The final piece of One World Trade Center was lifted into place earlier this year, making it the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere at a symbolic 1,776 feet.

It's the first time the skyscraper at Ground Zero has stood at full height on the anniversary of September 11.

The 104-story tower is scheduled to be completed in early 2014, according to the Associated Press. Its anchor tenant will be publisher Conde Nast.

In addition to the skyscraper, formerly known as the "Freedom Tower," the World Trade Center will be home to three other office buildings, including the new home of the Port Authority. 

Nearly 10 million people have visited the 8-acre Memorial Plaza, built in the footprint of the World Trade Center, since it opened two years ago. The artifact-filled 9/11 Memorial Museum is scheduled to open in the spring of 2014.

Thousands of people watched as the spire of One World Trade Center was lifted into place in early May. The Port Authority of NY & NJ mounted a GoPro camera on the spire as it was being raised, capturing some incredible footage:

Take a look at the entire video taken by The Port Authority of NY & NJ below:

SEE ALSO: Here Are Some Of The Poignant Artifacts You'll See At The New 9/11 Memorial Museum

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Adriana Lima is a Victoria's Secret Angel who's been modeling for 17 years. She's also a mother of two and is one of the world's highest-paid models.

Despite all her accomplishments, Adriana Lima is still going strong in the modeling game. So, how does she stay in such ridiculous shape?

Produced by William Wei

SEE ALSO: How They Make Lingerie Models Look So Good

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If you don't have a plan for lunch today, there is something new worth trying at McDonald's.

Mighty Wings debuted on the fast food chain's menu earlier this week.

After trying them, we're not surprised that the company extended the item nationally after a couple of local test runs.

The chicken wings are good by any fast-food or casual dining standard.

The breading is crisp and has a level of spice pleasing to most people. The heat is there, but won't make your eyes water.

The chicken itself is moist and on par with other quick service restaurants. If you knew nothing about the Mighty Wings and someone put them on a plate in front of you, you'd probably guess they were from KFC, the brand known for its chicken.

Customers might look at the prices and question the value. The wings come in packs of three for $3.69, five for $5.59, and 10 for $9.69. That sounds expensive for fast food, but customers are getting their money's worth.

The Mighty Wings seemed large in comparison to those served at Buffalo Wild Wings, for example. It would take a big appetite to consume ten wings by yourself.

The sauce could be the only barrier between the Mighty Wings and success.

Like with McDonald's Chicken McNuggets, customers who order Mighty Wings get a choice of McDonald's sauces: Sweet n' Sour, Honey Mustard, Chipotle Barbeque, Tangy Barbeque, Spicy Buffalo, Sweet Chili, Hot Mustard and Creamy Ranch. 

It's a good selection, but the sauce packets are designed for dipping chicken nuggets into them, not slathering bone-in wings. I had a hard time spreading my Spicy Buffalo sauce evenly over my meal.

An easy solution is to open the sauce, dump it into the box of wings, close it and shake it around. That's what other restaurants do before they serve you wings, only they toss them in a bowl.

But consumers shouldn't have to do that themselves, and therein lies the problem. For people who really care about well-sauced wings, McDonald's wings won't hold up. And the sauces at McDonald's aren't as good as those at Buffalo Wild Wings.

Anyone who likes breaded chicken wings without sauce will be happy with Mighty Wings.

Take a closer look: 

SEE ALSO: We Tried The Wendy's Pretzel Burger And You Should Too

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This week we published some of the results of our Business Insider-SurveyMonkey Audience poll about dating and sex. 

We polled 1,660 singles from around the country about dating decorum. 

One of the most interesting findings comes in the cross tabs, when you look at the correlation between the minimum number of dates people feel you should wait until you kiss and the minimum number of dates people feel you should wait until you have sex. 

Essentially, if you've kissed by the fifth date, your partner probably thinks that up to nine dates is the minimum before you have sex. 

But, the majority of people who think you need to wait at least six dates before you kiss also think you should wait until marriage to have sex. 

Again, keep in mind that correlation and causation are two completely different concepts. But it's worth keeping in mind that people who kiss by the fifth date seem to be willing to have sex before marriage, and people who don't want to wait. 

Here's what it looks like

SEE ALSO: POLL: Here's How Men And Women Think Differently On Matters Of Dating And Sex

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It's becoming increasingly common for upper-middle class Chinese millennials to study abroad in the U.S.

At nearly 200,000 undergrads, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education, they're blowing away the rest of the world in packing American universities.  

And if and when they return to China, they're bringing America back with them.

We spoke with two young professional Chinese, Alice Zhang and Jun Chu, both in their 20s, to talk about how American habits are beginning to infiltrate the upper end of Chinese youth culture.

Here's what they told us: 

Coffee

Jun: "A huge and still growing coffee culture. Chinese people loved tea and we consumed a lot of tea. Now the younger generations are hooked on coffee! There are Starbucks everywhere (and boy are they expensive! A grande latte is 33 kuai I believe, which translates to 5 bucks! that might be cheap for Americans - or not - but average Chinese pay is still at developing-world standards.

"In addition to Starbucks, all sorts of coffee chains, Costa Coffee, Pacific Company (from Hong Kong) are all present. Similarly, young people love western food, from pizza to burgers to pasta to sandwiches, etc. Traditional Chinese go get dim sum on the weekend, now I see a brunch culture. But that could be because of I am in the middle of a yuppy crowd."

Tans

Jun: "Traditionally we want girls to have fair skin, as pale as possible, and as skinny and fragile as possible. Now there are actually women who prefer to look tanned, to have some lean muscles. There's a Chinese term for this kind of beauties - 美黑 (pronounced as meihei, or dark beauty)." 

Assertiveness

Jun: "I work in an American firm with American bosses. I also work at a public affairs consultancy so it is a fast-paced industry/office-- so I may be biased. I've heard in state-owned enterprises people are still very conservative, group-thinkers, and slow. But my Chinese colleagues are not afraid of expressing themselves, they are more independent thinkers. Instead of shying away, they know the work place (and our generation) is more competitive and they need to be more aggressive and speak up. Note that 90% of my colleagues have overseas education experience or have worked in foreign companies before. So I consider it a western influence."

Unnecessarily high-end food and designer furniture

Alice: "Shopping in Ikea with DIY concept, and buying organic food in high end supermarket or getting them from specialized stores. People who studied abroad before sort of bring back or keep these lifestyle they had when they were abroad."

Transparency at work

Alice: "Emphasis on more on fair and transparent working environment. The promotion standards are more transparent these days. Care more for the long term career development. A relatively clear career path is usually laid out when firms try to recruit people."

Traveling abroad

Alice: "…Esp. among young working population. They'll go to exotic places like Nepal for backpacking hiking, or snorkeling in Malaysia islands. It was very rare in the past. For my parents' generation, they didn't travel that much. And even they did, it was very typical sightseeing and photo taking type."

Brunch

"Traditional Chinese go get dim sum on the weekend, now I see a brunch culture...brunch is more popular among the yuppy urban Chinese. It's not that ridiculous as it is in NYC. I think it is quite expensive for the Chinese standard. Typically $20.00. But again, I am talking about a small yuppy hipster Chinese. A lot of ordinary Chinese people don't do brunch still.... One does see long lines outside certain places."

SEE ALSO: 26 Things China Copied From The Rest Of The World

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India's high-end hotels offer a level of unparalleled service and opulence.

TripAdvisor put together a list of the best hotels in India, based on reviews from millions of travelers as part of its 2013 Travelers' Choice awards.

The Oberoi Udaivilas in Udaipur, which regularly ranks among the top hotels on "world's best hotels" lists, took the top spot.

#25 Taj Bengal Kolkata, Kolkata (Calcutta)

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#24 Optus Sarovar Premiere, Gurgaon

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#23 Trident, Udaipur

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Rejoice, hipster parents — there's a new way for your children to be way cooler than their peers.

DJ and NYC-resident Natalie Elizabeth Weiss has started a Baby DJ School in Brooklyn.

As Gothamist notes, the 8-week-long program is for kids ages 0 to 3 and claims it will "encourage babies to love dance music and appreciate the way it's made in a family-friendly, positive environment!"

The cost of letting your baby drool all over real recording equipment? $200.

"Why should children hear the same nursery songs underscored by the same instrument time and time again?" Weiss asks on her website. "Switch out a guitar for a sampler, a piano for a mixing board and a song about black sheep for a song about back beats, and you have an exciting new musical landscape that both young and old will enjoy."

The babies will jam/passively listen to disco, hip hop, and house music, as well as play with vinyl records, mix and match beats, and create their very own samples. Classes will be held on Wednesdays from 10:30 AM to 11:15 AM starting next week on September 18th at Cool Pony in Prospect Heights.

This isn't the first time that Weiss, who's worked with LCD Soundsystem and the Brooklyn Philharmonic, has held seminars that teach children about music. In the past few years, she's also held classes where she's taught children to build musical scores with Legos and compose music with electronics.

You can find out more information on Weiss's blog.

SEE ALSO: 11 Babies Who Will One Day Rule The World

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Video games get a bad rap. They are often portrayed as violent, addictive, and a mindless waste of hours that encourage obesity.  

But that's only part of the story. 

Computer gaming is a $20 billion industry. In 2012, 58% of Americans played video games, according to the Entertainment Software Association. 

Most virtual games can be designed to have educational and physical benefits for players. Games that use repetitive actions, such as the swinging of a bat or targeting a moving object, train the brain and muscles to perform better in real-life activities. 

Video game brain training has the same effect as reading a book or riding a bike — when the brain is learning, thousands of new connections are being formed. The addition of a reward system motivates players to continuously improve their skills.

A driving game improved memory and focus in older adults.

In a study published in the journal Nature researchers "discovered that swerving around cars while simultaneously picking out road signs in a video game can improve the short-term memory and long-term focus of older adults," The New York Times reports.

A group of adults between the ages of 60 and 85 were were recruited to play a game called NeuroRacer for 12 hours over a month. Six months after playing the game, the older adults were better at multitasking, retained more information in a short period of time, and had stronger attention skills.

People who play action-based games make decisions 25% faster.

Fast-paced video games typically require quick thinking to avoid being killed. In real-life situations, active gamers have a better sense of what is going around them and are able to make decisions faster, according to scientists from the University of Rochester. 

In the one study, participants aged 18 to 25 were split into two groups. One group played 50 hours of the action video games "Call of Duty 2" and "Unreal Tournament," and the other group played 50 hours of the strategy game "The Sims 2." The action game players made decisions 25% faster in a task unrelated to playing video games, without sacrificing accuracy.  

"Action game players make more correct decisions per unit time. If you are a surgeon or you are in the middle of a battlefield, that can make all the difference," study researcher Daphne Bavelier said in a statement.

Video games improve vision.

Another study led by Daphne Bavelier of the University of Rochester, showed that video games improve vision by making players more sensitive to slightly different shades of color, known as contrast sensitivity.

People who played action-based video games — particularly first-person-shooter games — were 58% better at perceiving fine differences in contrast, the researchers said.

"When people play action games, they're changing the brain's pathway responsible for visual processing," Bavelier said in a statement. The training might be helping the visual system to make better use of the information it receives.

As human beings, our brains are booby-trapped with psychological barriers that stand between making smart financial decisions and making dumb ones.

The good news is that once you realize your own mental weaknesses, it's not impossible to overcome them. 

You're about to buy an engagement ring so you do some research on prices. Most people say three months' salary is the general budget, so you freak out and request a credit line increase.

What's really going on: Anchoring.

Anchoring happens when we rely too heavily on the first piece of information offered when making decisions.

After encountering the "three month" rule, you find it hard to make a logical decision based your own financial reality or your relationship. You may not have three months' worth of salary to splurge on a diamond, but you decide to spend within that range because you are anchored to that idea.

You're 27 years old, in excellent health and just got promoted. You're so high on life that you can't fathom a time when you'll no longer be young, fit, and financially stable.

What's really happening: Myopia. 

Because you are unable to picture yourself in old age, bad health, or cash-strapped, you're less likely to save for unexpected events or your retirement. Myopia can be blamed for many depleted retirement savings account in the U.S.

"Seduced by temporal myopia in their younger years, many people get around to saving seriously for their retirement far too late in their career, in their forties and fifties in many cases, which greatly reduces the amount of money they will have available for their retirement," says Shlomo Benartzi, a behavioral finance economist and author of "Save More Tomorrow." 

If you're lacking motivation, try this handy experiment: Use Merrill Edge's Face Retirement generator, which will take a photo of you as you are today and generate an image of what you'll look like in retirement. Benartzi's own research has shown that this kind of reminder can actually give people the kick in the butt they need to start saving for retirement. 

You're watching the market closely and see that a certain stock has been tanking over the last few months. You give it another month, watch it drop again and decide to sell it off before history repeats itself.

What's really going on: Gambler's fallacy. 

When investors rely on past events to predict the future, they're shooting themselves in the foot. If a stock is flying or floundering for a year, that doesn't mean it will continue to do so in the next year, or even few months to come. 

The same thing happens when you buy a lotto ticket because your buddy next door just won $10,000 in a drawing. Just because he won doesn't change the odds of you winning at all.

Keep your decision-making grounded in the real facts. Analyze your investments before making any sudden moves or following trends. 

This is Ermenegildo Zegna's Bluetooth-enabled Icon Jacket.

Why We Love It: The Italian fashion house's Icon Jacket is a slim-fit, waterproof, triple-layer jacket with joystick controls installed into the sleeves so you never have to take out your phone (via PSFK).

The controller connects with your device via Bluetooth, allowing the wearer to answer or end calls, as well as play music by toggling the flexible stick to the right and left, or up and down. Simply connect your headphones to the jacket and string them through a convenient hole near your ears.

The jacket, which currently comes in red and navy (a black version is also coming soon) comes with a detachable quilted body warmer and "body shield" lining to keep you extra warm.

Where To Buy:Through Zegna.com.

Cost: $1,295.

Want to nominate a cool product for Stuff We Love? Send an email to Megan Willett at mwillett@businessinsider.com with "Stuff We Love" in the subject line.

SEE ALSO: This Kit Perfectly Sears Your Meat At The Dinner Table

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Chinese contemporary art, impressionist and modern art, watches, and jewels will all be featured at Christie’s first ever mainland auction, which will be held in Shanghai on September 26 at the Jing An Shangri-La hotel.

Both Asian and Western art are expected to draw a rapidly growing contingent of enthusiastic Chinese collectors.

In a press release sent today, the international auction house provided an overview of the highlights of the upcoming auction, which include Zeng Fanzhi’s Bicycle and Sui Jianguo’s series of sculptures Clothes Veins Studies, as well as works by Liu Ye, Zhan Wang, and Luo Zhongli. Western works by Giorgio Morandi and Pablo Picasso will be auctioned as well.

In addition to the the September 26 event, Christie’s is offering several private and online sales. Its China-only online Andy Warhol sale is expected to be especially popular with Chinese collectors.

According to Christie’s CEO Steven Murphy, the online auctions and Shanghai event are intended to draw global participation:

“In addition to offering the gala auction, we are hoping to convene anyone who wishes to engage in the wider world of art and culture. And while the events and activity is focused in Shanghai and China, we invite the global art community to join us both in person and virtually via Christies.com as many of the events will be broadcast live from Shanghai. In short, this is Shanghai Christie’s invitation to our world.”

As the first auction held on the mainland by an independent company free of a joint venture, the September 26 auction will prove to be a landmark event. Just prior to Christie’s announcement that the auction was being planned, the Pinault family donated to China two bronze zodiac heads originally looted by British troops during the Qing dynasty that had created a major controversy when they were auctioned in 2009.

The event’s opening ceremony will take place on September 24, and works will be on exhibition from then until the day of the sale as part of a “three-day cultural gala” to mark the auction’s historic nature. In addition, Christie’s education program and private sales will also be held from September 24 to 26.

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Usually when people think of Bentley, they think of the passengers luxuriating in the backseat, while a hired chauffeur takes the wheel.

But Bentley wants to bring back the glory days (the late 1920s), when its cars dominated the famed 24 Hours of Le Mans race. So it built the 2013 Continental GT Speed Convertible.

With a starting price of $238,700 (the model we tested came to $272,220), this is still a luxurious car: It has massage seats and even neck warmers.

But it's also built for performance, and the driver's seat is far better than the back. Whoever's in control gets to play with more than 600 horsepower and a Sport mode that makes it a ton of fun to use.

So if you want the performance along with the neck warmers, and you have the cash, open your wallet and put on your driving shoes.

Produced by Robert Libetti

SEE ALSO: TEST DRIVE: We Fell Head Over Heels For The Powerful, Stylish 2014 Fiat 500 Abarth

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Hotels.com just came out with their annual Hotel Price Index, a report which analyzes trends among American travelers. 

The report looked at the most-visited destinations in America, based on hotel bookings.

For the third year in a row, Las Vegas remained the most popular travel destination in the U.S. for American travelers. Sin City continues to lure in travelers with its promise of luxe hotel rooms at a reasonable price, glitzy shows, top-notch restaurants run by celebrity chefs, and raucous nightlife.

New York City came in right behind Vegas, and Orlando followed at number three.

While there were few surprises in the top 10, there were several shifts in the lower-ranked destinations. Denver (#17), Austin (#16), and Atlanta (#11) moved up the ranks in popularity this year.

Despite being home to Disneyland, Anaheim dropped from #16 to #20—perhaps that's because it was ranked the ninth least-friendly city in the nation by Condé Nast Travelers' Reader's Choice Survey. 

Here's the full list of the Top Domestic Destinations for Americans:

SEE ALSO: The 25 Best Hotels In The World

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The new pope has so far made good on his promise to live a humbler life than that of his predecessor. He has abandoned the Mercedes-Benz Popemobile and gone for a 2008 Ford Focus, and now he's picked up an even less luxurious ride.

It's a 1984 Renault4. And it's got 186,000 miles on the odometer.

According to the Catholic News Agency, Italian pastor Rev. Renzo Zocca donated the car to Francis after using it for years to drive around Verona, Italy.

The Pope used to drive a Renault4 when he was living in Argentina. According to the Washington Times, this one has a new engine, and Francis intends to use it for getting around the grounds of the Vatican.

Here's Francis with Rev. Zocca, his assistant Luigi Macchioni, auto repairman Sefano Veronesi, and the ride:

PHOTOS: Lamborghini Reveals The Fastest Gallardo Of All Time

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For all his ridiculous antics, Floyd Mayweather Jr. is one of the most financially successful athletes in the world.

This week he'll make a record $41.5 million for fighting Canelo Alvarez.

We'd say that Floyd has more money than he can spend ... but he is putting that idea to the test by doing some wild things with his cash.

He travels with stacks of hundreds in Ziploc bags, and that's just the tip of the iceberg.

He has a single bank account with $123 million in it. He's obsessed with cash.

Source: ESPN

He travels with Ziploc bags of hundreds, and is known for his crazy shopping sprees.

Source: ESPN

He has two fleets of luxury cars (including a $290,000 Bentley). All his cars at his Miami house are white, and the cars at his Vegas house are black.

Read more >

The world will soon have its first "invisible" skyscraper.

There's no construction date yet for the planned 1,476-foot tower, called Tower Infinity. But its architects have just been granted a construction permit to begin building outside of Seoul, South Korea near Incheon International Airport.

The visionaries behind the project, GDS Architects, will make the tower appear "invisible" using an LED facade system with optical cameras to display what's directly behind the building. When turned on, the "reflective skin" of the building will give the illusion that Tower Infinity is blending in with the skyline.

The building's projections may also be used for broadcasting special events, or for advertising purposes, according to GDS Architects.

The tower itself has an impressive profile, with a main spire flanked on either side by two separate building wings. Tower Infinity will be used primarily for entertainment and leisure purposes, and is set to include a 4D theater, restaurants, a water park, landscaped gardens, and the third-highest observation deck in the world.

"Instead of symbolizing prominence as another of the world’s tallest and best towers, our solution aims to provide the World's first invisible tower showcasing innovative Korean technology while encouraging a more Global narrative in the process," Charles Wee, AIA, GDS Design Principal said in the press release. "We look forward to providing Korea and the world with a completely new model for what it means to be an observation tower."

Take a look at some of the concept images below.

The Tower Infinity will have three major projection points that will display what's directly behind it.

Those projection points will be at three different heights, as well as on six different sides of the building.

 Here's a good way of thinking about how it will work:

And here's what it will look like without the projections turned on.

It will have the third-highest observation deck in the world.

The floorplan is open so that you can peer down multiple levels as you ascend.

It will be used primarily for entertainment and luxury purposes, and will have a 4D theater, restaurants, waterpark, and more.

But the view from the tower will be its best asset. Multiple floors at the top of the building will be used as an observation deck and as landscaped gardens.

And here's how it stacks up with other well-known towers, height-wise. Tower Infinity is 1,476 feet high.

SEE ALSO: The Tallest Skyscrapers Under Construction Right Now

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Feathers were a huge trend at this year's Burning Man festival.

They were everywhere: on bicycles, headdresses, skirts, tops, and skimpy showgirl outfits.

But when we posted a slide show on "The Craziest Costumes At Burning Man," commenters went berserk.

Apparently, feathers don't fly at Burning Man.

According to the official festival website and packing checklist, it's true — feathers are the number one item listed on things you're not allowed to bring: 

Burning Man is the largest Leave No Trace event in the world, meaning any MOOP — an acronym for "Matter Out of Place" — is to be removed from the land.

And that means everything, including dirty shower and dish water, must be taken out of the gates at the end of the seven-day festival.

Despite the infiltration of feathers as a fashion accessory, Burning Man does an incredible, months-long job of cleaning up after itself.

The festival, and Black Rock City where it's held, are continuously recognized by the Bureau of Land Management for not only maintaining Leave No Trace standards, but for setting high standards by which other recreation events are measured, the website proclaims.

Our trusty Business Insider commenters elaborated, expressing their frustrations with the pesky feathers:

SEE ALSO: Oops! More feathered costumes at Burning Man

MORE: I went to Burning Man and it was even crazier than I expected

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Thousands of personal finance books on shelves today promise to teach you to spend less, save more, invest better, retire earlier, get out of debt faster, and solve just about every financial conundrum in between.

But perhaps none said it better than a book published in 1937.

Napoleon Hill, a Great Depression-era author and former advisor to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, interviewed "more than five hundred of the most successful men this country has ever known" to figure out the key to their good fortune. He wrapped all of his insights in a 200-page package and published "Think and Grow Rich," which went on to become one of the best-selling books of all time.

Don't expect to find any stock-picking or gambling advice in it. Despite Hill interviewing some of the most iconic businessmen of his day, none of his findings involved any particularly hard-to-attain skills. His entire premise is helping people overcome the psychological barriers that keep them from wealth. 

"Wishing will not bring riches," Hill writes. "But desiring riches with a state of mind that becomes an obsession, then planning definite ways and means to acquire riches, and backing those plans with persistence which does not recognize failure, will bring riches."

In one passage, he sums up six steps to turning a desire for wealth into "its financial equivalent":

First. Fix in your mind the exact amount of money you desire. It is not sufficient merely to say “I want plenty of money." Be definite as to the amount. (There is a psychological reason for definite- ness which will be described in a subsequent chapter).

It seems basic, but if you actually compare this to just about any personal finance guide out there, you'll find exactly the same simple steps. They just come with a lot more bells and whistles. 

If anything, Hill's book is a reminder that one of the only ways to achieve true wealth is to understand that more often than not our emotions and our mindset are what keep us from succeeding, and that it's our job to come up with a plan to overcome them.

"When riches take the place of poverty, the change is usually brought about through well conceived and carefully executed plans," he wrote. "Poverty needs no plan. It needs no one to aid it, because it is bold and ruthless. Riches are shy and timid. They have to be 'attracted.'"

Watch Below: Chris Poole Is The Creator Of One Of The World's Biggest And Most Powerful Web Sites, And It Is Very Strange That He Is Not Insanely Rich

SEE ALSO: 21 ways rich people think differently

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Prepping has gotten a bit of a bad rap lately. What began as a group of people wisely preparing for a worst-case-scenario type of disaster has been sensationalized through TV shows like National Geographic's "Doomsday Preppers."

Business Insider spoke with two renowned New York City preppers to see how they prepare for a disaster and to find out what they think local residents should do to prepare for another storm like Hurricane Sandy or another power outage that could leave the city in the dark for days or weeks at a time.

Anton Edwards is an expert in emergency preparedness and the executive director of the International Preparedness Network. Jason Charles is a NYC fireman, author, and guest on National Geographic's Doomsday Preppers. He teaches preparedness classes in New York City.

Together they showed us what they had in their "Bug-out Bags" and what they think residents can do to prepare themselves for the unthinkable.

Anton Edwards is an expert in the field of emergency preparedness and has been on the Discovery Channel's "Catch Me if You Can" and "How Will the World End."

Anton picked us up with his friend Barry to show us how they're preparing for a worst-case scenario.

When we arrive at the Brooklyn Ambulance Corps — the headquarters for a group of volunteer EMTs — Anton and Barry head inside to lay out their gear.

For our list of the best airlines in America, we wanted to evaluate the two most important factors for a trip: an enjoyable flying experience and a timely flight.

So we consulted two sources: J.D. Power & Associates and the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS).

For in-flight experience, we relied on J.D. Power & Associates's 2013 North American Airline Satisfaction Study. That report, released in May, ranked airlines based on consumer ratings for seven experience categories: reservation, check-in, boarding, aircraft, staff, service, and cost and fees. J.D. Power gave each airline an overall satisfaction score out of 1,000 points.

For timeliness, we pulled a year's worth of data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), covering May 31, 2012 to June 1, 2013. Because a canceled flight can totally derail your plans, we considered it to be ten times worse than a delayed flight. Our process produced a score that assesses how often an airline cancels or delays a flight, on a 1,000-point scale.

Here's our formula for on-time performance scores:

Step 1: (% of flights delayed) + (% of flights cancelled, times 10) = n

This yields a score out of 100 points, where a lower number indicates better performance.

Step 2: 100 - n = a

This gives us the score for how often an airline does not delay or cancel a flight, so a higher number is better.

Step 3: multiply a times 10

This adjusts that score to be out of 1,000 points, so it lines up with the J.D. Power survey. This is the final on-time score.

We then averaged together the on-time performance score and the flying experience score from J.D. Power to generate a final score, ranked out of 1,000 points. Higher scores mean better performance.

As an example, here's what we did for Delta Airlines:

Between May 31, 2012 and June 1, 2013, Delta delayed 13.54% of flights, and cancelled .58%. Its JD Power score was 682.

Step 1: 13.54 + (.58 times 10) = 19.34

Step 2: 100 - 19.34 = 80.66

Step 3: 80.66 times 10 = 806.6

We then averaged the on-time performance score (806.6) with the J.D. Power score (682) to come up with a final score of 744.3. 

Note: Our list does not include every American airline. We only considered airlines for which we had reliable data from both the J.D. Power Survey and the BTS. You'll notice carriers like Spirit, Virgin America, and Hawaiian Airlines are missing.

SEE ALSO: RANKED: The Best Airlines In America

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