u/emmpeethree3

TL;DR

​Don't ask drivers for fares upfront: They'll coordinate with each other to quote an inflated price.

​Pay on board: Mid-ride (50–75% through), a fellow passenger acts as the fare collector to combine payments for the driver, giving you a better chance at local rates on less touristy routes.

​Travel in stages: Skipping the direct desert road lets you ride along the Nile with locals, visit Kom Ombo, Edfu, and Esna, and reach Luxor

​Kom Ombo transit tip: It has North and South bus stations connected by a separate local minibus.

When traveling between cities like Aswan and Luxor, don't ask the driver for the price before getting on. They'll often just quote a hugely inflated rate since you don't know what it should cost.

Once you're on board, the collection process is quite unique. 50-75% of the way before the destination, a passenger will act as fare collector and begin collecting fares from everyone, providing change and then handing one lump sum to the driver.

For a memorable experience and potential savings, consider taking the trip in stages instead of the fast desert road. You'll get to travel with locals along the Nile and can stop to visit temples like Kom Ombo, Edfu, and Esna along the way, often for only a quarter of the cost of an inflated direct ticket.

It seems on the shorter, less touristy routes you have a better chance of paying the local price. In my case I visited Edfu and Esna and got into Luxor on the west bank before sunset.

One thing to note, for Kom Ombo there's a North and South bus station, a separate local minibus goes between the two

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I fly to Amman tomorrow for a 9-day solo trip to Jordan. Just now when buying my Jordan Pass, I noticed the option to book a free ticket for the 1916 Hejaz Railway / Great Arab Revolt reenactment train ride. Since it was free I picked the only date that works with to go.

I've seen completely mixed opinions online. Some travelers call it the highlight of their trip, while others say it’s a bit over-dramatized or tame (based on YouTube videos I’ve checked out).

Because the train only runs twice a week, fitting it in would force me to completely overhaul my route.

Original route: Amman → Petra → Wadi Rum → Aqaba

Revised route required for the train: Amman → Wadi Rum → Petra → Aqaba

This adds extra travel time and backtracking. The accommodations have free cancellation, so shifting bookings isn't a dealbreaker, but as a solo traveler, I'm concerned about two main things:

Logistics & Cost: The starting/ending points for the train experience aren't right in town. How tricky or expensive is it to organize taxis or transfers to/from the station if I can't find another traveler to split costs with?

Is it actually worth it? For those who have done it: did you find the experience unique enough to justify changing an otherwise smooth route?

Would love to hear from anyone who has done the train ride recently. Thanks in advance!

Pet peeve, but So many people are mentioning the $20. Promo as if they forgot it's a two year 50% off promotion.

You're on a $40 plan that's temporarily discounted.

Given that Telus just slashed its dividend and new CEO is going to shake things up, they may not be discounting as aggressively as the past with matching freedom's plans etc.

I hope you all can transition to another great plan when the promo ends, let's just be realistic of what the plan you own

My phone kept wanting to stay connected to ATT even when signal was weak. I checked manually and saw telcel had a much stronger signal and manually had it connect to that and had few problems the rest of the trip.

Telcel is the largest and most expensive network, so I guess they are trying to keep you off it if they can help it. It's like connecting to a Bell/Telus/Rogers vs Freedom

I never thought this would happen. I'd booked TLV-LHR-YVR with Avios, flying with BA for both legs. Last month BA cancelled all fights to TLV until October so I called in to see what alternate arrangements they had for me. They kept pushing for a refund but I had to keep insisting on rebooking. The first time I called they we're going to put me on El Al to LHR and maintain my LHR-YVR leg. When I called today, all El Al flights are now full and was shocked that they offered to put me on Lufthansa for the entire journey as they are part Star Alliance and rivals.

Interestingly, my PNR/Booking code has not changed and BA sent out my new itinerary with the two LH flights. It also appears that the booking class is U which means I should earn Aeroplan points on this flight as well.

I never thought this would happen. I'd booked TLV-LHR-YVR with Avios, flying with BA for both legs. Last month BA cancelled all fights to TLV until October so I called in to see what alternate arrangements they had for me. They kept pushing for a refund but it's a trip I've wanted to do for a long time so had to work with a few agents to finally get them to find alternatives. The first time I called they we're going to put me on El Al to LHR and maintain my LHR-YVR leg. I wanted to see how things were going in the middle east first so decided against changing the flight until there was more certainty with how thigns were going. I called in today was shocked that they offered to put me on Lufthansa since they are part Star Alliance and rivals.

Interestingly, my PNR/Booking code has not changed and BA sent out my new itinerary with the two LH flights. It also appears that the booking class is U which means I should earn Aeroplan points on this flight as well.

If you're cheap and don't want to pay a penny for any add ons, here's how:

1. Stuff your pockets - wear cargo shorts/pants and stuff the pockets, wear a jacket with many pockets and stuff then with bulky and heavy stuff.

2. Wear multiple sets of clothes from the gate to the plane bathroom - what you wear doesn't count, see above. Once onboard, put them in your bag. Take off extra layers once on board or in the jetway ,😃

3. Use your bag straps effectively - to compress and minimize air in your bag, some also use vacuum bags but I think these are unnecessary

4. Measure your bag - clearly none of the people in front of me in line measured their bags to see if they'd fit and hoped for brute force at the sizer. The baggage check person was lenient for my flight and bags spilling out 3" were still given a pass. You can get a ruler or take measure at the dollar store, no excuses for slowing down the line due to lack of planning

You only have to do the uncomfortable stuff above from the gate to the plane. Once you've got the tag on your bag, by all means put everything back in your bag.

Treat it as a game and you'll be fine!

Wondering if it's a true giftcard valid for a year or if there are silly limitations. i'm looking to resell a flight and the base fare is under $50 and if it sells i'll get back a total of $150. i would book the flight again with a different date. does the $150 credit apply to the total cost including tax?

the new flight on a different date has the same base fare, so i'm just hoping to save some money vs the change fee

this happens periodically. every device we can is on the 5ghz network, but there are these intense slowdowns. powercycling usually helps and we replaced our modem on advice of ISP thinking that could be an issue.

i just discovered yesterday the 2.4ghz network was fine and toggled off and on the 5ghz network and that fixed it. it was 1000x the speed on 2.4 ghz vs 5ghz which makes no sense!

WPS, parental control, device prioritization are all off. the only setting on which could impact I can think of is band steering. would that make an impact? anything else?