I liked flying with Turkish Airlines. The connection from Vilnius is the cheapest I've found to get to Denver from Europe, and it includes complimentary checked luggage. Yeah, the flight path is very indirect, but a 24 hour layover in IST makes it low-stress and adds another country visit to this trip. Turkey recently waived the visa requirement for burgers too.

Anyway yeah, why not go to Damascus? Doubtful there will be a lot of clubbing going on with the new Islamist government...