Which layover?

[countthestars]

I'm booking a flight for H, who will be traveling alone for business. 

He has two flight options that he likes, but both have short layovers. There are other flight options if he won't make either plane here, but these are his two preferred. 

Delta 42 minutes at LaGuardia
American Airlines 30 minutes at DCA Ronald Reagan 

Would you gamble on either of these?

[mrsslocombe]

What time of day is the LGA flight? And is it a route where the same plane is going back and forth all day, or is it a once or twice a day flight? IE if there's 8 flights a day to MCO, it's the same planes going back and forth all day and each subsequent flight gets further backed up.

LGA gets really backed up the longer the day goes on, so if it's an early morning flight you might be OK. If it's afternoon or evening there's like a 75% chance the flight to LGA takes off late.

If he decides to gamble on this, pay for a seat near the front of the plane. And be prepared to sprint, the new terminal has 4 "wings" so the gate might be a bit of run to get to.

[rhian]

I haven't flown out of either airport recently, but I would not do a 30 min layover anywhere. Since gates close 15-20 mins before departure time, that's really only 10-15 mins to make the next flight, so it seems like the chances of missing the flight are really high. 42 mins is still a little close, but there's at least a reasonable chance of making it. I'd book a seat at the front of the plane for the first flight.

[countthestars]

Thanks both! It looks like either flight would have a layover around 2:20pm. The LGA flight is going to a very small airport here, so if he misses the flight he’ll be stuck in NYC until the next day, which isn’t worth it. I found a third option that gets him home a little later, but has a better layover option (1h10m in Philly) so I think I’ll book that for him!

[Roc A Bee]

My anxiety doesn’t allow me to book a flight with a layover under 60 minutes.

[basilosaurus]

Oct 14, 2024 22:57:22 GMT -5 countthestars said:

Thanks both! It looks like either flight would have a layover around 2:20pm. The LGA flight is going to a very small airport here, so if he misses the flight he’ll be stuck in NYC until the next day, which isn’t worth it. I found a third option that gets him home a little later, but has a better layover option (1h10m in Philly) so I think I’ll book that for him!

A little later if on time, but a lot earlier than if he misses a connection. Good choice.

I might be fine with the 42 min if it's on the same concourse. I've definitely done that many times. 

[livinitup]

I like your update. I’ve been in/out of LaGuardia a few times and would not book a 42 minute layover. The airport is huge and walk time between gates for the same airline could easily be 15-20 minutes and they absolutely close the gate 15 minutes before boarding ends. I’ve seen people at the gate, looking at their plane through the window.

[shauni27]

Oct 15, 2024 5:12:18 GMT -5 Roc A Bee said:

My anxiety doesn’t allow me to book a flight with a layover under 60 minutes.

I used to do this all the time; I was young, I had no family to get home to, etc. Now the idea of a layover at all sucks, lol.

[mrsukyankee]

I'd definitely do the Philly flight over either of those two.

[emilyinchile]

Philly flight for sure. The idea of either of your first two was giving me anxiety for him.

[Susie]

I agree with the PHL option.  DCA is a small, easy to navigate airport, but 30 mins is far too tight like rhian pointed out with gates closing halfway into the available time.  And LGA is a no-go because of the lack of backup option.

I typically set 59 minutes as my bottom end parameter for layovers when searching flights.

[Roc A Bee]

Oct 15, 2024 7:11:51 GMT -5 shauni27 said:

Oct 15, 2024 5:12:18 GMT -5 Roc A Bee said:

My anxiety doesn’t allow me to book a flight with a layover under 60 minutes.

I used to do this all the time; I was young, I had no family to get home to, etc. Now the idea of a layover at all sucks, lol.

I almost always have a layover because no layover means I drove all the way to LAX

I’m actually at the airport now waiting for my next flight!

[CloudBee]

I would suggest booking out of a larger airport, even if that means a longer drive. Otherwise, you need more than an hour. A small delay on the runway outbound and you'll miss that connecting flight. I had a friend with a 40 minute layover the other day text me that she arrived at the departure gate next to her connecting gate, and it had already boarded. Thankfully they knew she was coming off the other plane, otherwise she may have missed it. Too stressful. We've had gates switched several times this year and had to take trams to race across the airport unexpectedly.