I would ask "I'm a diamond with HH but for reasons XYZ I was unable to stay at your property this time. I was wondering if you could accomodate me in this manner.... and I'd be glad to pay a reasonable charge for this service...."

I bet they say "no prob" and have you come over, at no charge. UNLESS there may be some new security prohibition...

Actually, when I did this in LAS, they did ask to see inside the bag "for security reasons." Only things they found were some day old clothes, half a bag of Skittles, a Sony Discman, 2 books, some work related papers and two dozen old AA boarding pass stubs.

I often check-in bags at airport- or near-by train-stations hotels for the day (or even longer). I never mention that I am not a guest of the hotel.

I just tip the bellman normally (1$ a bag, 3-5 $ in total) when doing so.

At airport hotel locations (even as a non-staying guest, I can also profit from the free airport-hotel shuttle, often from faster getting a taxi (and without airport surcharge), and from better and faster rental-car rates (like at the Mariott SFO where Hertz doesn't add the airport and Rental-car-center-bus-surcharges ) and the rental-car just waits out-doors.

In case you are unaware, this forum is:

"MilesBuzz! Discussion of the latest frequent flyer program buzz..."

Maybe you would be better served if you posted according to the FlyerTalk guidelines ---

"Off topic posts take two general forms: .... Topic-starting posts that are placed in an inappropriate forum. When determining in which forum to place a topic-starting post, pay close attention to the forum description." http://www.flyertalk.com/rules.shtml --

at either the "Travel Buzz" forum at

http://flyertalk.com/travelfr_bc.shtml

Or the "Hilton" forum at

http://www.flyertalk.com/forumcgi/fo...lton&number=57

[This message has been edited by cblaisd (edited 04-18-2002).]

CAUTION: The Kennedy expressway (I 90) often backs up all the way from the loop to ORD on Friday afternoons. Take the CTA Blue line. $1.50 right into terminal 2. It runs in the subway in the loop. I can't remember if it's the State Street or Dearborn subway. They are a block apart and both very near the Palmer House. Good luck.

Thanks for all the input.

I actually called the Diamond Desk and they hooked me up with the Palmer House manager who was most happy to accommodate. He checked our account, entered our name and Diamond Number and advised the Bell Captain to take very good care of us. That is one of the things I like about having high status and a lot of points in the program. It really does encourage agents to better service. Of course, being as nice as one possibly can goes a very long way as well.

Yes, Opus17 I am very concerned about traffic out of town at 4:30-5:00 p.m. on a Friday night. Things I don't like in life are waiting in the baggage line at McCormick at the end of the day, waiting in the taxi que, and sitting in a taxi on the freeway watching that train whiz by on the way to O'Hare. I love the train, especially when it speeds by dead stopped traffic on the freeway.

TrojanHorse, yes, it is a wedding that is important to me. Lovely young people looking forward to a long, happy life together--hopefully dotted with beautiful babies.

On a UA flight last week, the mustachioed schmuck sitting in front of me kept hitting on his female seatmate. He took care to tell her "I have Premier status on United" every thirty seconds or so, in addition to telling her about his boat and his motorcycle. Judging from my observation of him, the answer to your question is no. Maybe he should try again when he reaches 1K.

My questions wasn't whether it was an important wedding to you, but what is the difference between an important wedding and a not important wedding?

Important Wedding TO YOU: Your child is getting married.

Not a very important wedding to YOU: Your bosses brother-in-law is getting married for the second time, and your boss in a rare show of generosity is hosting the reception at his house and wants you to come to help fill the crowd.

Just my not so very humble thoughts on the matter...

Keep the faith.

Pakse

Punki,

I was touched by your comments on the wedding. It says a lot about you, as well as the couple, that you want to travel across the country to share their special event. I was a parish priest (Episcopal) prior to my present work, and I can assure you that the happiest and most blessed weddings are the ones where a loving and generous community gathers to support the couple.

Thanks for sharing your warmth with us.

The Blue Line is under Dearborn St.

Once you get on the train, it takes about 55-60 minutes to get from near the Palmer House to ORD.

Important: Bring exact change for your $1.50 fare on the CTA. Some turnstyles accept coins. All stations have farecard vending machines that are easy to use and accept bills and coins. Buy a farecard for each pax. Of course, try to get a foreward facing seat.

BTW, the rear of car #2 (enter at the train's 4th door) has a seat with 60" of legroom!

Enjoy!!!

Hotels are always trying to get me to 'check my bags with the Bellman! I hate that, since I travel with a rollon! I don't trust anyone other then myself with it!

And I don't think it is worth a $20 or a $5.

Just get my room ready!

My dearest cblaisd:

How right you are! But of course, should you have, by some amazing turn of chance, happened to see many of my dear Punki's earlier posts, you would then know she has made it a new focus of her carbon-based lifeform existence to become skilled in these "new rules of FlyerTalk" and has time after time (and then, after some more time) called for a detailed description of the new rules of correctness of this dwelling.

Alas, the answer that off topic posts are now moved from their forums is not satisfying to my dear Punki, and so lest you be surprised on continues the quest. In spite, this, of evidence to the effect that these answers sought, already been made available have.

Should you not however pause and provide proper credit where it is undeniably due? Although the thread deals with nohing more than her very specific problem of what to do with suitcases during a meeting in a given city, the thread was most wisely given a very general subject, so that it not draw the attention of those concerned with off topic threads. [A mistake which had been made with a certain cheap European airlines thread.]

So the learning curve is not totally flat out there!

FamilyPfP: Valid point, but if you believe in your opinion, why not post from your real username?

Topic please.