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wow, I totally bagged out on finishing my thoughts. Oh well, plenty of good info already, and if I get some downtime, I'll work on it more.
Meantime, let's do as is being done, keep contributing and adding details and location-specific travel tips.
Nice work all!
Cletus Travel Tip #2,345:
Make sure you have a bunch of fatty's stored at skiing destinations around the country so when you bag out of some shit place like chicago and roll into a town that's getting poundered like say....denver/scummit you have skis ready to rock.
The two ways to do this are amass a collection of used but good skis from gear swap or as you phase skis out of your daily quiver but still might ski them, leave them with trusted* friends around the country.
*Definition of trusted = A friend who's by no means good enough to ski the big bad fuckers you leave at his/her place.
I'll pop my TGR cherry with some tips on the Reno-Tahoe Airport. This is mostly from a travelling from Reno to somewhere else perspective, which is probably backwards from what you guys might do...
-Use the curbside check in to ease the pain of packing your ski bag all over the airport. This is avalible in reno from United, Southwest, American, and Northwest.
-Park at one of the downtown casinos in the free parking garages and ride the airport shuttle. They don't make you prove you are/were a hotel guest. Caution, I have not done this with a ski-bag before, but given the location, they'll likely assume you are returning somewhere after being in Reno/Tahoe for a ski vacation.
-CHECK YOUR TICKET
The reno/tahoe airport has two different security check points...make sure you go to the right one so you dont end up waiting in line for 10-20 minutes just to be told to go somewhere else...I missed a flight during busy time once becuase if this oversight.
The escalator to the left leads to "C" concourse, the one to the right goes to "B" concourse. If you fudge it up, there is a crossover on the upper level.
For inbound travellers:
-From reno to tahoe, be prepared for poor road conditions, and plan accordingly. Make sure your rental car is awd or that you get chains. All roads to tahoe experience restrictions during winter weater, and these items can help you avoid the game of ski area bumpercars when the parking lots get icy.
Hope someone might benefit from this.
having grown up in S. America (including a couple years in BA) I will offer this comment about medical care in the thrid world.
Don't.
Simple as that. I cannot comment on Insurance coverage portabilty overseas but I do know that 99.973% (with a nod to Yoss) of ex-pats living abroad (and they have a much better handle on the local scene than you will as a traveler) FLY HOME for any kind of major procedure short of emergency surgery... if you blow a knee in S. America, splint it up, beg for vikes, and fly home to see your friend local AMA certified orthopedic surgeon.
Or get comfy with the idea of a limp.
Also - side note on long flight, surprised Yoss has not mentioned it - or maybe he did I was not paying close enough attention - hydrate! The relative humidity on a plane at 40,000 feet is pretty well zero... anything over a couple hours and you will be in trouble if you don't hydrate. Stay awake flying west and sleep flying east lest ye be slain by the dreaded Lag-Beast.
BUMP for this summer's travelers.
I'll try to add more to my Section 5 during this week...
Others, please keep chiming in!
International Cellphone use-
1)Get an unlocked tri/quad band GSM phone. If your stateside cellphone is GSM you can get it unlocked by calling your provider and being nice (having been a customer for 6months + helps), or download a ghetto kit of eBay.
2)When you arrive at your destination purchase a prepaid SIM card which can be done at cellphone kiosks/shops (many airports including ZRH, CHC, AKL, SYD) etc., or grocery stores (Migros @ ZRH) or any other place that sells cell crap. You'll have to register it in person, shouldn't take more than 10-15 minutes.
3)Use your phone at will with the local number.
International Calling-
Broadband connection and Skype In/Out
Carryons-
Outside of the US carryon luggage size and weight (8kg) is enforced. Pack the essentials and delicate bits (ID, $, camera equip) and don't expect the other stuff to get on board.
Medical Care-
Expect to pay for services before you leave the hospital. They won't bill your insurance. Have $$ to spare on the credit card, and contemplate the possibility of having to pay cash.
Rescue/Insurance-
Alpine Club memberships, like the Austrian Alpine Club, http://www.aacuk.org.uk/ will cover/reimburse you for rescue expenses, even climbing or offpiste skiiing, which many travel insurance policies won't cover you for.
A good thread on where to find decent airport food: click here
yeah but have you finalized all the tips? I know a bunch of people went off to points south this year woefully underprepared because of your cavalier attitude toward work.
From Detroit (DTW): Northwest or Continental airlines
If your short on time or hate to wait in line, once you've arrived or checked your baggage in, you can go to the 2nd level and head in to the Westin Hotel. Once in the Hotel, make your way to the lower level and you will see a security check point, with little or no line. Super lax.
The Security Check point is open 90% of the time, so if you see lots of foot traffic coming up the stairs, you had better turn back, it's closed.
http://www.nwa.com/features/detroit/images/map2.gif
lemonboy turn anti-adventure :( :wink: :DQuote:
Originally Posted by lemon boy
For Surf travel pick foreign airlines (generally lower board fees). On Singapore Airlines surfboards are free and the service is the best in the world.
this thread was just linked from another one, so just have to say awesome job Yoss!
best/favorite FF program?
I've currently got AA for overall FF coverage, and SWA b/c I fly them a lot and don't get credit elsewhere. I use AA b/c they last a long time, but there's no other reason to my choice.
bumped by request
well if you're fulfilling requests:
How bout you finish this fucker huh?
:nonono2:
Yeah yeah, I may try to work on summarizing South America travel specifics over the next couple weeks.
i think you should add a tip about when you get picked up from the airport, it should be by a dude in haute mirrored aviators and a tight thermal showing off his guns... oh, wait ...
Somehow, I just don't think that would "do it" for a lot of the guys here on the board.Quote:
Originally Posted by BeanDip4All
Actually, that's exactly what I want when I land in Baghdad…if by thermals you mean US Army BDUs and if by guns you mean a machine gun.
Thanks Yoss, lotsa good info in here.
My personal record is four pairs of tele skis, three pairs of poles, two shovels, two ice axes, two pairs of crampons, and other misc. stuff in one ski bag. It weighed in at about 69 pounds. And it didn't have wheels.:eek:
We made it from Colorado through LA, Aukland, Christchurch, Honolulu, then they tried to charged us per pair of skis returning from Hawaii but I talked them out of it.:cool:
Frozen or Suit, can we get a sticky here?
Bump cuz "Just the tip" was the title of SAC's email today. Bwhahaaaaaaa!!!!!
Been a while since I read through here, but lately on any flight I take I use my passport instead of my DL and I get through security quite fast.
And bump.
a couple good tips in honor of my first flight leaving from MacArther ("there's an airport called MacAurther on long island?")
Leave at dawn. Get on the first available flight, preferably on a plane that spent the night at your airport. The biggest factor controlling delays is not where your plane is going, but where the aircraft assigned to your flight is coming from. Always call the airline before you leave for the airport and ask the agent to tell you the aircraft number of the plane assigned for your flight, and then ask for the status of that aircraft tail number. If you're heading to Los Angeles from Miami in two hours but the aircraft assigned to your flight is in Caracas…you're not going. To find out how to talk to a real live agent for any given airline, go to gethuman.com.
Avoid major hubs. Use alternate airports. If you can fly into or out of these secondary airports, you'll reduce your chances of being delayed: Dallas Love Field, instead of Dallas/Fort Worth; Oakland or San José, instead of San Francisco; Houston's Hobby Airport, instead of Bush Intercontinental; and New York's Long Island MacArthur, instead of LaGuardia or Kennedy.
Not sure how Yoss is updating this but:
Curb Check
As a general rule of thumb the sky caps have to go out of their way to weigh your heavy as hell ski bag whereas the counter people weigh every bag as a matter of course. The catch is that they're a tip position and now at least UAL (and some others I think) actively charge for curb checking (2 bucks) so it now costs ~$4 to curb check and I usually go $5 cause it's a round number. Pull the $ with your ID. Plus, curb checking is always faster than going in, hell it's faster than using the stupid kiosk things and the sky caps are generally friendlier and more helpful than the counter jockeys. This however doesn't work for int'l travel. Money well spent IMO.
To try to make a useful contribution with some observations from recent travel –
If you load up your bag and it’s heavy, and it’s around vacation time, where the flights are full, it may not get on the plane because of an aircraft weight situation. If possible, keep the weight down to try to ensure it makes it on with you.
Make sure you put MULTIPLE LUGGAGE TAGES on the bag. The nature of a ski bag is that the tags can get ripped off in the multitude of machines they have just for this purpose. Better yet, write you name in large block letters with a sharpie on the outside of the bag. No matter how stoopid the airline is, it’s tough to miss MY NAME AND ADDRESS in 200 font on the outside of the bag.
You know those stupid zippered bags that seem to come with everything – sure – you got three at Christmas with stuff in them. Don’t throw them away, but throw them all in a cardboard box somewhere. Then, when you’re trying to figure out how to pack that snazzy battery recharger with all of those rechargeables, shuffle through the box until you find something suitable. My recharger and batteries all go into a Giro tune-ups zippered case.
Your helmet goes into your ski bag, so be sure you bring along a hat in your carry-on just in case your bag arrives late.
Bring a bunch of plastic bags in your ski bag. They don’t weigh anything, or take up any space but are sure welcome as laundry bags on the way back.
Keep n eye on the value of what you pack in your ski bag. During my most recent episode I was wondering whether I would see the bag again, and did an add-em-up. It doesn’t take too many Arcteryx shells, Oakleys and Marmot base layers plus a pair of skis to top $2,500. The airline may have a $1,200 cap on lost luggage – be advised.
Proof is everything. If you’re going to score a day for free in the SLC area (or Steamboat) with a Quick start pass, have the information readily available. If the airline can’t find your bag, go to the agent and tell them they cost you a free day of skiing. They’ll usually give you a voucher for $100 as an apology. Then go to the area, and show them you delayed baggage chit, and ask that they give you a ticket for tomorrow – they typically do.