Zach1213

I think this is pretty much the default these days. AA prompts people to gate check for free on pretty much every flight these days.

I have. Once. It was frustrating as hell, because I knew where they probably were...but had no proof. I flew AA DFW-MAD and was scheduled to connect on to IB MAD-RAK, but misconnected. IB put my wife and I up at a MAD airport hotel for some rest before an evening Royal Air Maroc MAD-RAK flight. Upon arriving at RAK, only one of our three checked bags were there. It was very obvious our bag was probably in Madrid. American Airlines said they had no idea, Iberia said they had no idea, and Royal Air Maroc said they have no idea. Even my wife's uncle, who works in logistics and has people in both Spain and Morocco, couldn't get an official answer. Four days later, they showed up out of the blue in Marrakech. Bag tags were faded as hell, and I only assume they had sat outside somewhere in Madrid for the entire time (in August).

I would take this connection. FRA is quite efficient.

I'm curious what Rome has to do with Israel at all. Hell, I am going to Amman next week and I'm not even remotely concerned.

Damn I feel like this is such a perfect synopsis of air travel as a whole. Like how the people who fly Allegiant to Punta Gorda or Ryanair to Reus once a year are more vocally angry about the smallest things than the person who flies hundreds of thousands of miles a year.

Even as an aerospace engineer who is obviously a big fan of planes, I'll ask it...why fly? If you're purely going between Singapore and KL, and especially if you're going city centre to city centre, there are several companies offering really, really nice buses between the two cities for even less than those prices, and you don't need to deal with getting to/from airports, dealing with security, etc. I think it takes 4-5 hours or so, including immigration. I have taken Transtar and had good experiences.

Not even in the slightest

I change time zones as much as many people change underwear 🙂 I personally find that, while the time change can definitely mess up your body, you can struggle a lot from a lack of sleep on the plane. Economy seats + short-ish overnight flight (even from Atlanta, let alone New York, you're only in the air like seven-and-a-half hours, and you're unlikely to sleep even most of that time) mean you're likely to arrive exhausted and cranky. Can't imagine immediately getting on a cruise ship and trying to enjoy yourself.

Ah well then it definitely makes sense to take Delta for at least those three! From what I can tell, prices do look fairly consistent whether you leave on June 13 or June 12. It does look like JetBlue ATL-JFK-LHR would save a couple of hundred dollars per person. Over the six remaining people, that's $1200 savings versus the nonstop, so maybe that would help justify going a day early and grabbing a hotel. Keep in mind that the hotel can just bet at Heathrow, where there's a good variety of pricing...not exciting, but it will get you there with plenty of time, less stress, and allow you to get a good nights sleep before starting your cruise well rested.

Are most flights reliable? Yes...the majority of flights arrive on time. But some don't, and if it's the one you're on, it doesn't matter that every other flight around you arrived on time. Also note that BA flies this route, and it might also be worth looking at connecting flights the day before versus nonstop flights the day of. Keep your options open, and also remember that not all nine of you need to fly on the same flight as that can raise prices because they'll lump all nine of you in to the same fare rate, which might result in a higher fare than breaking them up. I assume you have done the math of the flights + hotel + meals the day before and compared it to the day of? Without exact dates, we can't provide much advice beyond that.

It does. My wife, who is a Delta frequent flier (a divided household since I'm AA), just flew back CDG-DTW-MCI yesterday and used Global Entry at DTW.

Whether you stop or not is a personal preference. I'm more of a "just get it done" kind of guy, so I would rather take a 16 hour flight than two eight-hour flights, for example. Other people would rather break it up, whether it be for a few hours or a whole day. Neither answer is wrong or right, it's just personal preference. Unfortunately, you may not know what your personal preference is until you do it. I do believe Globaliser is correct that the routing is JFK-AKL-SYD-AKL-SYD, so that may indeed be a very good option for you. Air New Zealand also does JFK-AKL, and many people take Air New Zealand via AKL to get to various points in Australia, so Air New Zealand JFK-AKL-SYD and AKL-JFK could also be a good routing. Both are very good airlines, even in economy, so check schedule + price + any preferred mileage partner (Qantas partners with American, and ANZ partners with United).

So he's ten years past his prime, huh? Crappy wine confirmed 😉 /s

Once you go to Europe in the offseason, you'll never want to go back during the summer. It's so much nicer. I'm to the point where, even in my consulting role, I charge European clients more if they want me to come in summer...not only are flights/hotels/cars/trains more expensive, but having to deal with tourists is a pain haha. Regarding families - that's really nothing new. It's always been pretty common to see families going to Europe together in the summer and having big multi-generational trips, and even trips to visit family over there.

Even when Uber was in Singapore, I never had good experiences. Tried it a few times and always went back to taxis.

If the airline is making you use the economy lavs when you're in business class, you're using the wrong airline 😉

A Wednesday in October is definitely more likely to be quieter than a summer flight. I'm curious how full the belly of the plane is.

Oh I get it. Different strokes for different folks. To each their own with provolone. So on and so forth. I know there are people who only use their cabins to sleep so spending money on even an oceanview might be pointless. But for us personally, we use the cabin as an escape where we can spend time together, alone, watching the world go buy, reading books, etc. So a balcony or higher is not just nice, it's the law for us 🙂

Good bullets. A few comments from my personal view as someone who spends more time on the road than at home...by far. I'm very much of the belief that if we can't afford the hotel room the night before or we can't afford a balcony room (or higher), we can't afford that cruise. It's not even an option...it's a requirement. Definitely put your travel itinerary inside your bag, preferably in an unlocked pocket of it. I do this for every trip, even if I am just doing carry-on on the plane. It always includes my name, phone number, flight info, hotel info (incl. arrival and departure dates, and phone number of the hotel), and anything else important. I also include my home airport, so that if all else goes south, they know where to route the bag back to. Yes, this has actually happened once with a checked bag - the bag tag came off, but my bag ended up back at my home airport. I never put my phone in airplane mode unless I am on an airplane. It's very easy to turn off data roaming but keep the phone active. I do this on every trip and have never once received a penny of unexpected data charges. Just another option to add to the list.

Full or very close to it. Especially to/from Europe in Summer. Airlines are in the business of creating the highest load factors as possible, and demand between North America and Europe has been extremely high the last few summers and should continue to be next summer. I would plan on every seat being full, and being pleasantly surprised if it's not.

Yeah, when you're coming from smaller markets, it's definitely worth extending your search a bit. New Orleans could be the perfect balance for you. Hope it works out!

My wife uses Dramamine. You can get the same thing in Europe under different names. My recommendation is to go to a drug store/chemist and ask. If you're in a non-English speaking country, possible translate the word(s) for "seasick" ahead of time.

That's just kind of the issue with flying to/from a smaller city. There are not a lot of flights, so connections can often be quite short or quite long. The smaller you get (like Montgomery), the more likely that is to be true. Do add Southwest to your list, as they serve both Jackson and Birmingham. But otherwise, you really are limited to AA(+ Alaska), DL, and UA. Definitely do consider breaking your trip up if you can. For example, you could even book something where you get out one day, book an overnight connection in somewhere like Dallas or Atlanta (and grab an airport hotel) and finish the next day. Finally, would you consider driving to somewhere like New Orleans? Alaska does nonstop MSY-SEA at least 1-2x daily, so that drive might be worth it depending on where exactly you're coming from (assuming west central Alabama based on your airports listed, which puts you at like a 3-4 hours drive to MSY).

Not very Frontier, Hawaiian, JetBlue, Southwest, Spirit, and Sun Country all fly domestically out of SEA. But since we're not sure what your destination is, those may or may not be relevant to you.

I mean...you could fly in to MCO, sure. Even if it's cheaper, you could, sure. But...