USVI-On-Line

Hi all, I'm supposed to buy my ticket today, but I need some advice if anyone has it. I don't know how many of you might fly out of ATL.

I am going to fly on Spirit. My first plan was to leave ATL at 10:05, arrive in FLL at noon and fly out of FLL to STT at 12:50. I had no worries about changing planes in 50 minutes in FLL.

BUT, today a co-worker tells me that her husband just heard this report on the ATL airport and how it's so busy now that no flights leave on time. I'm now afraid I will miss my flight from FLL to STT. While I have a place to stay in Miami, I would rather be sleeping in my villa that evening...

There is also a 7:05 a.m. flight out of ATL that has more than a 3-hour layover in FLL. As much as I hate mornings and layovers, I'm thinking that's the better option.

Anyone ever taken the first flight I mentioned? Is it do-able? I need advice from my seasoned traveler friends...

I am one of those people who always takes the earliest flight possible when going on vacation so I would take the 7:05 am and use the time in FLL to drink a beer or two.

PA Girl wrote:I am one of those people who always takes the earliest flight possible when going on vacation so I would take the 7:05 am and use the time in FLL to drink a beer or two.

me too. the earlier out the better because those back ups are just going to get worse as the day goes on.

Maybe my brother and sister-in-law could meet me at the airport for a little lunch or something...

I really hate mornings. And I really hate sitting in airports. But I hate missing flights more.

Also, if your flight out of ATL does leave late, your 3 hours could shrink to a shorter time span.

The past two times we have flown, I was very surprised by how early they started boarding the planes.

I took an ATL-FLL flight last week. We were more or less on time. I always feel better, however, when I have more slack when I am on a critical schedule. I do that for work, and an STJ trip is far more important than any busienss trip.

I don't think ATL is in that serious of a condition. When they opened the 5th runway last year things improved a lot. Now that there are fewer flights, there is even less waiting.

Good luck.

JIM

I flew into & out of ATL twice 2 weeks ago & both times it was perfect: all inbound & outbound flights were right on time. I like to take the early flights cause if there is a backup it does get worse as the day progresses.

These days.. ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS build in extra time. Because there are fewer flights going to places these days, they are flying full. Therefore if you miss your connection it will be harder to get a seat.

I hate sitting in airports-- but I hate missing my flight even more!

My best friend, who lives in Atlanta and is driving me to the airport, just told me to take the earlier flight.

I didn't really think about the fact that the flight delays just get worse and worse as the day goes on. Good point.

I'm super-excited to book my flight today. It's all going to come together, I think...

Lulu76 wrote:My best friend, who lives in Atlanta and is driving me to the airport, just told me to take the earlier flight.

I didn't really think about the fact that the flight delays just get worse and worse as the day goes on. Good point.

I'm super-excited to book my flight today. It's all going to come together, I think...

I am glad it is all coming together.
If you want to hang when you are stuck in FLL, just call me.......I can reschedule things.....

I flew into Atlanta from Boston on our way to STT and did not have a good experience... But this may have just been a Delta thing.

We had about 50-60 minutes in between flights, so we ran to the gate. When we got there, we were told that the flight was overbooked and that we were "randomly selected to be bumped from this flight"... despite having bought the tickets 9 months prior. The only solution was to give us the same flight the next day, which means we would have missed an entire day on the island.

Luckily after many tears and a refusal to give up, they were able to find us another flight on a different airline to Miami and then to STT. We got in about 6 hours later than we were supposed to, but at least we got to sleep there that night.

My advice is to take the earliest flight possible. If something like this were to happen, you have a lot more options of other same-day flights if you're there earlier in the day.

atl can flow like a swiss watch or be a nightmare with thunder storms in area. 5th runway helps but delta and airtran slot too many flts for same time so runway back is often an issue.

that said an encouraging point. fll is a spirit collecting point for flts from other cities that then fill the flts to stt, T&C, and a few other caribbean destinations. thus like at other hubs, destination flts (like stt) are often held until all the feeder flights get in. sooo if you're doing spirit atl to fll, i wouldn't sweat it. if you are flying airtran or delta with 50 minutes to connect in fll, i'd arrange for an earlier flt.

good luck

papabou

I live in the Atlanta area and took the same Spirit flight last year to St. John. The problem wasn't in Atlanta it was in Ft. Lauderdale! The security line was out the door and up the street and it was hot waiting in that line. We finally found someone with authority and told them that our flight was about to leave and he took us to the front of the line.

With that said, you just never know how things are going to go (especially in Atlanta because it is a big international airport) so you would probably feel better with the extra time you will have by taking the earlier flight.

Good luck!

Jamie

OK, this is going to sound really dense, but if you were flying on Spirit and just connecting, why did you have to go through security again? I've never had to do that.

I thought it might be a "feeder flight" situation, and they would wait, but I'm not sure I want to chance it.

Lulu, I've done the Spirit flight out of ATL. I opted for the earlier flight from ATL to FLL. As of a year ago, Spirit had all of its flights in the same terminal, so it wasn't like Miami where you sometimes do have to go through an additional checkpoint if you change terminals.

Given the opportunity, I'd book the earlier flight. Two reasons: 1. If something happens and your flight gets delayed or cancelled, you have time to maybe find another flight to FLL; 2. ATL does run behind, and while Spirit may hold your flight for a while until the ATL flight comes in, I'd hate to take that risk and be stressed.

For me, that longer layover is more of a guarantee that you'll get there on the day you want to.