International Flights

If you are unsure about International travel, I suggest that you go through a competent Travel Agent. My daughter once missed her flight because of time change differences. Friends of mine had problems because of the difference is luggage weight limits at airports in different countries.

I think I know what review you are talking about, because it was an Alaskan cruise and they had a stop in Canada. Oh that sticks out too...

You are very welcome.

Another thing popped into mind for anyone reading this topic - Do not count on the cruise line or air line to tell you about your specific Visa or PP requirements. It is not their job to do so. Take the time to look them up for yourself. I read about a few avoidable tragedies. One still stands out in my mind. If memory serves me well, there was a negative cruise review because the person blamed the cruise line for not telling him that his mother needed different travel documentation (she was coming from one country and he was from the U.S.). As a result of not having the correct Visa, mom was not allowed to board the ship.

Bottomline is that it is not the carrier's responsibility to spoon-feed people individualized travel documentation and inoculation / vaccination reports. People are responsible to investigate and resolve those requirements for themselves.

Thanks CM for all the great info... Like I said it is on my list... Both my BF and I have all the pages opened and new Passports so the time and pages don't worry me. Its the flights and any visa requirements depending on the ports.

Also, there may be Visa Waivers depending on your country and destination. Check into https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/visit/visa-waiver-program.html (U.S. specific).

Regarding flights, I have been a loyal United customer since I worked for a company where my office was outside of Denver, CO. When traveling internationally, I look at United or Star Alliance flights. I've flown business or first class on United, South Africa Air, Lufthansa, New Zealand Air, and Air Canada. All of my experiences have been fabulous.

As for visa requirements, you need to go to the State Department of your country of origin. In my case, the U.S., at https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/general/americans-traveling-abroad.html. From this page, click on the Country Specific Information to see what is required for traveling to or through foreign countries. I looked up South Africa and the travel requirements are pretty much the same as my last trip there... https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/country/south-africa.html.

Be mindful of passport requirements. You need to abide by the rules set by each country as to validity period. Some countries require a certain number of empty passport pages. Bottomline, don't overlook something just because you don't think it's important enough.

Hope this helps.

I was thinking repositioning... Fly to somewhere overseas... Get to FL (or there was one to boston) and then a simple one way flight home... Shouldn't be too bad. Just the international flight will be my biggest hump.

I checked with the prices on Expedia and then went to the airlines listed for the flights I liked, and compared prices. There was no advantage booking through a TA instead of me booking our flights, when we went to Finland a few years ago.

I go to Orbitz for flights. I would recommend a European airline, better food and some include beer and wine. I flew US air to Europe before and it was bare bones flight and food. I Flew Air New Zealand from London to L.A., world of difference.

If you do a re-positioning cruise you can fly one way and cruise from Europe to Florida. I like the Transatlantic cruises, lots of sea days to relax, enjoy the ship and not a lot of kids on a 14 night cruise.

I've flown to Europe twice. The first time a travel agent handled everything. The second time hubby did.