Check and double check those dates

[thaiophilus]

I just looked at the desktop version of Google Calendar, and this is what I see (YMMV):

When creating an event, choose the (start) date, then click on the "add time" button, then tick the "Time zone" box. You then get a tick box for "use separate start and end time zones". Tick that, and there are two drop-down boxes where you can choose the start and end zones.

At that point you have to be careful, because the default zone appears to be the one it thinks you are in right now.

[vinapu]

58 minutes ago, thaiophilus said:

(I refuse to call it AI)

doesn't matter how we call it, never hurts to use our own intelligence instead

[macaroni21]

11 hours ago, Thomas_88 said:

 

Maybe you could try for example "Depart BKK seventeen twenty".

Haha, I beat you to it. I thought of that already and began using that "system" in the header since the start of this year. Plus I have added a twist. I write the time in a different language and deliberately mis-spell it, e.g "Depart Bkk di-sept vintg"  or "Depart Bkk sipjet yee seep." This will work for a while until the Calendar catches on and again tries to do me favours.

[Keithambrose]

14 hours ago, unicorn said:

I'm surprised that you don't get charged for two rooms when that happens, since almost no reservation arrangements allow for same-day cancellations. There are two methods I use which prevent me from making that mistake. First, I have a folder at home with all of my travel arrangements, arranged in chronological order. When I need a hotel, I refer to the flights (which I usually book first), then the schedule of where I'm supposed to be. If I cancel a hotel, I keep the cancellation notice there. Also, I enter all of the data into my iPhone's calendar application. In that application, it's quite simple to change the time zone to the local one. (As a third measure, I also have a written "black book" record, which I usually carry with me, but that's overkill). 

This is my third measure, which I agree is simply nerdy overkill:

I did get charged!

 

You are more efficient  than me. You do what I should do. Half the problem is that it's so easy to book, on your phone, and unless you are very efficient, I'm not, you move on, and forget!

[vinapu]

Once by mistake I booked rooms in both Zing and Copa for the same night and it turned out to be great idea I utilised few times since. Having 2 rooms at disposal at both ends of Pattaya in inexpensive hotels, avoiding travel need when it's late and I'm hot under collar

[Thomas_88]

"Depart BKK Sevenqueen Twente"

[unicorn]

11 hours ago, Keithambrose said:

I did get charged!

 

You are more efficient  than me. You do what I should do. Half the problem is that it's so easy to book, on your phone, and unless you are very efficient, I'm not, you move on, and forget!

Doing what's simply easy, as you've learned, can lead to some pretty expensive mistakes. I can only think of one place that I repeatedly go to because it offers an experience so unique and pleasant, that I don't do a whole lot of investigating before booking. There's no place quite like the Almar Hotel in Puerto Vallarta, and I've gone to Puerto Vallarta most years for decades. As long as I can get a decent room rate, I'll go there year after year (though some years, if they ask for their full rate/rack rate, I will go elsewhere). I'll introduce my husband to Paris in April, and have already spent hours comparing hotels, and am not ready to decide at this time. I always try to go to one of the hotel chains with which I have high status and lots of points--Hilton, Marriott/Bonvoy, and InterContinental--but in this case I may not go to one of those places. I compare rates, room size, walking distance to the nearest Metro station, TripAdvisor reviews, photos, etc., including how much of it I'll be able to pay in points, if available. If it's an airport hotel, I also look into the airport shuttle--how often it runs, is it able to accommodate all guests (i.e. size), customer complaints regarding the shuttle service, and so on. All of this is difficult to do on a phone. I often get compliments on how well I plan these trips. 

[unicorn]

On 7/23/2024 at 3:56 PM, Keithambrose said:

That's really bad. I've never heard of that. Could you sue them? Once on BA business  class, Cancun to LHR, with my family, we were on the plane, and were asked if we would consider moving for some VIPs. I am a Gold member with BA. We politely refused, and that was the end of that. 

No, I doubt I could sue United. All of these airlines provide only guarantees which are required by law (and they fight tooth and nail against those laws). Some may recall when another physician, who had patients he had to see, was forcibly carried out, bloodied, when he didn't just move out of his seat as I did (also on United). United does have a program called Global Services, to identify the very few passengers for whom maltreatment would have catastrophic consequences. For example, my brother's wife was the CEO of a major corporation, so she, her husband, and her bratty daughter were enrolled. At family gatherings, my brother loved to regale us with annoying stories of how well United treated them. Obviously, United knew that pissing her off would result in tens of millions in revenue, if she instructed her employees on company business not to use them. 

What they should have figured out, though, was that pulling passengers out of their seat will result in any good passenger avoiding that airline for life. I've flown other airlines for well over a million miles instead of them since then, and I almost always have at least one travel companion with me. I'm sure that physician they beat up will never fly them again, nor will any of his family, and possibly many of his friends. United hasn't figured out that just because you can do something, doesn't mean it's a good idea to do it. Yes, there are customers who will always go the cheapest way, regardless. However, those customers are probably not your best revenue generators.

United has been way under average for airlines' Customer Satisfaction Index for decades (and index which includes such awful airlines as Spirit). Given the length of time this has been going on, it seems United isn't terribly interested in figuring out why.