Thought for the day...

wayneh

Joined Sep 9, 2010
18,111
All my current Vegas offers at the '$45 extra for nothing' hotel are 'fee' free.
I had wondered why these fees had become common in Vegas. From the customer point of view it just feels like a scammy way to make prices look lower while sticking it to you once you're a captive. I get that, but since it irritates customers so much, it didn't seem very smart.

But I recently learned the real reason - travel agent fees are based on the quoted room rate. By shifting so much of the real daily room rate into those stupid "fees", the hotels don't have to pay as much commission to travel agents. What a stupid arrangement.
 

WBahn

Joined Mar 31, 2012
32,883
I had wondered why these fees had become common in Vegas. From the customer point of view it just feels like a scammy way to make prices look lower while sticking it to you once you're a captive. I get that, but since it irritates customers so much, it didn't seem very smart.

But I recently learned the real reason - travel agent fees are based on the quoted room rate. By shifting so much of the real daily room rate into those stupid "fees", the hotels don't have to pay as much commission to travel agents. What a stupid arrangement.
You see the same thing in many "destination" cities. The taxes on things like hotel rooms and rental cars are ridiculous, so they charge tons of "fees" for things that aren't on the tourist tax list (yet).
 

nsaspook

Joined Aug 27, 2009
16,330
I had wondered why these fees had become common in Vegas. From the customer point of view it just feels like a scammy way to make prices look lower while sticking it to you once you're a captive. I get that, but since it irritates customers so much, it didn't seem very smart.

But I recently learned the real reason - travel agent fees are based on the quoted room rate. By shifting so much of the real daily room rate into those stupid "fees", the hotels don't have to pay as much commission to travel agents. What a stupid arrangement.

Next stop, file 13. :D


So far they've decided not to irritate resort regulars with extra fees for gambling. On my last stay this year they didn't provide the usual ratty wireless internet service for free. The hardware'd network plug to my wireless router still worked. ;)
 
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WBahn

Joined Mar 31, 2012
32,883
So far they've decided not to irritate resort regulars with extra fees for gambling. On my last stay this year they didn't provide the usual ratty wireless internet service for free. The hardware'd network plug to my wireless router still worked. ;)
Back about a decade ago when I was doing a fair bit of traveling I noticed that cheap motels always had free internet but the more expensive places always charged extra (usually $5 to $10 per day).

I would have thought that, by now, it would have been so ubiquitous that no place would dare not provide free internet.
 

cmartinez

Joined Jan 17, 2007
8,775
Back about a decade ago when I was doing a fair bit of traveling I noticed that cheap motels always had free internet but the more expensive places always charged extra (usually $5 to $10 per day).

I would have thought that, by now, it would have been so ubiquitous that no place would dare not provide free internet.
I feel insulted every time I go to a hotel and find out that it charges for internet access ... I always let the management know that this has been the last time I'm staying there, until they change their policies
 

WBahn

Joined Mar 31, 2012
32,883
How many people can honestly brag about selflessly saving countless lives?

https://edition-m.cnn.com/2018/05/11/health/james-harrison-blood-donor-retires-trnd/index.html
So he donated 1,100 times. I know he was donating plasma and that it doesn't translate well, but let's assume that it is equivalent to a pint (or better yet, a half-liter) of blood each time. That means that each 500 ml donation is credited with saving about 2,200 babies. Assuming 18 drops per milliliter (I seem to recall that that was what we used in high school chemistry for most liquids), that works out to a baby's life saved for every four drops of blood.

I wonder if he has made any arrangements for the collection of his blood upon death.

NOTE: In the U.S., you can only donate plasma every four weeks (although maybe that's just the Red Cross' limit).
 

atferrari

Joined Jan 6, 2004
5,012
How many people can honestly brag about selflessly saving countless lives?
Well, this lady for the case; not THAT many, but a lot anyway. Please read

DEAR DIARY:
Day 1
All packed for the cruise ship — all my sexiest dresses and make-up. Really excited.

Day 2
Entire day at sea, beautiful and saw whales and dolphins.
Met the Captain today — seems like a very nice man.

Day 3
At the pool today. Also some shuffle boarding and hit golf balls off the deck.
Captain invited me to join him at his table for dinner. Felt honored and had a wonderful time. He is very attractive and attentive.

Day 4
Won $800 in the ship’s casino.
Captain asked me to have dinner with him in his own cabin. Had a luxurious meal complete with caviar and champagne.
He asked me to stay the night but I declined. Told him I could not be unfaithful to my husband.

Day 5
Pool again today, got sun burnt, and went inside to drink at piano bar for rest of day. Captain saw me, bought me several large drinks. He really is charming.
Again asked me to visit his cabin for the night. Again I declined. He told me if I did not let him have his way with me he would sink the ship.
I was shocked.

Day 6
Today I saved 1600 lives! Twice.
 

cmartinez

Joined Jan 17, 2007
8,775
I wonder if he has made any arrangements for the collection of his blood upon death.
He probably has ... also, there might be other factors that the article doesn't mention, like if he had to restrict his diet, and of course he might've been a teetotaler so he could donate as frequently as possible. What about the state/texture of the veins in his arms from being pierced so frequently? Did they pierce other parts of his body too? He might've made many more sacrifices that we don't know about just so he could keep donating.
 

atferrari

Joined Jan 6, 2004
5,012
NOTE: In the U.S., you can only donate plasma every four weeks (although maybe that's just the Red Cross' limit).
Same here and 65 yo was the limit when they stopped me. After asking to many , I was told that even above that age I could donate as long as I was in good health. Donating since young age, I hardly could say for whom I donated albeit doing it following a specific request.

BTW, once, asking simple questions to the technician in charge, I discovered that lot of the blood donated for a specific patient, was being diverted to a commercial circuit where they charged for it. Go figure.
 

wayneh

Joined Sep 9, 2010
18,111
How many people can honestly brag about selflessly saving countless lives?
I can't explain why, but this made me immediately think of a paradox. We see this guy as a hero, which he is, but at the same time here in the U.S. we abort babies at the rate of about 20% of the live births. We even have laws against fetal homicide because we recognize the fetus as "human", and yet we terminate almost 600,000 fetuses a year.

I'm not opening a political discussion here - please don't do that - just pointing out how odd we are as a society.
 

cmartinez

Joined Jan 17, 2007
8,775
I can't explain why, but this made me immediately think of a paradox. We see this guy as a hero, which he is, but at the same time here in the U.S. we abort babies at the rate of about 20% of the live births. We even have laws against fetal homicide because we recognize the fetus as "human", and yet we terminate almost 600,000 fetuses a year.

I'm not opening a political discussion here - please don't do that - just pointing out how odd we are as a society.
We're not just odd ... but contradictory, as you've pointed out ... we love to see the other way when there's something that we don't like and we're not brave enough to confront ... we're too complacent a species
 
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