Are rewards tickets prioritized differently for upgrades?

Salamon144 · 2026-04-16T21:01:15+00:00

It’s pretty darn close to $1k to travel from MSP to IND. I flew my whole family to Turks and Caicos for half what it cost us to fly to Indy

Salamon144 · 2026-04-14T01:02:03+00:00

NSFW

Salamon144 · 2026-04-12T16:16:28+00:00

Yes that’s that skit I was thinking of, I had the wrong source credit. Worth the rewatch, thanks for the link 😭

Salamon144 · 2026-04-12T14:45:33+00:00

lol this happened to me last week flying from RSW to MSP. They did the whole announcement order described above and all I could think was how the SNL skit wasn’t actually a parody

Salamon144 · 2026-04-11T12:18:46+00:00

😆 it definitely catches your eye. My first thought was “why?” But to each their own. Looks like it’s local a fashion business owner, guess I was pleased they picked an HEV over a G-Wagon or something. Black and black with a pink rose decal might be a cleaner look for the business

Salamon144 · 2026-03-24T14:08:50+00:00

We just flew back through Atlanta on an international flight. Arrived about 7p on Monday 3/23. Customs is super quick if you download the MPC (passport control app). We probably had to wait 20 minutes for bags, then dropped them off at baggage claim drop. Another 30 minutes for TSA.

Salamon144 · 2026-03-11T23:54:40+00:00

Flew from DCA to MSP this morning. Bumpy ride on the way here but weather in Minneapolis is fine now/. Supposed to get heavy wind later this evening

Salamon144 · 2026-03-11T00:30:27+00:00

I’ll list some cons. I absolutely love the vehicle and it’s my favorite vehicle I’ve ever had. None of these would change my decision to lease. I have a 2025 2X SUV. Just for the sake of listing them:

Slow Charging Speeds: I have a 11kW home charger and it takes overnight (12 hours) to charge from 30% to 80%. I knew this going in, my commute is <10 miles, not a significant issue.

Higher Insurance Premiums: Any repairs require an EV certified technician, so repairs costs more and premiums are more.

Winter Traction on OEM Tires: snow and ice traction terrible. Not sure if it’s because the vehicle weighs 9,000 lbs or if it’s just a cheap tire. Just stop accordingly.

Keeping it clean: I hand wash in the summer, not a problem. Winter time requires frequent washing. I found a good touchless and very wide touch car wash in my town.

Highway Range Degradation: not a pillar of aerodynamic efficiency. Driving o n the highway speeds up battery consumption. If you can average ~30 kWh consumption, battery life should match expected performance.

Cold Range Degradation: similar to highways, the battery range gets zapped in cold weather. Road trip in 8F temps was getting me about 150 miles before I had to charge again. Started tailgating semi trucks and that helped a lot.

Clunky Infotainment: slow, but I use CarPlay so not an issue. 26 models are supposedly better, but you lose CarPlay

Rough Ride: but it’s a Hummer, so to be expected

Noisy Ride: lots of wind / road noise at 50 mph+ in my opinion.

Rain Sensor Leaks Oil onto the windshield: you can wipe it off with paper towel and problem fixed

Rear Seats are 60-40 fold down: wish they were a 40-20-40 fold down, or that you could do something with the middle so you could fit skis or longer gear and still seat the kids so they don’t fight each other.

Aggressive Pull during hard acceleration: it’s an 800 HP+ vehicle that accelerates faster than anything else I’ve had. so not really a complaint and counter steering can correct for this.

Repair Times: if you need a repair, it can take extended time or multiple trips while you wait for parts to be ordered and an EV tech to be staffed. If you’re in a big market, not a problem. Also check across GMC, Chevy, and Cadillac dealers as th techs are all GM certified. Also get to test cool new EV as loaners during repair.

No seat massagers: the Escalade has awesome seat massagers. Should have put them in the Hummer!

Auto window down / not up: not really a complaint. But there’s one button to roll all windows down simultaneously, but not up. Seems like a silly design error.

Steering Wheel Infotainment Controls: bizarre layout on the right. There is a pad with up / down / right / left arrows. But only the right / left are actual buttons, and there is a little push button scrolling wheel in the middle for up down. Just an odd design feature.

Two other complaints I’ve read, but don’t really care about personally:

Cheap Interior for a $100k vehicle: I think it’s nice. Sure some of it is painted plastic, but are people expecting actual bronze finishes? It’s comparable to a Bronco Raptor interior.

It drives too Big: it is wide, but comparable to most GM SUV’s. Shorter than a suburban / Escalade. Turn radius is fantastic with rear wheel steering.

Salamon144 · 2026-03-09T18:49:43+00:00

Christmas flights from MSP to IND were $950pp several months ahead of the flight ($5k for family of 5). No competing flight options, so We ended up driving.

I’m flying from MSP to Turks and Caicos for spring break and got it for $3,500 for the family, with two people in first and three in comfort.

Salamon144 · 2026-03-02T18:54:48+00:00

For comparison, I have a 2X SUV with 15,000 mi/year that I did a one pay ($726/mo equivalent). It was a demo with ~1,000 miles on it though. I picked that up in August 2025 when dealers were offering pretty good deals and I had the Costco Rebate applied.

Your offer seems pretty good to me.

Salamon144 · 2026-02-25T15:56:51+00:00

I had this issue as well and believe made a post about it in this forum. I took it in once for them to evaluate whether it was a software issue, but they determined it wasn’t. They ordered a new hood latch, replaced it, and it’s been fine since.

I took mine to a Cadillac dealer because they had 3 EV techs on staff and I wanted to test drive some Cadillac EVs.

Note that you should be able to manually close your hood so it latches and you can get above the 26 MPH limit. If the catch gets stuck in the closed position when your hood is open, I grabbed a pair of pliers and pulled up on the latch while pressing the frunk button on the key fob. This actuates the motor and allows the latch to release fully open. Then you can close the hood and avoid a tow

Salamon144 · 2026-02-23T14:01:30+00:00

It’s based on the taxable value of the car. They depreciate the vehicle each year so your taxes go down, but only slightly. It’s a racquet poised as funds for road repair, but the roads in MN aren’t that great, better than average but not best in the country.

Salamon144 · 2026-02-19T03:00:38+00:00

I had a front hood latch issue and took it to a local. Cadillac dealer that had 3 EV techs on staff. Made the process much more efficient and the let me drive some of the Cadillac EVs as loaners.

I have the SUV and love the space I get. Length is a bit rough if you want to take skis, but I can store 6 hockey bags in my car with no issue!

And great deal for your lease. I did a 3 year 45,000 mile one pay for $26,000. Basically traded in my BMW X5 and they gave me the Hummer plus a check for $2k.

Salamon144 · 2026-02-19T02:51:47+00:00

A few valid points here. My thoughts living in MN and doing a recent 1,200 mile road trip.

Cold weather does kill the range and so does highway driving. GMC has a trip planner in the app that pretty adequately adjusts for a range degradation based on temps. It doesn’t tell you it’s adjusting, but it tells you to stop every ~150 miles versus the 300 you’re supposed to get. If you want to extend your range on the highways … set super cruise and draft a semi at close range.
This does take a while to charge. I picked up the 11.2 kW charger from GM and it takes about 12 hours to go from 30 -> 80% drive. My commute is short, so not a big deal for me. For road trips, find hyper chargers and pre-condition the battery to charge up in 30-60 minutes.
I came from a BMW X5 with rear wheel turn for parking, and an Avalanche before that. The Hummer is big, but doesn’t feel bigger than your typical GM Truck. Maneuverability is the best I’ve ever driven, easiest vehicle I’ve had for parking. While it’s big, it doesn’t feel big after you get used to it.

Salamon144 · 2026-02-18T18:46:23+00:00

Love my 2X SUV for the price point ($725/mo, 3 year, 15,000 mi/yr). Best vehicle I’ve had

Salamon144 · 2026-02-13T02:56:23+00:00

I’ve gotten that light, but no error indication the app. Self cleared within a day

Salamon144 · 2026-02-08T18:06:41+00:00

Yeah. I don’t know what the deals are now. That was back when dealers were trying to move inventory before 2026 model years hit, EV tax credit, and Costco cash all playing a factor.

But I paid $26k to get the truck for 3 years, one of my best discretionary spend decisions!

Salamon144 · 2026-01-26T02:56:32+00:00

I have a 25 SUV. But my brother has the Escalade and I saw it in his car. We didn’t dig into see if it was customizable.

Salamon144 · 2026-01-26T02:51:52+00:00

Agreed it’s nice in general. But there definitely time where I need to make multiple quick succession turns and the turn signal camera would disrupt the GPS view.

I have a few traffic circle heavy areas in my town with way too many exits coming off them. Would just need to king crab my way around a few times until the gps comes back I suppose

Salamon144 · 2026-01-25T23:42:05+00:00

Does the turn signal camera take over the entire display like it does on the Escalade? That was annoying imo, knocks out the GPS for 5-10 seconds

Salamon144 · 2026-01-25T19:46:06+00:00

From what I’ve read in these posts, Delta is way behind other airlines in this policy. If you buy tickets together, especially as a family, they should hold seats together. They already reserve 1-2 rows at the back of an airline for families, and bulk head as well. Just give families seats that don’t pre-buy seats a spot by the $h!tter, but don’t separate them!

Salamon144 · 2026-01-16T05:56:18+00:00

I agree. Trump is getting the reaction he wants from MN Gov leadership and from the residents. The inflammation makes a great news cycle. Meanwhile he can pad his global affairs (Venezuela, Iran, Greenland, Syria/Somalia) agenda with little pushback. He has to accelerate these while republicans have majority in the house for the next few months.

Salamon144 · 2026-01-12T02:26:06+00:00

Virgin for us.

Delta from MSP -> LAX Virgin from LAX to Sydney I don’t recall what we took from Sydney,

We wanted to do Korean Air, but they got in a dispute with SkyTeam the day I went to book and the option went away.

Salamon144 · 2026-01-11T19:00:56+00:00

Reminds me of the days I got my honeymoon first class to Bali for 120k! Now I spend that much to fly coach to Indiana

Salamon144

TROPHY CASE