u/sarugby4life

We have an early AM flight out of FLR connecting within the EU before the USA.

However we only have one hour for our connecting flight and this will almost certainly not be enough time for customs stamping VAT forms.

Can we do the customs stamp at the FLR airport instead? We will be going to the Global Blue Lounge in Florence beforehand but will still be the actual stamp.

Thoughts?

Purchased a watch from a boutique in Switzerland and the VAT refund was calculated as: Sales Price - (Sales Price / 1.081). This allowed me to get the full 8.1% VAT back and was what was shown on the form for Global Blue.

However in Italy, I’m being told that even though the VAT is 22%, they only refund 15.5%.

I am negotiating a decent deal on the watch, but does the boutique have any control over this VAT portion? Is it safe to assume that I’m being given correct info?

It works out to be 15.5% of the sales price, where the max refund would be ~18% (1/1.22)…

Have been a Breitling fan for many years and have a few pieces already. I tried both of these on today and am having a very hard time deciding. Both look great but very different watches. I have an older Navi GMT and a Super Chrono so both styles are familiar.

The Rose Gold is with the green rubber strap, the perpetual calendar is blue dial with black chrono strap.

Dealer is offering a nice discount on either of about 33% after factoring in VAT.

This would definitely be the more special watch in my small collection.

I am set on a new travel pro platinum elite carry on, but want one that is ideal for both domestic and international travel.

International Carry On: H: 21.75 in. W: 15.75 in. D: 7.75 in.
Business Pro: H: 22.50 in. W: 14.50 in. D: 9 in.
Standard Carry-on: H: 23.5 in. x W: 14.5 in. x D: 9 in.

The international carry-on seems to be too wide for SOME domestic carriers, and also a few international ones. The Business Pro and standard Carry-On seem too tall for international carriers.

There doesn't seem to be a perfect size but I'm looking for the one that will cause me the least hassle.

Has anyone had issues with this as a carry on on Embraer 190 aircraft (2x2)? I just ordered one but am nervous it may be a problem in overhead bins for this plane.

Rather new (17 months) LG WM6700HBA front load washer. We noticed the washer leaking a bit underneath towards the front right side. The machine was in the middle of final rinse cycle for towels. Lots of suds in the machine.

I ran a spin only cycle to empty out the machine, then manually emptied remaining water using front drain hose. I also took out and cleaned the drain pump filter which was filled with lint / debris.

We only use HE detergent and detergent levels look ok. From what I have read, the likely culprit is a dirty drain pump filter so I’ll be trying a rinse and spin only first.

Any other thoughts? Washer sits on a storage drawer pedestal so easy enough to see from underneath.

We will be spending 7 nights in Switzerland and require train passes from Zurich to Wegen, then Wegen to Florence. We will be spending a few days in Wegen as well.

Is the half fare card still worth buying for this trip? Family of 4 with two kids under 12.

Booking award flights from Europe to West Coast. The two options we have are:

1. FLR to FRA on Lufthansa / Air Dolimiti, then a 3 hour layover in FRA for our flight to US. These would be on two separate tickets and the airlines are NOT partners.

2. KLM for both legs, FLR to AMS, then to USA, all on one ticket. However, the layover in AMD is only 70 min.

I'm not sure which option makes the most sense. The short layover makes me nervous, but being on one ticket, should something cause us to miss the long flight home, KLM would book us on next available flight for free. For option #1, we have more time between flights, but if we were to miss our long leg home, we'd be SOL.

Traveling from USA to FRA on Condor Biz using award points. However second leg was not available with award points but Condor does have connecting flight options to this destination.

If I book the second leg on a separate ticket, will Condor check my bags through to final destination? Layover is only 1h50m.

We’d like to travel from either SFO / LAX to Zurich, any day between 7/25/26 and 8/4/26. However we’d much prefer using Swiss - direct and what seems like a good J product.

We have Chase/AMEX/Capital One points that can be used. Swiss has flights through their own program but massive fees.

I see other connecting options via Lufthansa, but the goal is to try for Swiss.

Desired destination is Zurich. Aeroplan has an SFO to MUC via ZRH for a reasonable points/fee combo. Could se skip the second leg and just get off in Zurich? The main concern is baggage - first leg is United, second is Zurich.

Found 4 business class award seats on Swiss Air, but not seeing these available to redeem via Air Canada / Avianca, both of which would have significantly lower surcharges. I am pretty new to award travel - what is the reason for this? The taxes using Miles and More is about $1400 on way per person.

Family of 4 looking to book 4 biz class seats to Zurich. Lowest mileage seats appear to be on BA using AA points (57k each way) but significant taxes. Departure airports SFO/LAX/SAN.

Next options are Aeroplan points vis United (75k) or Lufthansa (90k). Taxes here closer to $100pp.

Any options for Swiss Air?

I’m leaning towards Lufthansa to try the new A350 biz class, but this would cost about 240k more miles for a family of 4, but saves close to $5000 in taxes if using BA.

I love the BA product but those fees are killer. Also have to be considerate of total travel time given we are traveling with 2 young children.

Leased a Gen2 Quad R1S Launch Edition in Aug 2025, and immediately bought out the lease. The lease had the $7500 EV rebate but was at a 9% APR. I was able to buy out the lease and use a CU at 3.99%, but did pay CA sales tax.

The Tri R1S was leased in Dec 2025 for no money down (I had Rivian credits to cover minimum DAS).

I am realizing that we do not need two 3 row SUVs, and I want to drop one of them for something sportier.

I can get out of the Tri R1S lease for nothing (other than the monthly payments we have made so far). For the Quad, I would have about $5k in negative equity, but have also paid full taxes, PPF'd the car etc.

At first, dumping the Tri seemed to make the most sense. However, the Gen2 R1S and any EV for that matter has massive depreciation the first few years, and I'd be able to eliminate some of that by getting out of it now.

My wife drives the Tri, and the Quad was mine. But I want a 2 door sports car that I can daily. The lease deal on the Tri was really good. When I did the math originally on the Quad, the cost of ownership on leasing vs leasing then buying out lease was the same assuming we'd sell after 3 years (the high lease APR offsets the CA sales taxes).

I'm very dissatisfied with the Premium Audio in the Gen2, even after the various SW updates. I'm close to dropping off the truck at a high end car audio shop to just do their thing. At a minimum, a few 10in woofers + amp, and either using a DSP to better tune the existing components or swapping these out as well. I can only find a few posts on folks who have added a sub, nothing on anyone doing more of a custom job.

Thoughts? I've done everything I can with existing EQ settings across multiple streaming services, and while the audio is better than when first purchased, it leaves A LOT to be desired.