u/throwawayprincess15

Hello, fellow travel nerds. If checking flight schedules and routes is enjoyable, like it is for me, then you are in the right place.

I'm in the Midwest, though unfortunately not all that close to Chicago, looking for an overseas flight to a small airport in the Balkans. Direct flights are obviously not happening, so at this point, it's about finding the best case scenario for layovers.

Outgoing flight would be ideally 10/8 in the late afternoon/early evening. Open to 10/9 in the morning, depending on the layover options. Return would be 10/17; Open to 10/16 if I absolutely HAD to. Open to 10/18, if I could get home early enough. That said, right now I am only looking at Outgoing Flights, as I would like to hit one or two cities on the way back, so I am not entirely sure where I will be flying FROM just yet.

Outgoing airport would ideally be IND. Open to some others. Destination is CFU (Corfu, Greece)

Here are some of the options I have come up with:

OPTION 1: Cincinnati to Paris CDG- Delta- $589. 10/8 DL98

Segment 1: Cincinnati to Paris- Delta

Segment 2: ??, TBD

I definitely like the direct flight overseas. Other than the price, the negatives: CDG doesn't really have a direct flight to CFU, nor many other good 1 stop flights either. The best flights are out of ORY. So, I would either have to take a long flight, out of the way, or travel from CDG to ORY....which sort of defeats the convenience of a direct flight. Also, CVG is sort of on the very edge of the distance I would prefer to drive. If it was a perfect flight, and the destination was Paris, it would be worth it. But, with additional work on the back end, I just don't know it's worth the drive.

OPTION 2: Indianapolis to Corfu- various airlines, self transfer- $272+points (or $183 cash) 10/8 WN1540, BF743 10/10 TO3544

Segment 1: Indianapolis to Ft. Lauderdale- Southwest

Segment 2: Miami to Paris ORY- French Bee

Segment 3: ORY to Corfu- Transavia

I'd have to transfer to MIA, either via Uber or train. The good deal is it flies into ORY, where I could catch a direct flight to Corfu...but unfortunately not till the next day....but how could I possibly complain about spending the evening in Paris? Here's the catches with this one: I would only be able to arrive at the first flight 45 minutes...MAYBE an hour before the flight. Which likely means parking in the garage for $$$$. But, it also leaves no room for error. And....if the IND-FLL gets delayed...I will be cutting it really close at MIA, an airport I am not all that familiar with. Also, it's obviously not the most efficient way to get over there. But, for a total of $272+points....it's a hard deal to beat. Info for these flights:

This brings us to the more basic, straight-forward routes.

OPTION3: Indianapolis to Tirana- Air Canada, Wizz Airlines- $475- 10/8 AC8896, AC880, 10/9 AC6014, W45044

Segment 1 : Indianapolis to Toronto- Air Canada

Segment 2: Toronto to Zurich- Air Canada

Segment 3: Zurich to Bari, Italy- Air Canada

Segment 4: Bari to Tirana- Wizz Air

This route, I would be on the same ticket, all the way from Indy to Bari, Italy. Both layovers, I would consider pretty decent, not too long, not too short. The Zurich layover is 6.5 hours, which does give me some time to explore a little bit, and add a city to my list. Unfortunately, no direct flights to Corfu, but there ARE direct flights to Tirana, which....is fine, as I was planning to work my way up there anyway. Might just have to switch some things around. The flight from Bari to Tirana is incredibly, like $11. And, I think it would be pretty cool to fly in/out of an airport named for Pope John Paul II, which I didn't even know existed and now I wanna go to it. Ha.

OPTION 4: Indianapolis to Corfu- Lufthansa- $547 10/8 LH6735, LH6779, 10/9 LH4426

Segment 1: Indianapolis to Toronto- Lufthansa

Segment 2: Toronto to Frankfurt, Germany- Lufthansa

Segment 3: Frankfurt to Corfu- Lufthansa

The thing that feels really good about this ticket is I am on the same ticket all the way to Corfu. Which means if anything goes wrong with any of the legs, I should be taken care of. This flight also stops in Toronto. Then, on over to Frankfurt, Germany. From Germany, direct to Corfu, getting in around 6 pm, local. Layovers aren't super ideal, about 3.5 hours each which aren't really long enough to go explore anywhere, but are longer than I would prefer to sit around the airport.

If anyone has any other options or thoughts......I am happy to hear.

Or let me know your thoughts of the options I have come up with.

I went through a brutal breakup 2 months ago. Brutal doesn't even begin to describe it.

But, I discovered JL:TG, and it has helped me to heal bit by bit, given me something to look forward to, something to actually smile about. Well, I have blown through season by season, and I am sadly down to the last series I have left: Australia.

I just got done watching Arctic Escape, which I had been putting off as one of my last trips with my ex was to Key West, and even just seeing the Southernmost Point in thumbnails was triggering. But, I pushed through it, and luckily Key West was such a small part of the season, I was mostly fine.

But, now onto Australia. You see, I went to Australia last year, very shortly before meeting my now ex. I was in a really tricky headspace at the time. I had a great time, and it was such a magical experience. But, it also felt incredibly lonely. I made a personal decision that I didn't want to do any big adventures alone anymore, and that I needed to find someone, whether just a friend or more, to have life adventures with.

A few weeks later, I met him. His sense of adventure matched mine, and we bonded over tales of travels. Telling him of my Australia adventure was one of our first big conversations and connections.

I know that watching the Australia season will take me right back to that place in time. It's hard for me to re-live that incredible once-in-a-lifetime trip, without re-living everything else that came after it.

I just need someone to go all Sam on me, tell me I am being a ridiculous emotional mess, to dry the tears and just....get on with it.

We (41F, 39 M) had an unusually difficult parting of ways yesterday. And I just don't know what to do.

The last time we saw each other, we had a discussion about what the future looks like: living situation, finances, kids. Obviously, there are concessions and sacrifices in a situation like this.

I am not opposed to having kids, but at my age, the difficulty is there. I am of more of a "If it happens, it happens" mindset. A take one day at a time mindset. 6 months ago, we talked about kids, and he told me that even if we never have kids, all that matters is that we are together. He said when he met me, he knew what that realistically meant.

Well....he changed his mind. (which he is well within his right to do) I guess spending time with my nieces and nephew ultimately made him realize how much he wants kids and how much it's a dealbreaker. He asked if he could see that in our future.

I asked if he could see himself marrying me. It wasn't an emphatic "Yes." It was a "Possibly." If our plans for the future are aligned. He mentioned that if he uprooted his life and sacrificed everything to move to be with me, he would hope it would be in expectation of building a family. Which is totally fair.

Again, this is not something I am opposed to. I just....I don't want to promise 5 kids, 2 dogs, and 2 cats if it's not in the cards. I can promise to take building a family one day at a time. I told him that eventually if/when the kids are grown, it will be just us again, and HE is the one I want by my side when we get old and gray. He thanked me for sharing, but he didn't say, "I feel the same" or anything.

He still says he loves me, and I believe he does. Which I think is why he very well may let me go; he mentioned not wanting to push me into something. Anyway, he was feeling emotionally overwhelmed. So, I offered to have him take me to the airport early, so that he could get home and rest. He took me up on it. We agreed to take a breather from the conversation, decompress, and he is visiting me in almost 3 weeks, to re-assess then.

The thing I struggle with is...he says he loves me more than the stars in the sky, more than the grains of sand on the earth; if that's the case, how/why am I not enough?

I had a flight delay, a flight, and a drive home....so essentially 9 hours to think about what I want, to think about the future, to feel at peace with the next steps. The truth is...I DO want to build a family with him....as I said before, I just don't know what that looks like. I am more practical about what our energies and finances can handle and expanding accordingly.

He has a therapy session tonight, and I am certain it will be brought up. First and foremost, I am sure. It's a pretty major thing. I worry that if I don't say something to him beforehand, the therapist will sway him a certain way, and he'll make his decision, and it will be hard to come back from that. At the same time, if I do say something, I worry it will come across as a rash decision; maybe waiting till he is here next gives us time to re-build our rapport, and we can re-convene with a clear mind.

But, like I said....with his therapy session tonight, I worry that will be too late and the die will be cast. Does anyone have any thoughts?

I had a great experience with the Phlash Bus a few months ago. I had a Septa Key, which I used for random travel throughout the city. But, for the travel through the main heart of the city, I stuck to the Phlash Bus. It was clean, climate-controlled, just a pleasant experience.

So much so that I am planning to visit the city, this time with family. So, I am trying to figure out how to ride the Phlash Bus. I did figure out how to top off my Septa Key and change it to a Multi-Rider pass, which I haven't done just yet. I wanted to make sure that Multi-Rider was usable with the Phlash Bus.

After all, I typically only had to show my Septa Key to the driver. So, there wouldn't really be any way to prove I had Multi-Rider. So, now I am back to wondering if I should just go to a kiosk and get Septa Keys for everyone, just to be able to ride the Phlash Bus without a hassle.

Okay first thing's first. Yes, I know there are oodles of skiplagging posts, and I've read them all. Haha. But, nothing quite answers the questions ruminating in my mind.

For the first time in my life, (and hopefully only) due to the obscene flight prices, I am considering skiplagging. I have read the aforementioned posts, articles, watched videos, all to get a lay of the land.

It seems there are a lot of guidelines to follow:

One way flight only. Makes sense.

Carry on only. This one seems obvious.

But, then there are the suggestions to book with a guest account, use different emails, don't put in your FF information. And this is where my brain starts to spin a little bit.

Here's why: if the idea is to say, at some point that something came up. You got sick, there was a family emergency, there was a work emergency, whatever the case is....isn't it more believable if you are booked on your account like you normally would be? If something truly "came up" wouldn't the fact that you are booked through your account sort of legitimize it?

On the flip side....even with alternate emails or phone numbers, they will have your name and birthdate, potentially your address. It wouldn't be THAT hard for them to cross-reference and find you in their system. I am sure they have software that could do it in 15 seconds. So, wouldn't the idea that someone with an account, with miles, with an airline credit card, is booking a one way ticket through a guest account, using an alternate email, using an alternate payment method....isn't that sort of suspicious? Wouldn't that sort of tip them off to be intentional?

I guess I am just trying to understand the logic. Help me out, if you could.

Some backstory: my family and I, WN loyalists to the core, for years, would book big family trips a year or more ahead of time. This means we were often checking the release schedule, online release day, the second flights would open.

If we didn't book flights, we would be waiting online bright and early Tuesday mornings for the new fares. And...even if we did book flights, we still routinely checked fares on Tuesdays on the chance we could get flight credit.

Well, over the last couple of years a few things have changed. We haven't really booked any long-term vacations, so usually by the time we are looking for flights, they are already released. Also, we have started to utilize our local regional airport a lot more, which is great, but WN doesn't service there.

I have also been doing a lot of short term weekend trips, but they are usually booked 1-3 months out.

I still have the SW credit card and lots of miles to use, so I still check WN for flight options. So, I am not completely out of the loop. I am just not the stringent fare hawk that I once was.

I just flew WN a couple of months back. I do have a WN flight currently booked, and another one not yet booked, but that I am looking at. I have been checking these flights on a weekly, if not more frequent basis. I am not seeing the fares fluctuate at all. Day of the week doesn't seem to matter. Weekdays vs weekend doesn't seem to matter.

So, for those who are a bit more familiar.....is this the way of the new WN? Like...not much fluctuation in fares? No "good day" to book anymore? Not complaining, just curious.

I did a search in this subreddit for wings, and I found some great suggestions, which I have added to our list.

However, my sweet, but picky, boyfriend does not eat sauce on wings. He simply will not eat sauced wings. He will just eat them naked if that's the option.

His preference is dry rubs. Most of the recommended places, I was not able to find any dry rubs. Or if they are dry rubbed, they are not listed that way.

I was able to find "Wing Dust" at Pickles Pub, which maaaay be an option, but it just doesn't give much of a selection. When it comes to rubs, he leans more toward Cajun or Caribbean flavor profiles. He doesn't like citrus, so anything like Chili lime isn't his thing.

Does anyone know of any good wing places in Key West that offer a broader selection of dry rubs?