Zach1213

Monaco is amazing if you have money. I mean, I don't, but I know someone who lives there and does, and I can assure you it's phenomenal in that way. As just a "regular" tourist, I agree it's a bit...meh. I remember going as a kid and being excited that it was the first Formula One track that I walked the entirety of. Funchal's finest I've never cruised in to Naples, but have stayed in Sorrento right on the water a few times and the view across to Vesuvius and Naples never ceases to amaze. Ridiculously underrated part of Europe. Tallinn is my favorite mid-sized European city.

Oh I've definitely been "walked". Got "walked" at a hotel in Singapore three times in a row before I realized I just should stop booking there haha. That's just not how I read the post...I read it as "I showed up and they told me to eff off", which I have never encountered personally.

The good news is that 12:30pm is after most of the non-Schengen flights arrive. Yes, there are of course still some, and yes, they tend to pull staff off as demand goes down, but I think it's still a benefit that you are arriving on the later side for a non-Schengen arrival. Based on my experience (caveat is I am by no means a frequent CDG flyer), you can expect about 45-60 minutes to get from plane to curbside with the assumptions that (a) you have a non-EU/non-EEC passport, and (b) you do not have any kind of priority status (frequent flyer status, business/first class, etc.) that could speed up baggage delivery. Since you didn't provide the location of your hotel, I can't tell if your 30-45 minutes is correct, but would recommend checking Google Maps directions between CDG and your hotel at the same time (roughly 1:30pm on the same day of week, local Paris time) for a couple of weeks in a row to get an idea of average time.

I, personally, always hesitate to put an agency between myself and my end product (air, hotel, rental car, whatever). There can be some pros (mostly price), but a lot of cons if something goes wrong. I have zero experience with Priceline, so this isn't a reflection on them at all, but is it really a significant savings versus booking each directly with the provider?

Breeze Airways just announced a route between Charleston, WV and Charleson, SC. What could go wrong... 🙂

That's interesting, I have never come across a hotel turning people away for a reservation that has been secured with a credit card. I have a lot of experience flying in to places in Asia and Africa at weird hours like that and they always take me in, or charge me if I just flat-out no show. Never had a place say "nope, we can't check you in any more".

I love meeting locals. I am not trying to form any friendships per se, but for example I love hitting up local bars and restaurants and chatting with people there. Sure, I love seeing the "sites", but I get just as much if not more of out seeing how the locals live. And as someone who is from a fairly obscure African country, I love nothing more than seeing visitors in our local places attempting to do the same.

Also keep in mind that, while Air 2 Sea can offering significant savings on one-way transatlantic flights, it may not be such a deal on roundtrip or open jaw flights. So do look at all of your options and weigh pros/cons (including pros and cons of using Air2Sea itself, of which there are many threads on here).

Me too, I was like "ohhh yeah here's my time to shine!"

Definitely much better. I was there about five weeks ago flying AMS-LHR on BA and it seemed pretty normal to me. I will say my flight was around 7am, so a different time than yours.

I rarely find passport checks leaving Schengen to take very long at all, even at airports that can be a bit of a mess like CDG. Entering Schengen, sure, but leaving Schengen is usually pretty quick because there aren't loads and loads of 300+ passenger aircraft arriving at seemingly the same time. I doubt it would take more than 5-10 minutes in this case.

The issue with BLI is that Alaska only flies to SEA from BLI, so you're essentially just adding a stop in Seattle rather than originating in Seattle. BLI is great, but the efficiency of adding an extra stop in Seattle versus just continuing by road to Seattle is probably borderline at best.

The good thing is that de-icing continues to get more efficient, at least in airports that are halfway prepared for it. Some northern airports just set up "assembly lines", for lack of a better term, where a whole taxiway is set up for it and plane and plane just goes through with the equipment stationary. Those are great. Even DFW is better than it was just five or 10 years ago. Then there are the airports where it's literally a guy on the back of a pickup truck with a de-icing hose. Those are...not great.

As CC's resident (and possibly only) Namibian, please do check us out!

I'll share mine and it works very well for me...but it may not for others. Everyone seems to be a bit different. I don't have the luxury of adjusting my schedule by an hour each day because (a) I just have too much to do in my daily life, and (b) I pop longhaul flights like other people pop candy so I would ALWAYS be changing my time, but here's what I do: Day of departure - wake up at normal time, get as much exercise/activity and daylight as possible, drink plenty of water, and take the latest possible flight. On the flight - If it's an overnight flight or a 12+ hour flight, try to sleep as much as possible. A lot of people say not to drink alcohol because of dehydration, which is valid, but I enjoy watching movies and having some drinks on the flight so I just drink more water in exchange. I do avoid caffeine (even tea). Upon arrival - just.keep.going. Get exercise, get activity, keep busy, get sunlight. Try to adjust your meal times immediately as this really helps your brain adjust to what is "right". I also try to stay up until at least 9pm or so, or whatever is "normal" to you. I also have a few drinks during/after dinner to start getting me relaxed. Get as much sleep as you can, and try to sleep in if possible, even if just a little. And again, keep your meals at "normal" times. This allows me to adjust almost immediately to any time zone. Like I said, it works for me, but may not work for others. It often takes several trips to find out what works best for you.

Not sure about the port as I have never cruised there, but I have been to Cabo Verde several times and it's an absolute gem. The entire country is very safe, including Mindelo. Mindelo is small and definitely goes up in elevation once you get away from the waterfront, so be prepared for that.

It's not "in a way". They absolutely are your travel agent for the flights. It also means that if there are any hiccups and you need to get something changes, Air2Sea is now your middle man between the airline and you. Pros and cons of that.

As mentioned, there are no nonstops between Amsterdam and anywhere in Australia. I don't even think there are any directs (same plane and/or flight number but with a stop or stops)...so you will be changing planes somewhere, be it Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Doha, Singapore, KL, Hong Kong... There are a lot of options between AMS and SYD, but none of them are on KLM.

As an aero engineer, I'd also like to point out how hard the engineers, designers, builders, and maintenance folks work to make sure the aircraft are designed, built, and maintained in the safest way possible.

Oh it's already happening. My cousin is wrapping up flight school and the salaries she's looking at as an entry level RJ pilot are definitely higher than they were just a few years ago when she started school. She ended up timing it pretty darn well.

Eh. I've never had too much trouble at either YUL or YYZ personally. I clear immigration in both a few times each year and can't remember any particularly bad occurrences. Besides, if you are ending in YYZ and having to clear immigration there, a delay is just a delay...not a reason to panic about a missed connection.

I'm not quite sure what this means. United would require a connection in Denver, but you also have Delta via Salt Lake. From Seattle, the only nonstop is Alaska.

I, too, am confused...but I too would do via FRA if you are going FCO-YYZ. Not only is it very efficient, but it's awfully nice to step off your longhaul flight and be done, not worry about another flight and, if delayed, the frustration of feeling the "just get me the eff home" vibes.

You would go through both immigration and customs no matter how you cross the US/Canada border - in a bus, in a car, in a plane, in a train. You're leaving one country and going to another with a "hard" border (not like Schengen in Europe where there are open borders), so you'll be doing immigration and customs. If you're flying to the US, which you don't state, it will likely be cheaper to fly out of Seattle than out of Vancouver, largely due to taxes. Whether or not that's worth the cost of the bus AND the several hours on said bus, is down to you and your exact situation.

I don't know, my favorite is St. Thomas (because you can easily get to St. John), and that's a pretty darn easy place to get to by sea or by air, and Americans don't need passports. Love flying in and out of St. Barth's...and then watching the planes once you're there.