Pat, costarog and everyone who shared their stories of less than stellar experiences with AA at MIA: thank you.

I thought those ticket agents and gate people were just rude to me.

But I will explore going through DFW next time or even going with another airline so I can skip stopping over in the US entirely.

I am buying travel insurance RIGHT NOW for this very reason. Mine also includes emergency medical treatments. It's only $25 for each of us! Hope we don't need it.

Who did you get that travel insurance with, Beach? I am flying AA through MIA on Friday and will be prepared. PBB

Another thing going for using DFW are the DFW Ambassadors. They're volunteers, most of whom seem to be people of retirement age. They work for the airport, rather than any airline, and will direct you to where you need to go, or are just there for all-purpose assistance. They wear emerald-green vests or blazers and Stetson hats. It's all very "Texas."

How could anyone NOT love an airport that does that? :)

And DFW has rocking chairs at baggage claim.

All Delta flights; on time. All Delta emplyees; friendly! We flew MDW-ATL, ATL- SJO. Obviously we don't always have a choice, and its been years since I flew Delta, but we had a super experience.

They were even very nice, though I was very nervous, when in line to leave in San Jose an aerosol bottle of suntan lotion was detonated and leaking through my bag all over their floor! We took it out and threw it away, they laughed and cleaned it up. I felt lucky; leaking liquid in a US airport might have been met far more sternly.

ARFINFALL, sorry for the delay. We're flying US Air and there is a link on their website for purchasing travel insurance. You can do it up to 24hours prior to departure. The actual company website is http://www.accessamerica.com. For the total value of your trip, enter only your PREPAID, nonrefundable amount. The more you put, the more it costs, and this is what the customer service rep told me to enter when I called them. Good luck! Maybe we'll see you there.