Zach1213

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.

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 🙂