Airline Preference....

[Hydrokitty]

a - you do not think that we would not be protected in such a case?

 

Thank you for your input.

 

bon voyage

 

Not necessarily Bo....not worth taking a chance. We actually flew to Denver from NY, stayed over night, and flew Frontier from Denver to Fairbanks the next day. Both long flights and we had a choice of a 9 hour lay-over or a night in a comfortable bed. If you're not familiar with Denver, it's HUGE. In fact I often say "the plane lands in Kansas and you walk the rest of the way"...and in the event you need to change terminals you have to use the automated tram, which runs frequently, but still could take a good 20 min. depending on where you're going to. Add in a "pit stop" and long walk to your gate and I feel more comfortable with 60-90 minutes.....as for being protected....don't count on it.

[Bo1953]

Not necessarily Bo....not worth taking a chance. We actually flew to Denver from NY, stayed over night, and flew Frontier from Denver to Fairbanks the next day. Both long flights and we had a choice of a 9 hour lay-over or a night in a comfortable bed. If you're not familiar with Denver, it's HUGE. In fact I often say "the plane lands in Kansas and you walk the rest of the way"...and in the event you need to change terminals you have to use the automated tram, which runs frequently, but still could take a good 20 min. depending on where you're going to. Add in a "pit stop" and long walk to your gate and I feel more comfortable with 60-90 minutes.....as for being protected....don't count on it.

 

h - thank you, good point. It has been years since being at the Denver airport, and I do remember how humongous it was way back then.

 

Thanks for slap back to reality... ;-)

 

bon voyage

[Hydrokitty]

h - thank you, good point. It has been years since being at the Denver airport, and I do remember how humongous it was way back then.

 

Thanks for slap back to reality... ;-)

 

bon voyage

 

You're welcome!! Son lives in Denver so I'm there fairly often. Have you been to DIA or was your last trip to Stapleton? DIA is HUGE and VERY busy. It's out on the prairie, which means fairly frequent seasonal tornado warnings as well as the T-storms pp mentioned. But it is a beautiful airport.

[Bo1953]

You're welcome!! Son lives in Denver so I'm there fairly often. Have you been to DIA or was your last trip to Stapleton? DIA is HUGE and VERY busy. It's out on the prairie, which means fairly frequent seasonal tornado warnings as well as the T-storms pp mentioned. But it is a beautiful airport.

 

Stapleton! LOL...

 

bon voyage

[Hydrokitty]

Stapleton! LOL...

 

bon voyage

 

Then definitely figure 60-90 minutes to change planes.....90+ if you're also changing carriers.

[waterbug123]

I wouldn't accept a 45 minute transfer (even FC to FC) minimum 60 preferably 90. Thunderstorms create havoc in spring & summer across the Rockies.

 

a - you do not think that we would not be protected in such a case?

 

 

Protected how? If there are delays, there are delays.

 

Do you mean if your inbound is late, wouldn't they hold they plane for you for your departure? If so, the answer is highly doubtful. The gate agent's primary goal is to get the flight out on time. If an inbound pax is late, they will look at when they're scheduled to get in, how many pax they have on standby waiting for a seat, etc. and then make a decision. On more than one occasion following a delay, I have arrived at the connecting airport and rushed to the gate, only to find the boarding door has closed within the last couple of minutes, and for the most part once it's closed, it stays closed, even if the plane hasn't left the gate. It would be easy to think ("they know my flight arrived, they could have held it 5 more minutes" but doing so might delay the outbound and delays reflect badly on the airline. Not to mention, they have no idea if I'm running to gate to catch the plane, or if I've assumed I won't make it and am heading to the gate where the next flight is scheduled to leave from to try to get myself added to that flight. In that case, they'd be holding the plane for no reason.

 

If you mean would they prioritize your departing flight after thunderstorm delays because you have a cruise to catch? No. Everyone on every flight has somewhere they "have" to be.

 

But, if you miss your connection and it was all one ticket/airline, what they WILL do is rebook you on the next flight with available seats. Could be an hour later, could be 2 days later, it just depends on how many flights were disrupted, how full the next flights are etc.

[Hydrokitty]

Protected how? If there are delays, there are delays.

 

Do you mean if your inbound is late, wouldn't they hold they plane for you for your departure? If so, the answer is highly doubtful. The gate agent's primary goal is to get the flight out on time. If an inbound pax is late, they will look at when they're scheduled to get in, how many pax they have on standby waiting for a seat, etc. and then make a decision. On more than one occasion following a delay, I have arrived at the connecting airport and rushed to the gate, only to find the boarding door has closed within the last couple of minutes, and for the most part once it's closed, it stays closed, even if the plane hasn't left the gate. It would be easy to think ("they know my flight arrived, they could have held it 5 more minutes" but doing so might delay the outbound and delays reflect badly on the airline. Not to mention, they have no idea if I'm running to gate to catch the plane, or if I've assumed I won't make it and am heading to the gate where the next flight is scheduled to leave from to try to get myself added to that flight. In that case, they'd be holding the plane for no reason.

 

If you mean would they prioritize your departing flight after thunderstorm delays because you have a cruise to catch? No. Everyone on every flight has somewhere they "have" to be.

 

But, if you miss your connection and it was all one ticket/airline, what they WILL do is rebook you on the next flight with available seats. Could be an hour later, could be 2 days later, it just depends on how many flights were disrupted, how full the next flights are etc.

 

We actually arrived late and docked at the gate next to our departing flight....which was the last of the day. As we were waiting for our plane to be hooked up to the jetway we watched our flight taxi back and take off. There were 9 of us on the plane that missed that connecting flight and the airline had to put us all up at a hotel and rebook us for the following day. Ridiculous, I know, since it was the last flight of the day and over-nighting at it's destination, wouldn't it have been better to wait for the 9 of us to deplane, walk next door and reboard? Of course our luggage wouldn't have made the plane....but that's another issue.

[bottomfeeder]

We actually arrived late and docked at the gate next to our departing flight....which was the last of the day. As we were waiting for our plane to be hooked up to the jetway we watched our flight taxi back and take off. There were 9 of us on the plane that missed that connecting flight and the airline had to put us all up at a hotel and rebook us for the following day. Ridiculous, I know, since it was the last flight of the day and over-nighting at it's destination, wouldn't it have been better to wait for the 9 of us to deplane, walk next door and reboard? Of course our luggage wouldn't have made the plane....but that's another issue.

 

The flight crew may have already been shaving it close with their mandatory rest period. If they waited for you all they may have needed to call in a new crew--seems like just a few minutes, but if they held it for you they wouldn't be backing out of the gate for at the very least another 20 or 30 minutes.

 

Or they may have been really pushing to up their on-time % and decided that was more important than spending the $ to put you all up at a hotel. Or one of many other reasons that a late-arriving passenger may or may not agree with. :)

[Hydrokitty]

The flight crew may have already been shaving it close with their mandatory rest period. If they waited for you all they may have needed to call in a new crew--seems like just a few minutes, but if they held it for you they wouldn't be backing out of the gate for at the very least another 20 or 30 minutes.

 

Or they may have been really pushing to up their on-time % and decided that was more important than spending the $ to put you all up at a hotel. Or one of many other reasons that a late-arriving passenger may or may not agree with. :)

 

All true....and I didn't really care...I'm retired now and I didn't have to pay for the hotel or the breakfast!! :D

[Cruise a holic]

Another vote for Delta However when we went to Alaska over 10 years ago, we flew to Vancover from JFK with Air Canada and it was a great airline.

[DrivesLikeMario]

We just flew FC on United a few months ago and I wasn't impressed. A LOT depends on what type of aircraft you'd be on though, so make SURE you check on https://www.seatguru.com/ before committing yourself to the flights.

 

I think generally, that Delta's FC is supposed to be better but after reading reviews on Seatguru, you might think twice about them too. Again, it comes down to the aircraft.

 

A 45 min. layover is really tight in just about all airports. Be prepared with a Plan B if Plan A goes awry. ;)

[Ox Fan Cruiser]

I'd go with United...but I have a personal grudge against Delta that has nothing to do with Alaska so take that into consideration!

 

FYI Alaska Air has an outstanding reputation for service and was named one of the top lines for 2015 by WSJ.

 

on our first cruise ever we sailed solstice / Alaska. we flew Alaska air on a nonstop from Boston to Seattle. the airfare was very cheap.

[cruisequeen4ever]

FC aside, try to go the Alaska Airlines route or at least Delta, since it's partners with Alaska. Why? Because no one comes close to offering as many daily flights to/from Alaska as Alaska Airlines. In a crunch, you have tons of back up options with them.

 

 

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[4774Papa]

I would recommend buying food in airport rather than on board. And I would not accept a 45 minute layover from any airline anywhere or any time! I'm working i with Ashby on this one.

 

We made the decision on a recent trip from JAX to BOS that arrived late PM with no dinner service in tourist to buy the Delta meal for $9.99 (actually with $2 off since we used our AMEX Delta card) on board instead of a $9 sandwich from a deli at the Atlanta airport. We had eaten those deli sandwiches before and in my opinion the Delta meal (it was a light meal) was better and cheaper.

[awhfy]

a - you do not think that we would not be protected in such a case?

 

Thank you for your input.

 

bon voyage

 

 

Not if its weather. It's happened to us three times (in FC) latest coming from Seattle

 

 

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[blizzardboy]

The two (2) carriers are Delta and United, which, in your personal opine, has the better FC product?

 

 

bon voyage

 

We fly FC on both. The determining factor in my experience is whether or not it's a "real" carrier flight or a flight operated by one of their regional jet contractors. On my flights in the last 6 weeks, one each on Delta and UA, there was a huge difference in service and equipment between the carrier operated flights and the flights on their regional providers. The smaller jets have limited galleys which means a snack box instead of a hot meal. The restrooms are so small that you almost have to decide whether to go in forwards or backwards as there's hardly room to turn around. Even the seat size is different.

I had outstanding service on both airlines on their "own" flights. The larger planes had everything to do with it. We saw this dramatically on a 3.5 hour non-stop UA flight. They switched our Sunday out-bound flight to one of their regional carriers a few weeks after booking. The difference between that flight and our return 4 days later was like night and day. My Delta flights were much shorter, but again I really noticed the difference in equipment between the two flights. All things being equal, I do prefer Delta.

Edited September 25, 2016 by blizzardboy

[Bo1953]

We fly FC on both. The determining factor in my experience is whether or not it's a "real" carrier flight or a flight operated by one of their regional jet contractors. On my flights in the last 6 weeks, one each on Delta and UA, there was a huge difference in service and equipment between the carrier operated flights and the flights on their regional providers. The smaller jets have limited galleys which means a snack box instead of a hot meal. The restrooms are so small that you almost have to decide whether to go in forwards or backwards as there's hardly room to turn around. Even the seat size is different.

I had outstanding service on both airlines on their "own" flights. The larger planes had everything to do with it. We saw this dramatically on a 3.5 hour non-stop UA flight. They switched our Sunday out-bound flight to one of their regional carriers a few weeks after booking. The difference between that flight and our return 4 days later was like night and day. My Delta flights were much shorter, but again I really noticed the difference in equipment between the two flights. All things being equal, I do prefer Delta.

 

b - thank you for relating the experience(s). One can never tell when the switch outs will take place.

 

Methinks the greatest chance of switching will be between EWR or PHL - MSP/ORD and ORD/PHL.

 

I will try to keep a look out for this as well.. thank you for input.

 

bon voyage