Voelfgar

1 hour ago, waterbug123 said:

 

Not necessarily.  The Delta Amex gives you boarding zone "Main Cabin 1."  But zone 1 is far from the first to board.   I believe it is currently the 5th boarding zone.  Boarding prior to that will be passengers needing assistance/extra time, families with small children in strollers/carseats, active duty military, passengers in first or business class, passengers in Comfort+, all diamond/platinum/gold medallion members and all Sky Team Elite+ members.  When they finally call Main Cabin 1 you will board with Delta Amex cardholders and all the silver medallion members and Sky Team Elite members.  I've seen the prior zones include up to 50-75 people (sometimes the upgrade list for medallions goes into the 50's and 60's!) and I've seen Main Cabin 1 likewise include literally dozens and dozens of people.   You will however, board before Main Cabin zones 2 and 3, so *should* still be able to find overhead bin space for carry on luggage. 

I said "most" not "all"  And for there to be 50-75 in zones prior to main 1, it would have to be on an aircraft with well over 200 seats; otherwise what's the purpose of having zones if more than half the people can board prior to the 3 main boarding zones.

Just got our Global Entry Application conditionally approved. It took roughly 90 days. Now to find an open interview appointment.

Yes the Gold card doesn't proved skyclub privileges. And a 2 hour layover is really not that long considering you will have to go through customs and immigration. That would be the same for MIA as well.  What it will do is give you some time to grab something to eat before boarding the flight to SFO.

Having flown into both airports from international locations, I'd pick ATL as in IMO, there's lot less walking to get thru customs and immigration. MIA has you walking all over the place.

16 hours ago, luv2cruise51 said:

No FC flying back. With AA, will probably pay to go up to their Main Cabin Extra, etc.  With Delta, the same, with their Comfort+ or something like that. We have both Citi/AA and AMEX/Delta Gold cards with some miles left on them but not sure if we can upgrade with them.

 

We will probably be booking with Seabourn's FlightEase with regular Economy and then try to upgrade after being ticketed.

 

We are flying on TAP Portugal in Business Class lie-flat on their new A330-neos, non-stop to Lisbon out of SFO, which we're looking forward to, but couldn't swing it getting out of Sint Maarten.

 

This Delta flight just popped up today but may keep on checking to see if anything else comes up. 

 

Thanks for the info.

But with your Delta AMEX card you will be boarding before most of the passengers.

As someone who has been to Aruba several times, you will need to get to the airport about 4 hours before your flight. The majority of outbound flights are all within 45 min to an hour timeframe. So you first have go to the airline counter to drop your bags off, then you go through Aruban Passport/customs control and Aruba security, then you go to a baggage claim area, claim your bags then stand in line to go through US customs, then you have to drop your bags off again, then go through a second security check before you get into the gate areas.

Right now wife and I are at 75+ days and still waiting for conditional approval.

On 5/5/2019 at 11:46 AM, Peachypooh said:

I fly on both airlines regularly and am a member of their frequent flyer programs.

Here are the reasons I like each:

 

American

If you check the flight status on your flight right underneath is a

place to click for incoming flight information. This is very very

helpful in determining if you are going to leave on time or

make a connection Haven't been able to find that on Delta.

 

If your flight is cancelled they have a website you can go to

that lists your alternatives and you can rebook yourself without

waiting on hold or standing in line at the ticket agent desk Maybe

Delta has this but I have never had to use it.

 

The meals are more generous in portion size and variety than Delta.

 

Delta

More so than American they have screens in the seat backs where

you can watch your flight progress and play games, etc.

 

In first class they give you bottled water.

 

Bathroom on same size flights is bigger

Everything you listed for American is in the Delta App.

I live in WI and the wife and I do that quite often when travelling out west, particular to Puerto Vallarta. We'll take an late afternoon flight to like Phoenix or DFW getting in around 8pm or 9pm. Then fly out then next morning to PV so we can get there early to mid afternoon. Otherwise, flying out on Saturday, we wouldn't get into PV until like 6 or 7 in the evening.

In my experience, airlines will not hold your bags for that long overnight in London.  They will go to baggage claim as usual where you can claim them and then re check them in the next day for the flight to Philly.

I agree with the others. 2 hours should be enough time.

Just got my email last night to upgrade to Haven. When i look at availability there was only 2 x H6 cabins available everything else is sold out. Oh well, maybe next time.

I applied for Global Entry over 30 days ago and still waiting to be conditionally approved so i can schedule an interview. I think its worth it if you travel several times a year and do international travel at least twice a year.

Not worth it. consider the time zone differences.  During the entire cruise, you will be 7 hours ahead of EDT. So 8am in New York is 3pm cruising, 1pm in New York will be 8pm on the cruise. Why go on vacation if you are going to have to be tied to your phone all night long? Also you plan on being up at 3am to face time with your children at their bedtime?

Just utilize local free wifi when you are off the ship.

19 hours ago, Budget Queen said:

 

I've flown a lot of Friday flights,  and that day can be very high demand/ loads.     No one has a crystal ball  and letting time tick by to 6 months is no guarantee    Prices can indeed be higher than today.    There is no answer.   

 

I base it on the 15 years of flying on the weekend prior to Christmas. This coming Xmas will be flying to Puerto Vallarta and have not purchased airfare yet.

I believe the main difference is in the bathroom. MA have a bathtub and a shower and MB only has a shower.

I'm doing a cruise starting July 3rd and for our return flight, I am flying out at 11:15am. That puts me in Detroit at 3:37pm. I wouldn't do anything earlier than that.

Its still just under 9 months out. If your are looking at flying economy, I'd say give it at least another 2 months. Right around 6 months out. That is because you are flying out on a Friday which probably won't be too bad. Saturday the 21st will be a madhouse flying.

For an Alaskan cruise, most definitely. It ensures you have a view as you travel through the inside passage. areas open to all passengers that one can view are limited.

20 hours ago, laurieb said:

We're cruising LA to PPT in January, and need a one way flight back to LAX; the price for one way on Air Tahiti Nui is ridiculous, more than a r/t ticket.

So the question is, if I purchased r/t PPTLAX could we just blow off the LAXPPT leg?  Our only other option is Air France, which is very reasonably priced, but I've been reading some very negative reviews lately.  I appreciate your input!

You could but you would have to start in PPT->LAX with a return flight LAX->PPT.  You can't do LAX->PPT with a return Flight of PPT->LAX. As soon as you do not checkin/board the first flight of your intinerary, the entire itinerary is automatically cancelled.

Also airlines do keep track of people who do what you are thinking of doing and in some instances, those individuals have been banned from using that airline.

I go through Atlanta a lot flying with Delta. 42 minutes is cutting it really close. I always assume the gate we come in is the furthest from the tram and our outbound gate is the furthest from the tram. The one time we had a 42 min connection time, wife and I were running parts of the way just to make it. Remember, they are going to close the doors between 10-5 minutes before the posted departure time.

Hmm, my cruise is 100 days out, but when I go to the restaurants, it says, "not available to book"

Well, as many will agree, it is best to arrive at the port area a day prior to sailing.  When on the day prior is up to you, you could leave NYC late afternoon or early that morning.

As to when to book the return flight out of Orlando, I wouldn't book anything earlier than 2pm. This will allow plenty of time to disembark from the ship and the trip to the Orlando airport.

I would say, No.  The ship may arrive at the dock at 6am, but self disembarking may not be allowed for at least an hour or more because of customs and security.

I would recommend the 6am flight. This is based on the arrival times. That redeye gets into FLL at 6am but you won't be able to checkin at the hotel for almost 8 hours, and there's no guarantee the hotel will let you use their facilities that early as allowing that makes it ripe for abuse.

The unknown is how long of a drive to the airport is it going to be. I live in Milwaukee and if I fly out of Chicago in the early morning, i'll drive down the night before and stay at a hotel with a sleep & park option, which is you pay for your nights stay and included is your parking which helps defray the cost of the room as parking will likely run at least $60+ for a week.

I personally wouldn't book a flight to the US from FCO no earlier than 11am.