Part One: Getting from Here to There...to There...to There...

"People, people we're not picking out furniture here...please just find a seat and get in it!"....... [Heard on a Southwest flight where you sit where you are able ....passengers were apparently having a hard time choosing, LOL!]

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Da Plane; Da Plane

Since we are not taking a leisurely sail with the Queen Mary to get to Europe I'll state the obvious... We are flying! ....Delta/Air France for Dick & I from Greensboro through Atlanta; MJ & Joe, and Frannie & John (friends of MJ & J who will with us for the Sicilian part of this trip) are flying United from Dulles outside of their DC location.

Arranging for airline travel is fairly simple in this day and age so I will only mention a couple of points that seem important:

1) Consider a small upgrade to Economy Comfort seats if they have them... More room, free drinks, advance boarding (this can be important when you're carrying on all of your luggage as we are. Have you ever boarded a plane, gotten to your seat only to find that some annoying slug or 'Back-of-the-Plane' passenger stashed his/her luggage over your seat? %#+^£\!!!. We think there might not be anything more aggravating than trying to weave your way through deplaning folks to the back of the aircraft to reach your suitcase that had to then be stored near the rear!).

For more info on Economy Comfort see: http://www.delta.com/content/www/en_US/traveling-with-us/in-flight-services/products/seating/economy-class-premium-seating/economy-comfort.html


2) Be prepared for frequent reservation and flight time changes if you (do the smart thing and) book several weeks or months ahead. Use Trip Advisor who, once you are registered, will continually scan the Internet for changes and updates and then send you a notification that something has changed. Air Italia's flights to and from Sicily have been changed no less than three times on our itinerary... some of those changes impacted connecting flights....and the airlines did not always send out notices. (Sad face). By the way, resolving these issues with Air Italia online is difficult at best because everything is in.........Italian. Calling them might be slightly easier but l.i.s.t.e.n. c.a.r.e.f.u.l.l.y because they are speaking very broken English.

3) I can let MJ give me some comments about their experience to date with United but to date they are not all positive. Their designated and pre-selected seats have been automatically changed with the new assignments finding them separated in different sections of the plane. Not desirable for a couple on a nine-hour flight...she might be snoring on some neighbor's shoulder! The situation as been somewhat corrected but not without a poor grade given to their customer service rep representative who said they do not have to guarantee seats together... (VERY sad face!) ...so, just a word to the wise...

Coming Next: Trains in Europe...