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From: KGB on 27 May 2010 05:09
Hi

My wife and I are flying from the UK to the USA with Delta on 2nd
September, connecting in Atlanta to our final destination, the flights
having been booked a few months ago. Our original booking gave a
transit time of 1hr 35mins in Atlanta - not ideal, bearing in mind we
have to go through US immigration, collect our baggage, go through US
customs, etc, then re-check our baggage and almost certainly change
terminals. We weren't too concerned as, in the past, we have managed
it many times in under an hour, so the timing is certainly "do-able"
in normal circumstances.

However, I recently realized that Sept 2nd is the Thursday before
Labor Day weekend (we Brits aren't too familiar with dates of US
public holidays) plus, Delta has now rescheduled our internal flight,
knocking 10 minutes off the connection time, reducing it to 1hr
25mins; which I think is a bit tight.

The problem is actually now somewhat academic as, after contacting our
travel agent expressing my concerns, they managed to change (free of
charge) the US domestic leg to a later flight, giving us a more
sensible 2hr 35min connection time in Atlanta.

However, from pure curiosity I would be interested to know whether
people think that 1hr 25min would have been enough time to get from
our International arrival gate to the Domestic departure gate, two
days before Labor Day weekend. It is an official Delta connection but
some years ago, we had a bad experience connecting through Dulles
airport on the Friday of Labor Day weekend; and although we caught our
flight (only just) it is an experience I wouldn't want to repeat!!!.

Would experts in this NG have left the booking as it was, or did I do
the right thing to change the booking? - I'm just curious.

Regards

KGB

From: Steve Cain on 27 May 2010 12:13


"KGB (KGB)" <FedUpWithSpam(a)NoEmailAddre.ss> wrote in message
news:4bfe3665.7190968(a)news.albasani.net...
> Hi
>
> My wife and I are flying from the UK to the USA with Delta on 2nd
> September, connecting in Atlanta to our final destination, the flights
> having been booked a few months ago. Our original booking gave a
> transit time of 1hr 35mins in Atlanta - not ideal, bearing in mind we
> have to go through US immigration, collect our baggage, go through US
> customs, etc, then re-check our baggage and almost certainly change
> terminals. We weren't too concerned as, in the past, we have managed
> it many times in under an hour, so the timing is certainly "do-able"
> in normal circumstances.
>
> However, I recently realized that Sept 2nd is the Thursday before
> Labor Day weekend (we Brits aren't too familiar with dates of US
> public holidays) plus, Delta has now rescheduled our internal flight,
> knocking 10 minutes off the connection time, reducing it to 1hr
> 25mins; which I think is a bit tight.
>
> The problem is actually now somewhat academic as, after contacting our
> travel agent expressing my concerns, they managed to change (free of
> charge) the US domestic leg to a later flight, giving us a more
> sensible 2hr 35min connection time in Atlanta.
>
> However, from pure curiosity I would be interested to know whether
> people think that 1hr 25min would have been enough time to get from
> our International arrival gate to the Domestic departure gate, two
> days before Labor Day weekend. It is an official Delta connection but
> some years ago, we had a bad experience connecting through Dulles
> airport on the Friday of Labor Day weekend; and although we caught our
> flight (only just) it is an experience I wouldn't want to repeat!!!.
>
> Would experts in this NG have left the booking as it was, or did I do
> the right thing to change the booking? - I'm just curious.
>
> Regards
>
> KGB

Over a period of years ATL has expedited their re-check/customs/entry
process to the point where it's a slam dunk.

To me, however, this stuff is like the stock market....can you sleep at
night? Particularly on a long haul flying into the wind.

I think I'd like the 2 hr thing myself, particularly if the number of
flights continuing to where ever were not numerous.

With that kind of layover youl may do well to stay in the international
terminal where ATL puts on its best face before going to the next gate in a
timely manner.

regards, s


From: John Levine on 27 May 2010 12:16
>> Would experts in this NG have left the booking as it was, or did I do
>> the right thing to change the booking? - I'm just curious.

I'd have done what you did. If you fly through customs, you can always
stand by for the earlier flight.

R's,
John
From: Louis Krupp on 30 May 2010 05:10
On 5/27/2010 10:16 AM, John Levine wrote:
>>> Would experts in this NG have left the booking as it was, or did I do
>>> the right thing to change the booking? - I'm just curious.
>
> I'd have done what you did. If you fly through customs, you can always
> stand by for the earlier flight.

You might not want an earlier flight if your luggage is on the later
flight. What you might be able to do -- I've done this at O'Hare
connecting from London to Denver on United -- is approach a Delta agent
(after you clear customs) with luggage in hand and ask if there's (1)
room on the earlier flight and (2) enough time for you to catch it. The
airline has a vested interest in filling the earlier flight, and unless
they expect to do that with last-minute walk-ups, they should be
accommodating. The worst they can do is say, "No, it's almost Labor Day
weekend, what were you thinking?" and you'll catch the later flight.
It's certainly better than being booked on the earlier flight, missing
it and waiting until a later flight opens up.

Louis
From: Jeff Hacker on 30 May 2010 13:42

"Louis Krupp" <lkrupp_nospam(a)indra.com.invalid> wrote in message
news:ivudnZA3Ip4Ctp_RnZ2dnUVZ_gmdnZ2d(a)indra.net...
> On 5/27/2010 10:16 AM, John Levine wrote:
>>>> Would experts in this NG have left the booking as it was, or did I do
>>>> the right thing to change the booking? - I'm just curious.
>>
>> I'd have done what you did. If you fly through customs, you can always
>> stand by for the earlier flight.
>
> You might not want an earlier flight if your luggage is on the later
> flight. What you might be able to do -- I've done this at O'Hare
> connecting from London to Denver on United -- is approach a Delta agent
> (after you clear customs) with luggage in hand and ask if there's (1) room
> on the earlier flight and (2) enough time for you to catch it. The
> airline has a vested interest in filling the earlier flight, and unless
> they expect to do that with last-minute walk-ups, they should be
> accommodating. The worst they can do is say, "No, it's almost Labor Day
> weekend, what were you thinking?" and you'll catch the later flight. It's
> certainly better than being booked on the earlier flight, missing it and
> waiting until a later flight opens up.
>
> Louis

Maybe some time ago, but no more. All the major airlines are now charging
for standby changes on the same day.

jeff

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