Charlotte or Atlanta?

[readysetcruise]

We are booking our airline tickets today for our cruise on 8-28-06 to Tampa. We are trying to decide if we want to fly Delta with a connection in Atlanta or US Airways with a connection in Charlotte. FYI, we have never flown with a connection, always nonstops. Anyone have any input??

Thanks

[steve20832]

We are booking our airline tickets today for our cruise on 8-28-06 to Tampa. We are trying to decide if we want to fly Delta with a connection in Atlanta or US Airways with a connection in Charlotte. FYI, we have never flown with a connection, always nonstops. Anyone have any input??

Thanks

 

Both airports are horrible and it can be long walk in between gates. I guess I would pick Charlotte over Atlanta though.

[greatam]

I'm no fan of US Airways (they have absolutely RUINED America West), but given your choices, I definitely would take Charlotte over Atlanta.

 

As previously posted, both Charlotte and Atlanta are huge airports. But Charlotte seems to me a lot calmer, not quite as disorganized. And I love the rocking chairs.

[sunlover5]

Not a fan of US air either, but did just fly it to FL with a stopover in Charlotte. Got off and gate right next to where I had to be. Seemed more organized than Atlanta. Everything was fine with luggage also. It seems when my luggage goes through Atlanta it always gets lost.

DD lives in NC and just flew home. Only had about 10 min. in Charlotte and they put an express tag on her bag and low and behold it made it!! So for those reasons I'd go for Charlotte!!

[uncharch]

Definitely Charlotte!

[CruisinMatt]

I recommend Atlanta - it's faster to connect between different terminals because they have the train. Charlotte is laid out differently, but no train.

 

I've have horror stories for both airports - but given the choice I'd stick with Atlanta.

[FlyerTalker]

As many have said, both are large airport hubs. ATL is a large "machine", CLT may be a bit "warmer".

 

My choice, in your circumstance, would be to look at the equipment being used, and take the connection that doesn't involve the use of RJ's. Call it a prioritization for onboard comfort.

 

A second consideration is that there is probably greater frequency from ATL to TPA than from CLT to TPA (but I could be wrong - don't have the US schedules handy). Could be important if you have a mechanical on your aircraft and need to catch a different flight.

 

As for never having flown a connection before....WOW!! In these days of hub & spoke systems, I didn't know those kind of people still existed.

[Irish1223]

I know this is probably AFTER you've booked, but I would definitely choose Charlotte over Atlanta any day! Atlanta is way too big and busy. It's true Charlotte airport is spread out a bit, but it's still easier to navigate and the staff there is generally kind and helpful.

[readysetcruise]

Thanks for all of the advice. DH and I decided to fly US Air to Charlotte. I guess the two deciding factors for us was, I keep hearing horror stories of how Atlanta frequently loses luggage and Delta just didn't have the flight times to suit us. We will be on an RJ but only for an hour. I've never been on one so should be interesting.

[UpstateCruizer]

Thanks for all of the advice. DH and I decided to fly US Air to Charlotte. I guess the two deciding factors for us was, I keep hearing horror stories of how Atlanta frequently loses luggage and Delta just didn't have the flight times to suit us. We will be on an RJ but only for an hour. I've never been on one so should be interesting.

 

I've never been on an RJ either and this was one of the flight options we have. When you return from your cruise can you please let us know how your flight experience went in Charlotte and flying on the RJ? Enjoy your cruise and thanks~! :)

[readysetcruise]

I've never been on an RJ either and this was one of the flight options we have. When you return from your cruise can you please let us know how your flight experience went in Charlotte and flying on the RJ? Enjoy your cruise and thanks~! :)

 

 

Will do.

[readysetcruise]

I've never been on an RJ either and this was one of the flight options we have. When you return from your cruise can you please let us know how your flight experience went in Charlotte and flying on the RJ? Enjoy your cruise and thanks~! :)

 

We're back!! I must say, both of our connections in Charlotte went very smoothly. The airport is spread out but extremely easy to navigate. There are lots of shops and restaurants. We landed on concourse E and had to be on Concourse B. We were on B Concourse in about 10 minutes. The concourse directions are marked very clearly overhead when you get off of your flight. They also have those moving walkways if you choose to use them. We decided to walk without the walk ways. It's good exercise, especially post cruise. LOL! We had a two hour layover each time so did some shopping and eating. It was great! Flying the RJ wasn't bad at all. Take off was smooth and fast. Landing was a little scary for me but that was because we found out about the RJ crash in Lexington after we landed in Charlotte on our way to our cruise. Us Airway's RJ seats are leather. And even though I hear of how cramped they are, I had no problem and neither did DH. I'm 5'7 and DH is 6 feet tall. We flew a CRJ 200. I really enjoyed our flight from Tampa to Charlotte. We flew an A321 Aribus. It looked newer and had little TV screens in which they showed Cranium trivia questions the entire flight. I loved it!! Made the flight very enjoyable. I would fly US Air again and I most definitley will try to get my connections in Charlotte. Oh yeah, Our luggage made it without any damage. We had 4 pieces. Hope this answered some of your questions.

[UpstateCruizer]

We're back!! I must say, both of our connections in Charlotte went very smoothly. The airport is spread out but extremely easy to navigate. There are lots of shops and restaurants. We landed on concourse E and had to be on Concourse B. We were on B Concourse in about 10 minutes. The concourse directions are marked very clearly overhead when you get off of your flight. They also have those moving walkways if you choose to use them. We decided to walk without the walk ways. It's good exercise, especially post cruise. LOL! We had a two hour layover each time so did some shopping and eating. It was great! Flying the RJ wasn't bad at all. Take off was smooth and fast. Landing was a little scary for me but that was because we found out about the RJ crash in Lexington after we landed in Charlotte on our way to our cruise. Us Airway's RJ seats are leather. And even though I hear of how cramped they are, I had no problem and neither did DH. I'm 5'7 and DH is 6 feet tall. We flew a CRJ 200. I really enjoyed our flight from Tampa to Charlotte. We flew an A321 Aribus. It looked newer and had little TV screens in which they showed Cranium trivia questions the entire flight. I loved it!! Made the flight very enjoyable. I would fly US Air again and I most definitley will try to get my connections in Charlotte. Oh yeah, Our luggage made it without any damage. We had 4 pieces. Hope this answered some of your questions.

 

I'm glad to hear that your flights went smoothly :) We ended up booking our flights to go through Atlanta with a 2hr 22min layover on the flight down. We'll distribute our clothing and essentials so that it's spead through all of the luggage. That way if a bag gets lost everyone will still have wearable clothing. For us the final deciding factors were sticking to one airport for the connecting flights on the departure and return flights and most importantly as flyertalk mentioned the equipment being used. We actually enjoy seeing various airports so we'll look at this as an opportunity to explore a new airport :)