Terrible time non-stop or layover?

[Darth Insidious]

I just sifted through my emails so I could let you know exactly what happened. Here goes:

I booked my December 2022 flights in July 2022. The original departure time of the SYR-MCO nonstop flight was 5:01 a.m. I was not amused by this time but, what the heck. There's only one nonstop out of SYR and I booked it.

Toward the end of October (3+ months after my original booking) I got a notice from JetBlue that my flight had been changed and was now departing at 6:45 p.m.! A 13.75-hour difference. At that point I changed my flight to the night before, since I was going to lose an entire day at WDW that I'd planned on.

I have yet to have an early-morning flight departure from SYR to MCO, so I wouldn't count on the time you've been seeing sticking. As for your flights, even if it really would be a 5 a.m.-ish departure time, that's still way better than having to change planes. Nonstop is always preferable and you can work out the rest. And sleep on the plane.

Thank you. If I book the rooms for the night before anyway, I could just do what you did and take the evening flight the night before I guess.

 

[Mrs.AMC]

Looking at flights for Syracuse to MCO.

The only nonstop is Jet Blue at 5am (arrive 7:45) there and 9-11:50pm back. Two adults and a 6, 12, and 14 year old. I checked Tampa and no nonstop flights there.

I really hate flying and get very anxious so nonstop is definitely preferable. Price is about the same. Layovers range from 30 min (really?!) to 6 hours. Reasonable combos have about 90 min layover making total time about 7 hours.

So either exhausted kids getting up at 3am for the flight or exhausted kids from a long travel day. Also if we get there that early, no room to check into to rest. Maybe I could book it a day earlier and just check in that morning?

Flight back means getting home around 1am so another missed day of school/work which is probably a no go. Will likely suck it up and do a noon flight with layover back.

What would you do? If we do the 5am, I think they are going to want to rest in a room. I don’t think they’d be happy with just dropping off bags and going to a park or something. I think they’ll be tired.

Anyone have experience with this with kids? Thank you!

Those are terrible times? That's my ideal, I pay more to book times.
Gives us 2 more full days at Disney
So clearly that is my vote
By the way, we have a room ready when we arrive very often. Not 100% of the time but majority. When not ready at arrival it's always been ready well before 3:00. Usually within an hour of arrival. Yes, even when we arrive at 8am.
I give the arrival time during online check in and mark I'll take any room that's ready early.
And yes, this is traveling with a 14yo.

 

[sam_gordon]

Maybe I’m missing something, as I don’t understand the complication, nor the waste of energy

On 2/13. I book 1 night same room type I want for the remainder of the trip - that takes 1 minute. I’m sure if you needed to you can talk the hotel into keeping the same room, or stay in until noon? Then go the parks? You’d have options.

If flight schedules change I can cancel that reservation 30 days out without penalty. Also takes 1 minute

In the time it took to write this, I have options for both scenarios, and I get peace of mind that I have a base if things don’t pan out.

No?

To me, I don't want to pay for an extra night in a room if I'm not going to be in it until 8am the next morning. If I'm going to do that, I'd take the evening flight the night before. Heck, even getting in at Midnight/1am would still allow me to start nice and early (if I so choose) with the same sleep I would have gotten if I take an early flight.

I did have to go to DC for work last year, hadn't been since college. I did catch a NS flight at 6:15a, got to the hotel, dropped my bags with bell hops, then went sight seeing.

 

[RoseGold]

Those flights sounds ideal to me as well. I'd much rather do that than have a half day to waste.

We've done the 1AM to school/work plenty. But we aren't far from the airport.

 

[_19disnA]

Frontier Airlines currently has a non-stop flight from SYR to MCO although schedules can change by next year. One option if you have to take a very early flight is stay at a hotel near the airport. Then you don't have to get up so early to race off to the airport from home. At smaller airports you often have fewer choices and are lucky to find any non-stop flights. Not familiar with SYR but is that the only airport reasonable for you to fly from? If there are other nearby airports, I would also check their schedules as well.

Personally, I would rather fly at a reasonable hour even if it means having to make a connecting flight. Obviously, non-stop is best, but your choices may be limited.

 

[Disney_David]

To me, I don't want to pay for an extra night in a room if I'm not going to be in it until 8am the next morning. If I'm going to do that, I'd take the evening flight the night before. Heck, even getting in at Midnight/1am would still allow me to start nice and early (if I so choose) with the same sleep I would have gotten if I take an early flight.

I did have to go to DC for work last year, hadn't been since college. I did catch a NS flight at 6:15a, got to the hotel, dropped my bags with bell hops, then went sight seeing.

I can understand that!

As you said, if that’s a choice then I’d go in the night before. But I’m horrible at getting up at 3AM!! and I’d much rather be there the night before even if that means getting there at midnight or later.

If the morning flight was my only option, this is just me, for $200/300 I’d be happy to pay that and have that room locked in. Now if it were $800, maybe a different story

We went to DL over the holidays, and out of the choice between a 6AM flight and and a 5PM flight the night before - night before. Every time.

 

[JediBonas]

Any possibility to drive to Buffalo or Albany to grab a flight? We leave out of Albany and do non-stop at 5/5:30 pm on Friday nights (so the kids don't miss school, either). Has worked out well for us so far.

 

[Lewisc]

Maybe I’m missing something, as I don’t understand the complication, nor the waste of energy

OP first question was about price, connection time and time of day. Posters replying didn't realize OP was asking about hypothetical flights

Your suggestion, book an extra one night reservation makes sense.

Deciding what flight to take, when the schedule isn't out is a waste of energy.

 

[Mikey15]

You're asking about 2024?

More then a year from now? Most airlines don't release a real schedule this far out. Southwest doesn't release a schedule that far out. Jet Blue doesn't have a schedule for 2024.Others post projected or hypothetical schedules.

I wouldn't count on early room availability at SoG.

Jet Blue has been pretty consistent over the years. Nonstop SYR to MCO is once a day first thing in the morning, and Nonstop return to SYR is late evening. Stops usually involve JFK though there are some other ways it can go (Boston, etc.).

Having done this a number of times (1 JFK layover and the rest nonstop) we do prefer the nonstop, even if it means early flying & late return. But we haven't been doing it with young kids either. Waking up at 2am to get to the airport for a 6am flight is tiring, but you do end up with a bit of adrenaline and can walk around a resort or park or shopping until the room is ready, then have a siesta, then go out for dinner (or, as we've done it, to an evening event like a Halloween Party).

JB's flights this year have crept down to 5am though, where my 2019 flight was 6:10am, 2018 was 7:20am, and my 2017 was 7:47am. The returns have been creeping later too. The 5am point means checking in at 3-something and it is a little ridiculous.

 

[Miffy]

Jet Blue has been pretty consistent over the years. Nonstop SYR to MCO is once a day first thing in the morning, and Nonstop return to SYR is late evening. Stops usually involve JFK though there are some other ways it can go (Boston, etc.).

Having done this a number of times (1 JFK layover and the rest nonstop) we do prefer the nonstop, even if it means early flying & late return. But we haven't been doing it with young kids either. Waking up at 2am to get to the airport for a 6am flight is tiring, but you do end up with a bit of adrenaline and can walk around a resort or park or shopping until the room is ready, then have a siesta, then go out for dinner (or, as we've done it, to an evening event like a Halloween Party).

JB's flights this year have crept down to 5am though, where my 2019 flight was 6:10am, 2018 was 7:20am, and my 2017 was 7:47am. The returns have been creeping later too. The 5am point means checking in at 3-something and it is a little ridiculous.

This is so interesting since I've flown from SYR to MCO several times in the last year and a half and none of my flights have been early morning. I haven't booked my May flights yet, so I'll have to see how that goes.

ETA: I just looked at May--haven't booked yet--but the outbound flight is at 7:45 a.m., which I love! I hope it stays that time.

 

[Darth Insidious]

Frontier Airlines currently has a non-stop flight from SYR to MCO although schedules can change by next year. One option if you have to take a very early flight is stay at a hotel near the airport. Then you don't have to get up so early to race off to the airport from home. At smaller airports you often have fewer choices and are lucky to find any non-stop flights. Not familiar with SYR but is that the only airport reasonable for you to fly from? If there are other nearby airports, I would also check their schedules as well.

Personally, I would rather fly at a reasonable hour even if it means having to make a connecting flight. Obviously, non-stop is best, but your choices may be limited.

Thank you. Rochester is sort of reasonable but they seem to have no nonstop flights to MCO or Tampa anyway. Plus risk of driving in potential bad weather (1.5 hours on a good day but this will be in winter).

I do like the more reasonable times. I hear the people who love it, but I’m more worried about starting the vacation with exhausted kids. Early flight plus resting in the room that day would likely fix it though.

 

[Darth Insidious]

Any possibility to drive to Buffalo or Albany to grab a flight? We leave out of Albany and do non-stop at 5/5:30 pm on Friday nights (so the kids don't miss school, either). Has worked out well for us so far.

I’ll look into it. Buffalo and Albany are each a little over 2 hours for us. In winter, that could be rough. But it’s worth looking into. I checked Rochester since it’s closer but they don’t have anything nonstop. Thank you.

 

[Mikey15]

This is so interesting since I've flown from SYR to MCO several times in the last year and a half and none of my flights have been early morning. I haven't booked my May flights yet, so I'll have to see how that goes.

ETA: I just looked at May--haven't booked yet--but the outbound flight is at 7:45 a.m., which I love! I hope it stays that time.

Interesting. Jet Blue or another airline? I wonder if the timing changes by month, as we tend to fly Oct/Nov, which is where we've seen the 5am for this year.

Apparently Frontier and Southwest both do direct MCO out of SYR, and there's also Allegiant to Sanford,
https://syrairport.org/airport-guide/destinations/

 

[Miffy]

Interesting. Jet Blue or another airline? I wonder if the timing changes by month, as we tend to fly Oct/Nov, which is where we've seen the 5am for this year.

Apparently Frontier and Southwest both do direct MCO out of SYR, and there's also Allegiant to Sanford,
https://syrairport.org/airport-guide/destinations/

This is JetBlue. I have a JB credit card so they're my airline.

I'm wondering if this changes by month as well. In a previous post, I noted that my recent December flight was supposed to be at 5 a.m. but they changed it to an evening flight.

 

[FCDub]

Totally agree that worrying about this over a year in advance is not worth the stress.

 

[Mrs.AMC]

Thank you. Rochester is sort of reasonable but they seem to have no nonstop flights to MCO or Tampa anyway. Plus risk of driving in potential bad weather (1.5 hours on a good day but this will be in winter).

I do like the more reasonable times. I hear the people who love it, but I’m more worried about starting the vacation with exhausted kids. Early flight plus resting in the room that day would likely fix it though.

worse case you don’t have a room till 3
Get in, hang out at pool or parks, at 3
when you get a room take naps

 

[brockash]

Looking at flights for Syracuse to MCO.

The only nonstop is Jet Blue at 5am (arrive 7:45) there and 9-11:50pm back. Two adults and a 6, 12, and 14 year old. I checked Tampa and no nonstop flights there.

I really hate flying and get very anxious so nonstop is definitely preferable. Price is about the same. Layovers range from 30 min (really?!) to 6 hours. Reasonable combos have about 90 min layover making total time about 7 hours.

So either exhausted kids getting up at 3am for the flight or exhausted kids from a long travel day. Also if we get there that early, no room to check into to rest. Maybe I could book it a day earlier and just check in that morning?

Flight back means getting home around 1am so another missed day of school/work which is probably a no go. Will likely suck it up and do a noon flight with layover back.

What would you do? If we do the 5am, I think they are going to want to rest in a room. I don’t think they’d be happy with just dropping off bags and going to a park or something. I think they’ll be tired.

Anyone have experience with this with kids? Thank you!

For sure the Jet Blue ns. Those are actually the times we like for disney to soak up as much as we can. You can hope your rooms ready by the time you get there and nap or just plan to lounge at the pool until your rooms ready the first day. If you can swing it, book the room for a day early so you're guaranteed a room when you get there.

I also don't think you have to miss another day of school/work just because you won't get home til 1am. Have everything ready to go for that first day back to school/work before you leave for mco. Ppl will most likely sleep on the plane, drive home etc. Will it be the most fun getting back into real life, def. not but totally doable in our opinion. You all will survive.

 

[kimmar067]

JMHO - I would NEVER do layovers, especially if you must change planes, which is pretty much the norm these days...if, for any reason your first leg of the trip is canceled or delayed, it could cause you to miss the 2nd flight. I've done it [when my DSs were very young] and it was a nightmare.

 

[disny_luvr]

I will always pick a nonstop flight over terrible times. To me, a layover just means more headaches that could arise.

 

[sam_gordon]

JMHO - I would NEVER do layovers, especially if you must change planes, which is pretty much the norm these days...if, for any reason your first leg of the trip is canceled or delayed, it could cause you to miss the 2nd flight. I've done it [when my DSs were very young] and it was a nightmare.

Nice that you have access to an airport (or airports) that give you good options for NS flights to where you want to go. Not everyone has that choice.

If you miss your connecting flight because the first flight was delayed, airlines (at least the non-ULCC) will get you to your destination.