Community Discussions
Explore the latest discussions and community conversations related to this domain.
Need advice on getting a cash refund from LOT for our flight to Poland we decided to cancel
Main Post:
I’ll keep it short, back in like September we found round trip flights to Krakow from Chicago for like $275 for the third week of March. We bought, then around early January the flights were completely cancelled with no option to rebook, so we rebooked with LOT, but the tickets were almost double the price (still very reasonable for a trip to Europe though). NOW there’s war in the Ukraine, the border is like a four hour drive from Krakow, and our group agreed this all probably won’t be wrapped up by next week.
My girlfriend already called and tried to get a refund and they basically said we can only give you a one year flight credit, and the only way they can give us cash back is if we test positive for COVID. I’m sure there are a lot of excuses people pull for wanting refunds but I feel like potential war zone is a pretty valid one, does anyone have any advice on what to do here?
Top Comment:
Hello. First, I completely agree with your decision to no longer travel to the region. It is the smart and safe thing to do.
Note, that your first trip being cancelled should have given you the option of a new flight. But that really isn't material to the story as LOT doesn't care what happened before you booked with them.
As of November, the State Department has had Poland on its Level 4 "Do Not Travel" advisory for US Citizens due to COVID-19. There are not currently any warnings due to the war in Ukraine. My guess is they had a similar advisory before then, so you would be hard pressed to argue conditions have changed enough from booking to now. You took a gamble with a cheap flight, and lost. See here for State Department advisory: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/poland-travel-advisory.html
Unfortunately, A potential war zone nearby is actually not a valid reason for a full refund. It isn't yet a war zone and isn't imminently so. Poland's airspace is open and considered safe at the moment. Lot is flying. Not to sound insensitive, because I agree with your decision, but from the point of view of the airline / insurance companies - you have just changed your mind about the trip. There is no formal danger in Poland, just your "feeling". As a result, there is no US or EU consumer protection policy that covers this. And most insurance comapnies likely would deny a claim as well for the same reason. A cancel for any reason travel insurance policy would cover you, but most have high deductibles, and would be purchased (usually) within 2 weeks of booking.
LOT's offer to give you a 1 year credit with no change fees is a good one.
Stay on top of their Ukraine policy page here: https://www.lot.com/us/en/explore/coronavirus-travel-information/procedure-rebooking-refund-ukraine
Lot general rebooking policy:
https://www.lot.com/us/en/explore/coronavirus-travel-information/flexible-rebooking-options
Wedding Registry - Cash Gift Advice : PersonalFinanceCanada
Main Post: Wedding Registry - Cash Gift Advice : PersonalFinanceCanada
"Excellant" advice from the local RE: "cash in on the housing shortage with this rental investment"
Main Post: "Excellant" advice from the local RE: "cash in on the housing shortage with this rental investment"
Top Comment:
Fucking scumbags
Grand Cash Slots - need advice
Main Post:
Currently at 680 and I'm confused how people are doing 1k levels per day? I'm at max bet on regular (around 9-10% per spin) and I'm either struggling to keep coins or keeping my sanity. It stops me every so often to give me a chance to watch an ad to reclaim gold (around 3 spins worth only). No other methods keep me topped off other than luck in spinning. Each spin is 1.5b and it stopped me completely now. Any tips on reaching 7k from this point? Not even completion of the puzzles or side missions come close to me reclaiming my 300b I had at the most.
Top Comment: I think you need to do it the other way around. Don't do max bet, stick to 1% or ideally about 0.25% or 0.50% of your total roll. The key is to just let it auto spin for a long time so that it doesn't wipe you out and ideally you're earning all the bonus stuff at the same time. Some of the games, like that new Rhino one, can just autoplay without any input and the only thing that hard stopped me was when I had to open a strongbox. That said, I'm hard stalling out at around 2500 and I had to put a little money in already on passes to keep things rolling. Part of the problem is that at some point it is down to luck and I've had some rough runs. The last one wiped out 2 trillion with 6 billion spins which was kind of crazy. Not sure if it's personal bad luck or they're adjusting payouts down. Would love to hear from other people.
Advice on BRRRR Method, Cash-Out Refi, HELOC Repayment, and Creative Land Use
Main Post:
Hey everyone,
I’m looking for advice on a real estate investment I got into, which seems like the BRRRR method, but I think I might’ve done things a bit backwards. Here’s the situation:
Three others and I invested in a duplex in San Antonio, pooling $200,000 total (including the purchase price and remodeling). I personally took out $50,000 from my HELOC to fund my portion, but now I’m paying it back, and it’s pretty expensive.
It took us almost a year to finish remodeling because my dad handled most of the work himself to save money. This is our first month with renters in both units, and I’m getting about $600 a month as my share of the rent.
The duplex sits on a large lot with enough space to build another duplex or do something creative. I was thinking about adding a shipping container, dividing it into three units, and renting them out as storage space.
Here are my questions:
1. BRRRR Method and Refinance: We haven’t done a cash-out refinance yet. Are there specific banks or lenders that work well for this? Should I wait to show steady rental income before applying, or should I approach it differently? 2. HELOC Repayment: My HELOC is getting expensive to pay back. Does anyone have advice on how I can tackle this more efficiently, or should I consider using cash flow from the property or future equity to pay it off? 3. Creative Land Use Ideas: Is the storage unit idea worth pursuing, or would building another duplex be a better long-term investment? I’m open to any creative suggestions for how to make the best use of the extra space. 4. Income and Reinvestment: How should I approach the $600 monthly income? Should I reinvest it into the property, or is there a smarter way to use it?I’d really appreciate any advice or guidance on how to move forward, especially since I feel like I might’ve done things out of order. If anyone has been in a similar situation or has insights on navigating these challenges, I’d love to hear from you!
Thanks in advance!
Top Comment:
If your in a pinch right now, you could put your $600 towards your heloc just knowing you might have an emergency repair down the road in which case you will possibly need to pull from the heloc again to cover.
If you’re comfortable with this, keep paying out of pocket for your heloc and put the $600 towards extra principle payment.
I am all for leveraging but I personally wouldn’t sleep well at night if I didn’t have a cash emergency fund for my houses.
Be careful about going deeper into debt right now to fund more investments. If I understood you correctly, you have been paying on a heloc for over a year with no return until this past month. Time is money in this situation and maybe it wasn’t the best idea to take that full year to renovate. I don’t flip homes ( just minor to medium renovations) but one of my parents did for many years. They always completed renovations in 60-90 days for this exact reason.
Edited to say: if y’all cash out refinance, will the property still cash flow?
Advice Needed- Massive Downswing
Main Post:
Well I’ve been playing poker for about 2 years now, I’ve done a decent amount of studying and read a couple poker books and at one point I thought I was pretty good or at least break- even. Lately I’ve hit a massive downswing that has crushed my confidence. Honestly I really don’t have an explanation, I haven’t been running particularly terribly or had any particularly brutal bad beats. I think I’ve been playing okay for the most part but making a few bad plays each session. Anyways, I’m not sure I should keep playing to try to win it back or call it quits and cut my losses. Any words of wisdom or analysis of my graph would be appreciated.
Top Comment: One thing that usually happens with poker players is that: downswing > lack of confidence > starts trying to play differently > starts playing bad. My advice would be to play less, study more. Back to the basics, review your hands and your game, things will work out eventually.