Will it change, or will we make it somehow?

[bubbles1209]

We are flying to Atlanta and arriving at 7:45. Our connecting flight to Orlando leaves at 8:00 a.m. How do the airlines expect us to make this? We leave on May 23rd, booked the air on our own, and when we booked, there was over an hour's lay-over. Now they have changed it to only 15 minutes. So, will it change again, or will we make it?

[TheVegasMan]

Sometimes when they know there are passengers on a connecting flight they will wait for you, sometimes they won't. For your own peace of mind see when the next flight is and does that one leave enough time to get from airport to pier in time?

[David148]

Last Spring flying in from Lex KY to Atlanta, i had a flight to catch to NC from Atlanta..when we arrived in Atlanta. they called out names and said if we called your name you better RUN to ur gate! I got off the plane..and yes RAN underground and caught my flight to NC, i was the LAST person to board that plane..and i just made it. I made it in 9 mins after stepping foot off of the plane. It sucked lol

 

-David.

[tnt091605]

We are flying to Atlanta and arriving at 7:45. Our connecting flight to Orlando leaves at 8:00 a.m. How do the airlines expect us to make this? We leave on May 23rd, booked the air on our own, and when we booked, there was over an hour's lay-over. Now they have changed it to only 15 minutes. So, will it change again, or will we make it?

 

Is it the same airline?

[chasetf]

We are flying to Atlanta and arriving at 7:45. Our connecting flight to Orlando leaves at 8:00 a.m. How do the airlines expect us to make this? We leave on May 23rd, booked the air on our own, and when we booked, there was over an hour's lay-over. Now they have changed it to only 15 minutes. So, will it change again, or will we make it?

Problem is you may make it but your bags will probably definitely not make it. That has been our experience.

 

We had a connecting flight in Chicago for our flight to Ft Lauderdale. Walked off on gate to the one next door. We had about 20 mins... we made it but our bags didn't. Fortunately we flew a day early so we went back to the airport the next morning to get our bags before boarding. Just cost us the extra cab ride. ;)

[nitenurs2]

You need to call the airline about this. This is an "illegal" (not really illegal, in the sense that it breaks a law) connection. The airlines set a minimum time in order for connecting flights and this connection does that meet that criteria (it does vary by line and location). Most times are at least 30 minutes between fights.

 

What happens if your originating flight is delayed foe even 10 minutes?

[Cruisin' Ron VA]

We are flying to Atlanta and arriving at 7:45. Our connecting flight to Orlando leaves at 8:00 a.m. How do the airlines expect us to make this? We leave on May 23rd, booked the air on our own, and when we booked, there was over an hour's lay-over. Now they have changed it to only 15 minutes. So, will it change again, or will we make it?

 

Get on the phone without delay and ask them to change you to a later flight. Even if by the grace of GOD you make it your bags will not. Ever been on a cruise without luggage? :eek:

 

Since this is their doing they should not charge you any change fees. Please do not wait.

[cscurtiss]

A rule to live by...

 

FLY TO YOUR DESTINATION THE DAY BEFORE YOUR CRUISE SAILS!

 

With 60,000 seats a day gone...the chance of you having a hassle free trip has grown less and less.

[cusyl]

Atlanta airport is a ZOO,,,no, you would not be able to make your connection. Can you drive from Augusta to Atlanta and spend the night in a hotel near the airport?

[98Charlie]

Let me guess that it's a Delta flight. We've had this happen several times with them.

 

Call ASAP and let them know. When we've had the problem they were good about changing the connection to a later flight.

 

Driving to Atlanta the day before is a good idea. But you may find that the flight is more expensive than flying in from Augusta. We have people in Cincinnati that save money by driving north to Columbus, get on an airplane, fly to Cincinnati, change planes and continue on. Non-stops are often just more expensive.

 

Charlie

[cv322]

Atlanta airport is a ZOO,,,no, you would not be able to make your connection. Can you drive from Augusta to Atlanta and spend the night in a hotel near the airport?

 

Spot on! Atlanta is awful (not the city...the airport).

 

And to the OP...your luggage most certainly won't make it. How do you look in logo-wear?

[G'ma]

We are flying to Atlanta and arriving at 7:45. Our connecting flight to Orlando leaves at 8:00 a.m. How do the airlines expect us to make this? We leave on May 23rd, booked the air on our own, and when we booked, there was over an hour's lay-over. Now they have changed it to only 15 minutes. So, will it change again, or will we make it?

 

15 minutes is not enough time for this connection. You need to call the airline and have them put you on a later flight out of Atlanta. The minimum connecting time in Atlanta is at least 45 minutes and can be more depending upon your airline. It can take 15 minutes to get off the arriving flight.

 

Your airline schedule change has given you what is known as an "illegal" connection....in other words, outside the legal connecting time required for a change of planes in Atlanta.

[NCTribeFan]

If you do some reading on the Cruise Air board, you will see that the frequent flyers (the folks who REALLY know what they're talking about), would recommend that you check your flights regularly. Airlines often change flight times and don't notify you.

 

If the airline changes the flight time, you have the right to call them and have them put you on a different flight, since it was THEIR change. But you also need to do it as soon after the change is made as possible. Otherwise, despite the fact that they haven't notified you, your doing nothing to remedy the situation is pretty much taken as acceptance of the change.

 

Look at the flight schedules, find one that will work, call them and tell them that's the flight you want. Hopefully, there are seats. Hopefully, it isn't so much later that although you will have plenty of connection time in Atlanta, will not get to the ship on time.

 

As usual, the time to do your reading and research is BEFORE you discover a problem, so you'll know how to handle it.

 

Call the airline! People on a cruise message board can't tell you if your flight times will change again or whether you'll make your connection! At least, MY crystal ball doesn't tell me that. YOU need to find out, and find out now.

 

Insert here the obligatory lecture about flying in the night before. Seriously. The money you're saving by NOT booking the airfare with the cruiseline will almost always cover the cost of the hotel. Put that money to good use and go down a day early. It is SO much less stressful!

[vacruizer]

Delta? I had something like 7 or 8 flight time changes in four months with them last year. At one point they had me on a connecting flight that left before my first flight arrived. Nonstops became connections - it was a mess.

 

Call them and they will change things for you. I had to call twice and have mine changed - the second time they even let me change departure cities as they to my home airport at no charge even though we had booked from Raleigh 3 hours away to save money.

 

Do keep on top of them right up until you leave. The schedule didn't finalize until 30 days before we left and had we waited until then to discover the flight changes we would have been out of luck as the other flights acceptable to us were booked by then.

[98Charlie]

We recently had an originating flight that was delayed to the point that we had less than 15 minutes by the time we pulled up to the gate. We made it to the next flight just as they were closing the door.

 

I told DW that we had been lucky and when we get to the destination we'll just let the airline know what hotel we were staying at (always go the day early) and have them deliver the luggage.

 

We still went to the carousel and, lo and behold, here comes our luggage:p

 

Charlie

[lizardhowson]

We are flying to Atlanta and arriving at 7:45. Our connecting flight to Orlando leaves at 8:00 a.m. How do the airlines expect us to make this? We leave on May 23rd, booked the air on our own, and when we booked, there was over an hour's lay-over. Now they have changed it to only 15 minutes. So, will it change again, or will we make it?

 

Sounds to me like you should be discussing this with the airlines.

 

The longer you wait, the fewer seats available on flights... :eek:

[charlnel]

Definitely call the airline. The 7:45 time they list is the time the wheels touch down, not when you get to the gate. It could be after 8:00 AM when you get to your gate. This happened to me on USAir. They changed my connecting flight and it was leaving 2 minutes after I was supposed to land. I called and the person I spoke with was great. They said, "well that doesn't make sense" and went and changed the flight with out any problems. But as others have said, you should make the call now and check the airline web site frequently for updates.

Have a great time!

[mariemorgan]

I had the same thing happen to me once.. I just called the airline and they changed my connecting flight.. All was good.

[sam1148]

I'd call them and cancel, you might need to speak with a supervisor and let them know they did a illegal change and cancel without penalty. Rebook with SouthWest if you can even if you drive a bit to a airport that has Southwest.

 

They fly to Fort Lauderdale, it's much cheaper and you can get transportation to Miami if that's where your embarking. They also fly to Orlando and Tampa. But don't list their fares on other websites other than their own.

[cantwait06]

So how long exactly should your layover be in order to ensure you and your bags make it on the next flight? Now I'm nervous....

[steveaaaaa]

Sometimes when they know there are passengers on a connecting flight they will wait for you, sometimes they won't. For your own peace of mind see when the next flight is and does that one leave enough time to get from airport to pier in time?

 

They are more concerned with on-time arrival and departures than waiting for passengers.

Steve

[travelntreats]

So how long exactly should your layover be in order to ensure you and your bags make it on the next flight? Now I'm nervous....

Depending where you are flying into, I always allow 1 hour layover between flights or longer.....

[98Charlie]

They are more concerned with on-time arrival and departures than waiting for passengers.

Steve

We've never had any late luggage. Our layovers are often in the 30-45 minute range.

 

Also, see my post (#15) above.

 

Charlie

[Minoushka]

I made the mistake of buying my air out of MONTREAL to SAN JUAN for our Victory cruise in March with United connecting in Chicago .We were supposed to arrive at around 1 ;30pm

Our connecting time was 40 minutes .I later found out it was the ONLY flight to San Juan that morning the next one connecting in Charlotte at 4pm ...long story short landing after 8;30 too late to board the ship.So basically we had a SMAll window of opportunity

I cancelled that flight ...they UNITED refused to help were quite NASTY about it .Needless to say I will Not VOLUNTARILY fly with them again except to use my credit .I do not CARE for NASTY agents

Had I been stranded they WOULD not have flown me to St Thomas after the ship was gone and I would have had to pay all expenses /hotel new flights etc .The stress was too much

All I needed was for deicing to be slow or ANY delay and I would be screwed!!!

Booked a flight with Carnival with Delta and it cost me another 1400$ United still has my money and will keep it until I use it before Dec 09

For your info I have missed a ship due to mechanical difficulties and because we had bought air with Costa we were flown to Cozumel to board.It was the TRIP TO HELL -we spent 22 hours at the airport trying to get out of Montreal under freezing rain ...We boarded 3 times and were turned back because of long LONG deicing lines

I will never forget that day .My son was SO stressed he threw up at Customs .THat agent was REALLY not pleased

My advice CHANGE your flights .If the gates are far apart ...Murphy's Law..... you will need to make a MAD DAsh for it ..NOT worth killing yourself over it .Call the company ...give yourself more time argue they changed the time so you should Not be charged for change

Good Luck

Hope it works out for you

[bubbles1209]

Called the airlines tonight (yes it was Delta), and they changed flights for us no problem, never said a word about charging us for the changes. I told her that they had changed our flight schedule, she looked it up, said they changed us to an "illegal connection" which I knew what they called it thanks to these message boards, and changed us to a flight that departs Atlanta at 9 a.m. That is much better than arriving at 7:44 a.m. and trying to get on an 8 a.m. flight. So, we're good to go!:D