Non-stop on US Air or one-stop on Swissair?
 

Getting ready to line up tickets for this summer's trip, flying from the mid-Atlantic area (Baltimore, Washington, Philly) to Munich. <BR> <BR>For about the same price ticket, should I fly US Airways nonstop to Munich, or Swissair with a connection in Zurich? The stopover isn't very long, but it would, of course, add some time to the trip. The only reason I ask is because USAir seems a bit suspect these days, while Swissair seems to have a great reputation. We wouldn't be seeing anything in Switzerland other than the airport.

Nearly 100 transatlantic round trips have convinced me that non-stops are generally better than connections. Faster, usually by 90 minutes or more, but more importantly fewer things to go wrong. Baggage, weather, air traffic. <BR> <BR>If the prices are about the same the nonstop is the better choice. <BR> <BR>If there's a price difference then you'll have to put a value on your time, and the factor of reliability. Hard to quantify, but doable in a general sense. <BR> <BR>Not sure what you mean by "suspect" in re USAir. They'll be in business this summer. Presuming, especially, that you may be flying in economy class, for the total of 15-16 hours you'll be on board you'll never notice the difference. <BR> <BR>Ed

Just my feeling: the less stops, the less chance my luggage ends up in Utah (but goes first class) while I end up in (fill in your own city). I ALWAYS take a direct if I have the choice. The only priority over that is if the non-stop is a non US carrier, then I'll ALWAYS take the US carrier over the non-US carrier. Sorry, that is all I can offer, someone else can may be specific re:Swissair v. U.S. Air. Regards, Mike.

Too much can go wrong on a single flight (delays, even cancellations). Changing planes doubles your chances of problems.

I agree with the above posters. Take the single flight. I left from Dulles and had a layover in Zurich, which wound up being five hours. The airport was incredibly crowded with little room to sit and not much to do. Then, because of an approaching snowstorm, we almost didn't take off. One flight is always better in my opinion.