Anyone Take the 6:15AM Delta Flight Out of LGA Lately??

[cindala]

Has anyone taken this flight lately that could report on how the lines were at the airport?

We are trying to get a feel for what time to get to the airport. Our car service said to allow 1 and 1/2 hours before. I spoke with someone at Delta, and they said during peak hours, the curbside wait is 15 minutes, ticket counter 25 minutes, and security 20 minutes.

Last year when we took this flight, we got there ridiculously early at 3:30am! We just want to make sure we allow enough time to do everything, but not cut it so close that we are running for the flight.

 

[DaisyDebbie]

I can't see it taking very long to check in at that hour. I would give yourself at least an hour just to be on the safe side

 

[LOVETHATMOUSE]

We always took the 6:15 am to MCO and got there around 5:00-5:30 and were fine. We were booked on that plane again for this December, but they switched us to Song and now we don't leave until 7 AM (their first flight out of the day). Now I don't know what time to get there since 7 am seems a more reasonable flight for more people. Any suggestions?

 

[prncess674]

There is no reason to be at any airport at 3:30 in the morning. I believe your question is regarding LGA airport times. If your flight is departing LGA at 6:15AM I would say 5AM is plenty early.

The other thing to consider is the day of travel. Monday mornings are particularly hectic because the early AM flights are packed with business travellers leaving for the work week. If you are departing LGA on a Saturday morning crowds should be pretty light.

 

[DisneyKidds]

Originally posted by LOVETHATMOUSE
We always took the 6:15 am to MCO and got there around 5:00-5:30 and were fine. We were booked on that plane again for this December, but they switched us to Song and now we don't leave until 7 AM (their first flight out of the day). Now I don't know what time to get there since 7 am seems a more reasonable flight for more people. Any suggestions?

We are in the same boat (or should I say on the same plane ). We leave the day after Thanksgiving and our departure was changed to 7 am. We'll probably shoot to get to the airport between 5:30 and 5:45.

Last November we were on the 6:15 flight. We have taken that flight a couple of times. The first time we go to the airport at about 4:45. We ended up sitting at the gate for almost an hour. Last time we got there at about 5:30. By the time I parked the car we were running for the gate. Luckily my Silver Medallion Status got us thru check in a little quicker than we would have otherwise. I'd recommend getting to the airport about 5:00 for the 6:15. Better safe than sorry.

 

[cindala]

Originally posted by prncess674
There is no reason to be at any airport at 3:30 in the morning. I believe your question is regarding LGA airport times. If your flight is departing LGA at 6:15AM I would say 5AM is plenty early.

The other thing to consider is the day of travel. Monday mornings are particularly hectic because the early AM flights are packed with business travellers leaving for the work week. If you are departing LGA on a Saturday morning crowds should be pretty light.

We have taken this flight several times, and we know they start boarding about 5:40am. We don't want to get bumped, so we don't want any last minute dashes, and I'm not sure what to expect with them either scanning or hand checking every bag.
We leave on a Thursday. I don't know how busy that is!

 

[prncess674]

thursday mornings are very slow at most US airports. Just because boarding begins at 5:40AM does not mean they will bump you if you don't board at exactly 5:40AM. You should be checked in at the ticket counter before general boarding begins. Also, use the eticket kiosks to check in and check your luggage. don't just go stand in the LONG line. It is not necessary. Using the kiosk is fast and painless.

I also just checked Galileo and the flight (June 26 flight 667) is not oversold at this time so I wouldn't worry about being bumped. Arriving at the airport by 5AM should give you plenty of time but if you want to get there at 3:30AM feel free. The ticket agents aren't even there at that time usually. 4:45AM is the absolute earliest I would get there. This gives you 1.5 hours to check luggage and clear security.

 

[cindala]

Originally posted by prncess674
I also just checked Galileo and the flight (June 26 flight 667) is not oversold at this time so I wouldn't worry about being bumped. Arriving at the airport by 5AM should give you plenty of time but if you want to get there at 3:30AM feel free. The ticket agents aren't even there at that time usually. 4:45AM is the absolute earliest I would get there. This gives you 1.5 hours to check luggage and clear security.

We are flying July 3, and all the seats on our flight are sold out. But what is this Galileo? Does it tell you if the flight has been overbooked?

 

[prncess674]

Originally posted by cindala
We are flying July 3, and all the seats on our flight are sold out. But what is this Galileo? Does it tell you if the flight has been overbooked?

Galileo is an advanced tool used by travel agents. There is web access to the tool but if you don't know how to read the codes it is useless to the average joe on the street.

I checked flight 667 for July 3 and it is NOT sold out in Economy and First Class is wide open so even if Economy becomes oversold there is plenty of room to upgrade people. don't get your hopes up on an upgrade, elites with the airline would be upgraded first.

 

[cindala]

prncess674,

Thanks for the info! On Delta's site, there aren't any more seats available, and the flight is no longer listed. I guess they hold a certain amount of seats available for people who have not been assigned seats yet.

With it being the holiday weekend, I tend to think that Thursday will be busier than most though.

 

[prncess674]

Originally posted by cindala
prncess674,

Thanks for the info! On Delta's site, there aren't any more seats available, and the flight is no longer listed. I guess they hold a certain amount of seats available for people who have not been assigned seats yet.

With it being the holiday weekend, I tend to think that Thursday will be busier than most though.

Yes I would expect it to be a bit busier than a normal Thursday but I wouldn't think LGA would be a madhouse because most people only get 7/4 off so if they are leaving on Thursday they would probably be leaving Thursday evening after work. Thursday evenings are always busy because business travellers usually do Mon - Thurs schedules and leave on the evening Thursday flights. I still think the airport should be pretty tame on Thursday early morning. Don't start your vacation by getting to the airport at 3:30am. All that means if you will have tired cranky kids. 1.5 hours is plenty early for this flight IMHO.