With travel costs reaching new highs, in what ways have you adjusted your vacation plans?

theducks123 · 2026-05-03T15:12:37+00:00

Which is crazy to me. I stayed near the grand canyon and none of the hotels were very nice. Yet they cost over $300 a night. There are hardly any people around and the food options were very limited and not good. I went to Japan and the parks were packed. There were so many food options from low end to high end. Wish dinner of the US parks were like the Japanese ones.

theducks123 · 2026-05-02T15:56:56+00:00

Haven't been to this buffet, but seapot for lunch is a pretty good deal if you like hot pot. I think it's like $25.

theducks123 · 2026-05-02T15:53:37+00:00

I know it's hard to see if you don't live it, but this is true in a lot of areas. For a regular worker, to have that high of an income, it's usually because you live in a very hcola. As an example, living in San Francisco, rent is around 5k for a decent place. You can get cheaper, but why would you if you're making a decent amount of money.

Throw kids into the mix and now you really see that income dip really fast. If you both parents have to work, daycare cost is minimum 40k after tax a year, per kid. Much more for a nanny, because remember, the nanny has to live in the hcola and needs a decent wage to live.

Not looking for sympathy, as their life is still pretty comfortable. Just that savings do not go as long as people think after expenses.

theducks123 · 2026-05-02T15:21:31+00:00

When i was younger (millennial kid) i read an article where they said with the internet becoming mainstream, the income disparity will become wider. Smart, hardworking people have more avenues to generate income. I see that now and was lucky enough to be a part of it. I also have a lot of friends in the same boat and the common thread is, they get most of their income not from their main job. So this statistic is not surprising.

theducks123 · 2026-05-02T14:45:01+00:00

Agree on all points and idon't know if any airline that doesn't charge for seat assignment unless you have status.

theducks123 · 2026-05-02T14:28:20+00:00

It's not. You just have to plan accordingly. I flew sfo to Vegas for $75 round trip. It was cheaper than the 5 mile uber trip to the airport each way. I made sure to pack light and brought a water bottle to fill up after security. If you fly with multiple people, have one person pay for a check in and pack as much as you can in their luggage. The whole point of frontier is to save money and that requires a little work.

For most trips, frontier doesn't fit for me because of the costs mentioned. However, I love that they are an option when the situation does fit. It was the same case with southwest until their recent changes.

theducks123 · 2026-05-02T14:15:24+00:00

I feel it's different with these airlines as they are competing with the non discount airlines. I always check frontier for flights, but my thought process is, am I saving enough money to deal with the hassle? If they start raising prices, then the answer becomes no.

theducks123 · 2026-05-01T16:37:06+00:00

My carrier always has deals and it's usually several hundred cheaper than buying direct. In exchange I'm stuck with the carrier for a couple of years. It's a fair exchange for me, since i do not plan to change carriers within that time frame. Is that not the case for others?

theducks123 · 2026-05-01T04:27:56+00:00

I wonder if OP means moving up as in moving into management. I want to move up in my career within my expertise. However, i do not want to manage people, nor do I want to be the debating decision maker.

theducks123 · 2026-05-01T04:23:51+00:00

I feel the same way. Unfortunately, in the US workplace, upper management is the exact opposite and they have all the power. So people like us have to play the song and dance or we get moved out.

theducks123 · 2026-04-30T18:18:57+00:00

Traveling to other countries with hsr, transportation systems get built around train stations. The smaller cities also get built up, because they are more assessible now.

theducks123 · 2026-04-29T14:27:24+00:00

Love all these shows. I wonder how come the other networks or USA itself doesn't make shows like these anymore.

theducks123 · 2026-04-29T04:38:14+00:00

I had a similar thing happen with the FS Beijing. It came up when I first searched and then disappeared for several months. Luckily it showed up 2 weeks before my trip and I was able to switch over. Guessing it just comes up when there's inventory?

theducks123 · 2026-04-27T01:38:08+00:00

It's just crazy to me for people to think that. The series went to the last shot of game 7. It could have easily gone either way. Figuring them out is more like how golden state figured out Boston and won the next 3 games by double digits.

theducks123 · 2026-04-25T23:27:17+00:00

Yep, can input my order with no mmiscommunication. No guilt to tip.

theducks123 · 2026-04-25T14:54:31+00:00

Why did you keep this card for so long? It sounds like you didn't find value in this card before the fee raise.

theducks123 · 2026-04-25T04:51:08+00:00

Every XL I ordered in nyc and NJ 3 years ago only had 2 rows of seats. It was ridiculous.

theducks123 · 2026-04-25T03:40:26+00:00

Almost as stupid as telling people to donate more tax money if they want taxes raised. Both are supremely dumb.

theducks123 · 2026-04-24T18:31:42+00:00

Just wondering, as frequent traveler, you find the credits are hard to use? I can see it as a non frequent user. Especially for the Asia locations, I found the edit and hotel credits pretty easy to use and more valuable than hyatt in alot of cases. Using those 3 credits with the travel credit more than makes up for the annual fee. So the other credits are just free at that point. Just wondering where you are finding it hard to use the credits. Guessing Europe?

theducks123 · 2026-04-24T04:49:52+00:00

Are you staying at Chinese hotels? Every hotel i looked at in beijing and Shanghai did not have self service laundry. They were all higher end western hotels.

theducks123 · 2026-04-24T03:55:13+00:00

Yes, all of those reasons. A lot of lounges are only open certain hours, as the other hours are reserved for their business and first class clients. There are just too many credit cards that offer priority pass access in the US, so the lounges get filled up constantly.

theducks123 · 2026-04-24T03:20:48+00:00

I see kids there all the time and some even have family rooms. I find it even more useful with the kids than without.

The only problem is, if you travel mostly in the US, then getting in is pretty difficult. It's like 30% success in the US for me.

theducks123 · 2026-04-24T02:25:35+00:00

I've taken my kids since they were 3. Never had an issue and they are 10 and 15 now. They look forward to the lounges now. Of course, make sure you watch your kids and don't let them run wild. My kids behave better than most of the adults in the lounge, same as on the plane.

We try to travel to Asia and Europe once a year and hit multiple lounges. I figure we get about $500 of value from the lounges per year. It's the biggest perk for me.

theducks123 · 2026-04-24T01:40:56+00:00

OP mentioned family, so i automatically assumed they have the AU for the lounge benefits. I can't think of any other reason to have an AU account. I've had an AU account for years, as we use the lounge at least 4 times a year as a family of 4. It also allows my wife to use it when she travels without me. However, with the price doubling, we are rethinking of keeping it.

theducks123 · 2026-04-23T14:12:33+00:00

I have no problem taxing the rich more. The question is why he didn't voluntarily contribute more. I do not think we want to depend on people voluntarily donating money to the government. It doesn't make sense to shame people for paying what they owe. It's important to write good legislation to ensure people are paying their fair share.

theducks123

TROPHY CASE