Living in Columbus, Ohio, a mid-sized town in the Midwest, is fairly rewarding except for one thing: limited mobility when it comes to traveling to foreign countries. The challenge intensifies if your destination is not a prime tourist spot. Columbus is the 17th largest city in the U.S., with almost one million Americans calling it home, boasts an “international airport” in name only. John Glenn International Airport offers few seasonal international flights to selected Caribbean Islands and Mexican resorts. The crown jewel of our airport is a single destination: Toronto, Canada. This short one-hour flight can add a hefty $600 to your vacation budget for a single round trip.
For an Egyptian living in central Ohio wanting to travel to Cairo with the fewest layovers, options are limited. You will have to fly first to major East Coast cities like New York, Washington D.C., or Toronto where direct flights to Cairo are available.
However, a challenge arises: Egypt Air is the only commercial airline providing direct flights between Norh America and Cairo. Yet, Egypt Air offers limited flights per week during the low season. For example, in November, Egypt Air operates three flights per week from their hubs in New York, Washington, and Toronto. During the high season, like around Christmas or during the summer when they increase the frequency to one daily flight from New York and Toronto, and three flights per week from Washington D.C.
The other option is to fly from Columbus to a major city on the East Coast, such as Boston, Washington D.C., New York, Newark, Detroit, or even Chicago. Once there, you can select from numerous flights to Europe and then proceed to take a connecting flight to Egypt.
The stress of not knowing if you will catch your next flight can take a toll on your body and mind. Several years ago, I almost missed a connecting flight at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport due to a last-minute gate change announcement that I missed while napping. Other stress-provoking circumstances, such as short layover time, being in an unfamiliar airport, delays in earlier connecting flights, and just feeling extremely tired add to the physical and mental burdens of multi-layover itineraries.
Another problem with Egypt Air is its membership in Star Alliance, which requires them to coordinate their flights with specific domestic companies in the US. For example, on one of my return flights from Cairo to Columbus through Washington D.C., the Egypt Air counter in Cairo Airport was unable to book my flight all the way to Columbus. The Egypt Air counter attendant told me that he had no access to the Delta Airline computer, since Delta Airline was my connecting flight between Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio. I was told that the only domestic airline company that Egypt Air has access to was United Airlines. After landing in Washington DC, I had to locate the Delta Airline desk and secure my seat back to Columbus. Imagine being on a plane for 12 hours with little sleep and having to find the Delta counter in an unfamiliar airport and during a short layover time.
In addition, older travelers like myself do not feel comfortable booking trips online. Younger travelers might find this strange; however, we have been dealing with local travel agents for years. A friendly person who guides you through the puzzle of choosing the most comfortable and least expensive route to your destination. However, with the rise of the “online travel agencies,” local travel agents became one of the extinct species.
May last resort was AAA, which reminded me of the good old local travel agencies. Their agent was everything I missed on the online booking sites. With my flight itinerary on my smart phone, I was set to head to Egypt on an Egypt Air flight from New York.
In my next “Letter from America,” I will describe my experience with Egypt Air and Cairo Airport, which were literally “out of this world.”