Connecting through MSP

Looking at a flight for an upcoming cruise which connects at Minneapolis/St. Paul. Is 52 minutes enough time? I know nothing about the airport. Any comments/suggestions will be appreciated.

Looking at a flight for an upcoming cruise which connects at Minneapolis/St. Paul. Is 52 minutes enough time? I know nothing about the airport. Any comments/suggestions will be appreciated.

We need more specifics. Is the flight fully on Delta? Is it one ticket? Is it domestic, or international? What time of year? How is your mobility? More details and we can give you a better opinion.

If it's all Delta, on one ticket, domestic, odds are you're fine. MSP is well set up, but can still require some long hikes.

At MSP, you need to be aware of the terminal layout and how you might want to do the counter-intuitive routing within the building.

Get a map of the airport, either from the DL or airport website. You will see that there is a moving walkway within the A/B/C side of the terminal, one along the G concourse, and one that connects the far end of G with C. That last one is often your best route because there is NO walkway through the main terminal area -- you have to just walk it without mechanical assistance. So sometimes, if you are on C or G, it's faster to go away from the terminal building to take the connector across. In addition, there is a tram that is on the A/B/C side that has three stops that you might want to use.

The worst part of MSP is that the F concourse has NO moving walkway, so you have to hike that yourself. Don't dawdle.

MSP is not sounding too user-friendly! This would be on Delta - Richmond to MSP then MSP to San Diego, on one ticket. I would be flying on March 31.

MSP is really easy to navigate so don't be intimidated. Your flight from Richmond is on Delta Connection and will most likely, but not always come into A or B gates. Your flight to SAN will be mainline and could leave from any of the other gates. It is a bit of a walk from A,B to the others. Tram may help you here. Go online to the MSP website and look at the maps. Also FlyerTalker gave good advice. Look at the map online and match it up with his information. I'd take MSP over ATL or JFK any day!

MSP is not sounding too user-friendly! This would be on Delta - Richmond to MSP then MSP to San Diego, on one ticket. I would be flying on March 31.

What is your definition of "not too user-friendly"? Do you want an airport where you only have to walk a few hundred feet to get to your connecting gate? Hate to break the news to you but it ain't gonna happen.

ALL hubs for major airlines are going to have multiple concourses and distances to travel between gates. That's what makes them....hubs. Probably the smallest hubs today (and they are being phased out quickly, if not already) are CVG, MEM, and CLE - and even there you have some distances to travel.

MSP is user-friendly. The gate areas have some excellent improvements, the signage is good, they handle weather quite well, and there is good customer service there. Sorry if you feel that long walks make for a bad airport.

MSP is really easy to navigate so don't be intimidated. Your flight from Richmond is on Delta Connection and will most likely, but not always come into A or B gates. Your flight to SAN will be mainline and could leave from any of the other gates. It is a bit of a walk from A,B to the others. Tram may help you here. Go online to the MSP website and look at the maps. Also FlyerTalker gave good advice. Look at the map online and match it up with his information. I'd take MSP over ATL or JFK any day!

As far as major hubs go, it's pretty easy. Being on one ticket, doing an all-domestic itinerary, I would take that connection. UNLESS...unless, you are flying in the day of the cruise (or any other activity you may have). That might make it a bit too risky for me.

As far as major hubs go, it's pretty easy. Being on one ticket, doing an all-domestic itinerary, I would take that connection. UNLESS...unless, you are flying in the day of the cruise (or any other activity you may have). That might make it a bit too risky for me.

Very true but then I would not want to plan any flying for "day of" no matter the airport or connection situation. Even a short non stop flight can be delayed or cancelled with no other options available.

Very true but then I would not want to plan any flying for "day of" no matter the airport or connection situation. Even a short non stop flight can be delayed or cancelled with no other options available.

Agreed, but it's still extremely common, and it's very frequent to see people on this board flying in the day of, even if it's halfway around the world with three connections through northern cities in January.

Thanks for all the input. I am flying two days before my cruise - couldn't pay me to fly the day of!

I don't fly much (only in conjunction with cruises) so I hope some frequent flyer can explain this. The Delta flight mentioned in my original post really has the best departure and arrival times for me. The 52 minute connection worries me in case my plane is delayed (had that happen going and coming from last cruise). So, I looked to see other flights from MSP to SAN and found two others later in the day. But what really surprised me was the difference in cost. First class RIC to SAN through MSP is $720.10. First class MSP to SAN (same exact flight) is $823.10. I'm sure someone on here can explain why a shorter flight is more money.

First class RIC to SAN through MSP is $720.10. First class MSP to SAN (same exact flight) is $823.10. I'm sure someone on here can explain why a shorter flight is more money.

In addition, MSP is a DL fortress hub. Given their market dominance at MSP, they are able to levy a higher price due to lack of competitive flights.

Between these two economic forces, often there are cases where the "shorter" flight is more expensive. You need to think in terms of supply and demand in distinct markets rather than trying to apply a "per mile" costing to the travel.

And yes....in economic terms, it all makes sense.

As an example of what FlyerTalker said about the effect of competition: Denver is a United hub, but it also has a lot of competition from Frontier and Southwest. Picking a random date in September, DEN-FLL is $222. Colorado Springs, with only a few flight per day and roughly about an hour and a half drive from Denver, is $343 to FLL. I guarantee you the COS-FLL distance is not approx 150% of the DEN-FLL distance if pricing was by distance. I've also seen where a COS-DEN-xxx was $100 cheaper than DEN-xxx, and the DEN-xxx segment was the same plane on both itineraries. Trying to use distance will just drive you nuts. They charge what the market will bear.

If Frontier or Southwest make a significant reduction in service from Denver, I'd expect United fares to go up significantly in Denver. Fortunately, we're not a fortress hub.

Thanks FlyerTalker and CantanaLobo. I knew there was something I wasn't seeing.

I don't fly much (only in conjunction with cruises) so I hope some frequent flyer can explain this. The Delta flight mentioned in my original post really has the best departure and arrival times for me. The 52 minute connection worries me in case my plane is delayed (had that happen going and coming from last cruise). So, I looked to see other flights from MSP to SAN and found two others later in the day. But what really surprised me was the difference in cost. First class RIC to SAN through MSP is $720.10. First class MSP to SAN (same exact flight) is $823.10. I'm sure someone on here can explain why a shorter flight is more money.

If you miss your first connection because of a late flight, Delta will move you the next available flight that has room. They will not charge you any fare difference . They don't like to do it that much but they may move you on to another airline to get you there.

Personally I would rather go for the earliest flight in the day, (assuming if you miss connect you can be accommodated on a later flight) rather that the last flight of the day even if it has more time for the connection.

Others may disagree. MSP is basically a square (that you can walk all the way around if you like) with piers going out from the center at various points and a people mover. It is not a bad layout and is much better than some of the other hubs in the US.

I am flying into MSP from Kansas City on Delta. I have a little bit less than an hour to make an international connection on Delta to London Heathrow. I don't know anything about gates yet. The Delta people assure me this should be no problem. Any words of advice on this?

I am flying into MSP from Kansas City on Delta. I have a little bit less than an hour to make an international connection on Delta to London Heathrow. I don't know anything about gates yet. The Delta people assure me this should be no problem. Any words of advice on this?

Your international flight will be departing from the low G gates (G3/4/5/6 most likely). The connection is "legal" but they will probably start boarding 45-60 minutes before departure. So you won't arrive at the gate until boarding has already started. I prefer more time to connect, just for more peace of mind. If you have a "not to miss" meeting the next day in London, definitely take an earlier flight from Kansas City. If you don't mind being delayed by several hours or possibly the next day (if your MSP-LHR flight departs at 10pm like I think it does, you would be spending the night in MSP if you missed the connection), the connection time of under an hour might be acceptable to you.

I agree, originally there was almost 1 1/2 hours between flights but there has been a change. I believe I will check with Delta.

I agree, originally there was almost 1 1/2 hours between flights but there has been a change. I believe I will check with Delta.

If you are unable to change your flight into MSP and you don't have much time to get to your gate here is one suggestion thst might help. MSP seems to have a lot of "carts" and the drivers are quick to offer you a ride. Should be easy to get one.

I am flying into MSP from Kansas City on Delta. I have a little bit less than an hour to make an international connection on Delta to London Heathrow. I don't know anything about gates yet. The Delta people assure me this should be no problem. Any words of advice on this?

What they mean by "no problem" is that it's a "legal" connection. If your MCO-MSP flight is on time, then you should be fine. If your initial flight is delayed though, you don't have much wiggle room. Advice: Call Delta and try to change to an earlier flight into MSP. I book 1 hour connections all the time for domestic flights, as there are typically more options readily available if I'm delayed and miss 2nd leg. But when connecting to an international flight, where there are usually fewer options I always try to book a connection of a couple of hours at least.

If you are unable to change your flight into MSP and you don't have much time to get to your gate here is one suggestion thst might help. MSP seems to have a lot of "carts" and the drivers are quick to offer you a ride. Should be easy to get one.

Thanks for the advice.