Will we have enough to catch our connecting flight?

[moopdog]

Delta changed our itinerary and now I'm not sure if with 3 kids and being people who never fly if we'll be able to catch our connecting flights??

At Cincinatti we arrive at 1:52 and leave at 2:40 for MCO

Coming home we arrive at Atlanta at 5:05 and leave at 5:45 for home (Scranton PA).

Is this enough time?? Can someone give me advice for this stuff?

 

[Bob P]

They will both be tight. I don't know when you are going but remember for your flights home that MCO and Atlanta are often affected by afternoon thunderstorms.

I assume your flight out of Orlando is at about 3:30 or 4, but if it is summertime that flight could be delayed. In addition, the Atlanta airport is HUGE and you may have to get from one terminal to another to catch your flight to Scranton (as an aside, my mom was born and raised in Pittston).

I don't know what your options are, but if you do make your connections it will certainly not be relaxing.

Good luck!

Bob

 

[DVC-Don]

I don't book any connecting flights with less than an hour layover due to flight delays. Even with this personal rule I've had some close calls and missed flights.

 

[Sandi]

Don't bring a lot of carry-ons and MOVE, MOVE, MOVE. We always have connecting flights and the challenge of getting those connections is part of the thrill of travel! Seriously, if you have really little kids and are unfamiliar with the airport, I might opt for a longer lay-over. I only have one child and we've been fine with our 30 minute connections -- no restroom stops though. Last month our first flight from Orlando to Detroit was going to be late, so we knew our connection from Detroit to Lansing was in question. We lucked out and were at Orlando in time to fly stand-by on another flight to Detroit that was running late. We had no problem with our connection -- However, neither did the people who flew on our original flight since they held our plane to Lansing for those folks (and a few other flights that were running late). Ours was the last flight to Lansing that night and I'm sure they didn't want a whole plane load of people stranded in Detroit.

 

[moopdog]

So... what do I do? Call Delta and have them change the flights or will that cost me extra?? I will check out the other flight options, but doubt there are many. Thanks for the warnings. IF (fingers crossed) I can put the double stroller right on the plane with us, then we can just put the young ones in that - throw the carry ons under the basket and run like you know what.

when do we find out our gate numbers... when we arrive in cinci and atlanta or when we first pick up our tickets at our home airport?

 

[dudedisney]

Glad to see I'm not the only one that gets concerned about this...our Atlanta flight lands at 7:56 and our connecting flight leaves at 8:35. I was very concerned about the short timeframe but the family 'experts' who booked this trip (since I'm not a flyer, I'm just a country redneck who doesn't know anything) says it won't be a problem. And I'm sure they don't have a worry, they don't have two kids with them!

My secret plan is to have my kids and bags in hand when the plane touches down and haul *^$*# to the next gate and THEN worry about bathroom stops or husbands who takes other people's word for things instead of mine. Am I being too defensive?

 

[gduvall]

If you are flying Delta(Comair) into Cincinnati, you might be cutting it real close. Comair has a separate external terminal that you have to use a shuttle bus. Atlanta should be doable.

 

[Ms. Belle]

Cincinnati is a small airport and assuming that your incoming flight is on time, you should be ok. Atlanta is where you will have a problem; the time to make your connection is way too tight. I connect in Atlanta for most of my flights and have this problem alot. Because Delta changed your itinerary, they should be able to put you on different flights, i.e. a later connection in ATL; is there a later flight to PA from ATL? If so, ask them to put you on that instead. Try to remain firm but pleasant with them and tell them you are traveling with children and aren't familiar with the airport. I've been able to adjust my flights with Delta when they've changed my itinerary; it's time consuming, but worth it. If they tell you it will cost money, just say ok and get to the reissue desk. Usually if you explain the circumstances to them, they waive the charges.

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

You can get the gate information from delta.com. It may take a couple of clicks of links to get the details, but it can be found. Of course, arrival and departure gates are subject to change day to day, and can change at the last minute on the day of the flight.

moopdog, I'm looking on Delta's site right now. Is your flight to Orlando flight 4655 into Cincinnati and then 5414 to Orlando? If so, both are Comair regional jets and will depart from the same terminal, so the 48 minute layover should be plenty.

The flight home may be tight, though. The plane from Orlando to Atlanta is a 767 and all the flights to Scranton are on regional jets. Delta's site didn't even give your connection as an option when I searched for Orlando to Scranton; I had to search for the flights individually. If you were flying today you would be arriving at B25 and departing at C28. Overall, that's not bad, but I wouldn't recommend browsing or walking leisurely. More than likely you will have to change terminals on the flight home.

Delta's site also gives a voice activated Flight Information line at 800-325-1999. I would call the day of the flight to check. If it doesn't give the arrival or departure gate info, try for a live operator.

Good luck! Hope this helps!

 

[Bob P]

Ms Belle is right; if Delta changed your flights they can put you on a different connecting flight for no extra charge.

Good luck!

Bob

 

[moopdog]

I don't have my flight numbers in front of me but the orginating flight leaves Scraton around noon on 9/22. And Leaves MCO around 3:40 PM on 9/30. I AM flying Delta and it does something about Comair on it.

I called Atlanta and spoke with customer service and said we only have 40 minutes to get to our connecting flight and was there a standard amount of time we should have, etc. She said (like you all said) it's plenty of time if your incoming flight is not delayed. If it is delayed and we miss our connecting flight - they'll just put us on the next one and no there wouldn't be a charge to us. When I asked about missing our flight do to "just not enough time" to get to the next gate - she said they're not too far apart and you just get on the trolley (can't remember her word for it) and you can get to any get in under 5 minutes. Hmmm - somehow I don't believe it will be that easy. We're pretty good under pressure, as long as there are no snafus (DH will will have a throbbing vein in forehead - I'll be fine!!).

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

Okay, I missed where you had said that Delta changed your itinerary.

Call Delta back and explain that to them. Since they changed the itinerary, then they should allow you to change the flights with no penalty. Either go for an earlier flight into Atlanta or a later flight to Scranton (looks like there is one flight later). Like I said, the 5:05 arrival and 5:45 departure didn't even come up as an option when I searched for Orlando to Scranton; I had to look for the individual legs. That would worry me, and I used to fly every week for business several years ago.

I wouldn't be so much worried about getting from the arrival gate to the departure gate, but if your flight from Orlando is full and you're toward the back of the plane, getting off the plane is going to eat into your layover time.

 

[Bob P]

I don't want to contribute to any throbbing veins (I have enough of my own) but whoever you spoke with is full of lunch meat!

We have connected through Atlanta many times. It will take you a lot more than 5 minutes to get to one gate from another if they are in different terminals. As I said above, Atlanta is HUGE and it may take you five minutes just to get from your arrival gate to the tram, another 5-10 to get to the new terminal, and another 5 to get from the second terminal to your departure gate.

Bob

 

[Ms. Belle]

You need to push back on Delta again. They changed your itinerary, they need to rectify the situation. You can't get from one gate to another in ATL in 5 mins. and you will probably be going from one terminal to another. This means that you will have to get off the plane which usually takes about 15 mins., unless you are sitting in the front, get to the subway, which is in the middle of the terminal and if you have landed at Gate 35, it's a long walk, then go down the escalator and hope that a train is miraculously waiting for you. Get on the train to your terminal, get off, go up the escalator, get to your gate, which is always the furthest point from the escalator! I get the same argument from Delta, that if everything is on time, you have time to make your connection. Once I explain to them that even if flights are on time, 20 mins. is still not enough time to get from the C gates to the A gates, they relent! I have flown regional jets out of Northwest Arkansas for the last 3 weekends and there hasn't been a Delta flight on time yet. The weekend of July 29, my flight was delayed from XNA to ATL which meant I was going to miss my connection to MCO and the later flight was booked. I had Delta switch me to AA through DFW. Everything was on time and I made it to MCO, a few hours later than expected, but at least I got there. Delta will work with you, you just need to get through their standard procedures and be insistent!

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

If you actually have 30-45 minutes on the ground, you can successfully connect in just about any US airport, even if you have to change terminals.

The problem is that scheduled ground time and actual ground time are often two different things. It's not unusual for a flights to arrive 20 minutes late. I don't even consider that to be a delay. (It's also not unusual for a flights to arrive 20 minutes early.)

At your final destination, arriving 20 minutes early or late is not an issue. But at a connecting airport, a 20 minute delay, coupled with a tight connection, translates to a missed connection.

It's not always possible to avoid connections, but I prefer 90 minutes of scheduled ground time, if possible. That's not a guarantee of making onto the connecting segment, but it makes the odds very good. It's a chance to have lunch in the connecting airport. And it beats having to wait many hours for a later flight (if there's even a later flight that day, and if it has open seats).

I recently had a situation where Delta changed my flights. My connection time in Atlanta went from over an hour to under a half hour in both directions. I called Delta. They put us on different flights. One of the segments was almost sold out, so it offically had only very expensive full coach fare seats. But Delta put us on that flight anyway. Although we're traveling with very cheap, nonrefundable tickets, there was no charge for the change.

 

[Letsbgoofy]

I would also encourage you to have Delta change your flights now, rather than put you on another flight if you miss your connection. One good reason is that if the next flight is full, you will not get on it.

I am familiar with both airports and would not want your connection time if I were traveling with kids.

If you are on regional jets both legs of your trip to Atlanta it won't be too bad because you will stay in the same terminal. I would still push for a later connection though. In Atlanta I have never arrived and departed from the same terminal.

They will give you the "Still a valid connection time" bs, you need to be aggressive with them.

 

[moopdog]

Thanks to all of you... I was really kinda hoping someone would say "sure - there's plenty of time!"... but the truth is that I really need to consider different options. I just hate to arrive any later than I already am in Orlando and hate to have to get up early when go from home, hate to leave Orlando early, etc etc. I didn't really want to change to a layover with 2+ hours but sounds like that's definitely the smart thing to do. Now I think I'll wait until DH gets home to call Delta hopefully they have people answer the phones at night! I'll keep you posted!

 

[moopdog]

I finally called and the woman I spoke with at Delta admitted that I didn't really have enough time at Atlanta since it's so huge. She did find another flight that I didn't see on their website (funny how that works isn't it?). It leaves Orlando at 2:15 instead of 3:35 which I can defintely live with. It gives us exactly 2 hours in Atlanta instead of 40 minutes, and we still get home at the same exact time: 7:53 PM.

Now I have to complain about the fact that they have my oldest daughter on a completely different reservation (diff confirm # and all). I asked for an email confirmation for the changed itinerary and my daughter got one - but not the rest of us! I asked months ago if they could somehow put her on with us all together(like she should've been all along) - one reservation and they claimed that no - they couldn't do that! Still don't believe it, but even today they sort of hemmed and hawed... so I guess it's just the way it is.

Just glad that I have more time now. Thanks to all of you for pushing me to change it. ~Danielle

 

[Disneyjosh229]

I don't book any connecting flights with less than an hour layover due to flight delays. Even with this personal rule I've had some close calls and missed flights.

I bet you I have the all time best "close call" story!!

I was on a Delta flight from Detroit to Atlanta, connecting to a Delta Flight from Atlanta to Tampa. Our scheduled departure time out of DTW was 5:15 pm. Due to a "weather delay in atlanta" our flight didn't take off until 7:55 pm. The pilot came over the intercom after we reached cruising altitude and said we would be "making up for some time we lost on the ground". Needless to say, we landed in Atlanta at 9:05 pm. Our connecting flight (which departed at 9:15) was in another concorse, so we were running!! We arrived at the gate as the aircraft was pushing back. The agents at the desk realized that we needed to get down to Tampa that night, so they radio'd the pilot, who decided to be nice and pull the aircraft back in!! That was too close for comfort!!!