Is 50 minutes enough time at BWI?

[DisneyMagicMommy]

I would normally never get a flight that had such a small layover but it would save us $160. I've never been to BWI so I don't know the layout and was wondering if 50 minutes would be enough time for a plane change with 3 kids. The flight is on Southwest. It leaves MCO at at 2:30 pm and is scheduled to arrive at BWI at 4:50pm. Then it supposed to leave BWI at 5:40pm and arrive at IND at 7:25pm. Our other option is the nonstop from MCO which takes off from MCO at 2:05pm and arrives at IND at 4:30pm. But this flight is $160 more total for all of us. My question is would you go for the connector and save the $160 or would you pay the higher price for the non-stop.

Thanks for all your help.

 

[iluveeyore]

I'm pretty sure that when we connected at BWI with SW, all of the SW gates are in the same area, and when we connected we just walked from one gate to the one beside it - had plenty of time for bathroom breaks and a snack. So I'm sure that's plenty of time. The only concern with any connecting flight, no matter how much time you have, is that the first flight is on time in order to catch the connecting one.

 

[rwdavis2]

It should be. SW is located in terminals A & B. Here's a link to a map (it's a .pdf file) : http://www.bwiairport.com/files/pdfs/bwi_maps/ul_1208.pdf

I believe you get both boarding passes at the same time when you check in for the first fight.
Bob

 

[DisneyMagicMommy]

Thank You.

 

[Paging Tom Morrow]

Just keep in mind that if your flight arrives just a few minutes late, Southwest will have already begun boarding for the connecting flight. Regardless of what your boarding grouping may be, if you aren't there when boarding begins, you may not be able to sit near your party.

 

[DisneyMagicMommy]

Just keep in mind that if your flight arrives just a few minutes late, Southwest will have already begun boarding for the connecting flight. Regardless of what your boarding grouping may be, if you aren't there when boarding begins, you may not be able to sit near your party.

Good point ...and I definetly want us to sit near each other espeially since we will have 3 little ones with us. (I at least want 2 kids with 1 adult and 1 with the other.) I think we will just wait a week or so and see if the non-stop prices drop. If not then we will just pay the extra for the non-stop. I would hate to be late and have our kids split up from us.

Thanks so much.

 

[rbork]

BWI doesn't have people movers, buses or subways in between gates/terminals I believe. It's a pretty easy A/P. Don't know about SW but my family was split up on a DL flight last week. The FA moved us together after we took our original assigned seats w/out even asking. They wanted families to be together. My kid's 9 and 12.

 

[LocustPoint]

50 minutes is more than enough time to get between gates. You do not have to go out through security to move between Pier A and Pier B. BWI is a very easy airport to navigate and Southwest is the major carrier at the airport. There is plenty of overhead signs and with luck you will only have to move between gates and not go from one pier to the other. You can get an idea of which gate the inbound flight uses and where the outbound flight departs from by using www.bwiairport.com and looking up the flight numbers.

Good Luck.