What's new
Fantasy Football - Footballguys Forums

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Business TravelGuys (1 Viewer)

With the annual elite night stay credits having just posted, I officially hit 600 nights with Marriott and triggered Lifetime Platinum today!

It's not amazing, but theoretically: guaranteed 4pm checkout except at resorts, breakfast sort of sometimes depending on hotel (they really made this confusing the past few years), lounge access, and some other useless stuff.

That's a nice perk. Now to keep working on lifetime Globalist with Hyatt, which is far more valuable.
Damn that's impressive. I'm "only" Silver Elite with Marriott. I only travel once/twice a month and usually just an overnighter. 2 nights at very most at a time.



For those years I have traveled between 3-5 nights a week almost every week, then add in all our vacation time was heavy travel around the world too.
Wow! Lots of questions: What’s the typical week look like for you? Leave Monday and back midweek to Friday? You have a family at home? How long you been doing this schedule? Do you hope to be at home more regularly at some point?
When I started, typical week was Monday morning to Thursday afternoon, and you could fly Sunday night if you preferred (I often did, extra hotel night, delays less of a big deal, and a full nights sleep usually). I was newlywed and my wife was at a FAANG company at the time. Stayed about the same the whole time i was an individual contributor, and basically the same when i became a team leader too.

About a year and a half ago I reached our "junior partner" level, and went from being on one client/project at a time to running multiple teams, sometimes across clients. The travel really ramped up in intensity, though timing was mostly the same. It just became also flying Tuesday morning to the second client, and Tuesday night to a client development meeting, and then sometimes we had Friday morning stuff or the place I was Thursday was remote enough not to have a late flight home so I'd stay at airport hotel and go home early Friday am.

A little under one year ago we had our first, and about a month ago we had our second (via surrogate this time). My wife was on leave from birth until mine started, so my travel schedule didn't really change aside from a couple weeks at the start while she recovered. I've been on parental leave since August, and will go back in May. We'll see, but I get six months of "protection" to re-enter my role and build back up...I'll probably leave right after that.

When I leave, I will start or acquire a business, probably. I want to travel - it has been REALLY nice for our vacations with the outstanding flight and hotel perks of being at the very tippy top of status. I have a million stories like how refreshed and easy to fly direct round trips to Auckland in lie flats (on miles alone) without having to do a bunch of legwork - just use the million+ AA miles from that year. Or how the hotel on our anniversary had complimentary champagne (a nice bottle) and chocolates on our anniversary without asking (because the hotel chain had our anniversary on my profile). or how we went to Mendoza and the Park Hyatt upgraded us to the Presidential Suite on the diplomatic floor, where we had a full private casino and our group of 8 got to hang out in one of the living rooms in our suite vs us all cramming into a room or not being able to relax at the hotel after dinner to wind down.

I won't ever, likely, have the money to just pay for that treatment. But whatever my next role is, I will be optimizing it for travel because the experiences make all the other experiences amazing. Like I don't think I could get into the 3-star Michelin sushi place we went in Tokyo as gaijin if not for the Park Hyatt Tokyo getting us in.
Are you originating out of Dallas?
 
With the annual elite night stay credits having just posted, I officially hit 600 nights with Marriott and triggered Lifetime Platinum today!

It's not amazing, but theoretically: guaranteed 4pm checkout except at resorts, breakfast sort of sometimes depending on hotel (they really made this confusing the past few years), lounge access, and some other useless stuff.

That's a nice perk. Now to keep working on lifetime Globalist with Hyatt, which is far more valuable.
Damn that's impressive. I'm "only" Silver Elite with Marriott. I only travel once/twice a month and usually just an overnighter. 2 nights at very most at a time.



For those years I have traveled between 3-5 nights a week almost every week, then add in all our vacation time was heavy travel around the world too.
Wow! Lots of questions: What’s the typical week look like for you? Leave Monday and back midweek to Friday? You have a family at home? How long you been doing this schedule? Do you hope to be at home more regularly at some point?
When I started, typical week was Monday morning to Thursday afternoon, and you could fly Sunday night if you preferred (I often did, extra hotel night, delays less of a big deal, and a full nights sleep usually). I was newlywed and my wife was at a FAANG company at the time. Stayed about the same the whole time i was an individual contributor, and basically the same when i became a team leader too.

About a year and a half ago I reached our "junior partner" level, and went from being on one client/project at a time to running multiple teams, sometimes across clients. The travel really ramped up in intensity, though timing was mostly the same. It just became also flying Tuesday morning to the second client, and Tuesday night to a client development meeting, and then sometimes we had Friday morning stuff or the place I was Thursday was remote enough not to have a late flight home so I'd stay at airport hotel and go home early Friday am.

A little under one year ago we had our first, and about a month ago we had our second (via surrogate this time). My wife was on leave from birth until mine started, so my travel schedule didn't really change aside from a couple weeks at the start while she recovered. I've been on parental leave since August, and will go back in May. We'll see, but I get six months of "protection" to re-enter my role and build back up...I'll probably leave right after that.

When I leave, I will start or acquire a business, probably. I want to travel - it has been REALLY nice for our vacations with the outstanding flight and hotel perks of being at the very tippy top of status. I have a million stories like how refreshed and easy to fly direct round trips to Auckland in lie flats (on miles alone) without having to do a bunch of legwork - just use the million+ AA miles from that year. Or how the hotel on our anniversary had complimentary champagne (a nice bottle) and chocolates on our anniversary without asking (because the hotel chain had our anniversary on my profile). or how we went to Mendoza and the Park Hyatt upgraded us to the Presidential Suite on the diplomatic floor, where we had a full private casino and our group of 8 got to hang out in one of the living rooms in our suite vs us all cramming into a room or not being able to relax at the hotel after dinner to wind down.

I won't ever, likely, have the money to just pay for that treatment. But whatever my next role is, I will be optimizing it for travel because the experiences make all the other experiences amazing. Like I don't think I could get into the 3-star Michelin sushi place we went in Tokyo as gaijin if not for the Park Hyatt Tokyo getting us in.
Are you originating out of Dallas?
Yeah see post above this about CK :)
 
@Instinctive, do you do any international flying? I am flying from Dulles to Tokyo (direct flight) in March for a little over two week visit (majority work) but I get to take my wife. Will be traveling within Japan while there and am using their bullet train and rail system for in country travel.

I’ve not been to Japan or anywhere on that side of the world and am a little anxious.
 
@Instinctive, do you do any international flying? I am flying from Dulles to Tokyo (direct flight) in March for a little over two week visit (majority work) but I get to take my wife. Will be traveling within Japan while there and am using their bullet train and rail system for in country travel.

I’ve not been to Japan or anywhere on that side of the world and am a little anxious.
What are you anxious about? I've been over there.

ETA: That's not me saying "ew why anxious" it's me saying "what causes anxiety maybe I experienced it and can help"
 
Last edited:
Wish the laptop pocket would hold my Thinkpadand 16" Portable LCD display but I've got to lay the screen down in the large compartment. It does hold my Thinkpad and 13" Macbook Air... or Macbook Air and 13" Ipad Pro (second screen for personal laptop) without issue. Tablet pouch (inside laptop pouch) holds the ipad pro that's pushing it.. definitely designed for 12" or less tablets.
How do you get the iPad Pro to work with your personal laptop as a second screen? Software? I bought a second screen that works pretty well but I don't lug it along on every trip.

Macbooks will pair natively with iPads using "Sidecar" (basically screen extension).

It's wireless (plus) and frankly awesome... no latency or any BS. Mine has "dropped" connection a few times but a couple clicks and you're re-paired.
 
On positive note hit Delta 360 this year, but the bene's are just sorta ok on that too.

That's impressive. What kind of mileage and spend did you have to get the invite, if you don't mind saying? I'm Diamond but I suspect nowhere near the level to receive a 360 invite.
 
With the annual elite night stay credits having just posted, I officially hit 600 nights with Marriott and triggered Lifetime Platinum today!

It's not amazing, but theoretically: guaranteed 4pm checkout except at resorts, breakfast sort of sometimes depending on hotel (they really made this confusing the past few years), lounge access, and some other useless stuff.

That's a nice perk. Now to keep working on lifetime Globalist with Hyatt, which is far more valuable.
Damn that's impressive. I'm "only" Silver Elite with Marriott. I only travel once/twice a month and usually just an overnighter. 2 nights at very most at a time.



For those years I have traveled between 3-5 nights a week almost every week, then add in all our vacation time was heavy travel around the world too.
Wow! Lots of questions: What’s the typical week look like for you? Leave Monday and back midweek to Friday? You have a family at home? How long you been doing this schedule? Do you hope to be at home more regularly at some point?
When I started, typical week was Monday morning to Thursday afternoon, and you could fly Sunday night if you preferred (I often did, extra hotel night, delays less of a big deal, and a full nights sleep usually). I was newlywed and my wife was at a FAANG company at the time. Stayed about the same the whole time i was an individual contributor, and basically the same when i became a team leader too.

About a year and a half ago I reached our "junior partner" level, and went from being on one client/project at a time to running multiple teams, sometimes across clients. The travel really ramped up in intensity, though timing was mostly the same. It just became also flying Tuesday morning to the second client, and Tuesday night to a client development meeting, and then sometimes we had Friday morning stuff or the place I was Thursday was remote enough not to have a late flight home so I'd stay at airport hotel and go home early Friday am.

A little under one year ago we had our first, and about a month ago we had our second (via surrogate this time). My wife was on leave from birth until mine started, so my travel schedule didn't really change aside from a couple weeks at the start while she recovered. I've been on parental leave since August, and will go back in May. We'll see, but I get six months of "protection" to re-enter my role and build back up...I'll probably leave right after that.

When I leave, I will start or acquire a business, probably. I want to travel - it has been REALLY nice for our vacations with the outstanding flight and hotel perks of being at the very tippy top of status. I have a million stories like how refreshed and easy to fly direct round trips to Auckland in lie flats (on miles alone) without having to do a bunch of legwork - just use the million+ AA miles from that year. Or how the hotel on our anniversary had complimentary champagne (a nice bottle) and chocolates on our anniversary without asking (because the hotel chain had our anniversary on my profile). or how we went to Mendoza and the Park Hyatt upgraded us to the Presidential Suite on the diplomatic floor, where we had a full private casino and our group of 8 got to hang out in one of the living rooms in our suite vs us all cramming into a room or not being able to relax at the hotel after dinner to wind down.

I won't ever, likely, have the money to just pay for that treatment. But whatever my next role is, I will be optimizing it for travel because the experiences make all the other experiences amazing. Like I don't think I could get into the 3-star Michelin sushi place we went in Tokyo as gaijin if not for the Park Hyatt Tokyo getting us in.
Are you a mgmt consultant?
 
With the annual elite night stay credits having just posted, I officially hit 600 nights with Marriott and triggered Lifetime Platinum today!

It's not amazing, but theoretically: guaranteed 4pm checkout except at resorts, breakfast sort of sometimes depending on hotel (they really made this confusing the past few years), lounge access, and some other useless stuff.

That's a nice perk. Now to keep working on lifetime Globalist with Hyatt, which is far more valuable.
Damn that's impressive. I'm "only" Silver Elite with Marriott. I only travel once/twice a month and usually just an overnighter. 2 nights at very most at a time.



For those years I have traveled between 3-5 nights a week almost every week, then add in all our vacation time was heavy travel around the world too.
Wow! Lots of questions: What’s the typical week look like for you? Leave Monday and back midweek to Friday? You have a family at home? How long you been doing this schedule? Do you hope to be at home more regularly at some point?
When I started, typical week was Monday morning to Thursday afternoon, and you could fly Sunday night if you preferred (I often did, extra hotel night, delays less of a big deal, and a full nights sleep usually). I was newlywed and my wife was at a FAANG company at the time. Stayed about the same the whole time i was an individual contributor, and basically the same when i became a team leader too.

About a year and a half ago I reached our "junior partner" level, and went from being on one client/project at a time to running multiple teams, sometimes across clients. The travel really ramped up in intensity, though timing was mostly the same. It just became also flying Tuesday morning to the second client, and Tuesday night to a client development meeting, and then sometimes we had Friday morning stuff or the place I was Thursday was remote enough not to have a late flight home so I'd stay at airport hotel and go home early Friday am.

A little under one year ago we had our first, and about a month ago we had our second (via surrogate this time). My wife was on leave from birth until mine started, so my travel schedule didn't really change aside from a couple weeks at the start while she recovered. I've been on parental leave since August, and will go back in May. We'll see, but I get six months of "protection" to re-enter my role and build back up...I'll probably leave right after that.

When I leave, I will start or acquire a business, probably. I want to travel - it has been REALLY nice for our vacations with the outstanding flight and hotel perks of being at the very tippy top of status. I have a million stories like how refreshed and easy to fly direct round trips to Auckland in lie flats (on miles alone) without having to do a bunch of legwork - just use the million+ AA miles from that year. Or how the hotel on our anniversary had complimentary champagne (a nice bottle) and chocolates on our anniversary without asking (because the hotel chain had our anniversary on my profile). or how we went to Mendoza and the Park Hyatt upgraded us to the Presidential Suite on the diplomatic floor, where we had a full private casino and our group of 8 got to hang out in one of the living rooms in our suite vs us all cramming into a room or not being able to relax at the hotel after dinner to wind down.

I won't ever, likely, have the money to just pay for that treatment. But whatever my next role is, I will be optimizing it for travel because the experiences make all the other experiences amazing. Like I don't think I could get into the 3-star Michelin sushi place we went in Tokyo as gaijin if not for the Park Hyatt Tokyo getting us in.
Are you a mgmt consultant?
For now ;)
 
With the annual elite night stay credits having just posted, I officially hit 600 nights with Marriott and triggered Lifetime Platinum today!

It's not amazing, but theoretically: guaranteed 4pm checkout except at resorts, breakfast sort of sometimes depending on hotel (they really made this confusing the past few years), lounge access, and some other useless stuff.

That's a nice perk. Now to keep working on lifetime Globalist with Hyatt, which is far more valuable.
Damn that's impressive. I'm "only" Silver Elite with Marriott. I only travel once/twice a month and usually just an overnighter. 2 nights at very most at a time.



For those years I have traveled between 3-5 nights a week almost every week, then add in all our vacation time was heavy travel around the world too.
Wow! Lots of questions: What’s the typical week look like for you? Leave Monday and back midweek to Friday? You have a family at home? How long you been doing this schedule? Do you hope to be at home more regularly at some point?
When I started, typical week was Monday morning to Thursday afternoon, and you could fly Sunday night if you preferred (I often did, extra hotel night, delays less of a big deal, and a full nights sleep usually). I was newlywed and my wife was at a FAANG company at the time. Stayed about the same the whole time i was an individual contributor, and basically the same when i became a team leader too.

About a year and a half ago I reached our "junior partner" level, and went from being on one client/project at a time to running multiple teams, sometimes across clients. The travel really ramped up in intensity, though timing was mostly the same. It just became also flying Tuesday morning to the second client, and Tuesday night to a client development meeting, and then sometimes we had Friday morning stuff or the place I was Thursday was remote enough not to have a late flight home so I'd stay at airport hotel and go home early Friday am.

A little under one year ago we had our first, and about a month ago we had our second (via surrogate this time). My wife was on leave from birth until mine started, so my travel schedule didn't really change aside from a couple weeks at the start while she recovered. I've been on parental leave since August, and will go back in May. We'll see, but I get six months of "protection" to re-enter my role and build back up...I'll probably leave right after that.

When I leave, I will start or acquire a business, probably. I want to travel - it has been REALLY nice for our vacations with the outstanding flight and hotel perks of being at the very tippy top of status. I have a million stories like how refreshed and easy to fly direct round trips to Auckland in lie flats (on miles alone) without having to do a bunch of legwork - just use the million+ AA miles from that year. Or how the hotel on our anniversary had complimentary champagne (a nice bottle) and chocolates on our anniversary without asking (because the hotel chain had our anniversary on my profile). or how we went to Mendoza and the Park Hyatt upgraded us to the Presidential Suite on the diplomatic floor, where we had a full private casino and our group of 8 got to hang out in one of the living rooms in our suite vs us all cramming into a room or not being able to relax at the hotel after dinner to wind down.

I won't ever, likely, have the money to just pay for that treatment. But whatever my next role is, I will be optimizing it for travel because the experiences make all the other experiences amazing. Like I don't think I could get into the 3-star Michelin sushi place we went in Tokyo as gaijin if not for the Park Hyatt Tokyo getting us in.
Are you a mgmt consultant?
For now ;)
Been there. It was great for 2.5 years. I stayed for almost 5. Zero regrets - but glad I’m on the other side now.
 
On positive note hit Delta 360 this year, but the bene's are just sorta ok on that too.

That's impressive. What kind of mileage and spend did you have to get the invite, if you don't mind saying? I'm Diamond but I suspect nowhere near the level to receive a 360 invite.
About $65k MQD, not sure on the miles. After researching a bit I was surprised I got it because there are definitely people with more spend that didn't get it. It looks like "how" you spend is important, 90% of mine was from first class and Int'l D1.
 
With the annual elite night stay credits having just posted, I officially hit 600 nights with Marriott and triggered Lifetime Platinum today!

It's not amazing, but theoretically: guaranteed 4pm checkout except at resorts, breakfast sort of sometimes depending on hotel (they really made this confusing the past few years), lounge access, and some other useless stuff.

That's a nice perk. Now to keep working on lifetime Globalist with Hyatt, which is far more valuable.
Damn that's impressive. I'm "only" Silver Elite with Marriott. I only travel once/twice a month and usually just an overnighter. 2 nights at very most at a time.



For those years I have traveled between 3-5 nights a week almost every week, then add in all our vacation time was heavy travel around the world too.
Wow! Lots of questions: What’s the typical week look like for you? Leave Monday and back midweek to Friday? You have a family at home? How long you been doing this schedule? Do you hope to be at home more regularly at some point?
When I started, typical week was Monday morning to Thursday afternoon, and you could fly Sunday night if you preferred (I often did, extra hotel night, delays less of a big deal, and a full nights sleep usually). I was newlywed and my wife was at a FAANG company at the time. Stayed about the same the whole time i was an individual contributor, and basically the same when i became a team leader too.

About a year and a half ago I reached our "junior partner" level, and went from being on one client/project at a time to running multiple teams, sometimes across clients. The travel really ramped up in intensity, though timing was mostly the same. It just became also flying Tuesday morning to the second client, and Tuesday night to a client development meeting, and then sometimes we had Friday morning stuff or the place I was Thursday was remote enough not to have a late flight home so I'd stay at airport hotel and go home early Friday am.

A little under one year ago we had our first, and about a month ago we had our second (via surrogate this time). My wife was on leave from birth until mine started, so my travel schedule didn't really change aside from a couple weeks at the start while she recovered. I've been on parental leave since August, and will go back in May. We'll see, but I get six months of "protection" to re-enter my role and build back up...I'll probably leave right after that.

When I leave, I will start or acquire a business, probably. I want to travel - it has been REALLY nice for our vacations with the outstanding flight and hotel perks of being at the very tippy top of status. I have a million stories like how refreshed and easy to fly direct round trips to Auckland in lie flats (on miles alone) without having to do a bunch of legwork - just use the million+ AA miles from that year. Or how the hotel on our anniversary had complimentary champagne (a nice bottle) and chocolates on our anniversary without asking (because the hotel chain had our anniversary on my profile). or how we went to Mendoza and the Park Hyatt upgraded us to the Presidential Suite on the diplomatic floor, where we had a full private casino and our group of 8 got to hang out in one of the living rooms in our suite vs us all cramming into a room or not being able to relax at the hotel after dinner to wind down.

I won't ever, likely, have the money to just pay for that treatment. But whatever my next role is, I will be optimizing it for travel because the experiences make all the other experiences amazing. Like I don't think I could get into the 3-star Michelin sushi place we went in Tokyo as gaijin if not for the Park Hyatt Tokyo getting us in.
Are you a mgmt consultant?
For now ;)
Been there. It was great for 2.5 years. I stayed for almost 5. Zero regrets - but glad I’m on the other side now.
Yeah I'd say I really enjoyed it for ~5 years. Then moving to the partner level is just too much crap and not enough time doing impactful stuff.
 
On positive note hit Delta 360 this year, but the bene's are just sorta ok on that too.

That's impressive. What kind of mileage and spend did you have to get the invite, if you don't mind saying? I'm Diamond but I suspect nowhere near the level to receive a 360 invite.
About $65k MQD, not sure on the miles. After researching a bit I was surprised I got it because there are definitely people with more spend that didn't get it. It looks like "how" you spend is important, 90% of mine was from first class and Int'l D1.
Damn. That’s tough to get.
 
@Instinctive, do you do any international flying? I am flying from Dulles to Tokyo (direct flight) in March for a little over two week visit (majority work) but I get to take my wife. Will be traveling within Japan while there and am using their bullet train and rail system for in country travel.

I’ve not been to Japan or anywhere on that side of the world and am a little anxious.
What are you anxious about? I've been over there.

ETA: That's not me saying "ew why anxious" it's me saying "what causes anxiety maybe I experienced it and can help"
I get worked up/anxious when I am in situations where I am unfamiliar or it is unknown to me. Am I going to be able navigate where I’m at and need to go, etc.

My wife is a fly by the seat of her pants we are on the trip of a lifetime we will figure it out kind of person. Maybe we balance each other out.

Co-workers that have been on this trip, tell me it is quiet, clean and courteous in Japan and not to worry.

I’ll take any advice you can give me from the long flight to the time in Japan.
 
@Instinctive, do you do any international flying? I am flying from Dulles to Tokyo (direct flight) in March for a little over two week visit (majority work) but I get to take my wife. Will be traveling within Japan while there and am using their bullet train and rail system for in country travel.

I’ve not been to Japan or anywhere on that side of the world and am a little anxious.
What are you anxious about? I've been over there.

ETA: That's not me saying "ew why anxious" it's me saying "what causes anxiety maybe I experienced it and can help"
I get worked up/anxious when I am in situations where I am unfamiliar or it is unknown to me. Am I going to be able navigate where I’m at and need to go, etc.

My wife is a fly by the seat of her pants we are on the trip of a lifetime we will figure it out kind of person. Maybe we balance each other out.

Co-workers that have been on this trip, tell me it is quiet, clean and courteous in Japan and not to worry.

I’ll take any advice you can give me from the long flight to the time in Japan.

Download the Japan Travel app. It was a godsend for navigating the subways, trains, etc. Type in where you want to go and it lays out a detailed plan on how to get there which often involves walks from one station to another and multiple transit systems. The app makes it very easy. And using public transit is WAY CHEAPER than taking a taxi everywhere, at least in Tokyo. Taxis were like 10-20x the cost of public transit.
 
@Instinctive, do you do any international flying? I am flying from Dulles to Tokyo (direct flight) in March for a little over two week visit (majority work) but I get to take my wife. Will be traveling within Japan while there and am using their bullet train and rail system for in country travel.

I’ve not been to Japan or anywhere on that side of the world and am a little anxious.
What are you anxious about? I've been over there.

ETA: That's not me saying "ew why anxious" it's me saying "what causes anxiety maybe I experienced it and can help"
I get worked up/anxious when I am in situations where I am unfamiliar or it is unknown to me. Am I going to be able navigate where I’m at and need to go, etc.

My wife is a fly by the seat of her pants we are on the trip of a lifetime we will figure it out kind of person. Maybe we balance each other out.

Co-workers that have been on this trip, tell me it is quiet, clean and courteous in Japan and not to worry.

I’ll take any advice you can give me from the long flight to the time in Japan.
Long flight: first or coach? Very different. If up front get ready to sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride. If coach, make sure youve got one of those neck pillow things. In either, I try very hard on international flights to land either in the morning and sleep as much of the flight as possible, or in the evening and force myself awake as much of the flight as possible. Try to sync my sleep ASAP. To sleep I always take melatonin, which I never use at home.

Japan is awesome and super easy and people are very helpful. Like WAY easier to get around there than, say, Paris. It really is remarkable clean. I'd rather be in Tokyo than NYC every day and twice on Sunday, for example.

Bullet train is amazing. Idk if all hotels do it, but it was also amazing that the hotels sent my luggage to the next hotel, no charge, no hassle, and it was in our room on arrival. So really good to have a day bag thats easy to cut out from the rest for things you need during your train and working and tourism.

Food - if you research restaurants or there's something you really want to try, your hotel concierge can help, starting now, with booking it for you to help get around language concerns.

This was 2019, but here's our itinerary from 2 weeks in country.
 
@Instinctive, do you do any international flying? I am flying from Dulles to Tokyo (direct flight) in March for a little over two week visit (majority work) but I get to take my wife. Will be traveling within Japan while there and am using their bullet train and rail system for in country travel.

I’ve not been to Japan or anywhere on that side of the world and am a little anxious.
What are you anxious about? I've been over there.

ETA: That's not me saying "ew why anxious" it's me saying "what causes anxiety maybe I experienced it and can help"
I get worked up/anxious when I am in situations where I am unfamiliar or it is unknown to me. Am I going to be able navigate where I’m at and need to go, etc.

My wife is a fly by the seat of her pants we are on the trip of a lifetime we will figure it out kind of person. Maybe we balance each other out.

Co-workers that have been on this trip, tell me it is quiet, clean and courteous in Japan and not to worry.

I’ll take any advice you can give me from the long flight to the time in Japan.
Long flight: first or coach? Very different. If up front get ready to sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride. If coach, make sure youve got one of those neck pillow things. In either, I try very hard on international flights to land either in the morning and sleep as much of the flight as possible, or in the evening and force myself awake as much of the flight as possible. Try to sync my sleep ASAP. To sleep I always take melatonin, which I never use at home.

Japan is awesome and super easy and people are very helpful. Like WAY easier to get around there than, say, Paris. It really is remarkable clean. I'd rather be in Tokyo than NYC every day and twice on Sunday, for example.

Bullet train is amazing. Idk if all hotels do it, but it was also amazing that the hotels sent my luggage to the next hotel, no charge, no hassle, and it was in our room on arrival. So really good to have a day bag thats easy to cut out from the rest for things you need during your train and working and tourism.

Food - if you research restaurants or there's something you really want to try, your hotel concierge can help, starting now, with booking it for you to help get around language concerns.

This was 2019, but here's our itinerary from 2 weeks in country.
We got “premium economy”. Could not pull the trigger on first class but co-workers insisted that we splurge for “pe”. They also raved about All Nippon Airways!

I’m more excited than nervous and am really looking forward to the trip.

Thanks for the input!
 
@Instinctive, do you do any international flying? I am flying from Dulles to Tokyo (direct flight) in March for a little over two week visit (majority work) but I get to take my wife. Will be traveling within Japan while there and am using their bullet train and rail system for in country travel.

I’ve not been to Japan or anywhere on that side of the world and am a little anxious.
What are you anxious about? I've been over there.

ETA: That's not me saying "ew why anxious" it's me saying "what causes anxiety maybe I experienced it and can help"
I get worked up/anxious when I am in situations where I am unfamiliar or it is unknown to me. Am I going to be able navigate where I’m at and need to go, etc.

My wife is a fly by the seat of her pants we are on the trip of a lifetime we will figure it out kind of person. Maybe we balance each other out.

Co-workers that have been on this trip, tell me it is quiet, clean and courteous in Japan and not to worry.

I’ll take any advice you can give me from the long flight to the time in Japan.
Long flight: first or coach? Very different. If up front get ready to sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride. If coach, make sure youve got one of those neck pillow things. In either, I try very hard on international flights to land either in the morning and sleep as much of the flight as possible, or in the evening and force myself awake as much of the flight as possible. Try to sync my sleep ASAP. To sleep I always take melatonin, which I never use at home.

Japan is awesome and super easy and people are very helpful. Like WAY easier to get around there than, say, Paris. It really is remarkable clean. I'd rather be in Tokyo than NYC every day and twice on Sunday, for example.

Bullet train is amazing. Idk if all hotels do it, but it was also amazing that the hotels sent my luggage to the next hotel, no charge, no hassle, and it was in our room on arrival. So really good to have a day bag thats easy to cut out from the rest for things you need during your train and working and tourism.

Food - if you research restaurants or there's something you really want to try, your hotel concierge can help, starting now, with booking it for you to help get around language concerns.

This was 2019, but here's our itinerary from 2 weeks in country.
We got “premium economy”. Could not pull the trigger on first class but co-workers insisted that we splurge for “pe”. They also raved about All Nippon Airways!

I’m more excited than nervous and am really looking forward to the trip.

Thanks for the input!
ANA is excellent. Outstanding service. My buddy said their food was best plane food he ever had.

Premium economy should help with the sleep! I can't emphasize enough the difference in my trips as to when I got on sleep cycle day one vs when I couldn't use the flight to get on cycle. Massssssssssssive difference in trip enjoyment.

Hope it helps and can't wait to hear how it goes!
 
@Instinctive, do you do any international flying? I am flying from Dulles to Tokyo (direct flight) in March for a little over two week visit (majority work) but I get to take my wife. Will be traveling within Japan while there and am using their bullet train and rail system for in country travel.

I’ve not been to Japan or anywhere on that side of the world and am a little anxious.
What are you anxious about? I've been over there.

ETA: That's not me saying "ew why anxious" it's me saying "what causes anxiety maybe I experienced it and can help"
I get worked up/anxious when I am in situations where I am unfamiliar or it is unknown to me. Am I going to be able navigate where I’m at and need to go, etc.

My wife is a fly by the seat of her pants we are on the trip of a lifetime we will figure it out kind of person. Maybe we balance each other out.

Co-workers that have been on this trip, tell me it is quiet, clean and courteous in Japan and not to worry.

I’ll take any advice you can give me from the long flight to the time in Japan.
Long flight: first or coach? Very different. If up front get ready to sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride. If coach, make sure youve got one of those neck pillow things. In either, I try very hard on international flights to land either in the morning and sleep as much of the flight as possible, or in the evening and force myself awake as much of the flight as possible. Try to sync my sleep ASAP. To sleep I always take melatonin, which I never use at home.

Japan is awesome and super easy and people are very helpful. Like WAY easier to get around there than, say, Paris. It really is remarkable clean. I'd rather be in Tokyo than NYC every day and twice on Sunday, for example.

Bullet train is amazing. Idk if all hotels do it, but it was also amazing that the hotels sent my luggage to the next hotel, no charge, no hassle, and it was in our room on arrival. So really good to have a day bag thats easy to cut out from the rest for things you need during your train and working and tourism.

Food - if you research restaurants or there's something you really want to try, your hotel concierge can help, starting now, with booking it for you to help get around language concerns.

This was 2019, but here's our itinerary from 2 weeks in country.
We got “premium economy”. Could not pull the trigger on first class but co-workers insisted that we splurge for “pe”. They also raved about All Nippon Airways!

I’m more excited than nervous and am really looking forward to the trip.

Thanks for the input!
ANA is excellent. Outstanding service. My buddy said their food was best plane food he ever had.

Premium economy should help with the sleep! I can't emphasize enough the difference in my trips as to when I got on sleep cycle day one vs when I couldn't use the flight to get on cycle. Massssssssssssive difference in trip enjoyment.

Hope it helps and can't wait to hear how it goes!
We arrive in Tokyo at 3:25 but then have a five hour train ride to our first destination. So the first day could be rough.
 
@Instinctive, do you do any international flying? I am flying from Dulles to Tokyo (direct flight) in March for a little over two week visit (majority work) but I get to take my wife. Will be traveling within Japan while there and am using their bullet train and rail system for in country travel.

I’ve not been to Japan or anywhere on that side of the world and am a little anxious.
What are you anxious about? I've been over there.

ETA: That's not me saying "ew why anxious" it's me saying "what causes anxiety maybe I experienced it and can help"
I get worked up/anxious when I am in situations where I am unfamiliar or it is unknown to me. Am I going to be able navigate where I’m at and need to go, etc.

My wife is a fly by the seat of her pants we are on the trip of a lifetime we will figure it out kind of person. Maybe we balance each other out.

Co-workers that have been on this trip, tell me it is quiet, clean and courteous in Japan and not to worry.

I’ll take any advice you can give me from the long flight to the time in Japan.
Long flight: first or coach? Very different. If up front get ready to sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride. If coach, make sure youve got one of those neck pillow things. In either, I try very hard on international flights to land either in the morning and sleep as much of the flight as possible, or in the evening and force myself awake as much of the flight as possible. Try to sync my sleep ASAP. To sleep I always take melatonin, which I never use at home.

Japan is awesome and super easy and people are very helpful. Like WAY easier to get around there than, say, Paris. It really is remarkable clean. I'd rather be in Tokyo than NYC every day and twice on Sunday, for example.

Bullet train is amazing. Idk if all hotels do it, but it was also amazing that the hotels sent my luggage to the next hotel, no charge, no hassle, and it was in our room on arrival. So really good to have a day bag thats easy to cut out from the rest for things you need during your train and working and tourism.

Food - if you research restaurants or there's something you really want to try, your hotel concierge can help, starting now, with booking it for you to help get around language concerns.

This was 2019, but here's our itinerary from 2 weeks in country.
We got “premium economy”. Could not pull the trigger on first class but co-workers insisted that we splurge for “pe”. They also raved about All Nippon Airways!

I’m more excited than nervous and am really looking forward to the trip.

Thanks for the input!
ANA is excellent. Outstanding service. My buddy said their food was best plane food he ever had.

Premium economy should help with the sleep! I can't emphasize enough the difference in my trips as to when I got on sleep cycle day one vs when I couldn't use the flight to get on cycle. Massssssssssssive difference in trip enjoyment.

Hope it helps and can't wait to hear how it goes!
We arrive in Tokyo at 3:25 but then have a five hour train ride to our first destination. So the first day could be rough.
PM?

My best advice is you do everything you possibly can to sync your sleep to tokyo time a day or two before going, try to keep it up on plane, and under no circumstances sleep on that train ride.
 
United Airlines just announced a status match - applies to status holders in Alaska, American, BA, Delta, JetBlue, Southwest, and Qantas. Apply by 6/30 and fly a United flight within 90 days of approval. Status stays into effect until January 2026.

Even though I'm based in Chicago, I'd rather crawl to a location than fly United, but thought I'd post in case anyone is interested!
 
My work travel is almost entirely by car in the northeast (ME to MD, as far west as around Buffalo) and bouncing around with one night at a time as I travel. I've been Hilton Honors and hit diamond last year but now wondering if I should try to switch to Mariott Bonvoy with a status match. Seems like better vacation property options / locations with them to use the points in the US? Although had great experiences with vacations (with diamond) at Hiltons in London, Amsterdam, and Reykjavik this past year. Not sure of availability of Mariott properties compared to the Hilton ones that are everywhere around here for work stays.

What are you guys using and why? Thoughts on those two or others?
 
My work travel is almost entirely by car in the northeast (ME to MD, as far west as around Buffalo) and bouncing around with one night at a time as I travel. I've been Hilton Honors and hit diamond last year but now wondering if I should try to switch to Mariott Bonvoy with a status match. Seems like better vacation property options / locations with them to use the points in the US? Although had great experiences with vacations (with diamond) at Hiltons in London, Amsterdam, and Reykjavik this past year. Not sure of availability of Mariott properties compared to the Hilton ones that are everywhere around here for work stays.

What are you guys using and why? Thoughts on those two or others?
I have extensive experience and a lot of research over the last 10 years on this topic.

1. If you know exactly where you want to go for the high end exotic vacation, the best bang for buck is definitely switching to that one until your trip

2. Hyatt has far and away the best points value and the best elite treatment (e.g., upgrade rate, usefulness of upgrade, little gifts, kindness, etc). Marriott and Hilton are close, but I have always found Hilton to be marginally better on these metrics. Hyatt is also the highest value points transfer partner from Chase points, which is the primary credit card we use.

3. Marriott is the most available if you paint with a broad brush, thought Hilton is right behind. Hyatt is definitely a smaller footprint, although I have generally found the footprint to be plenty big for what I want (and there were zero Marriotts in New Zealand!). So it depends. If you know your patterns, pick the coverage map that works for you.

4. If you're trying to max this and aren't required to use your company AmEx (a change I hated so much when we made it), a very easy and super worthwhile step is to get the cobranded credit card for the one you stay at most, and probably the second. The $95 annual fee ones pay for themselves like right away and the points multipliers on dollars spent at the property are great earnings methods that are very low effort.

My wife, who also travels almost as extensively as I do, is Hyatt primary, Hilton secondary. I am Hyatt primary, Marriott secondary - although now having hit lifetime Marriott, when I return from leave maybe I'll swap secondaries with her. Our game is basically to maximize Hyatt points and then make sure one of us is Globalist, then try to get a solid status and some points at the others so we have flexibility. Given the choice, I will basically always stay at a Hyatt property purely because the personal value vacation wise is so much higher. Like I have teams that stay at the nicest hotel in the area of this one client and it's a Marriott, but I pick a Hyatt that's one tier down and five minutes farther each way to client site.
 
Man you guys and your fancy statuses and exotic destinations :lol:

I'm headed to Rapid City, SD next month for an overnighter. :oldunsure:
 
Man you guys and your fancy statuses and exotic destinations :lol:

I'm headed to Rapid City, SD next month for an overnighter. :oldunsure:

Yeah I get to go to Chicago for three nights. In February. Should be lovely.

Silver linings are that the hotel they're making us stay in is a Hilton property, so I can use my co-branded Amex card there. And I was somehow able to book first class each way and stay within our company's pretty strict pricing policy limits.
 
Man you guys and your fancy statuses and exotic destinations :lol:

I'm headed to Rapid City, SD next month for an overnighter. :oldunsure:
:hifive:

I'm off to scenic Orlando in another week for a Saturday night stay because some bone head scheduled an 8am meeting on Sunday then a walk through at a trade show and back home Monday :pickle:
 
Guess this is a good spot to share this...

Had a horribly realistic travel-related dream last night. I had flown into the Phoenix airport (how I know it was there, I'm not sure), and I realized as soon as I got off the plane that I had my backpack on but didn't have my carry-on roller bag with me. And for some reason it wasn't just a matter of stopping at the gate desk to tell them. I had to go to some other area by the baggage claim to get it. And while I was on my way there, and here's the kicker, the top half of my left thumb ... fell off. I saw it on the ground. I was able to reattach it somehow but it was all bloody and half hanging-on.

And it took an act of God for me to get my bag... which I don't recall ever actually getting.

But I don't know what was more jarring... the fact that I didn't have my bag or that part of my thumb fell off. :lol:

What on Earth could that all mean?

I do have a bunch of travel coming up, maybe some latent anxiety tied to that? Traveling for work is really my happy place, so I'm not sure.

I'm set to be in Rapid City, SD for a night later this month, then in Fargo, Boston and central Texas all in March. Denver, Vegas and Santa Barbara in April and then Kansas City in May. Phew.
 
What on Earth could that all mean?
You forgetting your carry on is the worlds way of telling you to slow down. You have too much on your mind and you are operating in fast brain mode. Engage your slow brain, you've done the routine so many times, it's muscle memory and that's when things happen...like forgetting your bag. Take a breath, go through your mental check list and slow down.

Your thumb issue is obviously a call out that you need to focus on taking care of yourself. You travel a good bit and it's easy to lose sight of taking care of you. Instead of eating a decent sit down dinner, you grab a burger and a beer at the bar. You take the elevator instead of the stairs. Again, slow down, go through your routine and make you important to you again.

OR put down the ****ing bong hophead and maybe quit popping the gummies before you board the plane, jeez.
 
What on Earth could that all mean?
You forgetting your carry on is the worlds way of telling you to slow down. You have too much on your mind and you are operating in fast brain mode. Engage your slow brain, you've done the routine so many times, it's muscle memory and that's when things happen...like forgetting your bag. Take a breath, go through your mental check list and slow down.

Your thumb issue is obviously a call out that you need to focus on taking care of yourself. You travel a good bit and it's easy to lose sight of taking care of you. Instead of eating a decent sit down dinner, you grab a burger and a beer at the bar. You take the elevator instead of the stairs. Again, slow down, go through your routine and make you important to you again.

OR put down the ****ing bong hophead and maybe quit popping the gummies before you board the plane, jeez.
I could see all of this being true. :)
 
Any time I'm changing time zones, I force myself to stay up to 8 PM in the local zone, then try and get a full night sleep. After a day or so, I'm nearly fully adjusted. Works for 6, 9, or 12 hour time changes.

I was in Japan in the fall (only Nagasaki) and wasn't that impressed with the country. Nagasaki is a small city though so I'm sure the big cities are better.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top