30 minute southwest layovers NEW Question

[ColinCodyMom]

The thought of a layover at all scares me, however SW does not offer any direct or nonstop flights for our dates. There is either a 30ish minute layover in BNA or a 30ish minute layover in BWI. Is any of these more doable than the others? There are four of us if that matters. Thanks a ton for any advice on this!

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

30 minutes is cutting it pretty close. Even if your plane arrives on time, by the time you get off your plane and to your departing plane, it will probably already be boarding, even if the gates are right next to each other. I would be a lot more comfortable with at least a 45 minute layover.

 

[bubbasmom99]

We leave on Friday and have a 35 minute layover in Denver. I didn't look closely at the layover time when I booked it (it was the cheapest and looked good!). It got me nervous once I realized it... what I did was book us Early Bird checkin for the outbound flight so that we can snag seats as close to the front as possible in case we need to run for it. We also are each doing one rolling carry-on and no checked bags (wasn't sure our bags would make the short layover either).

 

[disneyfaninaz]

BNA is a smallish airport, you shouldn't have any trouble making your connecting flight within 30 minutes. BWI is a bit bigger.

You could luck out and have your plane arrive early.

 

[jdb in AZ]

BNA is a smallish airport, you shouldn't have any trouble making your connecting flight within 30 minutes. BWI is a bit bigger.

You could luck out and have your plane arrive early.

That isn't as far-fetched as it sounds. Airlines have been known to "fudge" on their arrival times -- they plan to arrive at say 10:15 but the "official" time on the schedule says 10:30. That way their on-time record looks better. But it's not something you can count on.

Early flights have a better on-time record. If the plane gets delayed in the morning, that puts afternoon flights off schedule.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

We leave on Friday and have a 35 minute layover in Denver.

Denver is a huge airport. I connected there yesterday on United and it seemed as if my gates were at least a mile apart!

 

[lisaisanurse]

30 MINUTE LAYOVER? Speaking from experience, don't do it...if your minutes late, they do not wait for you, and if your in the back of the plane, your even more screwed....it's not feesable and you find yourself RUNNING through the airport and Denver is HUGE!

 

[WDWisTheBest]

BNA is a smallish airport, you shouldn't have any trouble making your connecting flight within 30 minutes. BWI is a bit bigger.

You could luck out and have your plane arrive early.

Connecting at either BNA or BWI with a 30 minute layover is doable for the reasons others have stated.

 

[ccgirl]

Funny you should post this. I just had a 45 min layover in BWI this weekend. I had an A boarding pass on both legs. The first one I sat in row 12. We boarded the plane and they announced the crew was not here yet. It was only me so I didn't have to worry about my children and was still nervous. In BWI, we landed at the B concourse and my connecting flight was in the A concourse. Keep in mind they start boarding 20 minutes before the flight. Again, because it was just me I dind't care where I sat (although I really wanted an aisle seat). But, if I was going with my family and wanted to actually sit with them I would be very nervous. It ended up my flight out of BWI got delayed as well so I was fine. But, had they been running on time I would have missed it or been one of the last on the plane even though I had an A boarding pass. With BWI and SW in two concourses - Personally, I wouldn't chance anything less than a 1 hr layover.

 

[brymolmom]

We've done a tight SW layover once...I think it was 40 minutes.

First of all - we had at the time a 6 and 7 year olds, and usually head toward the back-ish of the plane but with a layover, we purposely sat as close to the front as was available when we got on the plane. That way we were off the plane as quickly as possible and on the way to our next flight.

The other thing I did was make sure the kids used the bathroom BEFORE we went to land but while in the air...as I wasn't sure if they would already be boarding when we got to the 2nd gate. I didn't want to waste a minute in getting there and getting in our boarding line.

I also spoke with both kids and prepared them JUST IN CASE boarding was already underway and we 'missed' our boarding spot and ended up not getting seats together. It is better to be safe here and prepared just in case.

In our case it was fine. They were not boarding when we got to the gate. We had a few minutes to spare. But never hurts to prepare for the worst.

Good luck.

 

[Hopefully]

I wouldn't do a 30 minutes layover in any airport. The chances of missing it are huge, IMHO. I no longer run through airports and the worry just isn't worth it for me. In Paris, I once chose a 4 hour layover over a 45 minute layover, because Charles de Gaul airport is notorious for losing luggage. I felt my luggage would never arrive with the short layover. As it turns out, I could not have made the plane if I had had the 45 minute layover flight.
I will not do a layover of less than 1 hour.
Good Luck

 

[mhf]

BNA is fairly small and easy to get around. BWI is easy to get around but SW takes up A&B concourses and it can be a hike.

 

[ChloroFiend]

Do you guys even have to change planes? SWA does a lot of flights that just stop in other cities to get more passengers but don't require swapping to other airframes.

 

[MrMarv]

All of the airlines have padded their schedules for ages, and SWA is no exception.

The entire foundation of their point-to-point system is is built on 25-40 minute layovers, and BNA is very doable with a 30-minute period between flights.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Remember although the layover says 30 minutes its actually 20 minutes. The airline will close the doors of the aircraft 10 before departure. So 20 minutes is cutting it close because remember you have to wait for the people ahead of you to get off your flight which can be around 10 minutes. And if you flight is late even by 5 minutes you may be out of luck catching your flight.

If you decide to do this I HIGHLY recommend sitting in the front of the plane so you are one of the first ones off.

 

[ColinCodyMom]

#716
Depart Detroit, MI (DTW)
7:00AM
Arrive in Nashville, TN (BNA)
7:30AM
#2718
Change
in
Nashville, TN (BNA)
Makes 1 stop
8:05AM
Arrive in Orlando, FL (MCO)
12:00PM

Question: With this airfare, there is a time difference in Nashville (I believe an hour). How the heck would I calculate how much of a layover there really is here? So confused! I know the second stop we don't deplane and I believe its in Florida. Thanks for all of the advice!!

 

[ladypage]

#716
Depart Detroit, MI (DTW)
7:00AM
Arrive in Nashville, TN (BNA)
7:30AM
#2718
Change
in
Nashville, TN (BNA)
Makes 1 stop
8:05AM
Arrive in Orlando, FL (MCO)
12:00PM

Question: With this airfare, there is a time difference in Nashville (I believe an hour). How the heck would I calculate how much of a layover there really is here? So confused! I know the second stop we don't deplane and I believe its in Florida. Thanks for all of the advice!!

I don't really understand your question. How much of a layover? 35 mins. The time change doesn't take place in the airport. You get off the plane at 7:30, and board another at 8:05...

 

[ColinCodyMom]

Oh, nevermind. Actually the flight takes 1 1/2 hours from DTW to BNA not 30 minutes so I know the time change is in there. It just confused me. Why is every flight of there's 30 minute layovers if its not 100% doable?