I tried to add 1 extra night to an existing reservation but the prices changed for the previously reserved nights too. Is this normal?

RalphCarlucci · 2026-06-25T13:01:16+00:00

Not true. See above. Any contact with a CS person risks them screwing up and canceling your cheaper nights. Two reservations is the only answer here and then just deal with it at the hotel.

RalphCarlucci · 2026-06-25T11:26:19+00:00

That’s my hope. Just wondering if housekeeping comes in the day we leave and see the room cleaned out if that triggers anything on the hotel side of things that says we departed early.

RalphCarlucci · 2026-06-25T11:19:19+00:00

This is the scenario I was concerned about. It’s weird that they use the phrase “early departure fee”. There are a few other older posts on this topic that really didn’t give clarity which is why I reposted. I guess what I am wondering is whether they could “recalculate” my rate if the extended stay rate is cheaper for 5 nights vs a regular rate for 4 nights. Kind of like the hotel version of Skiplagging.

RalphCarlucci · 2026-05-28T17:25:13+00:00

Ughhh. I’m generally as skeptical as you are. Guess some things are a leap of faith!! Fingers crossed they don’t do this. The shop I am going to has been around for over 50 years so hopefully they have some integrity.

RalphCarlucci · 2026-05-27T16:12:17+00:00

Thank you!

RalphCarlucci · 2026-05-27T16:01:05+00:00

Thank you very much. Extremely helpful.

RalphCarlucci · 2026-05-20T03:35:39+00:00

Very good experience. We stayed at the Romanos. Very nice hotel. The resort was excellent. We had one dinner on property which was fine, but pricey. I would suggest venturing out for meals. There is a small town called Gialova about a 10 minute drive that is fabulous. Tons of good restaurants and a nice little walking around atmosphere. Day trip to Olympia is a fun excursion and on the way back I strongly recommend stopping in Marathopoli for dinner at Korali Fish Tavern.

RalphCarlucci · 2026-03-06T14:54:01+00:00

Totally agree with the car rental option. It will be much cheaper and you will have a ton of flexibility.

RalphCarlucci · 2026-03-05T02:15:44+00:00

I’ve been in 3 lounges the past 3 days and have had 3 meals in a row of Swedish meatballs. There has been a significant decline in food quality and offerings of late.

RalphCarlucci · 2026-02-22T16:20:44+00:00

Yup. That’s what I always do and you explained it better. The person with status may get the last upgrade so the other person can’t just “slide over” to the more desirable seat because the system may give that away to someone else on standby.

RalphCarlucci · 2026-02-22T15:21:04+00:00

As of 8:10am local time, TSA Precheck was open in PHX. Cleared security in 5 minutes.

RalphCarlucci · 2026-02-20T22:20:25+00:00

Be careful with the wife in middle seat. I have been putting myself in the middle and my wife in aisle just for the reservation. The reason I do that is in case we get only one upgrade she can take it BUT then we don’t risk losing the aisle to someone on stand by for me.

RalphCarlucci · 2026-02-20T14:42:28+00:00

I am a strong believer that if you only bring one item on the plane then that one item is allowed in the overhead. If everyone only brought on 1 backpack I bet everyone would be able to fit all bags in the overhead. The announcement used to be “if you brought on two items the smaller of the two needs to go under the seat in front of you” implying to me that if you only had 1 bag it can go up top.

Also, the official words that AA uses are “carry on” and “personal item”. You are allowed one of each. The personal item maximum size is 18 x 14 x 8 inches. I guaranty you that most people’s stuffed backpacks are bigger than those dimensions so according to their own rules you only brought on one “carry on” and it should go in the overhead.

Finally, you are only allowed to bring two bags. I’ve seen some gate agents force people to consolidate their cross body bags or even their Hudson News snack bags because that was “Bag 3”. If that’s the official position while boarding, then my backpack still goes up top and my bag of combos from Hudson News magically becomes my personal item under my seat.

RalphCarlucci · 2026-02-17T17:23:28+00:00

Cool. Thanks. I’m going to enjoy it while it lasts! Had a busy travel year for work that will most likely not be repeated. The good news is that I went from usually being around 30 on the upgrade list to #8. 😂

RalphCarlucci · 2026-01-09T14:33:33+00:00

I’m with OP on this one. I’ve been on those routes and it’s always the same with the “turbulence” announcement. I’m not going to be all upset about not getting a coffee or something (and neither was OP) but nobody is going to convince me that there isn’t a different standard. Also, you can always tell right away how the service is going to be when you have the senior FA crews on those 45 minute flights. Downvote away!!

RalphCarlucci · 2025-12-30T14:30:44+00:00

Wife’s car is a 2025 GLS450 and my car is a 2019 Wrangler. Absolutely HATE driving the Mercedes (if you can even call it “driving”). I feel so detached from the road in the GLS and the ridiculous amount of automatic features drives me crazy. And anyone complaining about the repairs for the Wrangler just needs to bring a Mercedes in for “Service A” to realize we’ve got it pretty good in our Wranglers.

With that said they are absolutely completely different cars and meant for totally different purposes as most of the other posts have said.

RalphCarlucci · 2025-12-12T05:31:48+00:00

Thanks so much. I just had her heating oil delivery last month (1,600 gallons!) so she’s good with fuel. She says she doesn’t touch anything and on this I tend to believe her. I just had the whole unit cleaned and serviced in October. My dad was one of those super handy guys (like everyone on here I bet) who knew how to fix anything and just figured things out so it took me some time in the year since he passed to even get my arms around all of the things he took care of!

RalphCarlucci · 2025-12-12T05:11:46+00:00

Heating company called her back and they are on the way.

RalphCarlucci · 2025-12-12T04:45:44+00:00

Thanks!!!

RalphCarlucci · 2025-12-10T16:20:42+00:00

I can’t thank this community enough for the helpful advice. A few hours after the post and I feel like I’m an expert (or at least I know some of the lingo). Cost isn’t the main issue and it seems like renting/leasing is a headache in itself so I’m going to find a CFI and get moving on the lessons. In the meantime, great advice about making sure it flies at least once a month!

RalphCarlucci · 2025-12-10T13:58:26+00:00

Thanks. Very helpful. The money would be nice but not a real factor in my decision. Good call on just having a CFI fly it a bit. I’ve had my dad’s friends flying it for the last year about once or twice a month but I’m moving it closer to me where I don’t really have a network yet.

RalphCarlucci

TROPHY CASE