kristenrice
NOT just an ambulance driver
- Joined
- Apr 25, 2006
- Messages
- 7,465
While I sit here waiting for SWA to release fares for our October trip, I am keeping an eye on our options on Delta if the times for SWA don't work out for us.
Right now, there are two flights out of Detroit on a Saturday night, one leaving at 5:40pm and one that departs at 7:55pm. On that particular day, I am scheduled to be out of work at 11am, but do to the unpredictable nature of my job, it may be noon before I actually leave. This means that the latest we would hit the road is 1pm. It is about 2 hours and 15 minutes of actual driving time from my house to DTW. On a Saturday afternoon, I would assume that traffic will not be heavy, but accidents can happen. So, assuming we left at 1pm (worst-case work scenario), that would get us to the airport by 4pm (best-case traffic scenario). Then we would have to park (or return, if a rental) the car, shuttle over (if needed) and clear security. Neither of us will have any checked bags so that is not a concern.
This will be tight if we book the 5:40pm flight as it will leave us just over 90 minutes and I would be a ball of anxiety on the entire drive to the airport
. If we book the later flight, we would still leave home at the same time and follow the same plan and still plan on arriving at the airport around 4pm. This would leave us a nice cushion if we encounter a major delay. If we are there too early, we will just hang out at TGI Friday's or something to kill the time.
Now my question...If we book the later flight and manage to arrive in time to make the earlier flight, what are our options? We are two adults so sitting together isn't important. We will only have carry-on luggage so overhead space will be needed so I plan to book Main Cabin instead of Basic Economy. How would we go about this and would there be any additional cost? Would we risk losing our spot on the later flight if we did "standby" on the earlier one?
Right now, there are two flights out of Detroit on a Saturday night, one leaving at 5:40pm and one that departs at 7:55pm. On that particular day, I am scheduled to be out of work at 11am, but do to the unpredictable nature of my job, it may be noon before I actually leave. This means that the latest we would hit the road is 1pm. It is about 2 hours and 15 minutes of actual driving time from my house to DTW. On a Saturday afternoon, I would assume that traffic will not be heavy, but accidents can happen. So, assuming we left at 1pm (worst-case work scenario), that would get us to the airport by 4pm (best-case traffic scenario). Then we would have to park (or return, if a rental) the car, shuttle over (if needed) and clear security. Neither of us will have any checked bags so that is not a concern.
This will be tight if we book the 5:40pm flight as it will leave us just over 90 minutes and I would be a ball of anxiety on the entire drive to the airport
. If we book the later flight, we would still leave home at the same time and follow the same plan and still plan on arriving at the airport around 4pm. This would leave us a nice cushion if we encounter a major delay. If we are there too early, we will just hang out at TGI Friday's or something to kill the time. Now my question...If we book the later flight and manage to arrive in time to make the earlier flight, what are our options? We are two adults so sitting together isn't important. We will only have carry-on luggage so overhead space will be needed so I plan to book Main Cabin instead of Basic Economy. How would we go about this and would there be any additional cost? Would we risk losing our spot on the later flight if we did "standby" on the earlier one?
