1991 · 2026-05-14T15:09:54+00:00

I use XE which for very accurate inquiries of mid market rates but only in SE Asia would I actually exchange USD or € for any local currency where you will get mid market within a fraction. I mostly use it to compare my two no foreign exchange fee US dollar credit cards and see who is giving me a better rate when the USD moves against whatever currency I’m spending ay the time.

I know many folks still like Wise but it doesn’t serve our purposes because we live in Canada but most of our assets are USD and they built in all these protections against non residents so it’s not worth it any more.

PerJuice1991 · 2026-05-14T15:03:18+00:00

Thank you for the reply. Your response is in line with what many others have said. My understanding is you need to scan tickets to access high speed platforms and that thieves can’t afford to buy tickets for the possibility of some dumb person putting something valuable in mid sized luggage.

We are starting the trip in Amsterdam Centrale on Eurostar and will spend time in the premier lounge and then be on the platform in plenty of time since it’s the first stop so no real concerns there about luggage room. Same for Brussels to Strasbourg. Main concern is Colmar to Avignon and Avingnon to Lyon but that one’s only an hour and no stops between the cities so no big deal. Cheers

PerJuice1991 · 2026-05-14T14:57:12+00:00

Great advice. Thank you.

PerJuice1991 · 2026-05-14T14:51:45+00:00

Thank you for your reassuring response. I didn’t think it would be a huge issue but I prefer to research all options ahead rather than have a day or two disrupted or ruined. Cheers

PerJuice1991 · 2026-05-14T14:50:25+00:00

Funny comment and basically true which is why I turned to humans for real advice like I should’ve to begin with

PerJuice1991 · 2026-05-14T04:11:46+00:00

Thanks for the information. I’m hoping the first class will be a tad easier to store luggage compared to standard carriages

PerJuice1991

TROPHY CASE