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Which means ATL is completely unprepared when it does snow. When was it in recent years that the whole city and airport ground to a halt because of that, which then had knock on effects in the Delta entire system due to the size of DL's operation at ATL... Although it may sound a little contrarian it can make more sense to book connections through airports that do regularly experience snow because they are used to it and are well prepared. A few years ago I flew out of JFK on the afternoon after 8" of overnight snow. I think the first bank of flights were delayed a bit but my 4pm flight left without issue.

Not worth your time. The simple version is that there are limited supplies of fares at given prices (the cheaper being less flexible tickets) and as those sell out only higher priced, more flexible tickets remain. If demand for a flight is high then those cheaper tickets may sell out very quickly leaving only higher priced, more flexible ones available. In some extreme cases the cheaper fares are never offered by the airline. Revenue and yield management could theoretically add more cheaper seats in at any time, but the ultimate goal is to fill the plane with the highest fares possible. So there is no set time that prices drop, and they may never drop... There are some excellent videos, even though they're a few years old the principle is still valid. This is a worthwhile watch with a particular noteworthy part starting 4:50 in.

GSK, IIRC. I believe when AA was operating the 767 on that route in the early 2000s they guaranteed something like a couple of dozen J seats per flight even if they weren't used.

Ha, I've had similar to that a weird number of times... In the BA Concorde Room at LHR I had a guy with a hearing aid ask me to nudge him when the Concorde flight was called for boarding. I nudged him as I went to board, then ran into him at the lobby of my hotel a few hours later... A couple of years after I flew BA Club World LHR-SFO. I was in a rear facing exit seat and was facing this guy on and off for the best part of 14hrs (thanks to a delay) who was a couple of rows away but never said a word. A few days later I'm stepping onto one of the cable cars and standing on the opposite side of the cable car...same person and weirdly we do exchange pleasantries acknowledging our BA flight. Getting the opposite room is pretty next level!

Exactly, IMO, this is a futile exercise. I've a lot of experience buying flights between US Northeast (Washington and New York) and London, having travelled between anywhere up to 7x/year, often at the same time of year, for 20yrs. I honestly don't know how much I'll end up paying for an upcoming summer flight even though I've flown around the same time for the last godknowshowmanyyearsinarow...If I look back at my receipts (albeit not for AA in Premium Economy but usually BA Business/First or AA Business) there's a swing of several thousand dollars between my lowest and highest price. Competition is one of the primary drivers for price and the longhaul low cost carriers are starting to come back after COVID killed a bunch of the bigger ones off. Norse, for example, have opened up a bunch of routes and where they compete the legacies are having to drive their prices way down to either compete or attempt to drive them out of the market. Now, I don't expect Norse to start flights to Charlotte anytime ever but if some other airlines start to go into CLT or the surrounding area then prices could drop.

It's one of those arguments I've never understood.... 2 x J class fares on QF LAX-SYD for a random week in December, $10,400. One week in an Opera House View Suite at the Park Hyatt $7200. Nobody whinges that you pay more flights than a hotel stay...do they? 😄

There's no requirement to stopover at each place on a RTW ticket. You can just use it to fly straight back from Australia, just needs to be westbound if you flew over the Pacific to Australia to start.

What about business class? Can be a fraction of the price of full fare first class and opens up pretty much every airline (not many airlines offer a true first class on longhaul) whilst typically still offering fully flat beds, plenty of personal space etc. Don't rule out round the world tickets either, the best ones are those through the various alliances (oneworld and Star Alliance are the best for this itinerary, IMO). You can fly back through Asia and Europe with just two stops from SYD to MCO.

AA use SABRE and their PNRs are only letters, no numbers. A quick Google suggests that NCL use Amadeus as their GDS. You'd need to contact NCL to get your SABRE PNR....although I suspect a lot of agents will have no idea what you're talking about 😄 ...also legit LOL at "You should immediately advise an airline representative at the airport that you are a guest of Norwegian Cruise Line, and you are on your way to join a cruise."

Depends on the class of travel. I'd put Frankfurt at the bottom of the list but if flying Lufthansa in FC they will meet your planeside and drive you to the First Class Terminal and then back again to your next flight. This would put it at the top of my list if you were considering FC travel. Not all airlines offer this service in FC. If you have to get between the planes yourself then ZRH and BRU are far more preferable and in that order, IMO.

100% agree. I've not obtained TSA Pre-Check standalone (have it included with GE also) but assumed it's a bit more involved than just paying some $$$ for it. For someone who doesn't fly often much the Premier Access type bundle would be cheaper and easier, if they're just trying to get through security lines a bit faster.

Depending on your airline and your class of travel you might have access to faster security lines anyway. Typically First/Business Class tickets provide a Priority line for security but depends on the airline and airport. Some airlines, such as United, will allow you to buy it even if you're in the cheap seats. On UA it's known as Premier Access and comes with some other ground benefits such as a different check-in area.

Getting back to the topic in question....40min connections in CLT are certainly possible and I've done many with ease. I've done countless CLT connections in the last 10yrs and have only once run into an issue on a shorter connection....I have missed much longer connections through no fault of the airline or airport (weather and ATC delays due to weather being the culprits). I generally prefer a slightly longer connection because I'd rather hang out in one of the Admirals Clubs/Centurion Lounge for an hour or two than sweat a connection and end up overnighting (I usually fly through CLT in the evenings). But yes, to echo others, legal minimum connection times are designed as such so that the vast majority of passengers will make their flights. You're never going to get a 100% hit rate but it's a strain on resources if you routinely have to rebook a large percentage of your passengers onto other flights.

The course diversion might also add an hour to the flight time. But in the unlikely event you get push back from the crew remind them how much you paid for your ticket and of course any low/mid tier frequent flyer status you have and how important you are to the airline.

Depends on the airline and seating configuration. If you're on a 777 aircraft where the airline offers a first class cabin as well then you'll typically find business class sits over the wing section. If you get towards the front of the cabin you might get a bit of engine view, all depends on the airline and configuration but a reasonably generalization based on my experience. A few things to consider in First/Business cabins are 1) You'll typically get multiple windows (I think the most I've had is 4) and you may be asked to close at least one of them if there's a lot of light seepage into the cabin. If I explain that I'm looking out the window then I'm generally given a pass. You can always throw a blanket over your head if you really want to see out and the rest of the cabin is still dark/sleeping! 2) TV screens in business/first can typically tilt in multiple directions. So if there is a bit of glare it's not much bother to adjust it slightly to account for that. 3) The way business/first seats are designed with more privacy in mind so you'll often find walls/doors/privacy screens that can prevent the brightest glares of light hitting PTVs beyond the window seat anyways. 4) In Business/First the cabin crew are there to provide to your every whim. If you're getting glare on the screen or that of someone else ask them to have the flight crew change the flight's path slightly so that the sun doesn't hit at the same angle. Works every time.

It's T5 to T5 so it's really not that tight. BA have Fast Track security for those in premium cabins that are connecting and there's also the ability to reclear security in T5B and T5C if you are on a tight connection.

Airlines don't need to be in the same alliance for you to book a roundtrip on them, pretty much any OTA will do this.

This doesn't look right (excusing the incorrect IATA codes for Rome, FCO). AA don't fly internationally from EWR, those flights are to and from Philadelphia. AA742 is from PHL-BCN. AA719 is from FCO-PHL.

Immigration = determines who can enter the country. Customs = seizure of prohibited items and payable of any duty on applicable items Platinum, I'm assuming United Premier Platinum status doesn't help you with immigration or customs. If you are on one ticket then you'll be put on the next available flight with seats. Premier Platinum status will certainly put you higher up the list but as a mid tier level with Global Services and 1Ks above you (of which United seem to have oodles, and you're flying from a hub) will take priority over you. ORD does seem to suffer with longer immigration lines than most airports, but why not register for Global Entry or Mobile Passport if you're eligible?

That was the nightmare I was thinking of when you posted about the daytime JFK-LHR flight. When I did JFK-ATH on BA a few years ago there was a BA option for an overnight to ATH, similar heinous timings to what you mentioned. A 3 and a bit hour overnight flight in 30" EuroBusiness sounded wretched. I did not partake 😄

True, though from PHX-ATH the dayflights would then involve three travel days. Unless you wanted to add from short, red eyes on ex-PHX or into ATH.

Assuming you are looking at PHX-LHR-ATH? I do a lot more US East Coast-London flights which should be rougher on the jetlag but some of the things I do....luckily I don't really get jetlag no matter how hard I try but I still do the following: 1) Take the latest flight possible so it's nearer your normal bedtime 2) Get up early the day you fly and stay active during the day (go to the gym, take a hike, whatever) but also go to bed very late the night before so you're short on sleep when you board. 3) Book the highest class of service you can. AA and BA offer lie flat beds in business class (and First, obviously). If you end up connecting through DFW then you can decent food and beverage in the Flagship Lounge beforehand, even moreso if you're in First as there's a separate Flagship First Dining room for longhaul FC passengers with decent restaurant quality food and drink. If you go straight from PHX-LHR there's no such offering but there is still a lounge with snack type food options. BA's lounges at Heathrow have showers if you have sufficient time on your connection. Recommended after a night of sleep onboard. 4)Try to maximise sleep onboard. Don't be afraid to pass on meal services in order to sleep. In Business/First you'll find most people are trying to sleep on routes with full dining facilities in the lounge beforehand, for PHX which is a longer flight but also has a "lighter" lounge offering you'll find a lot more people dining onboard, less so from DFW. 4) Have a glass of water for any alcohol you may have from the time you leave home. 5) Buy/use noise cancelling headphones onboard. You'll struggle to sleep with them on but on dayflights they are great (AA supply B&O NC headphones in Business/First, BA's are pretty low rent. I bring my own Bose ones regardless). I swear that dealing with or listening to the fuselage whoosh for 8+hrs contributes to feeling tired. I throw earplugs in when sleeping. One thing to note if you're looking at First/Business is that BA's LHR-ATH flights are typically offered with shorthaul seating. It's 3-3 seating where the middle is blocked off and with standard coach legroom. ATH does sometimes see longhaul aircraft thrown into the mix but it's not the default. Don't expect US domestic FC seating/legroom... Personally I wouldn't book the overnight hotel at Heathrow, seems a waste of time and money.

Nobody knows. Bear in mind that airlines don't have sales for fun. Sales are used to fill seats that would otherwise go unsold. This is the first full peak season that Australia's borders will have been open since COVID, that reopening happened in February but peak season for Australia travel are the winter months for Northern Hemisphere. I'd say your chances are slim.

You don't clear customs at AMS as that'd be done at the final airport. If the final flight is intra-Schengen, as is the case here, then it's not really a formal process, per se.

If you're looking to do FC then you'll need to do AA. They're the only of these carriers offering intl FC and at that it'd only be coming back from EZE and would need to be through MIA. To SCL DL and AA only offer business class. I'd also be somewhat cautious of taking a bag over the published size and weight limits. Just because you're in a premium cabin, have elite status, or nobody has been dinged before it doesn't mean you won't be. A few years ago I was forced to repack a bag that was just under 2lbs overweight....this was on a $27,000 first class ticket and I was a top tier frequent flyer in that alliance. Similarly when I flew Singapore AIrlines for the first time I asked about how well policed the weight limit was on carry-on bags (I wasn't checking a bag). Every responder, on a well regarded frequent flyer forum, indicated as I was in business class and had a 20" rollerbag and laptop bag said I'd have no problem...well, sure enough the agent at JFK weighed the bags for my wife and I, told us off and said we would need to repack (somehow!?) before the gate. We didn't see her at the gate and weren't picked up again...I have other examples from various flights across the world. You never know when you'll come across the new check-in/gate agent who diligently follows the rules, or some new airline initiative with no tolerance for bags outside of compliance.