Zach1213

UA5015 through UA6009 are Skywest-operated United flights https://media.united.com/images/Media Database/SDL/United/cargo/book/schedules/UA-UAX_Flight_Number_Guide-Effective_10-JUL-2021.pdf

No reason to bring it unless you really need it. I am a contractor and can often get an hour or two of work done a day while my wife is napping, so I figure I might as well make a few bucks before spending it 🙂 BUT, if that wasn't the case...no way I'd be bringing a laptop.

Best as in cheapest? Fastest? Most comfortable? Most convenient? "Best" means different things to different people. I would take a helicopter if possible 🙂

This is definitely a case where exact flight numbers would allow us to provide more accurate response. CruiserBruce did the guessing game and is likely right (or at least mostly right), but some important details are missing.

Especially when you realize I am responsible for at least half of the videos My level of desire to meet new people on vacation is below zero If by local you mean Scranton or Sioux Falls, yeah. I find most stuff in mid-level cities and above to be better. It's why we went to a couple of shows early in our "career" of cruising and never went back.

Except that it will be like 150 degrees in the plane! (JAL business class is a delight, but I find Japanese airlines (namely JAL and ANA) to be...well...fans of the furnace, if you will)

I do know someone who was so desperate to get to London by dinner the next day that they took a redeye DEN-JFK to connect on to JFK-LHR daytime flight. Sounded miserable to me, but they had a deadline in mind. But yeah, they were just ending in London, not Athens. Orrrrr...you can be completely crazy and do a redeye PHX-JFK, connect to daytime JFK-LHR, and then a redeye LHR-ATH (there's an Aegean flight that leaves LHR at 10:15pm, getting in to Athens at around 4am). Kill me now, but it's possible...

Yeah, I know several people who have done LAX to Australia via Fiji on Fiji Airways and saved a decent amount. That and Hawaiian via HNL would probably be the two most direct routes. I have heard of people going via Manila or Hong Kong too, but that seems wild to me.

One perk of coming from the East Coast to London are those daytime flights. Those things are godsends and I take them whenever possible. Even O'Hare-London, though longer, makes things so much easier - take the morning flight, get there in the evening, head to the hotel and sleep, and recovery (for me at least) is pretty much instant in the morning. Heck, I remember once taking BOS-LHR and was able to wake up at a hotel in Boston for breakfast, and have dinner in London on the same day. A beautiful thing.

Whenever I check FlightRadar24 and see a Frontier flight overhead that is doing a route like BWI-LAS, all I feel is pain and sorrow for those onboard. I'm all for Frontier on short flights, but couldn't do more than like 60-90 minutes on them. And I am 6'1" or so.

I can only tell you what I do on overnight flights, but it works almost every time (and I fly longhaul internationally at least 2x roundtrips monthly, sometimes more): Take the latest flight possible. On the day of my flight, I try to stay active, take a long run, drink lots of water. Basically anything to make me tired. On the flight, I do have a few drinks with dinner. This allows me to get relaxed, and I understand it's against a lot of advice. But, I also drink a lot of water. Try to sleep as much as possible on the plane, of course. On arrival (again, as late as possible), keep going - don't rest, don't nap. Drink lots of water, keep active, get fresh air. Late afternoon/early evening, I have a few drinks and a good dinner out. This puts me in a relaxed mood and allows me to start winding down. Get as much sleep as possible. If you can sleep in the next day, great; if not, so be it. After these steps, I find myself pretty much accustomed to the time.

Yep, I second the "I have experienced it, but have no idea what the business model is behind it" other than them thinking they can make more money off of a J class LAS-SEA-LHR ticket than they can off of a J class SEA-LHR flight, and aren't willing to give that possibility up yet. The answer is almost always "money" with airlines 🙂

2013 called and wants their flash mobs back 🙂

That's fair. I am definitely guilty of a mindset that goes straight to compensation, but I think it's because I have been lucky (to date) that all of my EU261/2004 claims have been related to being delayed several hours and not overnight, so I haven't had to deal with the duty-of-care side of things beyond meals at the airport.

Possibly yes, according to this Points Guy article - https://thepointsguy.com/news/eu-flight-compensation-law-applies-to-domestic-flights/ . I have no experience with this situation personally, and would be curious to see how it would work in practice, especially if the delay is related to security and/or immigration, and no fault of the airline(s) itself.

As mentioned by fbgd, it's unlikely. Travel is in high demand right now, and international travel has come back with a fury, including between the US and Australia. And, as also mentioned, that's a great time to go to Australia - both for tourists visiting, as well as expats in the US heading back to visit family. That will be a tough time of year and route to get a deal on.

Plenty of time, as long as everything is on time (which can be said for 90 minute connections and nine-hour connections alike). I really haven't had that much of an issue with airports in the US for quite some time now, including at immigration.

It's actually not too short for Amsterdam. It's fairly common for KLM and Delta to make relatively short connections at AMS. It's generally a fairly efficient airport, and it seems as though the long waits in European airports that was occurring over the summer has gotten better. No get lazy, but 1h40 should be okay if everything is on time (which is always the caveat). Not to pick nits, but it's unlikely you went through passport control going SFO-CDG-TLV because you were never entering France/Schengen. What you likely went through was a passport check - one more check to make sure you had proper documentation to enter Israel, and that your name matched your boarding pass.

I make a concerted effort to not wear pants on vacation, so I'm right there with ya Like...sandals and socks? Fashion faux pas! But what if my team is in the World Series? I mean, I'm a Cubs fan, so I won't have to worry about it again until like 2094, but I want to be prepared.

This is definitely one of those cases where the technology is there, but the differences between civilian use and government/military use is drastic. Many of the things have been mentioned already (staffing, security, regulations), but one that isn't mentioned is that a lot of the public is still a bit skeptical of nuclear and it might be a difficult sell to get people "onboard" with the idea, especially if you're the first to do it.

Yeah, we always request a bottle of water with our drink, and are always granted that request. It's a good way to (a) stay hydrated, and (b) stock up on bottled waters for excursions.

If you also drink coffee and/or soda, keep in mind those are in that price too so that may help "justify" the price, or not. If you liked mixed drinks or wine, it's a good chance to try something new at low risk - if you don't like it, toss it and try something else rather than forcing yourself to drink it like you might drinking a la cart. Just things to consider. But yeah, it may very well be cheaper to go drink-by-drink.

I mentioned earlier that my friend had recently flown this route, so I texted him for some more info. Here's what he said: Legroom was fine for economy, but seats were uncomfortably narrow. Even his wife, who has pretty normal dimensions (versus him, who is very fit but broad shouldered), was fairly uncomfortable. He was aware of the extra fees for seats, meals, and bags, but they still seemed a bit overkill. Pretty much everything is an extra fee. The food, he said, was decent. French Bee hasn't put extra lavatories in, despite extra seats, so expect a sometimes lengthy wait for them in peak times. Plan accordingly. Inflight entertainment was present, but not great. Rather limited selection of movies/TV. If you have an iPad or some other way to stock your own movies, probably recommended to go that direction. Crew were pretty friendly, but don't expect to see them a ton in non-meal times.

French Bee and Air Caraibes are both putting 10-abreast on the A350s...and then throwing them on 8-12 hour routes across the ocean. Crazy French...I am not sure how many other airlines are doing 10-abreast on their A350s...I know Delta, Cathay, BA, Iberia, Finnair, South African and even Fiji Airways are all doing 9-abreast. If even those crazy, cheap South Africans can do 9-abreast, why can't the French?!?! 🙂 (I am Namibian, it's my hobby to pick on South Africans) When it comes to economy longhaul seating, I don't think anything will be better than the 2-3-2 on the 767s.

It's definitely going to be tight. It's not so much the 32" seat pitch, which is the same as you would have on the United 787-9 that also flies that route, but it's the 16-17" seat width, which is quite a bit narrower than the United plane. French Bee does stuff 410+ people in their A350-1000s, which is 70-90 more people than other airlines (albeit with a different seating setup, including first class pods, on airlines like BA and Cathay Pacific). Definitely be aware of all of the extra fees on French Bee. A friend of mine flew them last month on this route, and wasn't aware of all of the extras. He was...not pleased. And as a very broad shouldered guy, the seat width was troublesome.