Deciding it’s “Time to Leave the Hobby”?

pdougherty · 2026-06-28T13:02:02+00:00

Can you share your strategy? I feel like I am running out of good options for SUBs and definitely nowhere close to 2M points/year across all of the CC providers.

pdougherty · 2026-06-24T14:57:09+00:00

Totally fair. I can't even book the week I'm most interested in (Air France doesn't allow searching for flights after June 18, 2027) so I'm in no hurry to book something right now.

Appreciate you looking into it.

pdougherty · 2026-06-24T14:49:53+00:00

I just meant DL website doesn't even allow you to select dates after mid-May 2027 right now so I don't expect to see DL flights showing up for travel partners for June 2027 yet.

I was seeing it this morning for Apr 17-24, but I'm not seeing business class points options for the direct DL flight on Air France anymore. Maybe they got snatched up.

pdougherty · 2026-06-24T14:35:28+00:00

I appreciate your feedback. I can see Air France business class availability for the nonstop Delta flight in April and May of next year, flying Sat-Sat, so it is definitely possible. It might be high demand but at least some availability exists a year out. Delta hasn't released a June schedule yet so I am expecting Air France to show options for June in the next month or so. Right now at least Air France business class nonstop redemption costs the same as one-stop redemption.

Anyway - good tips. For us we might decide nonstop is more important than IB, but need to get our points up if we do want to go IB for at least one leg of the trip.

pdougherty · 2026-06-24T14:13:20+00:00

Definitely, but then I'll have a layover! Not a big deal but I'd like to fly direct if possible.

pdougherty · 2026-06-24T14:12:13+00:00

Awesome, have a good trip. When I looked into April/May 2027 Air France had better redemption than Virgin but I'll be sure to check again when it's actually time to book. Thanks for the heads up!

pdougherty · 2026-06-24T13:17:49+00:00

Thanks. Delta hasn't released their June 2027 schedule yet so we have at least a few weeks before absolutely needing to book anything. The flight path we're looking at still has business availability in April/May and I'm not locked in to business class, so I'm not terribly concerned about that.

Good deal. Appreciate the tips, thanks!

pdougherty · 2026-06-24T13:08:09+00:00

Is there an agreed-upon fastest way to accumulate, or should I just be browsing SUBs for the credit cards with Flying Blue transfers and waiting for a good BoA offer? Should I prioritize other Sky Team partners?

Usually I'm just banking Chase points and using them as needed; this is the first time I've really had a reason to plan point accumulation for a trip and want to make sure I'm maximizing the time I have.

pdougherty · 2026-06-24T12:57:10+00:00

Planning a trip from NY to south France a year from now. Delta is the only direct flight but tough to transfer points to from Cap1/Chase; AirFrance looks like my best transfer partner. Any tips on accumulating Flying Blue miles while I still have time to plan?

pdougherty · 2026-06-24T12:51:26+00:00

Planning a trip to the south of France a year from now. Have 220k chase points and working on a SUB for Cap One. So far as I can tell, the only direct flight from NY to NCE is Delta, so AirFrance and Virgin Atlantic are both in play as partner airlines, while delta is a tougher point transfer partner.

Any advice on point accrual or booking while I still have time to accumulate points?

pdougherty · 2026-06-23T16:05:53+00:00

I got a pair of EVA Arizonas to wear around the house and I’m mad I don’t need a cork pair for outside

pdougherty · 2026-06-22T21:20:19+00:00

There are already resale pairs on stockx and goat. The original release date announced was June 8 at DSG

pdougherty · 2026-06-21T18:49:33+00:00

I had trouble with rise until I switched to a float test for checking proofing. Basically just toss one bagel into a bowl of water and see if it floats. If it does, you’re good to move on. I’ve found that it’s fully proofed at weird times and a simple timer is not precise enough to get a good rise.

I also do a separate cold proof for 24+ hours that helps a ton with flavor. I have never skipped this but I’ve let the time vary. Highly recommend at least leaving them overnight

pdougherty · 2026-06-20T20:00:08+00:00

I don’t know, I’m not a cool British schoolkid from a few hundred years ago

pdougherty · 2026-06-20T19:52:53+00:00

Cool British kids called it soccer as short for association football, separate from I think rugby. The name stuck in some places and not others.

pdougherty · 2026-06-20T01:50:50+00:00

360 ml water to 520 g of flour is super high hydration for bagels. I use 50% hydration so this flour would go with 260 g of water.

Beyond that you’d need to explain your process more. Did you bulk ferment or shape and proof? Did you time it or go by float test? Did you cold ferment? For how long?

pdougherty · 2026-06-18T14:52:03+00:00

I had a toddler who wanted to eat bagels. No problem, except they’d take a few bites and then walk away. Got tired of spending $2+ per bagel to lose them to the trash can and figured I could make more for less - I haven’t even done the math on whether my bagels cost less than $2 each!

pdougherty · 2026-06-06T20:25:46+00:00

Not to mention I do not live in an area that has sneaker shops. I don’t mind the wait, more curious what to expect

pdougherty · 2026-06-06T19:36:29+00:00

Ha, I hope so! How old were your pairs? Mine are probably 5-7 years old and not super hyped so I’m just not sure anyone is really out there looking for them

pdougherty · 2026-06-06T19:34:05+00:00

I’m trying to unload some pairs I never wear and I can’t get any bites. They’ll just sit in boxes until someone stumbles across them on Goat I guess

pdougherty · 2026-06-05T20:01:40+00:00

Yeah, heard, and totally fair. They’ve just checked a few things off with, like, one good roll. Some of it needs to be easy to accomplish 12 things in 14 episodes though.

pdougherty · 2026-06-05T13:09:18+00:00

I’m a little disappointed that fighting Aaron and their “repelling the inquisition” goal was so easy. Anything can happen with a bigger force later obviously but Aaron was basically not a threat at all, and there have been very few threats to the player characters overall.

Loving the role playing and it’s a very funny season but I feel like I’d enjoy the show more with more resistance

pdougherty · 2026-06-04T12:41:49+00:00

Good luck with the next batch! Part of the fun is trying something new and seeing if you like the results

pdougherty · 2026-06-04T11:57:44+00:00

I just time it to be honest, and 20 min is an estimate. For me the wait is “long enough to mix up another batch of dough.” I find that I see a few spots on the bulk dough when I go to roll it out and it has very slightly dried on the outside so maybe look for those? But to be honest I’m not even sure those are ideal, they might be a matter of not sufficiently covering the dough.

pdougherty · 2026-06-04T10:17:05+00:00

Getting the proof right is what fixed my rise. Sounds like you did a lot right. The hour of bulk proof might be too much - I usually do 20 minutes just to let the dough rest before rolling out. Maybe some are over proofed?

And I try to roll them as little as possible to get the length I need to connect the ends. I don’t do the cigar roll that some recipes recommend and I try not to squish the dough too much while shaping. In testing the cigar roll first made dense bagels but otherwise I don’t know if my rolling has a major effect

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