Southwest changing planes questions?

[Nermel9]

Hi everyone,

I am thinking of changing my Fall Disney trip from November to October. We already bought our flights from Southwest, so I'd have to switch our plane tickets. We always fly nonstop, but the fares for the dates we are looking at are kind of high...so I'm thinking of booking a flight where you have to change planes, which makes me nervous!

How does it work exactly? The flight I'm looking at flies from Hartford to Ft. Lauderdale, then Ft. Lauderdale to Orlando. The first flight gets in to Ft. Lauderdale at 10:15 and leaves at 11. Is that even enough time to get from one plane to the other? Do we have to get our bags, or do they transfer them for you?

I don't like the idea of changing planes, and going through the taking off/landing process twice, but the nonstop flight is $100 more than the Ft. Lauderdale flight. Maybe I should just book this one and hope the nonstop drops?

Thank you!

 

[jdb in AZ]

Hi everyone,

I am thinking of changing my Fall Disney trip from November to October. We already bought our flights from Southwest, so I'd have to switch our plane tickets. We always fly nonstop, but the fares for the dates we are looking at are kind of high...so I'm thinking of booking a flight where you have to change planes, which makes me nervous!

How does it work exactly? The flight I'm looking at flies from Hartford to Ft. Lauderdale, then Ft. Lauderdale to Orlando. The first flight gets in to Ft. Lauderdale at 10:15 and leaves at 11. Is that even enough time to get from one plane to the other? Do we have to get our bags, or do they transfer them for you?

I don't like the idea of changing planes, and going through the taking off/landing process twice, but the nonstop flight is $100 more than the Ft. Lauderdale flight. Maybe I should just book this one and hope the nonstop drops?

Thank you!

All airlines automatically check your bags through to your final destination. You "should" have enough time to change planes, but non-stop flights are definitely more convenient especially if you have small kids.

 

[Nermel9]

No kids, just my DH and I! I'm just wondering how far away the gates might be in Ft. Lauderdale...in Hartford (and at MCO, actually) it seems like most of the Southwest flights are in the same area of the airport, but I could be wrong! Is Ft. Lauderdale like that?

 

[SteveMouse]

I grew up in FLL and my parents still live 10 minutes from the airport. SW is our airline of choice.

The gate in FLL are very close together. Unlike one of the airports where the gates are off a corridor, the SW gate area in FLL is one of those that's more like a large room.

They've improved the food a bit in the gate area, although it's still fairly expensive. There is a Dunkin Donuts on the flight side of security. If you land on time (eg more than 5 minutes before they start boarding your group for the Orlando flight), you'd probably have enough time to grab coffee and a donut (the DD is on the east side of the area- for all gate's you'd either be turning or bearing left).

-steve

 

[navywifetill2002]

I often have to change planes and it has never been a problem. My first flight with DD she was 7 months and I made sure to book a nonstop but since then we just go with the best price and have NEVER missed our connection even when we had very little time to get there. Save the money and use it for something fun at Disney!