Change at Houston or Atlanta?

[sherbet]

Narrowing down my flights. Which one is better for second week of December. One hour layover. Is the weather bad in Atlanta then (maybe delayed flights) ? thanks

 

[jlewisinsyr]

Atlanta is the world's busiest airport. Although they do very well with the volume, if a storm approaches it has a dramatic impact to flights and often leads to more then just delays, but a lot of cancellations.

Also, depending on the airline you are flying, sometimes you have to make terminal changes and if your inbound flight is delayed due to departure airport (not ATL), changing terminals can take a quite a bit of time, depending on the arrival/departure gates.

That said, I think ATL is a great airport, but there is a dose of reality in the mix.

 

[sherbet]

I would be flying Delta thru Atlanta and Continental thru Houston. Weather is safe thru Houston but wasnt sure about Atlanta, Are there a lot of storms in Dec ?

 

[Disneygranny1973]

I live 2 hours from Atlanta. December is not a snow month..just mostly rain which can be heavy at times. I fly Delta and it lays over in Atlanta each trip. If I were you and had the choice tho, I would choose at least an 1 1/2 hour layover..it is a large airport and sometimes when i've taken less time in a layover, I have barely made the next gate. Especially if there were any delays in the flight at all..

 

[sherbet]

Thank you. Its so hard to find just the right flight! Most of the layovers were 35-45 minutes and then i found this for one hour so was happy. For the times that i want (arrive early and leave late) the next option would be a 3 hour layover . I will keep looking

 

[Ariel on Land]

I've flown in/out of both multiple times and I'd totally go with Houston over Atlanta. Atlanta is a crazy big and confusing airport and seems to have more problems with delays than most airports. Weather-wise, Houston probably also has a leg up, but not substantially.

 

[DebbieB]

I know that Delta through Atlanta has almost hourly flights to MCO. So if you miss one, there will be others. Not sure how many Continental has in Houston to MCO. Might be something to look at.

 

[AlexDurrani]

Even with the size of both airports taken in account, there are golf carts that can take you to your gate faster if you are in a rush somewhat. Continental has about 5 flights to Orlando daily non stop and a few that make changes. Houston is pretty big in size but there are ways of cutting across from one side of the airport to the other.

Weather in December is a little more stable where we don't get serious delays for more the 30 minutes at the most. I have not flown out of ATL since actually traveling there for a conference. I am not familiar with the connection issues and times there.

 

[N365PA]

Id personally say fly through Houston to keep me in buisness! Anywho that being said I used to work for Delta as a bag smasher and Atlanta really isnt that bad to connect through. The only weather we have in houston in December is occaisonal morning fog which really isnt a big deal for 99% of flights. Usually burns off no later than 8AM. Continental probably has 8 flights a day from Houston to Orlando, most of 757's (larger mainline airplanes).

N365PA
Air Traffic Controller
Houston, TX

 

[sherbet]

Thanks for your replies, they were really helpful. I wanted to go thru Houston but the prices went up and then Deltas went down, so i jumped on it !! We found a different flight and will have a layover in Atlanta for 2 hours there and coming back 1 hour and 20 minutes. I think that will give us plenty of time. The good thing is we arrive early and leave late. Im excited !!

 

[AlexDurrani]

Id personally say fly through Houston to keep me in buisness! Anywho that being said I used to work for Delta as a bag smasher and Atlanta really isnt that bad to connect through. The only weather we have in houston in December is occaisonal morning fog which really isnt a big deal for 99% of flights. Usually burns off no later than 8AM. Continental probably has 8 flights a day from Houston to Orlando, most of 757's (larger mainline airplanes).

N365PA
Air Traffic Controller
Houston, TX

LOL, Actually as of recently, COA has been using the 738s (737-800) more then the 757s to fly to MCO. This may change closer to the holidays when demand is higher but as of now I see more 738s on the flight statuses for the IAH-MCO flights.

 

[AlexDurrani]

Thanks for your replies, they were really helpful. I wanted to go thru Houston but the prices went up and then Deltas went down, so i jumped on it !! We found a different flight and will have a layover in Atlanta for 2 hours there and coming back 1 hour and 20 minutes. I think that will give us plenty of time. The good thing is we arrive early and leave late. Im excited !!

If it wasn't for the fact that I can get cheap direct flights I would be doing the getting in early and leaving late option more. Unfortunately the earliest I can get to Orlando is 10:30 and latest I leave is 6pm. Oh well, the price you pay for direct flights.