Zach1213

They do sometimes, yeah. The economics and pricing are based on the origin and destination, not necessarily where it's going through or how many flights/legs are involved. So, for example, if an airline views that the demand is lower from CHS-LHR than it is from ATL-LHR, the CHS-ATL-LHR flight could be cheaper despite you transferring on to the exact same ATL-LHR leg, if that makes sense.

Another issue is that I assume airlines are currently basing 2023 Summer Europe travel fares on the incredible demand of 2022 Summer Europe travel. Maybe 2023 will be as high in demand, but it very well may not be (especially if the Euro/Pound start gaining anything back against the US Dollar). Waiting a bit will allow for the possibility of the fares adjusting themselves (giggity) based on demand or lack thereof.

I don't know, I've had...interesting...experiences on a couple of now defunct sub-saharan African airlines, including one flight where a guy sat on a bail of hay and there was a donkey on board. I kid you not. Also flown on Air Koryo which, I must admit, was better than expected.

Hmmm, I posted a long-ish response but it seems like it never posted so I'll post a short version of it: 1) Airfares are trending down, and are sometimes surprisingly cheap. I did a quick trip up to Chicago this past weekend, and the airfare from Kansas City was $89 each day when booked about four weeks out. 2) Cruise fares and air fares have no correlation, and there's no "rule" (for lack of a better term) that one should be cheaper than the other. They run on extremely different economic models. 3) Seat maps are not a good indication of the true load factor. Tickets can be sold without seat assignments, so demand may be much higher than it appears just looking at the seat map.

I have nothing more to add other than saying how much I love the subject line of this thread

It is. Steer clear of these consolidators. Many (most?) of them operate by purchasing miles from people, and then re-selling them to others. For example - Consolidator ABC buys American Airlines miles from Joe A, and uses those miles to book a reward seat on American Airlines that they then sell to you. Sounds great, right? But...American Airlines clearly states this is against their rules, and if they catch that you've been involved in this scheme, they can (and do) cancel your ticket with no recourse. Then, try getting your money back from Consolidator ABC. Good luck. They're cheap for a reason - what they do is often against the rules of most airlines.

This also is a good place to point out to OP that Oakland may be another airport to look at and see if times/fares/routes may be better. They're a very similar distance from downtown San Francisco, so it's worth looking in to.

It would help to provide some further info - when is your ship scheduled to dock, and is your flight a domestic one?

I don't personally have experience on either of them, though I do know a few folks who rave about the Premium Economy product on Singapore's A350s, which is what you would be on...plus, LAX-SIN is nonstop on Singapore Airlines, whereas ANA would make you stop/change in Tokyo.

Curious what you have heard? I don't have a ton of experience with them since I'm a OneWorld guy, but I have flown them a few times domestically and within Europe, as well as a couple of times on their 737s in to Africa from IST. They've been solid, from a comfort and on-time standpoint, in my experience.

Unfortunately if you're flying from either Tampa or Cincinnati and are dead-set on Delta (which I get), you don't have many options - you're going to end up double-connecting through either Paris or Amsterdam. That's it, that's the story. The more filters you put on your travel, the fewer options you have, which then creates a decision that needs to be made - is it worth double-connecting for loyalty, versus single-connecting for convenience (or even driving from, say, Tampa to Miami and getting a nonstop on Turkish). Only you can make that decision.

Yeah and this is where it gets really tricky with Caribbean cruises because sometimes they visit not only several independent countries, but sometimes territories of other countries (like France and Netherlands) that may or may not have different immigration laws. Then you throw in tricky stuff like "Does a citizen of Indonesia, who is a permanent resident of the US, need a visa to visit St. Lucia" and it's...not fun. I am a citizen of an obscure African country, and it's times like these that make me really happy that I also have a US passport to make things much easier 🙂

I always joke that the only entry requirement Australia is looking at is that you have a valid credit card 🙂

Murder capital of the country by sheer number, but nowhere close to the top when it comes to per capita where it is ranked behind such places as Milwaukee, Rochester, Kansas City, and Richmond. https://www.foxnews.com/us/emerging-crime-capitals-america-these-cities-have-highest-murders-per-capita

The fact that NYC is on your list means your reason for not going isn't based on actual data or violent crime rates, as NYC's violent crime rate is shockingly low for a city of its size...so I'd love to know your reason for avoiding cities where you have a very small chance, as a tourist, of something violent happening to you.

Erg, I meant to write "they are now a full member of OneWorld". One mistyped letter making a huge world of difference.

I, too, am an AA loyalist, but if I have the opportunity to take Alaska (AS), I often do as I have had very good experiences with them. Also, while the relationship between AA and AS has been tight for years, they are not a full member of OneWorld.

The few times I've had to enact EU261, I have actually had pretty good luck (knock on wood). I've had to do it with Easyjet twice, and they were ridiculously helpful with it. Also did it once with AA, once with Brussels Airlines, and once with BA, and they were a little slower but still fairly good about it.

I don't know, I had a pretty killer Taco Bell in Hounslow a few years back after an evening of too many pints.

I'm not sure where you are seeing the need to change terminals, but VGO-MAD and MAD-PHL should both be operated in/out of T4 at MAD. 2h10 should be plenty of time. I have never taken a flight from inside Spain connecting to a flight departing Schengen/Spain, but I don't even think you will need to go through security seeing as you will have already cleared security in Spain...though I admit I may be wrong. You will, however, need to clear Schengen immigration as Madrid is your point of exit from Schengen. This is usually quite quick.

I would second Boston for the main reason of having access to the city very easily and very cheaply...and you can even just stay in the city. It's not even a competition to me - Boston winds hands down over NYC or ATL. Two things to consider, though I would put less weight in them - quality of the flight itself (what airline, what aircraft type, etc.) and quality of the lounge(s) at each airport. But, I would personally even be willing to take a knock on both of those to give myself some time to explore a great city like Boston along the way.

Yeah, over the years, I've realized lounges are often not what they appear to be. There are a lot of mediocre ones out there with overwhelming crowds and underwhelming food/drink options. There have been several times where I have left lounges to find quiet or empty gate areas because they are more comfortable.

Ha, this makes so much more sense now. I was wondering why you were so adamant about a -10 versus a -9, but I get it now.

I was all ready to explain how I spend my money at each port with the assumption that this thread would be about "what do you do in port?" so I'm just going to roll with it:

This was kind of my thought process too. I believe they have 2x -10s, and only 10 more on order, so does SEA warrant a -10 at any point when the fleet is relatively small? That's especially true once you factor in that, with longhaul aircraft like that, one roundtrip takes up an entire day of aircraft usage. I guess, perhaps, one can argue that the OneWorld ties that now exist between Alaska and BA might help, and is perhaps why there are 3x daily SEA-LHR flights on OneWorld during the high season. I feel like the opportunity cost of putting the -10 on a SEA route versus other routes might be a bit too high, even when they have the full fleet of 12. But hey...what do I know. This is why I work on the engineering side of aviation, not the business side 🙂