Reminder to Recheck Airline Rates - the Airlines are Flexible

[donaldsc]

We are flying from Las Vegas to San Juan to pick up a Viking cruise in about 2 weeks.  When we booked our Delta flights several months ago our options to get to the ship were Vegas-JFK- San Juan or Vegas-Atlanta-San Juan.  Our options for our return home were San Juan-Minneapolis-Vegas or San Juan-Atlanta-Vegas.  The layover times for going through JFK going and through Minneapolis coming home were very tight and both JFK and Minneapolis were susceptible to snowy weather issues.  However the better flights through Atlanta were about $250 more expensive each so we decided to take our chances on the bad flights.  

 

Yesterday my wife suggested that we check w Delta to see if they would give us the the better Atlanta connections at the same price as our bad booked connections.  To my great surprise they did so and we now have plenty of time to make our connection to San Juan (2 1/2 hours versus 1 hour) and it doesn't snow very often in Atlanta and there was no up charge to change the flights.

 

The moral of the story is to always recheck your airline flights and if you don't like the connections you selected several months ago they might change them now.

 

DON

[fbgd]

On 1/15/2023 at 3:04 PM, donaldsc said:

and it doesn't snow very often in Atlanta and there was no up charge to change the flights.

 

Which means ATL is completely unprepared when it does snow. When was it in recent years that the whole city and airport ground to a halt because of that, which then had knock on effects in the Delta entire system due to the size of DL's operation at ATL...

 

Although it may sound a little contrarian it can make more sense to book connections through airports that do regularly experience snow because they are used to it and are well prepared. A few years ago I flew out of JFK on the afternoon after 8" of overnight snow. I think the first bank of flights were delayed a bit but my 4pm flight left without issue.

[Zach1213]

3 hours ago, fbgd said:

 

Which means ATL is completely unprepared when it does snow. When was it in recent years that the whole city and airport ground to a halt because of that, which then had knock on effects in the Delta entire system due to the size of DL's operation at ATL...

 

Although it may sound a little contrarian it can make more sense to book connections through airports that do regularly experience snow because they are used to it and are well prepared. A few years ago I flew out of JFK on the afternoon after 8" of overnight snow. I think the first bank of flights were delayed a bit but my 4pm flight left without issue.

 

I agree with this. As our climate continues to change, weather continues to do crazier and crazier things. The odds of ATL getting enough snow/ice/wintery mix to shut it down or severely limit its operations seems to be increasing, and the amount it takes is...not much. I don't go through ATL very often, but I do go through DFW a lot, and I have definitely been impacted by a very minimal amount of winter weather before. On the flip side, I don't have as many concerns about going through ORD in January/February because, much like MSP, they're used to it and they have the equipment to handle it. 

 

I would be curious if there are statistics about winter weather related delays/cancellations in northern destinations versus southern destinations - would love to have hard facts behind it. 

[FlyerTalker]

The snow removal and de-icing processes at both DTW and MSP are superb.  As mentioned, they are both used to it, and have the systems down pat.  I would have no reservations booking through either of those airports - and would be happier there than at ATL with any kind of weather event.

[Zach1213]

3 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

The snow removal and de-icing processes at both DTW and MSP are superb.  As mentioned, they are both used to it, and have the systems down pat.  I would have no reservations booking through either of those airports - and would be happier there than at ATL with any kind of weather event.

 

An airport that's truly great at de-icing is an impressive operation. My favorite memory of this was flying out of YUL the morning after a snowstorm, on a 6am flight to ORD. They basically had an assembly line of sorts - there was a taxiway with several pieces of de-icing equipment on either side, and the aircraft just went through in single file and were de-iced while practically still on the move, with inspection at the end before you hit the active runway (where aircraft could turn left and go through again if needed, or right to takeoff). Great example of a winter weather destination that handled winter weather perfectly. 

[quercus alba]

All of the above, plus the fact that MSP is a nicer, better laid-out airport than mega-ATL. An hour at MSP is plenty of time to get between gates and even grab a cup of Caribou Coffee, whereas I'd want at least 90 minutes at ATL on a normal day.

 

Edited January 25, 2023 by quercus alba

[Zach1213]

36 minutes ago, quercus alba said:

All of the above, plus the fact that MSP is a nicer, better laid-out airport than mega-ATL. An hour at MSP is plenty of time to get between gates and even grab a cup of Caribou Coffee, whereas I'd want at least 90 minutes at ATL on a normal day.

 

While MSP is definitely nicer in just about every way, I have to give ATL props for how it's laid out. I find it to be very efficient despite its size, and while 90 minutes is always preferable, the MCT at ATL is shockingly short and, in most cases, can be easily made. The layout of the terminals and train connecting them is pretty darn efficient.