Confessions of a YYC Travel Junkie

[Johnny199r]

Any recommendations for a few days in Cairo, Egypt? I'm heading there in April for a few days before a cycling tour in Jordan.

[Fuzz]

Pyramids.

[Locke]

Beware of the dates, I hear some of them are bad.

[Robbob]

Originally Posted by Locke

Beware of the dates, I hear some of them are bad.

That is why the first thing you do is go to the bazaar and get a monkey.

[JD]

Originally Posted by Johnny199r

Any recommendations for a few days in Cairo, Egypt? I'm heading there in April for a few days before a cycling tour in Jordan.

We were there in October. If you go to basically anything touristy, get yourself a guide. They're cheap and will shield you from all the nonsense. I hired mine off expedia, of all places. Otherwise, pm me and I'll connect you with our guy.

We did a Nile cruise, that was meh. Not really great. But it was something to do and a way to see the city without dying in a car crash. The driving in Egypt is probably the most adventurous thing one can do.

Did the Giza pyramids, never had the desire to go there before but my wife insisted. Turns out, I really enjoyed it. She got claustrophobic.

Every Egyptian I talked to said I was crazy for going to Cairo, they all say Alexandria is the spot. So if you've got time, maybe that's the play.

I'd like to check out Sinai and the Red Sea next time I think. Looked incredible from the plane.

[WideReceiver]

We did Cairo, Alexandria, Sharm El Sheikh, Red Sea, cruised the Nile several days south and saw pretty much all of the main sites along the way. Feel free to message or ask specific questions here. It’s been years.

[Fuzz]

It's well worth going to the museum if you are at all interested in Egyptology.

[butterfly]

Never been, but I've been to Cairo, Georgia. Birthplace of Jackie Robinson! I think Egypt pronounces theirs differently.

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by Johnny199r

Any recommendations for a few days in Cairo, Egypt? I'm heading there in April for a few days before a cycling tour in Jordan.

Make sure you get the walk down pat before you go so you don’t look like a tourist.

[Inferno]

I'm gong through a bit of a dilemma here and I'm looking for some advice to help make my decision easier.

I originally had a flight from Winnipeg to Las Vegas on April 16th with an 1 1/2 hour layover in Calgary. Delta went and changed that to a early departure at 10 a.m. instead of 1 p.m. and a 4 1/2 hour layover in Calgary.

I'm not too thrilled about having a layover that long so I'm looking into possibly changing my flight.

I found a flight that leaves the day before at 8:30 a.m. and has a connection in Minneapolis for 1 1/2 hours. I'd get to Vegas at 1 p.m. instead of 5:44 p.m. like the original flight. My hotel would be an extra $100 CDN which isn't bad. I just realized last night through that if my flight happened to get delayed that I might end up missing my connection depending on how far the gates are.

There's also a non-stop flight on the Monday that leaves at 5 p.m. and gets to Vegas at 6:30 p.m. The hotel would be another $100 for the night. I'm not sure though if 9 nights is too long for Vegas since I'll be leaving on the 23rd. I'll be going for WrestleMania so my Friday night, Saturday afternoon and evening, and Sunday and Monday evenings will be taken I'm not a gambler either but was going to spend $20 a day on the slots anyway.

Should I just stick with my changed booking to be safe or consider the other flights?

[butterfly]

Originally Posted by Inferno

I'm gong through a bit of a dilemma here and I'm looking for some advice to help make my decision easier.

I originally had a flight from Winnipeg to Las Vegas on April 16th with an 1 1/2 hour layover in Calgary. Delta went and changed that to a early departure at 10 a.m. instead of 1 p.m. and a 4 1/2 hour layover in Calgary.

I'm not too thrilled about having a layover that long so I'm looking into possibly changing my flight.

I found a flight that leaves the day before at 8:30 a.m. and has a connection in Minneapolis for 1 1/2 hours. I'd get to Vegas at 1 p.m. instead of 5:44 p.m. like the original flight. My hotel would be an extra $100 CDN which isn't bad. I just realized last night through that if my flight happened to get delayed that I might end up missing my connection depending on how far the gates are.

There's also a non-stop flight on the Monday that leaves at 5 p.m. and gets to Vegas at 6:30 p.m. The hotel would be another $100 for the night. I'm not sure though if 9 nights is too long for Vegas since I'll be leaving on the 23rd. I'll be going for WrestleMania so my Friday night, Saturday afternoon and evening, and Sunday and Monday evenings will be taken I'm not a gambler either but was going to spend $20 a day on the slots anyway.

Should I just stick with my changed booking to be safe or consider the other flights?

Does your ticket number begin with 006? If so you should be able to change to any routing on the same day or cancel, get a refund, and rebook to a different day.

When you visit My Trips in your SkyMiles account, do you see "Find Alternative Flights"?

[Inferno]

Originally Posted by butterfly

Does your ticket number begin with 006? If so you should be able to change to any routing on the same day or cancel, get a refund, and rebook to a different day.

When you visit My Trips in your SkyMiles account, do you see "Find Alternative Flights"?

My ticket is changeable for no fee and just paying the difference. Delta told me if I did change though I would have to do it with Expedia since it’s a special discounted price.

[butterfly]

Originally Posted by Inferno

My ticket is changeable for no fee and just paying the difference. Delta told me if I did change though I would have to do it with Expedia since it’s a special discounted price.

Ugh, yeah. Try to avoid OTAs if possible unless you are making a killing on a hotel or something. You can set up the same fare construction and it will be the same price anywhere. If delta.com doesn't allow it, just call and they will waive the booking fee.

There is no benefit to using an OTA as all fare rules, fare classes, married segment logic, minimum connection time, max layover length have their restrictions and prices set in the system.

[Whynotnow]

Originally Posted by butterfly

Ugh, yeah. Try to avoid OTAs if possible unless you are making a killing on a hotel or something. You can set up the same fare construction and it will be the same price anywhere. If delta.com doesn't allow it, just call and they will waive the booking fee.

There is no benefit to using an OTA as all fare rules, fare classes, married segment logic, minimum connection time, max layover length have their restrictions and prices set in the system.

This needs reinforcing, if you are just airfare only, never, ever book through Expedia. I use it or other sites as my search engine, but then always go to the airline. It’s always the same price and direct booking prevents so many issues if you or the airline have issues.

[Nammer403]

Anyone got a good travel agent for group deals? - 10+ people
I used a fellow CP member before but I don't believe he still does it

[nomad]

Went to Harry Hays this morning to submit a passport application. I arrived at 7:15 AM and was sixth in line. It was supposed to open at 8:30 AM. At 8 o'clock, by which time there were perhaps 30-35 people in line, one of the federal employees came out and said that there was a big line so they would open early. I was out of there by 8:15 AM. Kudos to the federal passport office!!

[Engine09]

Anyone have good info on Phuket?

Where to avoid, where to stay, which little islands to hit. Thanks!

[WideReceiver]

Many here hate Facebook but I’m planning a trip to Japan and found several groups with great advice. Questions are answered by locals and experienced travellers. There may be groups for Phuket.

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by Engine09

Anyone have good info on Phuket?

Where to avoid, where to stay, which little islands to hit. Thanks!

Wish I did, was going to go there once but couldn't get a way there so I said Phuket and went somewhere else.

[Sidney Crosby's Hat]

Originally Posted by WideReceiver

Many here hate Facebook but I’m planning a trip to Japan and found several groups with great advice. Questions are answered by locals and experienced travellers. There may be groups for Phuket.

There's a really good subreddit on Thailand travel:

https://www.reddit.com/r/ThailandTourism/

There's a Phuket one as well, but this one has almost a million subscribers so you'll find more talk about Phuket here than the other one.