Should I Be Jealous of Chicago?

From Travel and Leisure:

When it comes to major airports in the U.S., one city stands out from the rest.

Chicago will soon be the only city in the U.S. to offer nonstop flights to six continents (all but Antarctica) when Air New Zealand begins service from O’Hare to Auckland on November 30.

Chicago will then join the ranks of just four other cities — London, Johannesburg, Doha, and Dubai — that can make this claim, Susan Kurland, deputy commissioner for air service development for both O’Hare and Midway airports, told Travel + Leisure.

From these five cities, travelers can book nonstop flights to Africa, Europe, North America, South America, Asia, and Australia/Oceania. That just leaves Antarctica.

So, perhaps it would be best to analyze this a little more. Yes, Chicago and the east coast make for shorter flights to Europe, and Africa.

But the west coast seems better for flying south to Latin America, or west to Asia and Oz Land. Why should it make a difference?

Ever wonder why east coast people go to the Caribbean for winter vacation, but left coasters go to Hawaii or Mexico? TIME, of course.

Just because you can catch a nonstop flight out of your home airport does not make the trip any more pleasant. And sometimes, a layover in a great city breaks up the trip in a welcoming way.

A few years ago, I took an inexpensive flight with a Dublin stopover on Aer Lingus on my way to Amsterdam. From there, I took at cheap easyJet flight to Berlin and back. I spent three days each in Dublin, Amsterdam and Berlin, making a perfect mini trip.

In most cases, my trips to SE Asia are broken up by a short two to three hour layover in Tokyo, which I welcome, both to stretch my legs, get out of the aluminum tube, and shop for goodies at many of the Tokyo airport gift and food stores.

Speaking of jealous, have you noticed those airlines seats getting smaller? Or are we getting bigger? In the old days, seats were generally 18 inches in width. Now, most are 17 inches or sometimes less!

First, the good news: both JetBlue, Hawaiian and lowly Frontier have 18 inch seats. Delta and Spirit come close, depending on the plane. Those who fall into the industry average of 17 inches are: Southworst, Alaska, Allegiant, and the much vilified United.

Coming in for a tie for last place: American (as low as 15.9 or wider), Sun (as low as 16.1). But mostly, it depends on the type of plane you take. Airbus tends to give more room around the hips. Narrow body Boeings have the slimmer seats.

My advice: if you do not or cannot upgrade, take international flights, or at a minimum, cross-country flights for larger seats.

So, what have we learned? If you must fly, Chicago provides the most options. And if you can, at almost any cost, get a wider, hence, more comfortable seat on a wider body plane.