Yet Another "How Much Time?..." Question

[kristenrice]

I promised myself that I was not going to take my girls out of school on our departure day (Friday) for our fall trip. They are already missing 2 days of school (Mon, Tues) and the plan was to fly down on Saturday morning. I told them we could leave Friday night but ONLY if there was a flight that was late enough that we could still make it after school.

Well, I booked a one-stop flight that leaves at 5:48pm and was scheduled to land at 10:28pm. Now, the second leg of the flight was moved and we are now scheduled to land in Orlando at 10:58pm. The thought of not getting to our resort (OKW) until well after midnight is really starting to bother me. I knew it was going to be around midnight anyways, but now, there is potential that it could be closer to 1am.

That brings me to the purpose of my post...

Assuming it would even be possible to select a different flight, the only other option I would consider is one that departs at 3:35pm. It is an almost identical itinerary (same layover time and airport) and lands at 8:35pm, which would work SO much better. The thing is, I would have to take the girls out of school early....but HOW early?? They go to schools that are right across the street from each other. DD15 is normally dismissed at 2:45pm and DD13 is dismissed at 3pm and I want to make sure that they miss as little as possible. The drive from the schools to the airport is about 15 minutes of non-highway, 4-lane roads. It is a suburban area and traffic at that hour is not a factor, unless there is a MAJOR accident or mishap. The airport is small (GRR) so it's very easy to navigate.

We are travelling with ONLY carry-on bags, we will have TSA-pre-check and we are getting dropped off at the curb so I don't need to park the car. The walk from the curb to the TSA checkpoint is about 2 minutes. We are flying on Delta and we have Delta Comfort+ (dedicated overhead bin space) so we have assigned seats and I will have our boarding passes pre-printed at home.

So...here's the question...

If I pick up the girls at 2:15pm, that would get us to the airport by about 2:40pm and to the gate between 3-3:10pm. Is that cutting it too close?? It's been a while since I've flown anything but SWA and I am always to the gate at least an hour early for those flights. With assigned seats, I am not concerned about getting on the plane early...I just want to make sure we get ON the plane. When we fly (which is about once a year), I always see folks who are just walking right up to their gates as the plane is starting to board...not a worry in the world! I would be in a panic, but I'm sure that they know something...like there is no reason to be sitting at the gate for 30-45 minutes.

This all may be a moot point since we are flying Delta and the change is only amounting to about 20 minutes. We may not qualify for a "free" change anyways...

 

[FCDub]

It seems like you're cutting it too close, yes.

Is the 30-minute difference in arrival going to make that big a difference for your family? It wouldn't for me, but everyone is different. Not to have to potentially stress about missing the first flight if you can't leave until so close to departure.

Also, you might want to edit your post to remove some of the unnecessary information. It was a little hard to figure out when your plane actually leaves with so many times and numbers.

 

[kristenrice]

It seems like you're cutting it too close, yes.

Is the 30-minute difference in arrival going to make that big a difference for your family? It wouldn't for me, but everyone is different. Not to have to potentially stress about missing the first flight if you can't leave until so close to departure.

Also, you might want to edit your post to remove some of the unnecessary information. It was a little hard to figure out when your plane actually leaves with so many times and numbers.

Thanks...I probably shouldn't post when I first wake up in the morning

 

[SSRFred]

Unfortunately, with only a 30 minute change to your flight schedule, Delta will not allow you to change your flights without charging you a fee.

 

[kristenrice]

Unfortunately, with only a 30 minute change to your flight schedule, Delta will not allow you to change your flights without charging you a fee.

That's what I figured...
...but I thought I would keep an eye on the other "options" in case they change it again in the next two months. I don't have any idea how often Delta tinkers with their schedules, but I want to be on top of it if something changes.

 

[charmed59]

Delta says all passengers must be at the gate 15 minutes before departure, and if no one is there they can close the doors. I wouldn’t be comfortable enough with a 10 minute cushion. Just one small road accident backup, or TSA shutting down pre-check due to staffing issues, and you are late.

I certainly understand not wanting to pull kids out of school in junior high and high school. Do they know their schedules yet? Are the afternoon classes their easier classes?

 

[sam_gordon]

1) I agree a 30 minute change won't get you a free change from Delta and it really wouldn't bother me. I don't understand how you equate a 30 minute flight change to arriving at your resort an hour later than you thought, but whatever.

2) We leave from a small airport. I usually show up about an hour before (90 minutes if it's the family and we're checking luggage) the flight. In your case, I would want to be at the airport around 2:30P. So now it's all timing...
Arrive: 2:30p
15 minute travel from school: 2:15p
15 minutes to pick up both kids: 2:00p

So pick up the first child at 2p, cross the street and pick up the other one.

What class the kids would be missing would definitely factor in. I assume you've already found out if the school counts family vacations as excused absences.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Well, they probably won't allow a free change - but you won't know until you call.

 

[kristenrice]

1) I agree a 30 minute change won't get you a free change from Delta and it really wouldn't bother me. I don't understand how you equate a 30 minute flight change to arriving at your resort an hour later than you thought, but whatever.

2) We leave from a small airport. I usually show up about an hour before (90 minutes if it's the family and we're checking luggage) the flight. In your case, I would want to be at the airport around 2:30P. So now it's all timing...
Arrive: 2:30p
15 minute travel from school: 2:15p
15 minutes to pick up both kids: 2:00p

So pick up the first child at 2p, cross the street and pick up the other one.

What class the kids would be missing would definitely factor in. I assume you've already found out if the school counts family vacations as excused absences.

My older daughter has her class schedule already. Her last two classes of the day are World History and Biology. I'm not 100% sure how long each class is, but she would probably miss about 10 minutes of World History and all of Biology. My younger daughter hasn't not received her schedule yet, but they usually have their "specials" like PE, band, choir or art at the end of the day so I don't think she will be missing a "core" class. Both of them go to private schools and they have a "generous" attendance policy in regards to family vacations. They will approve them as long as it is kept to a minimum and the kids do not have an ongoing problem with absenteeism (they don't).