Originally Posted by
jsloan
June weather in the central United States is unpredictable, but storms generally build in the afternoon. If you can travel earlier in the day, you'll reduce the likelihood of storm impacts considerably. Your concern isn't only St. Louis -- both Chicago and Houston have afternoon thunderstorms at times -- although Houston is generally worse in May than in June.
If you can book everything on one ticket, then you're protected in case of disruptions: however, most Premium Economy cabins are quite small, and there may not be an empty PE seat for a couple of days.
St. Louis to Chicago is about a four-hour drive on freeways (~110-120 kph). However, I'm not sure I'd want my first time driving in the US to be at dusk, in inclement weather, at 120 kph.
Yes I wouldn't be confident to drive especially in New Zealand we drive on the left side of the road, not right. I considered getting one ticket but there's not much option for Star Alliance flights, they are ridiculously expensive, cost as much as business class.