News and notes from around the interweb:
- St. Regis Maldives redemptions come with breakfast and dinner in May this is the start of rainy season, sometimes the heavy rains don’t come until June, I did once roll the dice (to coincide with a friend’s 40th birthday) and lost. Still, amazing hotel where food is very pricey so this is a potential big savings. Check rate details when you book, because it’s possible the offer could get pulled.
Overwater Villa With Pool, credit: St. Regis - Way to go, LAX. The airport apologizes which is meaningless without actually fixing the problem that they caused.
LAX just banned Uber/Lyft curbside pickups today. THIS is the chaos it’s created.
It usually takes me 10 minutes to get a curbside ride. Today most of us waited 45 minutes. How is this better?@flyLAXairport pic.twitter.com/cVCpJRXfCV— Karen Hua (@k_hua) October 29, 2019
- Halloween meal inflight on Air Force One.
The food on Air Force One today, via the press pool pic.twitter.com/HrGJ2vdWk2
— Michelle Kosinski (@MichLKosinski) October 28, 2019
- When hotel booking sites say there’s only one room left it often isn’t true
- Beware flying this Halloween: Michael Myers is an American Airlines flight attendant.
- A self-refuting ranking of frequent flyer programs. 10Best said Spirit Airlines is best.
- Inside Gate Gourmet at Washington Dulles airport.
The issue is more the Uber algorithm for matching drivers with passengers. It basically can’t do what the taxi do and do first come first serve when you get to a curb. Some people hail an Uber as soon as they get off the plane some hail an Uber when they are curbside. It’s on Uber to fix it, make it work like a FIFO queue or lose passengers.
I think Uber is testing first in, first out (FIFO) at PDX and Lyft is testing it at SAN. Haven’t used it yet, but I think they reinvented the taxi line by having you stand in line, then give the driver a code from your phone when you get in.
USA Today readers are the paragon of good taste and travel smarts!
I used Lyft’s FIFO in SAN. Very very convenient!
Is the St. Regis Breakfast and Dinner perk for redemption also valid with cash+points or just points?
Uber and Lyft have been trying FIFO in PDX for months. It works great.
Wow. I will definitely say the St. Regis Maldives is the most fantastic and delightful property at which I have ever stayed. And half-board is an amazing deal. But would I go in May?
That’s a tough call. It doesn’t rain 24/7, and the property is beautiful regardless of the weather, but it won’t be a beach paradise. The real problem with monsoon season is the wind, which can make scuba and other water activities impossible.
Given the costs of getting there and the nominal cost of the room, I don’t think it’s worth the nominal ~$300/day discount. That’s a lot of money over a 5 day stay, but still a low discount against a fully-loaded cost given the risk. If I hadn’t just been in February, though…