Zach1213

Another thing to think about and look in to when you get to larger ports is to look in to port tours. I have done several in places like Xiamen, Hamburg, Bremerhaven, Seattle, and Rotterdam where you can take a tour of the city by boat and it includes going back in to the port area and getting pretty close (relatively) to container ships. Heck, in Hamburg, we even got right up close to German Navy ships. Just something to research if you do end up with a port day at a busy port city.

They're fine. Some people think they're the greatest thing since sliced bread. I can just tell you that they're fine. The funny thing is that, in all of my travels around the world throughout my life (which is a LOT), they're the only airline to damage my bag beyond repair...and they did it twice. So I just make sure not to check my bag with them anymore 🙂 But, I can admit that's an exception and not a norm with Southwest.

These lists would be a good start - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_of_the_world's_busiest_ports

Damn, I wrote up this big response about ports where you could see the most ships (usually the largest/busiest ports in the world, full of container ships), and then I realized that definitely wasn't what you were asking...

Not to pick nits, but I'm a professional nitpicker so here we do - they will fly you to the next available port of call to get you on the ship. That may or may not be the next port depending on availability of flights/seats (they can't add seats to a plane that's already booked, and flights are going out with higher load factors than usual these days), availability of airports (some places, like private island, won't have an airport so that's a place they just can't get you to), and local laws/regulations (there are reasons why a country can't, or won't, let someone board at a certain stop). Do many of these same issues result no matter how you procured the tickets? Sure. But there's also a chance you may be further down the priority list of an airline than if you booked directly with them, for example.

It likely has to do with the fact that your tickets aren't actually booked yet. The cruise line may say you have a reservation, but you probably don't yet, and you may not until much closer in to the trip (whenever that may be). It's one of the risks of booking with the cruise line - there's always a chance they may switch your flights, not just the times (which is common even if you book with the airline itself) but routes and airlines. I would say don't worry yet if your trip is a ways out, but if your trip is next week...then, yeah, I would worry.

While I don't have any specific experience with this when it comes to Delta, I would prepare for what Delta officially says is the limit. They may or may not strictly enforce it...but what happens if they do? Then you're scrambling to check the bag, get what you need/want out of it, etc. If "other sources" are not Delta's official policy, they won't carry much weight when push comes to shove.

Yes but only on cruises to Bermuda

It's possible, but this year the last BCN-YYZ flight was October 30th, which lines up about perfectly with what they have out there for next year. So, I would put my money on November being "off-season" for that route both this year and next.

Unfortunately only a seasonal route, and I don't believe the "season" includes November. Looks like May - October for 2023 from what I can tell.

This was my first reaction too - limiting to Air Canada/Star Alliance eliminates a lot of good options. Even within Star Alliance, don't pass up TAP with a change in Lisbon. TAP appears to offer around 5-6 nonstops between LIS and BCN each day, so there are more options should troubles arise. There's also United via Newark that would get you straight in to Barcelona, but that would be a step down in preference to me. Outside of Star Alliance, there's KLM via Amsterdam, Air France via Paris, Aer Lingus via Dublin, and British Airways via London Heathrow.

Absolutely a necessity for me. I learned that one the hard way in my younger days when I made it perfectly on time to Sydney, but my bag decided to go to Auckland for a day first. Luckily Qantas gave me $100 to get some necessities, but it still meant having to go to the store to get some clean stuff. Since then, I always keep a change of clothes (and sometimes even more) in my carryon.

Damn this is a good option. I keep meaning to get to that hotel as an aviation geek, but haven't yet.

While I definitely agree it's probably better to have your bag during your overnight, I will say that the odds of it not making it to your flight are small. These systems, especially at major hubs like DFW, are no stranger to overnight or long connections where bags stay within the system for many hours. The system is smart enough to hold on to your bag and then push it out at the appropriate time to meet your next flight.

I have done it on AA before, though it has been at least a year since I have - was doing MCI-DFW-QRO with an overnight at DFW and they did allow it to be tagged only to DFW upon my request. YMMV, of course.

Sadly there's not a whole lot to do around JFK, especially with a kiddo. By the time they get off the ship in Bayonne, get across Staten Island, get across Brooklyn, get to the hotel, check in, and then have to be at JFK 2-3 hours ahead for an international flight, the amount of time at the hotel actually won't be massive.

I think this is the best bet, if there are ones available. Keep in mind it's still a pretty good haul from Bayonne to JFK (Bayonne being pretty much right by Newark, but quite a distance from JFK), so you will likely spend quite a bit of time getting from one location to the other. But yes, if you can find a day room at a JFK airport, that would probably be ideal for your situation.

Charlotte is the largest AA operation on the east coast, and the second largest AA operation overall.

Not with that attitude you can't!

Yeah...I've seen some of the records of aircraft they're getting, and I can definitely say they are getting good aircraft with clean records. However, it's all about how you maintain them after getting them, and that's the unknown at this point. Also, crazy maintenance stuff can happen to even the best maintained aircraft before, well, machines are machines after all and crap breaks.

Actually, the footprint of AA's operation in CLT is a bit larger, I think, than their operation at ORD. While ORD is larger as a whole, AA is only a fraction of the overall traffic and (aside from most international arrivals) are centered in the relatively compact T3, which has somewhere around 80 gates, not all of which are used by AA. On the other hand, I believe AA has around 90 gates at CLT. These aren't exact number, but I believe they're close.

I have not flown Avelo. They're growing very fast, but there have also been some growing pains. I saw today that they're cancelling a route (Lexington to either Tampa or Orlando, can't remember) in January...and the route just started four days ago. So yeah...prices are low because (a) that's their business model, and (b) they may not be reliable at this point. Just things to consider.

St. John is crazy easy to do on your own, so I would recommend doing it that way as long as you have the time. Most of the island of St. John is technically the national park, so even going to (most of) the beaches technically puts you in the Virgin Islands National Park. My wife and I are also trying to do the whole "hit all national parks" thing. Definitely don't expect to actually get it done, especially when you get to the "obscure" ones like Gates of the Arctic...but it's worth a try. Good luck!

I would be shocked if any airlines run those kind of deals this year, with the exception of maybe some low cost carriers. Demand for air travel is still through the roof, and they don't need to incentive much to get people to pay top dollar right now.

My cousin works as a gate agent for a major airline that shall go un-named but has hubs in places like Chicago, Newark, and Houston 🙂 She works her tail off as best she can to help out in any little way.