An associate is traveling from the USA to Bangladesh and says that given air plane changes and layovers, it will require a week each way. I find that difficult to believe in the 21st century. Is he exaggerating?
According to Google " The average flight time from United States to Bangladesh is 16 hours 7 minutes .
I imagine it can vary a lot depending on exactly where from and where too. Both countries are pretty big.
There are a variety of international airports in the US and Bangladesh so I would ask which two is he using? And looking it up with layovers maybe a full day.
Thanks, bob_2.
Almost certainly. I just did a quick search on Air Canada, and I can get a flight that leaves at around 8pm on Oct 23, local time, and arrives 7AM on Oct. 25, with a total travel time of just over 25 hours. That’s with stops in Toronto and Dubai. I’m not sure what time zone changes would make that arrival time in Bangladesh, but that adds a maximum of 24 hours clock-time, but you get that back on the return trip.
I searched for flights starting on the Monday, and returning the Friday of the same week, and they had no problem with that.
So I call BS. Even if he’s flying out of a nowhere town, I’d be surprised if he has more than the 2 stopovers I found.
ETA: now that I think about it, that arrival time must be the local time, because otherwise the travel time doesn’t add up right. So there’s that.
Thanks again.
This fellates with great alacrity.
Co-worker is either lying or very confused.
JFK to Dhaka (& West to East is always longer), leaving at 2300 / 11pm is a two-day flight, but that’s not really fair because you only have one-hour left in your first day, it’s actually less than 24 hrs of travel time, including one connection. Leaving earlier in the day can definitely get you there the next calendar day.
Even with a couple of stopovers & deciding to spend a night in a hotel at each airport city doesn’t get you to a week.
Is your associate including the time needed to get to the final destination? Because depending on where he is going, that could add a day or two. And of course if he needs to travel to JFK or another major US airport, that could also add a day. I’m finding flights on Emirates that take as little as 24-25 hours from JFK to Dhaka, with a stop in Milan for some reason and a connection in Dubai.
Moderator Note
Thread title edited to more clearly indicate the topic.
From Wagner’s Ring, Wotan to Albreich, “Are you malicious, or merely insane?”
Maybe if he was driving to the major airport. If I did the first leg to Toronto by driving, I’d probably add most of a day, just because I’d want to sleep a bit when I got there, and so would use a hotel.
But this guy is blaming “air plane changes and layovers” for the long travel time, so it doesn’t seem like he’s adding a long drive right at the start and end.
But even then, that only adds two days to the total round trip.
Just for fun, I tried to make the longest itinerary from Cleveland to Dhaka using ticketed mass transportation options that include a flight at some point. here’s what i came up with:
Cleveland - New York: Depart September 10th, Amtrak Lake Shore Limited, 12H 52M, overnight “layover” in NYC.
New York City - Southampton, UK: Depart September 11th, Arrive September 18, Queen Mary 2, 7 nights.
Southampton to London Heathrow, September 18, Southampton Central Rail, 1H 32M. Overnight stay at airport hotel.
London to Dhaka, September 19th, Qatar Airways, 13H 15M (Including 50 min layover in Doha)
Total travel time: 10 days 
I’m going to suggest he consult a travel agent.
Flying the shortest route to South Asia from the West generally requires flying through Russian airspace. Russia banned airlines from most Western countries from their airspace in retaliation for sanctions after they invaded Ukraine. Which means European and North American airlines have to take a longer route if they want to fly to that part of the world (to the point where it became uneconomical to fly non-stop from North America to India). Air India, on the other hand, can fly through Russian airspace all they want since India is neutral.
But even considering longer flight times if he was flying on, say, Lufthansa, I’m sure one week is hyperbole.
Or Google:
https://www.google.com/travel/flights
Is the associate a Bangladeshi native? Because there aren’t many travel agencies left but there are ones that specialize in travel to and from individual countries. So there may be ones that specialize in getting people there.
I used to work in a factory which had a pretty typical mix of races on the staff. A number of them were first or second-generation Pakistani.
Many of them went to Pakistan for family events and it became apparent that they were being ripped off. The obvious place to get information on the best travel deals was their local mosque. Someone was pointing them to a small travel agency that booked flights and dealt with currency exchange for them.
Unfortunately, this agency was run by crooks who were making large profits from their own people. I know that their shop was burned out, but have no idea what happened to them.
I am surprised at the amount of travel over large distances some guys make to go home and return. It isn’t cheap.
No, and these people were factory workers, not executives.