Flights Delayled out of Ft. Lauderdale???

[Linda2433]

Keep reading about how bad it is to fly out of Ft. Lauderdale on Sat. & Sun. due to cruise ships, flights are delayed and people missing their connections. Is this the case for early flights or does this happen throughout the day? We have a 4:30 flight out with a connection in Chicago. I think we have a 2 hour wait when we land in Chicago to fly on to CT. so we may be ok?? Just wondering what everyone has been experiencing lately. Flying out on United. Thanks

[sailinglisa]

So much depends on the weather in Florida and other areas of the country when you are scheduled to depart.

[arnieslady]

have flown out of FLL numerous times, only once was there a delay (8 hrs:mad: :( :( ). Fault was on incoming flight, that's what we were told and guess it was true because no plane at gate. Other family members have also be through with no delays. Since 9/11 you now have to wait 60-90 minutes, can't remember, before proceeding through security check to get to gates. Plan on spending some time on the floor as there are many pax going through on these days. By the way...this airport has always been like a deep freeze so hang on to something warm. Bottom line...our luck has been good and we do not hesitate. Rather take FLL over MIA. Sorry to ramble. Enjoy.

 

oh yea...ditto SailingLisa

[jmkennett]

Hi. We got off the Star today. Our bag tags were Red 2 (second group off)We were off the ship at 8:45, had our bags and were through customs by 8:55. We took the Princess transfer and ended up at the airport at about 9:30A. We were on Continental and the curbside check-in was about a 15 minute wait. The security line was about 10 minutes long. Our flight was at 11:55A and we had plenty of time. I heard the other terminal (Delta) was pretty bad. The long lines were for Delta, but I was told the other carriers had very small lines. There were 6 ships in Pt. Everglades this morning. Disembarkation was very smooth. Hope this helps.

[Linda2433]

sounds like maybe Delta has the long lines and delays??? Anyone flown on United and experienced any problems? I guess United is somehow connected to US Air. I know flying down we check in on US AIr. Flying home it is thru United, but the tickets all say United??

[whale-watcher]

We had very long lines on Northwest on a Sunday in January, but our flight did leave on time, and we had no problems making our tight connection in Minneapolis. I would think that with a later flight there would be less of a crush at FLL and that you would have no problems with your connection, assuming no weather or mechanical delays, of course...

[spongerob]

The only time we have had trouble flying out of FLL was when we waited a day to avoid "the crowds". Just our bad luck, we had an overbooked flight, were changed to another at the last minute, but our bags didn't make the trip with us.

 

It used to be the case that returning cruise passengers were sent downstairs to check in. To avoid that, we tore the disembarkation tags off our bags and used the curbside check-in. I'm not sure if this bit of advice still works, or is even necessary for that matter. It used to be one of the "insider tips" posted when people asked.

[JanMD]

The end of Feb. we had an afternoon flight out of BWI to FLL. We sat at BWI at the gate area for 3 hours!!! Because of too much flight traffic in and out of FL This was a Friday afternoon.

The return trip a Sat. morning- sat on the runway for 45 minutes for flights to come in and out!!! They really have to do something about this issue asp.

Jan

[jpatryak]

We left the Star on Sunday 3/20, had Red 2 tags. Immediately got a porter, he found our bags, we got on a bus, it left within 3-4 minutes. Got to FLL; a Delta rep got on the bus saying lines would be terrible and that if our flight left within 2 hours (which ours did...it was at that time 8:55, our flight left at 11:01) we should UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES USE CURB-SIDE CHECK-IN; we should check bags inside. I haven't done that since sometime in the 70's! We paid an airport porter some $$$ to get us to curbside. Only 1 party in front of us. We got through in < 5 min., got through security in < 10 minutes, had plenty of time to spare.

 

Bottom line: BE GOOD TO THE PORTERS. THEY CONTROL YOUR FATE.