Nephoi

organizising committes's privilege. one hour myself, one hour ISTFlyer.
but you can talk to me. for a small fee (+ service charge + tax + tip) i MIGHT let you sit there for a while.


back to the topic - I literally got no feedback on the Connies at all... please tell me what you think about that.

Flying Yazata

For me personally: it really depends on my attendance at that particular DO out of the two planned ones. I have no urgent need to experience Connie. Overall feeling a bit overcharged by the whole TWA Hotel ordeal currently, but that bar sounds cheap. And it's not even at cruising altitude, so *cough* we may endure more intoxication.

I'm not sure yet about staying at the TWA Hotel or some other hotel. But, if A) I'm attending that particular DO, B) stay at TWA Hotel and C) end up at JFK with the appropriate timing for participating at any Connie cocktail hour, then yes, I'm happy to participate. But like I said, it's not a must for me, but I'm +1, if it matches A-C. In case TWA Hotel happens to charge something crazy that night, then I will skip it and try it another time.

Reetmafreen

I’m not Gold and I’m not much of a fan of bulkhead seats, so you two have at it. 😀

As for the Connie, it does seem to be a good experience, albeit an expensive one. (Full disclosure I was born just down the road from Hiddy, but the houses had inside toilets by the time I popped into the world &#128523 so it’s in my nature to be frugal. In 2 hours I would drink about 4 beers (hate flying with a hangover), so would just about get my moneys worth on the PP rate, vs. paying by the drink, plus the exclusivity/reservation fee on top of that. If not enough people sign up, then taking a chance on walking up, sounds better to me, plus I might get to try a cocktail or two as they are not included in the PP rate.

That said, I’m going to go with the flow, so if we go the exclusive route, then sign me up.

ISTFlyer

Don't worry, I'll be standing and interacting with people

The biggest issue is that how are we able to find 100 people who is OK to pay $35 ( 3500/100 ) + $35 + taxes + fees in short notice for an event next year; it would be probably really hard but once the DO dates and the plan is confirmed, I'll also create another thread in CommunityBuzz for those interested solely in that event. Maybe we'll find some people who would actually want to join us from other forums.

Reetmafreen

I thought read in the blurb that the capacity was 75?

endoman

This could potentially be my first “do” so am all ears. Happy to go with the flow. Will need all the advice possible.

endoman

Please delete duplicate

ISTFlyer

Yes, my bad.
On the event booklet that I have, the capacity is clearly marked at 75 guests maximum.

3500/75 + 35 + taxes + fees would be about 100 per person which is acceptable for a private event with an open bar in NY.

Great to hear that, hope to see you at the DO.

Flying Yazata

Yes, that pricing is more sensible than their offer for a private runway view pool event. And I could consider attending, even without staying at the TWA Hotel, if I'm staying within a reasonable distance. The advantage of staying at the TWA Hotel in the summer is of course the weather for watching planes on the roof and from your runway view room.

On a sidenote: JFK is in my opinion somewhat crap for layovers. Very little good options nearby and the pricing is beyond even PAR. I tend to end up booking something in Brooklyn. Also done so far one layover in Chinatown/Little Italy. Should currently look once again into booking some 1-2 NYC overnight layovers. Something like LON is so much more better for efficient layovers.

HPN-HRL

I like the idea of visiting the Connie, even though it's a bit expensive all-in:

Connie holds 75 guests max, so if our group is 75 the cost per person would be $3500/75 + $35 = $81.67 pp not including taxes, so probably around $100 pp.
If we only have 50 guests then the cost per person would be $3500/50 + $35 = $105 pp not including taxes, so probably around $130 pp.

That's a lot for one cocktail and a few glasses of beer/wine. I'm still willing to do this for the experience, but fully understand if not enough of the group thinks this is a good idea.

I would suggest to the organizers that trying to return money to those who originally signed up is probably going to be a pain. I'm used to events like these donating any payments after the initial collection to a charitable cause. If you two are willing to do the work necessary to refund those who paid initially, I guess you could have those who did not pay initially be expected to pay cash at the door, so that you have funds available to make those payments. Feel free to ignore this suggestion - it won't bother me - but the folks I know who have organized Dos needing pre-payments have moved to the "money left over goes to charity" model for simplicity's sake.

As currently scheduled, the Connie Lounge is only open to the public Wed-Sun, so (if this is still the case in July-August 2022) we won't be able to get in at all on the return unless we make a private booking.

Thank you again to the organizers for all the work you have put in!

HPN-HRL

Organizers - FYI I went back and completed the poll.

ISTFlyer

Just to let you know, I have received your poll response.

HPN-HRL

Thanks - I appreciate you letting me know.

ISTFlyer

Dear folks,

A kind reminder that the poll would close within 24 hours.
When the poll closes, more details would be provided regarding the next steps that the organizing committee would be taking regarding DO planning.

Thank you.

Reetmafreen

A note in the tier point thread about having to use a £500 credit on AA on a routing out of LHR had made me realize that there is a flaw in my plan to nest the “prime DO” inside another trip to catch the first half of the Vegas run. If something came up and “Prime” didn’t happen for me, then even though I’d have BWC protection, that e-voucher will be in a currency that I’ll never use, or best case will be in EUR and any trip that utilizes those funds would have to originate in the EU.

I might have to rethink that plan and have the westbound and eastbound Prime on different PNRs in order to keep any potential FTV in USD. I was looking at alternatives into Sofia on OW as I don’t necessarily need to go through London (and therefore not use an I bucket seat up), but all I’ve found is LAX-DOH-SOF, but that is stupidly expensive if I look at dates next Summer.

on a side note, if I did have a GBP/EUR FTV, can I put this towards a 125 plated RTW ticket? Or would there be complications due to the fact that the RTW ticket validity is one year mean that depending on when the ticket was bought, it could extend past BAs validity cut off point. Just trying to think of alternative solutions.