To save $60 would you chose a flight that had a stop over rather than non-stop?

[pumpkinboy]

So we're talking $60 for an extra 2-3 hours of your vacation?! My vacation time is more valuable than that thank you. Add to the the additional chances for them to mislay your bags, and there is no way in tarnation that I would take that deal.

Go with the non-stop and spend your family's vacation, actually on vacation rather then in transit.

 

[debster812]

And, the most important travel tip I ever learned from my parents:

If you are flying in the Winter, always ALWAYS take the non-stop. Even if the weather is fine when you leave PA, you could run the risk of ice storms in Atlanta, and when that happens, BOOM. delay. The fewer up and downs, the better.

Especially since it is for just a solo ticket.

 

[twinsmom&dad]

It is a hard choice, dw would say non stop(doesnt like flying too much). We had a stop in atlanta 2 yrs ago and had no problems. We had 1hr and 5 minutes to get across airport and had time to spare. We were traveling w 2 yr old twins with car seats in tow!! The luggage issue doesnt apply for me, if your gonna lose it, it can get lost on any flight!! on the flight back we went to cin/kentucky and that was weird, The bus that takes you between terminals drives on the runways!!! The money may be enough of an incentive to choose stop over flight, as i see you chose, have a good trip!!

 

[newholiday]

I bought 3 airline ticks with a stop in Atlanta both ways for our Oct vaca.
The cost difference however was $97 ea.
DH will already be in FL w/MIL waiting for DS & myself to get off the plane. Planning on sending our lg suitcases down in the car w/them.

We flew through Atlanta last yr and had no problem. It was when we flew through Newark in 96 when we had a problem.

 

[WDWLVR]

Non-stop all the way. My time is more important than the savings. With stops you end up getting to your destination much later and I don't want to risk the loss of luggage etc.

We did a layover in Atlanta once and I didn't care for it at all. I much prefer a non-stop fight.

 

[zulaya]

We took 2 trips last year on Delta and made a stop in Atlanta because the rate was so good from MSP. We had no luggage issues and we had about an hour between each flight. I stressed over that but it really was plenty of time to get between gates.

Now that being said, that experience made me realize I NEVER want to make connections again. I agree with pumpkinboy - why spend extra time travelling when you could be spending it on vacation?

It was so frustrating when you are ready to be at WDW and you have to get on yet another plane to get there. I thought my kids would be bears about it ( and they were) but DH and I were almost worse in our impatience with the whole connection thing. (Up till those 2 flights we had always flown nonstop to MCO)

SO, I don't think for $60 I would take it, that's just me. I want to enjoy being on vacation and for me that means one plane ride to get there.

 

[pumpkinboy]

MSP is a special case, isn't it Zulaya. No low fare carriers, few nearby competing airports and Northworst acting as a mean monopolist. My parents' home airport (PWM, Portland, Maine) is similar, tho without a monopolist, but still only old-style legacy carriers serving it; so plenty of Mainers are fleeing to Manchester NH or fighting Boston traffic to get lower fares and non-stop flights.

Fortunately, Logan airport in Boston (all of 14 miles from our house), has active competition and has been actively luring low-cost carriers; according to our local paper, fares today are roughly 1.2% higher than they were in 1995, having fallen over the last year, while the national average has risen a little. So we have actually had the choice of whether to go non-stop or not.

We have an added complication which makes non-stop even more important: our 6 yr old DS is wheelchair-bound, and we gate-check his wheelchair. If that wheelchair should ever get misplaced we would be seriously up a creek without a paddle. His medication schedule also means that we need to keep flying time as short as possible.
We also prefer to spend our vacation time on vacation, rather than in transit.

It's interesting, DS's godparents are joining us in November. Both are frequent travellers and relish their premier frequent flyer status (not sure what it is called) on Continental. She is flying fropm Boston, he from Austin; there are direct flights from both on low fare carriers (SWA for him, JetBlue or Song for her) but they might actually take more expensive (and I'm talking almost double) connecting flights on Continental to ensure that they stay above the miles threshhold for the year. Now I suppose access to the special lounge and all for the next year is worth an inconveniece on this particular trip, but I wouldn't do it.

 

[zulaya]

Not meaning to hijack the OP's thread, but yes, MSP sucks as a home airport. I SO wish SW or JetBlue would hightail it up here, but from what I hear the landing fees at MSP are what make it unattractive to the low-cost carriers and what keeps NWA afloat.

 

[pumpkinboy]

Zulaya; according to a Wall Street Journal article a couple of months back, the economics at MSP and the Twin-Cities metro area make it unlikely that a low-cost carrier will move in any point in the near future. The movement to lure SWA or another low-fare airline has got to come from local or State govt or from the community, which is likely a tough sell given NWA's influence in Minnesota.

It is way better to fly thru MSP than originate there, at least from a cost perspective (much like CVG). My old college roomie and his wife are both UMN PhDs now teaching at U of Alberta waaay up in Edmonton; and they find flying thru MSP is frequently their cheapest and best bet for getting anywhere in the States. In fact they like NWA lots more now that they have moved out of the Twin Cities.

So there we go hijacking the thread; many apologies

 

[Tiffany]

Originally posted by helenk
I've been looking a flights for my December trip, SW, USair, and Airtran all have non stop flights and good times but the cost is $176.50. Delta has flights that stop in Atlanta and then go to MCO, the lay over is only about an hour, but the cost is $117.60.
I've never done the lay over thing, but $60.00 seems like a good savings.
Any opinions?

I personally would pay the extra and do the non-stop. To many things can happen that can mess up the connection.