Why was traveling to Italy a pain? I guess, as a traveler, you have to be prepared and accepting that certain stuff does happen. And, in the world of air travel, it is worth it to pay a little more for upgrades. We are lucky that 1) we live on the coast and have access to a lot of non-stop flights (though when we went to Italy 2 years ago, we did fly through NYC) and 2) DH traveled for business, every week, Monday-Thursday for any years. He has permanent gold status on Delta because of this, so even if we are flying coach, we get to check in in a separate line and board earlier. On this flight, we had booked our trip on premium economy and got offers to upgrade 2 days before our flights. It was worth the extra money we paid each way. Let's put it this way, if we had originally booked business class, it would have been another 3,000.00 each and this way, we each paid an extra 300.00 going there and 180.00 coming home. The flat bed and the service are worth it, if you can swing it. We also paid 100.00 to become part of the TSA/Customs Trusted Traveler program. We went to the customs office and were interviewed and they do a background check. So now we get to go through a separate security line, no taking off shoes, etc. in most airports in the USA. We do not have to go through the regular customs line when we get back to the USA; just swipe your passport on a machine, it takes your picture and fingerprint, and that's it. No one looks through your bags, either, you just show your receipt.