Tony P. came up to me and asked me if there was a way to fly from the Caribbean to India on a foreign carrier, as flying BA would take only 1.5 days and flying United would take 3 days. I gave him some long and convoluted answer about upgrades and cost constructing and everything and he walked away confused. Then he comes back to me later that day telling me I gave him bad info. Apparently, Fly America doesn’t apply due to the origin and destination both being foreign. Turns out, I knew that, as I flew Avianca from Bogota to Buenos Aires even though an AA flight through Miami would have been cheaper on the contract fares. I’m an idiot.

[Update]: I was thinking about it again and thinking that something still smelled fishy. Turns out, I was only kinda right. Fly America doesn’t apply on foreign-to-foreign flights if it would cause a trip that is 6 hours (or more) longer than a Fly America flight. For all intents and purposes, it’s pretty much the same. See this page for more information on the exceptions from the Act. There are some exceptions for US travel when it would cause a delay of 24 hours or more, as well.

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