Zach1213

I prefer this - https://letmegooglethat.com/?q=what+is+delta's+cancellation+policy%3F (OP, I'm just having some fun with ya)

Especially with DFW, there should be enough DEN-DFW flights to find a slightly earlier one to give you an extra couple of hours there. Terminal D (where DFW-EZE should leave) is a good place to hang out...you can usually find a fairly empty gate somewhere, it's bright/open/airy, good views of the rest of the airport. There are also some decent places to eat and drink there, so you shouldn't have too much trouble killing some extra time.

I actually rarely read on the plane, but I always do at the airport. Sometimes I do work on the plane, because...billable hours are billable hours...but I try to save that time as a time to really turn my brain off (the kind books I read are very much nonfiction so it's not really turning my brain off when I read!). I am so busy on the ground that the plane is really a place to just watch TV or scroll the Internet (or post here I guess, since I am at FL370 off the east coast of Newfoundland).

Even though I do an excessive amount of international travel (and am writing this on a flight over the Atlantic as we speak!), and I could spend more time at home with shorter connections, I still take the longer ones. I try to do 2-3 hours for international trips because, as mentioned, recovery options become more limited. Even then, I've missed some. Peace of mind is worth the extra time for me, and I can always find something to do (work, read, watch a movie).

I think you can stop looking. Any site saying the normal US passport holder on tourist or business purposes needs a visa is just wrong. I enter Schengenland on a US passport for tourist and business purposes 10-12x yearly and as of six days ago when I last entered Schengen, I didn't need a visa.

I'm really curious what sources you were finding that say you do need one, because I would recommend people stay away from whatever the hell website that is. Not only do you not need one, but it's not even a transit in an immigration sense...you are entering the Schengen Zone in Frankfurt, which covers both Germany and Norway. Transit visas usually apply when you're going from Country A to Country C via Country B...in this case, as far as immigration is concerned, you're going from Country A to Country B via Country B. In most cases, true. And in OP's case (for tourism or for business), true. But sometimes US citizens do need visas to go to the Schengen Zone (which is different than the EU). For example, if you plan to work there, or study there for an extended period, or spend more than the allotted visa-free time. Like I said, these don't apply to OP, but there are cases where US citizens would need a true visa (not just an ETIAS) to go to EU and/or Schengen.

Haneda is great if you're actually staying in the city, no doubt, but the Narita Express is also about an hour. There is a price difference but I don't think it's too much, i.e. US$20 vs US$15 or something. I've started booking whichever flight works best for me and largely ignoring which airport at this point.

I remember my first ever international business trip as a 23 year old going to Sydney from Kansas City. I was flying Midwest Airlines MCI-LAX, and then Qantas LAX-SYD. Was told my bag was checked through, and the bag tag said it was checked through. Alas, I got to SYD and my bag was nowhere to be found. Apparently it was just chilling on the baggage claim at LAX. It came the next day via Auckland. It was a few years before I made it to New Zealand and I was always jealous my bag had seen NZ before I had. OP, that is very rare...definitely do confirm, but especially when it's the same airline, it's a pretty seamless transfer.

Damn I haven't heard those names in a long time.

Was hoping for Biman Bangladesh

Yup. While I was working on my PhD, I was also working for the University itself and they had a travel agent on hand for flights. We had to use them by contract. They were fine at actually booking flights, but I learned quickly that I needed to go to them with exactly the flights I wanted because they really had no idea what was going on. When the guy told me I should fly Aer Lingus to Saudi Arabia, I just kind of gave up all hope.

Hell they event fly to Asia and Europe in addition to the Caribbean and Central America. Definitely becoming an increasingly global airline. I only flew them once between Montreal and Calgary but that was a few years ago and I am not sure my experience is accurate anymore, but back then they were decent even for a four hour flight.

Technically a third party 😉 Airline = Party 1, Customer = Party 2, Mediocre Travel Agent = Party 3.

Is it back when Qantas used to do LAX-JFK on their own planes? They had a pretty easy setup for a while where an aircraft did SYD-LAX-JFK-LAX-SYD (was also BNE or AKL at times instead of SYD) and was able to collect passengers connecting to/from other QF flights (but only other QF flights, and only as part of a trip in or out of the US, i.e. you couldn't stop in LAX for two days and then continue to JFK on QF metal).

The thing is...I want to like JAL. I want to take JAL. I do occasionally end up on their metal longhaul because it's my only option. Their service is great, their food is really good. But I just find myself unable to get too comfortable on their planes. My wife had never flown JAL until a few years ago and I forgot to warn her. We hopped on a BKK-NRT flight and she was instantly miserably haha.