Zach1213

Is there a website for the people whose bags made it perfectly on schedule? Because that's the majority.

Miami just seems super inconsistent to me. I don't clear immigration in MIA very often, but when I do I have seen the two extremes (even with Global Entry). I remember once coming off the same flight (GRU-MIA) at the same time on the same day of the week within the same month, and it once took me just a few minutes, and once took me like 45 minutes (not including checked bags).

There are plenty that leave outside of hurricane season. I see them leaving SJU almost all year 'round in 2024.

The reasons why an airport can be "international", from a legal standpoint, have already been covered. But I can guarantee there are plenty of flights between JAX and Europe + Caribbean + Canada + Mexico, etc...they just get operated on cargo planes or private planes. EDIT: Out of curiosity I checked FlightRadar24, which doesn't have every private flight listed, but there's at least one departure and one arrival between JAX and The Bahamas listed for today on private aircraft. So, I'm definitely not saying there are international flights coming and going at JAX all of the time, but it certainly happens.

I have slightly more recent feedback in that I went through in late 2021 most recently, but it was the same setup if I remember correctly.

Completely disagree. Maybe if you are using mileage, but even then I am not sure I disagree. Often times, when fares come out, they are towards the higher end because airlines are feeling out demand and what people are willing to pay. It's pretty common that prices start coming down (before, often, going back up). Plus, the further you book out, the more likely you are to see schedule and equipment changes.

I've only flown them regionally, and pre-covid, between Beirut and Cairo. I agree they were perfectly fine. My flight was only like an hour in the air, but still a decent meal for what it was.

"Customs" is often used as a misnomer for "Immigration", but they are very different things. Immigration cares about who you are, customs cares about what you have. As mentioned - your first point of entry to Schengen cares about who you are, but the country you're finishing in cares about what you have. I've gone through customs in Europe literally hundreds of times and have never once been stopped. It's very simple, as mentioned above.

Nope, no security for the hotel

That's a good question, and I didn't think about it because I saw the only option was a flight that didn't work for my schedule and closed out of the website. But it was telling me $50. Maybe if I clicked on it and advanced to the next page it would have kicked it down to $0 but I didn't get that far. I've never actually done a same-day change at AS (and still haven't) so it was all new to me haha.

Yes, you'll be leaving the secure area so you will need to re-clear security. Doesn't matter if you're flying to Paris, Papeete, or Pittsburgh...security will be involved.

When I tried last week it was $50, if there was a seat available. So for example I had an evening flight out of SEA and wanted to bump up to the afternoon flight, but the only option was the morning flight that didn't work for me.

Nah, it's O'Hara...they re-named the airport after Catherine because of the impact Home Alone had on Chicago 🙂

We need a bit more info...where are you connecting to? I ask because that impacts recommendations because (a) you may or may not need to enter the UK, and (b) you may or may not need to change terminals.

My family and friends are on six continents (sometimes seven because I know a guy who spends an occasional summer working in Antarctica). I grew up in Namibia and live in the US, travel the world for a living, and my wife's family is in North Africa...so yeah, social media is critical in keeping in touch with family and friends along the way.

It would be very simple to arrive at Southampton in the morning and get a flight out of Gatwick on the same day. It's like a 90-minute drive.

And if there is an issue with a passport, it's often not a quick fix. Having plenty of time before your flight can give you time to resolve some simpler issues (like Australian ETAs or, in the future, ETIAS). I had a colleague who once flat out forgot to get her Australian ETA. Luckily, she was one of those people who arrives early to everything and was able to get it online after American Airlines told her they wouldn't let her on her MCI-DFW flight (that was connecting to SYD on QF) without one.

(I'm just giving you a hard time because I'm bored on a 12 hour flight)

Well yes, of course. "If you're not paying for something, you're the thing being sold". But that's a very different conversation than the conversation about travel influencers, which are just a new tool of marketing and promotions (or, sometimes, just a way for the person to make a living doing something they love).

I'll take this time to say that I know someone who is a moderately "famous" travel blogger, though I won't name names. He has never once received a free flight/hotel stay/train. He makes enough money off of his subscribers + revenue from YouTube to make a decent enough living traveling the world and getting people to watch him do it. So not all of these people are getting paid by the airline/cruiseline that they're traveling on. And yeah, I am also curious what you're "wasting your money" on.

Oh their website is perfectly accurate, because it doesn't list Ireland as an ETIAS country. The person I responded to said Ireland needed ETIAS, and I jokingly told them they better let ETIAS know their website was incorrect because it didn't list Ireland.

Many of these reviews are spot on, though. They're often a good way to get an idea of what options are possible, what ships/hotels/locations look like, etc. They may be paid, but they're more often than not just showing people what they can experience themselves, which is usually more realistic than the marketing we see on TV or hear on the radio. As far as Facebook goes, you often build your own algorithm. My Facebook is a fountain of lovely pictures of my family and friends and the things they do.

If they get free things, it's just marketing. It's part of a marketing budget...a marketing budget that every company has, and evolves over time as marketing and promotional tactics and trends change.

As a total aside, I can't imagine the UK allows this as a connection, right? Kind of like how, for example, United can't sell you a ticket from Vancouver to Toronto via O'Hare.

You might want to let ETIAS know their website is wrong then 🙂