Flight Challenges

Since American Airlines pulled their hub out of St. Louis, the only thing that makes Lambert an international airport is their charter flights to Cancun, Mexico.  Traveling from St. Louis to anywhere in Europe, therefore, requires at least one transfer.  If it was just a matter of getting off one plane and boarding another, it wouldn't be too bad.  But it's much more than that.

First, from St. Louis, you always fly to an international airport.  That means, upon arrival, you have to get from the domestic to the international terminal, which usually takes much more time than you imagined.  When we flew to Dublin, Ireland, we changed planes in Chicago.  We arrived at O'Hare International Airport on time, but still just made our connecting flight.  We had 1.5 hours between flights, but getting through O'Hare took every bit of that time.

The second challenge is dealing with different sized planes.  Planes leaving St. Louis are much smaller than those flying overseas.  And some of those smaller planes only allow one carry-on.  But, for years, hubby and I have been traveling with only two carry-ons each no matter if it's a domestic or international trip.  So, even if it's more expensive, I always book with an airline that allows two carry-ons.

And I now always give us plenty of time to travel between domestic and international terminals, or airports.  For our upcoming Paris trip, we're first flying American Airlines to LaGuardia Airport where our son and daughter-in-law will pick us up.  We'll then have lunch before going to John F. Kennedy International Airport for our American Airlines direct flight to Paris.  And we'll be switching airports on the way home, too.

If you do any amount of air travel and live near an international airport, count your blessings.  It was a sad day when American Airlines pulled their hub out of St. Louis.  Nevertheless, where there's a will, there's a way!