SFMM, a couple of Mondays ago (2023)

Tommytheduck:

your post makes no sense to me. If the first leg provides the same amount of sleeping time, why are you intentionally flying a second leg instead of getting to your destination hours earlier?

Because after the two legs I can just go to work. By the time I drive home/to the office, I am awake, no matter how much sleep I (did not) get. With the SEA->ATL->DTW routing, I felt human when I landed. Much more than SEA->DTW. I discovered this only through necessity. The first few times I flew direct, the next day was pointless. With the connection, I was only a half-zombie.

The "what can go wrong" part is not such a big deal for me on that particular routing because (a) there are plenty of ATL-DTW flights every day, so a misconnect wouldn't cost more than a few hours and (b) headed home, it's okay if my luggage is detoured. Neither ever happened.

Your broader point stands, though. I avoid connections almost any other time.

Tommytheduck:
Also. Never connect through ATL

Maybe. ATL is one of the few airports with a legitimate restaurant: One Flew South. And ATL is not nearly as miserable as LAX, which is one of the few choices for getting from DTW to any of the Hawaiian islands. And don't get me started on CDG.

For me, "don't fly Delta" isn't a credible option because DTW is a hub. If I want to avoid connections to most anywhere, it's going to be on Delta.

I never said "Don't fly Delta." In fact, I'd say "always fly Delta." They're the best airline, hands down, as long as you don't have to connect through ATL or New York. DTW, MSP and SLC are great hubs and are so much less delay prone than most hubs at most other airlines.

I could rant all day on ATL, but I'll say last time I got Covid, I'm pretty sure it was from being crammed into the train like sardines for the 10 minute ride to Bag Claim. I've started carrying a mask again just to wear in situations like that.

I have to echo the love for DTW and MSP as connecting hubs…but I also love connecting through ATL. I got a lot of looks for that from coworkers at my previous airline, but I stand by it.

I should add the disclaimer that I’m an aviation geek, so I actually enjoy the major hubs, but while there are some I’ve either never flown to or through (SLC) or which I’ve flown into/out of but not actually connected at (EWR, JFK, LAX, MSP, PHL), most are generally fine.

For my recommendations of which ones to avoid, you can pretty much just take four from the list I just posted (MSP, as I said, is great). The NYC/Newark duo and PHL are too delay-prone, with PHL just not being a pleasant terminal for the most part on top of it, and I have to echo the disdain for LAX in terms of terminal quality. I do know that some have been renovated there in recent years, so maybe it’s better now, but I generally didn’t like it.

Tommytheduck:

I never said "Don't fly Delta."

Yeah, that part wasn't directed at you. My bad.

Nothing really to add, but kind of related...

A former coworker once told me, "if you've never missed a flight, you're getting to the airport too early."

At that time, I'd always prided myself on the fact that I'd never missed a flight...including connectors, somehow. And I hadn't always arrived early.

The one time I knew without a doubt my "never missed a flight" record was about to be tarnished was a morning flight home from Denver four years ago. I got up, showered, dressed, checked out, walked out of the hotel to a blizzard. It was a little more than an hour from my hotel in Fort Collins to DIA, but with whiteout conditions in the middle of rush hour and a bunch of accidents and stranded vehicles along I25, this ended up being about a 2.5 hour drive. Coincidentally, my boss was flying home that morning from Utah, had a layover at DIA, and was on my same flight back east. I texted her from the road letting her know my situation, she did her best to hold up the flight (which is to say she didn't succeed; they delayed it in spite of her pleas due to the fact that more than half the booked seats were still empty because of the weather), but she kept updating me periodically; I'd lost all hope as I arrived at the airport (still had to drop off the rental car and hurry to the terminal), especially when I walked into the main terminal right at my original takeoff time to a sea of people waiting to go through security. While waiting in line, I even let a woman in front of me who was rushing to catch a flight (maybe the same one?) because I was 100% sure I'd already missed mine. Once through, I texted my boss and she said they still hadn't closed the doors. I pretty much sprinted to the gate and was the last one to board.

Still haven't missed a flight.

I don't subscribe to the "you should miss some flights" philosophy. My sanity is worth more than optimizing my time.

Brian Noble:

Tommytheduck:

I never said "Don't fly Delta."

Yeah, that part wasn't directed at you. My bad.

That was me, and it was in response to trying to avoid Atlanta, not for any particular like or dislike of Delta itself.

Brian Noble:

I don't subscribe to the "you should miss some flights" philosophy.

Agreed, although I think it was said with tongue in cheek...and probably as "justification" for missing several flights over the years.

I agree with not wanting to miss flights. Do not fly often enough to want to deal with that.

Here is an article on it looking it from a mathematical perspective. Expect that for many people, the cost of missing a flight is sufficiently high (for a number of reasons that varies by person) that it doesn't make sense to take the chance.

https://www.smithsonianmag....180951650/