Long Haul Business Class for under $2K (Long Post)

[HimBadMan]

On 10/02/2020 at 18:55, Luv2Phuket said:

The St Regis was VERY nice! I think the Sheraton is in a better location. Both are Category 5, which means they float between 35,000 to 40,000 points per night. St. Regis May have even dropped to 30,000 for one of my nights.
I had a girl all 3 nights, but was not stopped for ID.
The food is pricey, but they offer 3 free cleaning/pressed items a day (I think).
I got upgraded to a corner room. Here are some photos.



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That's nice.   My goto bkk marriot property has been the marriott Queen marquis.  Love the location, and an amazing lounge and buffett.     They also offer free pressing..  but maybe cause I'm a platinum member.    I've always liked that bkk has some good hotels.   The cash price is usually attractive as well.  

[HimBadMan]

6 hours ago, bgtp said:

Delta is my favorite domestic carrier to fly on, although not my favorite domestic FF program. That being said, United and American have been following their lead wrt FF programs. It’s been several years since I last used an Delta award which was on Delta/Korean. Sometimes, the connecting domestic Delta flight would greatly increase the award cost and I’d buy my own positioning flight instead. So, you have to play around with things. Korean flies from BOS now. So, that’s another one-stop option between BOS and BKK.

Agree delta really publish an award chart.   They use dynamic pricing and awards are typically super high, more than 100k miles for economy trip ..  delta by far has worse FF program not worth any card...

Even though AA and UA have a somewhat dynamic award chart now.  Partner awards are still the same.  Biz class on AA partners is 70k and UA Partners are 90K.. 

[Little Evil]

Just booked an Aug trip using AA to book CX first, so it would appear that 1) CX is showing up on AA website again, and 2) 6 months out appears to have a few options for CX award right now. 

[Luv2Phuket]

I’m sitting on a business class award on Cathay using AA miles got a trip in November.

I will eventually need to change or cancel it, as I purchased that non-refundable fare on Qatar, but want to see a few things first (difference in re-deposit vs change fee and how my AMEX airline fee credit is looking).

I also will have either Cathay first (booked via Alaska) or Korean first available after I decide which to cancel for my travel on the 18th.




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[HimBadMan]

@Little Evil @Luv2Phuket. Ylikes just read that CX has closed some lounges in HK including the PIER F for the unforseable future.       My favorite lounge ..    let's hope this corona virus gets sorted out soon.    Not just cause of flights.   But world economy. 

[Little Evil]

1 minute ago, HimBadMan said:

@Little Evil @Luv2Phuket. Ylikes just read that CX has closed some lounges in HK including the PIER F for the unforseable future.       My favorite lounge ..    let's hope this corona virus gets sorted out soon.    Not just cause of flights.   But world economy. 

Wow--I was just there. Are you saying the Coronavirus is hurting their sales enough to close a lounge? 

As far as overall CX F lounges go, the Pier is also my favorite, but the Wing does have that  dedicated champagne area and the cabanas in their F section.

[HimBadMan]

1 hour ago, Little Evil said:

Wow--I was just there. Are you saying the Coronavirus is hurting their sales enough to close a lounge? 

As far as overall CX F lounges go, the Pier is also my favorite, but the Wing does have that  dedicated champagne area and the cabanas in their F section.

Yes the asked their employees to take 3 weeks of unpaid time off until May.   So they are consolidating.

Agree I love taking a few glasses of moet into my cabana and relaxing in the shower while they press my clothes.   Such a good feeling haha

And we had major news about Alaska joining OneWorld!  Crazy. Let's see how this plays out and If they devalue their award charts.

[Little Evil]

33 minutes ago, HimBadMan said:

Yes the asked their employees to take 3 weeks of unpaid time off until May.   So they are consolidating.

Agree I love taking a few glasses of moet into my cabana and relaxing in the shower while they press my clothes.   Such a good feeling haha

And we had major news about Alaska joining OneWorld!  Crazy. Let's see how this plays out and If they devalue their award charts.

Hot damn! Time to liquidate those Alaska points just in case of a devaluation. Thanks for the intel. Now if only Alaska and CX would play nicer with each other for award availability...

[semi-retired member]

TBH, and having flown through HKG several times in the past year, I wasn't over-impressed by the Cathay Business-Class lounges there, which I had access-to based on OWS-status (now lapsed).

Very limited hot-food options, IME.

The one which most surprised me on the up-side last year was the BA-lounge at LGW-South, although crowded the breakfast-offering was quite good, and then they'd clear it away to put out the lunch-selection, while I was waiting for my late-morning departure (in Economy) on Cathay.  It made a busy tourist/charter-airport almost-tolerable, after the horrors of check-in/security  ...  give me LHR (esp T4) every time !  

As a committed died-in-the-wool Cheap-Charlie traveller, I simply cannot justify paying four-times the price for Business-Class, but then I'm paying for it myself, and can think of better things to spend the money on  ...  until I win the lottery ! 

Lastly I'd say Cathay have been quieter for several months now, due to the troubles in Hong Kong & high-prices following the fuel-hedging cock-up, and I can't imagine why Qatar bought a shareholding  ...  I just hope they're not repeating Etihad's mistake of making minor-investments/without-management-control in struggling-carriers  ...  and just heard a rumour that their (Qatar's) Air Italy is going tits-up too, by the end of the month !

The virus may well impact global-travel this year, although the drop in oil-prices may help, to some extent ?  

Edited February 15, 2020 by semi-retired member

[Luv2Phuket]

News of the Pier lounge being closed and concerns over greater hassles over an arrival from Hong Kong vs Seoul have caused me to commit to the Korean Air return.

I called Alaska Air via Skype to cancel my Cathay award booking, and they were INCREDIBLY cooperative -- 70,000 miles returned to my account with NO fees (waived because of coronavirus concerns) and the approximately $70 in fees will be refunded to my account.  Easy peasy.

Because I am utterly paranoid, I am a little concerned about sitting on only a single option for my return (especially with news of Asiana suspending Bangkok flights!). 

EVA is WIDE OPEN right now, but I have NOTHING in my EVA account.  I considered moving Cap One points over, but that didn't work -- cocksuckers have a 2-factor verification system to log into my account that requires me to be able to answer or receive text on my USA mobile number. 

I could probably put my USA SIM in and use wifi to get it, but it's not worth the effort.  I read Citi transfers take 3 days to hit EVA, so I imagine Cap One are just as slow, if not slower (and I'd need to use both, as Cap One alone won't get me there).  My return would be in 3 or 4 days, assuming the flights were still available then.

[bgtp]

2 hours ago, Luv2Phuket said:

News of the Pier lounge being closed and concerns over greater hassles over an arrival from Hong Kong vs Seoul have caused me to commit to the Korean Air return.

I called Alaska Air via Skype to cancel my Cathay award booking, and they were INCREDIBLY cooperative -- 70,000 miles returned to my account with NO fees (waived because of coronavirus concerns) and the approximately $70 in fees will be refunded to my account.  Easy peasy.

Because I am utterly paranoid, I am a little concerned about sitting on only a single option for my return (especially with news of Asiana suspending Bangkok flights!). 

EVA is WIDE OPEN right now, but I have NOTHING in my EVA account.  I considered moving Cap One points over, but that didn't work -- cocksuckers have a 2-factor verification system to log into my account that requires me to be able to answer or receive text on my USA mobile number. 

I could probably put my USA SIM in and use wifi to get it, but it's not worth the effort.  I read Citi transfers take 3 days to hit EVA, so I imagine Cap One are just as slow, if not slower (and I'd need to use both, as Cap One alone won't get me there).  My return would be in 3 or 4 days, assuming the flights were still available then.

Good luck with everything. I think you’ll be OK. I read that Asiana only suspended some flights to BKK, so basically a reduction in service. Travel to/from Asia is certainly going to be interesting in the near term. I’m holding CX F for my annual summer trip this year. Hopefully, the coronavirus situation is under control by then. Still, I could see CX reducing their schedules further as they have serious issues beyond the virus. 

[Luv2Phuket]

I’m cleaning out my Korean miles (except for 3000 orphaned miles) today, and gotta say that it makes me realize what a sweet deal OW first was for 95,000 miles. Post-devaluation, this will NOT be a viable option (nor will their business class).

TONS of availability now (due to CV) and only a $24 change fee had me bouncing around until I settled on what is actually a very good itinerary - left BKK at 9:40 am (a little early, but NO traffic at 6 am). Only a 2+ hour layover in Seoul, as opposed to the usual 8-10 hour ones on Korean route options, and I get into LAX early afternoon.

In Kosmo Suite with closing doors on 777-300ER, a GREAT pillow and a very wide, comfortable seat. IFE selection is BRUTALLY bad, but I actually slept for a while on the hop to Seoul (4+ hours).

Some photos:










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[Little Evil]

4 hours ago, Luv2Phuket said:

I’m cleaning out my Korean miles (except for 3000 orphaned miles) today, and gotta say that it makes me realize what a sweet deal OW first was for 95,000 miles. Post-devaluation, this will NOT be a viable option (nor will their business class).

TONS of availability now (due to CV) and only a $24 change fee had me bouncing around until I settled on what is actually a very good itinerary - left BKK at 9:40 am (a little early, but NO traffic at 6 am). Only a 2+ hour layover in Seoul, as opposed to the usual 8-10 hour ones on Korean route options, and I get into LAX early afternoon.

In Kosmo Suite with closing doors on 777-300ER, a GREAT pillow and a very wide, comfortable seat. IFE selection is BRUTALLY bad, but I actually slept for a while on the hop to Seoul (4+ hours).

Some photos:










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I've only gone KE once in F. It was on an A380, which sadly had the older F seat. Still nice, but that looks a lot nicer with the privacy doors. Problem for me is that I require a positioning flight for KE. 

[bgtp]

50 minutes ago, Little Evil said:

I've only gone KE once in F. It was on an A380, which sadly had the older F seat. Still nice, but that looks a lot nicer with the privacy doors. Problem for me is that I require a positioning flight for KE. 

I got the impression you fly from BOS, but maybe I'm mistaken. KE flies there now.

[Little Evil]

1 hour ago, bgtp said:

I got the impression you fly from BOS, but maybe I'm mistaken. KE flies there now.

You are correct sir, out of BOS mainly. And look at me not even knowing KE flies out of here now. Thanks for the tip! I'll have to keep an eye out, but I'm out of KE miles at the moment and my bank of Alaska miles are only really useful on CX. Just looked up KE award on Alaska. 140k for biz for this route---good lord! Twice that of CX first class. 

I'm actually at a low point in all my miles right now. About 70k Alaska, give or take, and just spent my AA miles on a CX F. Asia Miles spent on my last trip that I just got back from, and those were from Amex transfer where I only have about 25k MR's at the moment. United and BA just have some stranded miles. Not sure what direction I'm going to go next. Maybe buy some AA while on sale? No cards are interesting me at the moment, but I have to figure something out as this is the lowest across the board I've been in a while. At least I have the next trip in the pocket already, but I think my lack of recent churning is starting to catch up. 

[Luv2Phuket]

8 hours ago, Little Evil said:

I've only gone KE once in F. It was on an A380, which sadly had the older F seat. Still nice, but that looks a lot nicer with the privacy doors. Problem for me is that I require a positioning flight for KE. 

ICN-LAX was on the A380, and it was an older set-up without the closing doors.  I will try to upload some photos later (just got home)

It was a comfortable seat, and I think I may have gotten the most sleep for me on a flight after they made it up into a bed (but the sleep function on my FitBit didn't register anything).

[Luv2Phuket]

On 15/02/2020 at 03:28, Luv2Phuket said:

EVA is WIDE OPEN right now, but I have NOTHING in my EVA account.  I considered moving Cap One points over, but that didn't work -- cocksuckers have a 2-factor verification system to log into my account that requires me to be able to answer or receive text on my USA mobile number. 

I could probably put my USA SIM in and use wifi to get it, but it's not worth the effort.  I read Citi transfers take 3 days to hit EVA, so I imagine Cap One are just as slow, if not slower (and I'd need to use both, as Cap One alone won't get me there).  My return would be in 3 or 4 days, assuming the flights were still available then.

Because I have mild OCD, I tend to make mileage moves earlier than necessary, especially if I am thinking about them!  555

Even though I literally just got back from Thailand TODAY, I just moved 64,000 Cap One points to EVA (48,000 miles) and then moved another 27,000 Citi TY points, which should get me to 75,000 EVA miles.  Transfers take up to 5 business days, so even if I could have logged onto Cap One from Thailand, the transfers would not have been fast enough to use miles for my return yesterday/today.

I have read -- and certainly HOPE! -- that EVA miles are valid for 3 or 4 years, so plenty of time to cash them out for a OW business class ticket.  For now, I'll keep my fingers crossed that there will not be a devaluation and that I can find availability on EVA when I want to go back.

[HimBadMan]

On 19/02/2020 at 01:50, Luv2Phuket said:

I’m cleaning out my Korean miles (except for 3000 orphaned miles) today, and gotta say that it makes me realize what a sweet deal OW first was for 95,000 miles. Post-devaluation, this will NOT be a viable option (nor will their business class).

TONS of availability now (due to CV) and only a $24 change fee had me bouncing around until I settled on what is actually a very good itinerary - left BKK at 9:40 am (a little early, but NO traffic at 6 am). Only a 2+ hour layover in Seoul, as opposed to the usual 8-10 hour ones on Korean route options, and I get into LAX early afternoon.

In Kosmo Suite with closing doors on 777-300ER, a GREAT pillow and a very wide, comfortable seat. IFE selection is BRUTALLY bad, but I actually slept for a while on the hop to Seoul (4+ hours).

Some photos:










Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Same. I only flew KE F A380.   Was underwhelmed for sure and cabin was way too hot..   but the doors on the 777 do make it seem nicer,  and I agree it use to be an amazing award redemption.    The good ol days 

[Little Evil]

44 minutes ago, HimBadMan said:

Same. I only flew KE F A380.   Was underwhelmed for sure and cabin was way too hot..   but the doors on the 777 do make it seem nicer,  and I agree it use to be an amazing award redemption.    The good ol days 

Forgot about the heat. My flight was the same. Felt like 80 degrees after dinner. Was sweating up those baby blue PJ's. 

Bibimbap on a plane was a novelty. FA's weren't exactly competent in English, but were extremely polite nonetheless. Foie gras instead of caviar, much to my disappointment. But little odd touches were a nice change. A la cart seat-side salad preparation was new. Also liked how they had premium liquor out in the galley with some finger food snacks. Drank like a pint of blue label. I heard there was a bar back in the end of the upper deck, but on a A380, that's like a different zip code. Didn't venture out. 

[Luv2Phuket]

3 hours ago, HimBadMan said:

Same. I only flew KE F A380.   Was underwhelmed for sure and cabin was way too hot..   but the doors on the 777 do make it seem nicer,  and I agree it use to be an amazing award redemption.    The good ol days 

My cabin seemed to warm up during the flight. 

I always travel in a pair of light sweatpants/joggers and a thin long sleeve t-shirt.  I started to sleep with the blanket, but ditched it about halfway through.
 

2 hours ago, Little Evil said:

Forgot about the heat. My flight was the same. Felt like 80 degrees after dinner. Was sweating up those baby blue PJ's. 

Bibimbap on a plane was a novelty. FA's weren't exactly competent in English, but were extremely polite nonetheless. Foie gras instead of caviar, much to my disappointment. But little odd touches were a nice change. A la cart seat-side salad preparation was new. Also liked how they had premium liquor out in the galley with some finger food snacks. Drank like a pint of blue label. I heard there was a bar back in the end of the upper deck, but on a A380, that's like a different zip code. Didn't venture out. 

I sleep in one of the baby blue pj shirts at home, and was disappointed that I only got a pair on the ICN-LAX leg....they are beige now!

Amenity kit was absolute shit.  Seriously, one of the worst I have gotten.  It was like a rubber bag that snapped shut.  NOBODY touches the EVA Rimowa hard plastic cases for amenity kits.  People are selling those damn things on eBay for $40-$65!  I LOVE them, but may have to list a couple (think I have 4 or 5) of they're drawing THAT kinda coin!  5555

On that subject, I was looking for a small case in which to carry my travel mouse and external hard drive, when I realized the size of the one I was about to buy was almost EXACTLY that of one of my Cathay amenity kits.  Saved me $10-$15, and gave me a means of using that amenity bag.  I rarely throw them away and have a box of them!

I had the bibimbap on the BKK-ICN leg.  Good, but NOTHING like getting it in a hot stone pot in a Korean restaurant in LA!  5555

Passed on the foie gras.  That seat side salad confused the Hell out of me...and I confused the flgiht attendants!  I pretty much just have lettuce - no tomatoes, mushrooms, cucumbers, etc.  I asked to have the little bowl of peppers put in and was told that was a separate dish, served with some type of soybean paste.  I went for the peppers and paste, and it was pretty good.

The fact that I am a non-drinker means that I never get to take advantage of perhaps the biggest perk of first class (and business class) - top shelf booze on the plane and in the lounge.  If my oldest brother had an 11-hour flight with an open bar, he'd be incoherent and passed out about 3 hours in!  5555

[bgtp]

I used to fly KE J a lot on Delta awards and yes, the cabin was usually warm. On my last KE F flight (A380 ICN-JFK), as the steward was passing out blankets before take-off, I told him I didn't need one since I always found their cabins warm enough as it is. He seemed to take note and the temperature on that flight was much more reasonable. He also asked me a few times over the course of the flight if the temperature was OK and told me to let him know if I got too hot. There was only three or four of us in the cabin, so that might have helped. 

[Luv2Phuket]

On 19/02/2020 at 19:07, Luv2Phuket said:

Even though I literally just got back from Thailand TODAY, I just moved 64,000 Cap One points to EVA (48,000 miles) and then moved another 27,000 Citi TY points, which should get me to 75,000 EVA miles.  Transfers take up to 5 business days, so even if I could have logged onto Cap One from Thailand, the transfers would not have been fast enough to use miles for my return yesterday/today.

I have read -- and certainly HOPE! -- that EVA miles are valid for 3 or 4 years, so plenty of time to cash them out for a OW business class ticket.  For now, I'll keep my fingers crossed that there will not be a devaluation and that I can find availability on EVA when I want to go back.

So much for "up to 5 business days" -- the mile transfers from both Citi and CapOne are in my EVA account today, so it took 2 days.

They are listed as being valid through February 2023, so 3 years.  PLENTY of time to use them!

[Luv2Phuket]

It's that time of the year again.....TAX TIME!  Which also means it is "get a new credit card & score bonus points/miles when I pay my taxes!" time!  5555

I am sadly running out of viable card options due to increasing limits on past churning.

Leading prospects for now:

 - AMEX Hilton Business card - 125,000 Hilton points after $3000 spend.  It's 3X general spend (+ 6X on some nice categories like gas stations, restaurants, shopping and mobile phone service, but NOT office supplies...dammit!), so hitting the minimum spend effectively has you at 134,000 Hilton Honors points.  You also get a free weekend night certificate by hitting $15,000 annual spend.  I usually don't come close to those (spreading my crap around too much), but that is intriguing for the first year, because it is effectively reduced to $12,000 after factoring in the minimum spend.  If it's not obvious enough from my analysis, this is my top prospect for now.

 - Alaska personal card - 40,000 Alaska bonus miles after $2,000 minimum spend.  Nothing out of the ordinary here, as it is their typical offer.  I checked on the Business version last year, but B of A wanted my tax returns, and that seemed a little too intrusive for me.

 - CapOne Spark Business card - 50,000 CapOne points.  I think this is a hard pass.  I have a CapOne card, and may dump it now that I have moved almost all of the points to EVA.  The primary transfer partners that work for me are EVA (1:.75 transfer rate, but CapOne gives 2 points/USD spent) and Singapore (only a 1:.5 transfer rate).

 - Chase Sapphire Preferred - 60,000 Chase UR with $4,000 minimum spend.  I just need to figure out if it has been more than 48 months since I got my bonus on my prior CSP.  I think I am clear under 5/24, but I still may have too many Chase cards.  Need to see if there are any that I feel comfortable dropping.

 - Chase Sapphire Reserve - it carries a MUCH higher annual fee and only nets 50,000 Chase UR vs 60,000 for CSP for the same minimum spend.  I was hoping that the 100,000 UR offer would come back, but recently read there isn't a snowball's chance in hell of it happening.  Apparently, Chase lost it's ass the first time around and the person in charge of the program even got canned over it!  555

I wiped out my Hilton Honors account on my February trip, so building it back up is a priority.  Hilton gives you the 5th night free on points bookings, and the Pattaya Hilton generally runs around 240,000 now for 4 nights (up from 200,000 before the last increase).  I'm at less than 15,000, so the 125,000 bonus + points from the minimum spend would still leave me way short.  That said, if my tax bill is REALLY ugly, I could make a dent in the additional $12,000 spend for the free night (+ at least 36,000 more Honors points).

Anybody else working a new card angle these days?

[Just Browsing]

I believe you already have the CIti Prestige card, if not it's certainly worth a look.

For me it's s$500 SGD +GST (total s$535) annual fee but for that I get enough miles to cover an (economy) return flight SIN-BKK  on SIA (worth s$3-500 SGD) & unlimited Priority Pass lounge access for 2 people (worth approx s$40 a visit, I was using it 4-6 times a month so soon got my money's worth). 

Plus 4th night free in hotels booked through their concierge & other benefits I've never used (worldwide free Boingo WIFI etc...) 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 25, 2020 by JB300

[HimBadMan]

1 hour ago, Luv2Phuket said:

It's that time of the year again.....TAX TIME!  Which also means it is "get a new credit card & score bonus points/miles when I pay my taxes!" time!  5555

I am sadly running out of viable card options due to increasing limits on past churning.

Leading prospects for now:

 - AMEX Hilton Business card - 125,000 Hilton points after $3000 spend.  It's 3X general spend (+ 6X on some nice categories like gas stations, restaurants, shopping and mobile phone service, but NOT office supplies...dammit!), so hitting the minimum spend effectively has you at 134,000 Hilton Honors points.  You also get a free weekend night certificate by hitting $15,000 annual spend.  I usually don't come close to those (spreading my crap around too much), but that is intriguing for the first year, because it is effectively reduced to $12,000 after factoring in the minimum spend.  If it's not obvious enough from my analysis, this is my top prospect for now.

 - Alaska personal card - 40,000 Alaska bonus miles after $2,000 minimum spend.  Nothing out of the ordinary here, as it is their typical offer.  I checked on the Business version last year, but B of A wanted my tax returns, and that seemed a little too intrusive for me.

 - CapOne Spark Business card - 50,000 CapOne points.  I think this is a hard pass.  I have a CapOne card, and may dump it now that I have moved almost all of the points to EVA.  The primary transfer partners that work for me are EVA (1:.75 transfer rate, but CapOne gives 2 points/USD spent) and Singapore (only a 1:.5 transfer rate).

 - Chase Sapphire Preferred - 60,000 Chase UR with $4,000 minimum spend.  I just need to figure out if it has been more than 48 months since I got my bonus on my prior CSP.  I think I am clear under 5/24, but I still may have too many Chase cards.  Need to see if there are any that I feel comfortable dropping.

 - Chase Sapphire Reserve - it carries a MUCH higher annual fee and only nets 50,000 Chase UR vs 60,000 for CSP for the same minimum spend.  I was hoping that the 100,000 UR offer would come back, but recently read there isn't a snowball's chance in hell of it happening.  Apparently, Chase lost it's ass the first time around and the person in charge of the program even got canned over it!  555

I wiped out my Hilton Honors account on my February trip, so building it back up is a priority.  Hilton gives you the 5th night free on points bookings, and the Pattaya Hilton generally runs around 240,000 now for 4 nights (up from 200,000 before the last increase).  I'm at less than 15,000, so the 125,000 bonus + points from the minimum spend would still leave me way short.  That said, if my tax bill is REALLY ugly, I could make a dent in the additional $12,000 spend for the free night (+ at least 36,000 more Honors points).

Anybody else working a new card angle these days?

Same. Tax time so looking for card..

Thinking about the  chase united card.  The $450 fee card.  Although, I try just to have one premium card my CSR.  They have a good sig up offer of 70K United Miles,  plus I have a flight booked on EVA on PE for my Sept trip that will credit to mu united account.  So I should be at the 90K UA miles which is good for a biz seat.

Also, I like that this card will give me access to star alliance biz class lounge in LAX which I like more than the OW Biz lounge and the Qantas F lounge.     Although I hate the 450 fee.  I di like that sign up bonus. ... I need to make a decision this week