u/uoftecethrowaway

I am currently a tourist in Uzbekistan, and in a few days I will be joining a tour to Turkmenistan. The tour operator told me that I need “clean, crisp” USD bills for Turkmenistan. Ideally $50s or $20s, because they scrutinize $100s even harder.

I’ve tried exchanging Uzbek som for USD at the banks, but the quality of the USD bills they offer me are really poor and I’ve had to reject most of them. Is there a recommended bank in either Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara, or Khiva where I can count on buying good-quality USD bills? I will need around USD $2000. Thank you!

I am looking to go from Kochkor to Osh on 31 August. Originally my plan was to return to Bishkek and fly, but seeing as how there are passenger flight restrictions between the SCO Summit and the World Nomad Games in Bishkek, I think it's better to avoid Bishkek on that day altogether and go directly to Osh?

I heard that there's a new road connecting Kochkor and Osh, but it doesn't sound like there are any minibuses operating on this route?

Is private taxi the only option, apart from hitchhiking? If so, where can I find a driver, and how much would a private car cost for this distance?

Also, does the drive still take around 10 hours? Would it be advisable to split the trip over two days?

I got a notification today - not from Qatar, but from the Flighty app that an Avios reward ticket I had booked for May 2027 from Sydney, Australia to Doha, which I had booked in first class on the A380, has been quietly replaced by a Boeing 777-300ER and downgraded to Business Class. Indeed, when I checked my booking on the Qatar Airways app, the aircraft and class of travel has been changed.

A Google Search shows some forums online that say that Qatar was planning on resuming their A380 service to Sydney in September, but apparently plans to do so have been scrapped.

I plan on taking to customer service to get a refund for the fare difference, but it is a bit disappointing, and I’m also not too sure what I’d do with the points anyway, since I transferred them in from Amex and I don’t fly Qatar (or British Airways) very often.

I didn’t see a post about this yet here, so posting this for awareness.

I noticed that I could redeem Aeroplan points for an economy ticket between Vancouver and Toronto-Billy Bishop Airport but via Yellowknife, Edmonton, and Montreal.

Is this a good value redemption? Not at all, it comes out to about 1.2 cents per point which is pretty bad, but it doesn’t seem like you can book this itinerary with cash.

Is this the fastest journey? Not at all, there’s an overnight layover in Edmonton.

But as absurd as this routing is, I think it would be fun/hilarious to do it.
But what are the chances that Air Canada or a well-meaning but overzealous agent will see my itinerary and be like, “Great news! We’ve simplified your journey and we’ve moved you onto a direct flight between Vancouver and Toronto Pearson (or Vancouver-Montreal-Toronto Billy Bishop)” when the whole point is the absurd routing?