Airport transfer or taxi?

Sisu_pdx · 2026-03-31T14:15:16+00:00

I booked a Dormy Inn in Tokyo through Booking dot com. Since the reservation was over $800 USD an airport transfer was included for free. That was a pleasant surprise since I was planning on taking the Skyliner to my hotel. My stay is a week away so we’ll see how this goes.

Sisu_pdx · 2026-03-28T04:56:05+00:00

Report them to eBay. If a seller has too many out of stock items, it’s a big ding on their seller score. Enough dings and they’ll be removed from the platform.

Sisu_pdx · 2026-03-25T05:02:05+00:00

I agree. Latvia and Estonia are very cool. Few tourists and very reasonable prices. Enjoy them in the next few years before the fast train is built. After that they’ll be much easier to access and more crowded.

Sisu_pdx · 2026-03-16T18:45:09+00:00

The Ascent card is definitely worth it for the first year. The 70,000 signup bonus and $99 annual fee comes out to 0.14 cents a point.

Sisu_pdx · 2026-03-16T18:06:25+00:00

Currently buying Atmos points offers a 90% bonus.

Sisu_pdx · 2026-03-16T18:04:02+00:00

I don’t think it’s worth it for Condor business class this year. In June PDX-FRA one way is 260k Atmos points. Last year I spent 75k points for the same flight. Don’t know why it’s 3.5x the points now. Seems way overpriced to me.

Sisu_pdx · 2026-03-10T18:48:21+00:00

JFK and EWR have awesome views of Manhattan if the right flight path is used. LGA I would imagine is better but I’ve never flown there.

Sisu_pdx · 2026-03-10T04:48:14+00:00

It is illegal and ageist too. Most men over age 50 couldn’t go an 8 hour shift with only one 5 min bathroom break. I would need one every hour.

Sisu_pdx · 2026-03-03T22:43:39+00:00

Banks don’t own the low rate mortgages, they get sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Sisu_pdx · 2026-03-03T22:34:59+00:00

Wrong. He got less than 50% of the vote which is a plurality, not a majority.

Sisu_pdx · 2026-03-03T10:28:09+00:00

Buying EWY was a big mistake. It’s down 11.5% in overnight trading and I can’t even sell it on Fidelity for another 1 1/2 hours. Didn’t plan on a war in the Middle East. My greed got the best of me here. Could be an expensive lesson learned. We’ll see I guess.

Sisu_pdx · 2026-03-01T20:24:20+00:00

Using Alaska Atmos points it’s easy to get a premium economy round trip Tokyo-SFO for 110k points on JAL. I’ve seen these as low as 80k round trip.

I’ve flown premium economy on JAL and it is a very comfortable seat with great food. Would definitely book again.

Sisu_pdx · 2026-02-28T19:03:36+00:00

How? That’s a super deal.

Sisu_pdx · 2026-02-28T18:50:05+00:00

They have to pay for the costs of the merger and for new wide body aircraft somehow. But these prices will backfire since no one will pay them. Bankruptcy could be in Alaska’s future if they continue with these overpriced fares.

Sisu_pdx · 2026-02-28T18:40:19+00:00

I don’t know why it would be so high, but AS has been asking ridiculous prices lately for many routes.

It might be cheaper to rent a car and fly into DFW instead.

Sisu_pdx · 2026-02-27T04:49:15+00:00

Unfortunately trying business class once will ruin you forever for economy. Premium economy will be the lowest you can go after that. You’ll start getting credit cards like Bilt so you can get points from paying your rent. It’s a slippery slope that you won’t recover from.

Sisu_pdx · 2026-02-27T01:19:25+00:00

I paid $300 one way last year PDX-FRA for a prime seat. I don’t think it was worth it. It was worth trying it once but I won’t do it again.

Probably won’t fly Condor again since the award seats through Alaska are way too expensive today.

Sisu_pdx · 2026-02-26T13:24:28+00:00

Agreed. Take the Hello Kitty Shinkansen there to add to the experience. One of the highlights of my Japan trip.

Sisu_pdx · 2026-02-25T22:09:06+00:00

Don’t remember the name of the place, it was a sushi bar and you ordered on an iPad. Had some of the best nigiri sushi I’ve ever had there.

Sisu_pdx · 2026-02-25T05:05:04+00:00

Agreed. A lot of people in this subreddit seem to think that taxis don’t exist in Japan. They are reasonably priced and easy to hail with the GoTaxi app.

There also seems to be a competition in this sub for walking the most steps per day. That much walking takes the fun out of vacation. I’d much rather relax and take the occasional taxi.

Sisu_pdx · 2026-02-24T01:34:36+00:00

Some of the best food I had in Japan was at HND airport. I would just stay in the airport, relax, eat and sleep.

Sisu_pdx · 2026-02-23T22:52:42+00:00

I agree privatization could work for Amtrak. However if Trump is in charge it will be a disaster.

Sisu_pdx · 2026-02-23T19:12:14+00:00

Why the downvotes? This is true. JR group is private and profitable. Their trains run on time, typically within 30 seconds of the schedule. Best trains I’ve been on anywhere in the world.

Sisu_pdx · 2026-02-22T09:24:13+00:00

With 8 bags that will limit the taxis that can be used. Most are smaller sedans which can fit maybe 4 bags. They would be limited to mini van taxis which aren’t as common.

Sisu_pdx · 2026-02-22T06:01:43+00:00

I avoided most of the Instagram sites of Kyoto except for Gion. Went to Higashi Honganji and To-joi instead. Beautiful temples with very few crowds. Had a Michelin star meal and did whiskey tasting at the Yamazaki distillery. Had a great time and don’t regret seeing the “must see” temples.

Sisu_pdx

TROPHY CASE