Zach1213

Diversion airports are quite interesting. Most are decided on, and filed, as part of the flight plan before you even leave based on things like FlyerTalker mentioned. Sometimes they make sense - for example, Milwaukee often is a major diversion point for Chicago flights...but since it's so close, it often encounters the same weather. So you'll see planes divert to even more far flung destinations like St. Louis, Kansas City, Detroit...Cincinnati, in your case. Heck, last week, I think it was a Turkish Airlines flight out of Istanbul that diverted to Jackson, Mississippi due to storms at its Houston destination.

Forgot to address this. If you like good beer...and I mean truly good beer...Helsinki's city center is a bit lacking here. There are breweries, but most are...okay. Sori Brewing's taproom is probably the best in the city center. There's an awesome beer store called Pien Shop in the city center too. It's a really great place to try some various Finnish (and non-Finnish) beers - it's a shop that also allows you to drink there, and has a few taps too.

I am going to echo some other statements - Helsinki is nice, but it's not a "wow" destination. I have been there a few times and always enjoyed myself - good food, good drink, nice people. Like many of its peer cities, walking and public transit are incredibly user friendly in the urban core and even outside of the urban core. There are a few very lovely, interesting churches from an architectural standpoint, and some great squares on the water with lovely local food options. Is there as much to do as, say, Stockholm, or Copenhagen? No...but you're not there for long, and you will enjoy the time that you are there.

A few things to note: People rarely post on social media, and news rarely discusses, when flights go well. I think there was an Onion article recently talking about how "Man's flight to Pittsburgh lands ten minutes early" or some such thing. You'll only see the bad. January is a lifetime away. It's not possible to give advice on January based on things happening today when it comes to flight delays. I practically live on planes. Most of my flights have been just fine. I've run in to some issues, my colleagues have run in to some issues, and those issues have sometimes been bad this year. Really bad. Multi-day delays bad. BUT, the vast majority have been fine - we've arrive on time, or early, or late but within a fairly reasonable amount. When cancelled, we've usually received adequate notice. At this point, I just don't see a need to worry. If I had to guess, in January, your odds of weather delays running out of Illinois are bigger than airline issues...but again, look at my number two bullet point. It never hurts to have a backup. And driving may be that backup. But in my opinion, it would be unwise to make decisions or book backup (expensive) flights at this time.

Beyond the inability to predict as stated above, what I can predict is a likelihood your flight times will change in the next 10+ months. Could mean your layover becomes four hours, could mean it becomes 80 minutes. Just keep an eye on it.

I will say I am primarily focusing my statements on intra-European point-to-point flying since that's the original topic at hand in this thread. For longhaul, I am absolutely dedicated to OneWorld. Other than that, we'll just have to agree to disagree 🙂 Ryanair's 737-800s (which is the entirety of their fleet) have 30" seat pitch, versus 29" on BA's EuroTraveller A319/A320 fleet. The ERJs out of London City aren't far superior, they have 30" pitch...but the whole experience is just so much better. I end up on the LCY-RTM and LCY-ZRH flights a few times each year and it's just so darn easy.

Yep, I was a bit shocked. I've flown LHR/LGW-HAM and vv dozens of times and can't remember anything close to that fare for this far out. Glad the client is paying it 🙂

I'm not trying to convince you, and I am sure you don't care, but because I am a geek, I did some research and compared a one-way Hamburg to London flight on 1 October (because this is actually a flight I will be booking soon): BA, HAM-LHR: €391 for lowest fare, which is hand baggage only. Checked baggage and seat selection cost extra. Checked bag is €45 in advance online, or €85 if you pay at the airport. Seat has 29" pitch, and 17" width. Easyjet, HAM-LGW: €266 for lowest fare, which is hand baggage only. Checked baggage and seat selection cost extra. Checked baggage is between €37 and €56 in advance, depending on the weight (not sure what the fee is at the airport). Standard (non-exit row) seats are between €9 and €11 each. Seat has 29" pitch and 18" width. Ryanair, HAM-STN: Sold out on that date, so I can't figure out the price. Checked baggage and seat selection do cost extra there too. They have the most legroom of the three, at 30" pitch, and 17" width.

Safety was just a recommendation in the 90s 🙂

Sorry but I fly BA aircraft within Europe many, many times each year and I wholeheartedly disagree. I do it often because my allegiance to OneWorld means I am on a connection through LHR from overseas (same reason I end up on Iberia through Madrid). If I am doing a point-to-point trip within Europe or between Europe and North Africa, I often choose Easyjet over BA because I end up with a more enjoyable experience the majority of the time. BA is a full fare airline that acts like a low cost carrier in many, many ways.

While I still don't think Iberia offers BCN-MXP, if they did, they are really just a low cost carrier pretending to be a non-low cost carrier. That almost makes it worse...at least Ryanair, Easyjet, and Vueling are honest about what they are. Airlines like Iberia, BA, and some others in Europe just pretend they aren't...but they are. The cheapest "Basic" fare on Iberia only includes a piece of hand baggage...any checked bags or seat assignments cost extra just like they do on Ryanair or Easyjet.

I'm confused - do you want Barcelona to Madrid or Barcelona to Milan? Barcelona to Madrid - none, take a train Barcelona to Milan - there aren't a lot of differences between those four airlines for such a short flight, but do your research regarding the cost of not only the ticket but what luggage (both checked and cabin) and seat selection may cost. They won't always cost the same, and that can make the "cheaper" flights more expensive. I will say that, while I have never flown Vueling, I have had several experiences each on Iberia, Ryanair, and Easyjet. For intra-Europe flying, I find very little difference these days. I like Iberia because it gets me American Airlines miles, but for point-to-point travel in Europe, I often find myself on Easyjet and have enjoyed them slightly more than Ryanair and Iberia. EDIT: Upon further review, I don't believe Iberia flies BCN-MXP. Take a look at times - I am guessing the "Iberia" flight is the same time as the Vueling flight, so it's likely a Vueling flight that also carries an Iberia codeshare.

Different strokes for different folks, I guess. To me it's incredibly different. If I've paid in advance, I know that my payment is done and I can get as much as I want without an extra nickel on my credit card bill. So I have to show them a card, big deal. That's hugely different than having to give your credit card each time you get a drink, in my opinion.

I picture two planes racing to Heathrow, one from Budapest and one from Prague, at the end of the night. Last one there gets turned away and has to be relegated to Luton.

Definitely stick with the LHR flight. Grab a hotel at LHR for the night, something near Terminal 2 (such as the Hilton Garden Inn) and continue the short ground trip in the morning.

This would be my recommendation. It allows you to have full control over where you go, what you do, where you want to eat, etc. etc.

Because there have been a lot of issues this summer. I have been through Heathrow several times this year already, and it's not great. I rarely check a bag to begin with, let alone this year, so that hasn't been an issue...but security has definitely taken longer, and passport control is slightly extended versus normal in my experience (though I don't pass through the UK Border as frequently as I connect at LHR, so I encounter security more than I do immigration).

Oh it's great. I travel to Bremen a couple times each year and my usual route, rather than flying in to Bremen, is to get in to Frankfurt and then take the train. It adds a little time (not much) but gives me the ability to just zone out, watch the countryside go by, have some coffee (or other beverages if it's later), watch a movie/read a book. The little bit of added time (which isn't much when you factor in transferring planes, security, etc) is well worth it.

It would probably take a European airline, subsidized by local government, to see a 787 in CVG or CMH. DL is bringing back CVG-CDG, but with a 763 (and DL doesn't even have 787s, only A350s). There just isn't really a market there, unfortunately.

Yep, it's all over the board. Depends on the cruise line, the airline, the agreement itself. All I can say is that if you are dead set on getting miles and dead set on using the cruise line to book air, make sure you know what you are buying and what it's getting you. That can definitely impact if it's the "best price" or not (because we often have to reiterate around here that "best price" and "lowest price" aren't always the same thing).

I honestly hate the "social" part of cruising (no thanks to the activities, no thanks to the shows, etc etc), so cruise directors are meaningless to me. Couldn't tell you a single name of any cruise I have been on. There have been a few that have annoyed the hell out of me, but I just block them out. They have added absolutely nothing to any of my cruises, so I am in agreement with you.

As a true martini lover, this is the only way to drink them in my personal opinion. Give me those olives with a side of olives and a sidecar of more olives.

Option 3: Stick close to the airport, have too many pints at Green Man in Hatton watching the planes land, and almost forget your departure time. Not that this has happened...............

To be fair, I have flown AA domestically and internationally on at least 50 legs this year so far, and haven't had any particularly bad issues that I wouldn't have experienced on other airlines. My colleague who flies Delta had two AMS-MSP flights cancelled within three days, whereas my AMS-PHL flight went off without a hitch.

My wife and I plan our vacations so last minute since we both travel for work and plan them around when we get random down time, so...usually when we get to the airport to depart is when we actually start counting down and getting in the mindset. To be fair, sometimes that's only like 48 hours after booking said trip 🙂