Actually, that 45 minutes quoted probably refers to the time it takes from getting into the airport until you get to your gate, including security. That sounds about right.
You will not have to go through that process again in Atlanta. You will have a boarding pass for the second leg of the flight so you don’t need to do anything other than find your gate and wait. Just don’t leave the secure area (not that you’d need to).
Don’t get drunk at the airport bar before/during your flight or during your layover. This will not end well.
What about make-up? (Liquid foundation, mascara, eyeliner, etc.) Does that go in the quart sized baggie as well? I’ll be traveling next week for business and since I’m going only three days, I never check my luggage–always carry on.
I wear loafers with socks (for the aforementioned reasons), I wear a comfy sweater (in summer I bring a comfy sweater) and a plane is no place to wear those jeans you look WAY hot in but a just a touch too tight - trust me on this. I like to wear pants that are a little loose - loose waistband, loose butt.
When you pack, I pack enough in my purse (I have a big “travel purse”) for everything I’m likely to want on the plane - my book, my MP3 player, snacks. That goes under the seat in front of me. I bring a carryon full of stuff I’m not likely to want on the plane that goes in the overhead bin. I always bring at least two books, one book I should read which generally turns out to be difficult to read on a plane, and another “stupid but fun” book. Sometimes I actually read the first one.
If you are a water junkie, buy it once you go through security. It can take a while for beverages to get served on a plane. It will be expensive on the other side, but a water junkie will find the price worthwhile. If you aren’t a water junkie, you can wait until the flight attendant comes by with the beverage cart.
You may want to be carrying $10-20 or so in small bills - including some ones. You can tip the skycap, buy drinks on the plane if you are going to avoid burundi’s advice (I’m prone to headaches, but not from dehydration, and find that drinking on a plane actually keeps my headaches DOWN - for me the white noise of the jet engine is worse than the dry air - however, Advil is a much more sane choice, particularly with a connection).
I get to the airport two hours before my domestic flights depart. But I’m anal about such things.
Do you think it’s realistic for 2 people to carry enough stuff for a 5 day trip in their carry on bags? My fiance wants to avoid checking in suitcases, though I think that’s pretty much impossible.
Do they still serve food on the plane? The flights are 2 hours each, approximately. We’ll be spending almost as much time in layovers as in each leg of the trip on the plane.
Yep - all liquids/creams/gels, including mascara, eyeliner, liquid foundation, lip gloss, etc…
I wouldn’t think so, but if you’re going to Key West in July, there shouldn’t be too much clothing required. If you have access to laundry facilities, maybe. In reality, the chances of bags going missing is miniscule, and even if they don’t make the plane, they’ll be on the next one and hand delivered to you for free. If you really want to save the extra 15 minutes of waiting, you can send the bags via courier a few days ahead.
Food is sometimes available for a fee on flights in coach, but I think it’s for longer flights than two hours. You’ll get a bag of pretzels with your diet coke.
I do it for work (5 days in a carryon plus laptop bag) and I barely make it, but I tend to pack heavier for vacation. The toiletry thing is a nuisance, though. Makes you really decide what’s necessary and what’s nice-to-have.
That depends on how much clothing each of you wear in 5 days. Do either of you need a different pair of shoes for each outfit each day (plus another pair for each evening’s dress-up outfit)? That’s not going to work. But if you’re the kind who can get away with 2 pairs of shorts, 1 pair of jeans, and 5 t-shirts, you’ll be fine.
Small (less than 3 oz) bottles of makeup are fine. As others have said, they need to go in your quart bag. If you don’t check any luggage, you’ll need to take little bottles of shampoo, toothpaste, etc.
Nope. Not at all. Food IS allowed through security, as long as it’s non-liquid. I like to take fruit because it helps me keep hydrated without having to buy a bottle of water once I’m through security. I’ve taken apples and grapes, no problem. Sandwiches are good to take too because they’re easy to shove in your carryon and definitely don’t violate the no-liquids rule. Otherwise, you can buy food in the terminal and carry that onto your flight.
I’d definitely recommend taking some food with you because flights can be delayed and if you get stuck (it’s not likely but it has happened to me a couple times) sitting on the runway for hours, it’s really good to have something to nibble on. For the same reason I’m with everyone who said to take multiple books, dvds, crafts, etc. because it really helps to alleviate the stress if you can keep busy and keep your mind off of any delays.
You might get a teeny-tiny bag of pretzels. On longer flights, they’ll sell you sad, limp sandwiches for $6 a pop. You’re much better off bringing food with you on board.
Just a couple of points. About those 3 oz containers in a 1 qt ziplock. It isn’t as many as will fit in a baggie. Even if you only have one, it must be in a 1 qt ziplock. Last week we had a single tube of sunblock tossed because it wasn’t in a baggie, and at Richmond VA they weren’t offering any. Apparently baggies are impervious to explosives, providing the necessary protection against inevitable sunblock crises… :rolleyes:
I used to always use carry-ons, before security got to be such a hassle. Now I always check everything. A significant percentage of the time (maybe 5-10%?) it seems they will lose a bag. This last time they lost 1 of 8. They have always been able to deliver it to my destination within a day, but it is a bit of a hassle.
Bottomline, I view air travel as a necessary evil, an unpleasant event to be endured if you want to travel to certain places. Everyone - fellow travellers and employees - will tend to be in a lousy mood. And since the airlines are trying to save on personnel, often the employees will be performing duties they are unfamiliar with.
Just bring a good book, snacks, expect the worst, and hopefully you will be pleasantly surprised.
A little more info about the ATL airport. Their check in time is for flights originating there. You should look at the Syracuse information for checking in to those flights.
The ATL airport is in 6 ‘concourses’. With the exception of the T concourse, there are approx 36 gates in each concourse with Gates 1 and 36 being at either end and the mass transit subway between concourses being in the middle. So if you land at Gate D36 and you have to go to Gate A1, you’re in for a long haul (I once had 10 minutes to make this journey after a delayed flight).
Each concourse has it’s own restaurants and stores. When you get off your flight, immediately check the nearest departure TV’s to confirm your next flight hasn’t changed gates and go to that concourse. Check at the gate to ensure your flight is still there and on-time. With your layover times you should be ok for finding everything and having some downtime awaiting your flight. Stay near the gate and keep an ear out for gate change announcements. Boarding typically begins about 30minutes prior to the scheduled departure time.
Just a word of advice for future air travel, mostly because this happened to me yesterday and this was alluded to above. When you book your travel and you’re connecting through a huge airport like ATL, make sure there is at least 1 hour of layover. I was coming from San Diego yesterday (left on the earliest flight) and only had a 30min layover in ATL (didn’t want to wait for the late late flight back to NC). I made it to the next gate just as they were doing the final boarding call. My bag didn’t make it. So I’m sitting around today waiting for it.
Added on Preview. Delta offers drink and snack service on all flights, including Delta Connection (usually crackers, peanuts, or cookies). On longer flights you may get a ‘deli snack’ which is some crackers with some cheese spread, raisons, and some cookies.
I’m similar. I used to ALWAYS do a carryon (and yes, five days in a carryon - no problem. Especially if we are talking Key West for vacation - swimsuits take up no room and I’ll wear shorts twice on vacation. Now a cruise - that would be tougher.) But now with the toiletries restrictions, I check. However, I seem to recall that Rubystreak is one of our makupless Dopers - and if you can live with hotel shampoo and a sample sized toothpaste and a stick of deodorant, you can do the toiletries thing easy.
(The other option, particularly if you are renting a car and have a little extra cash is the Target/WalMart stop. The third option is to ship a box down to your hotel to be there when you arrive full of all sorts of stuff. Then ship one back.)
I’ll go against convention, but I’d say an hour before the flight is about the maximum that I’d get there.
Even now, at most airports you can get there 30-45 minutes beforehand and be just fine, especially at secondary airports like Dallas Love. I routinely budget 45 minutes for parking at the Parking Spot, riding the little bus, and getting through security to my gate, and I usually have to wait a few minutes before boarding anyway.
Security isn’t that bad, so long as you pay attention and do your homework.
[ul]
[li]Shoes off and in bin[/li][li]3/1/1 rule for carry on liquids[/li][li]Empty pockets, remove belt, sunglasses, watch. You can leave rings on though. (was advised to do so by TSA personnel!)[/li][li]Laptops out of case and on top[/li][li]Coats/jackets/sweaters off and in bin.[/li][/ul]
(by ‘bin’ I mean those gray bins you put your stuff in for the metal detector)
Once inside the security, it’s not much different than pre 9/11 to be honest.
I can’t agree with this. At some larger airports, there is a cut off of 30 mintues before departure time where the system won’t issue you a boarding pass. In Denver, which I am most familiar with, unless you hit the parking lottery (and are willing to spend $18 a day for it), you’ve got to budget 10 minutes to get from the close in lot to the check in, where you can easily spend another 10 minutes getting to the front of the line, much more if you are in the full serve coach line. Security averages about 15 minutes, then you have to take a train to your terminal, which you may or may not get lucky with.
Your bags at checkin are four stories above the tarmac and up to a mile away from your plane. Somehow they need to get there, and nobody is making a special trip for your one bag.
I’ve seen a lot of frustrated fliers yelling to hury up security, them muttering because the train left while they were on the escalator, then still missing their flight and yelling about their luggage.
I’d put the likelyhood of making a flight in Denver (arriving at parking 45 minutes early) at about 5-10%.
Another reason to arrive early for check-in is overbooking. Flights are routinely overbooked these days, and the last passengers to check in are the first to get bumped.
While I wholeheartedly agree with the rolleyes - the regulations are insanely stupid - the use of baggies is to limit the total amount “potential explosives” that can be brought onboard.
Depends on the airport and time, and I’d say be in the terminal (not parking) an hour before your flight. I’ve waited on some insane lines, including some that were usually at slack times. Checking bags takes longer. Also not having a boarding pass takes longer (you can print boarding passes from many airline sites). The transfer in Atlanta will hopefully not have you exiting and re-entering security - that would be a good thing.
Enjoy your trip!
Just one tip:
Don’t forget and leave your really cool multi-tool in your briefcase when you’re running late for a flight.
We’ve seen hour plus lines in Orlando. Its one of the reasons I’m anal about getting there two hours early. But Orlando and Denver are “bad” airports for security lines.
And on a personal note, if you are female …
individually wrapped tampons if you are of bleeding age/ability.
wet ones individually wrapped wipes [i prefer citrus, not that yucky baby scent] bleeding or not [also good for men…]
Wear a ultra thin sanitary pad with wings … it will keep your undies fresher and make you feel better. Being fat, I am cramped in the shoebox they consider a water closet… and wiping thoroughly can be problematic, hende the baby wipes and pad. Helps control any excess moistness.Honest, feeling dry makes you feel better.
sample size bottles of shampoo make a great carry on - able hand soap that smells nice. In a pinch, you can use it to take a shower and wash your hair with if you are stuck somewhere and can get access to a shower [I cant remember what airport my dad was at but there was a pay shower facility there. I would have adored it if there had been one last time I had a 6 hour layover in Frankfort after an 8 hour flight]
I have a terry cloth robe that folds fairly small that I keep in my carryon folded into the dopp kit with a tiny lush brand black toothpaste , folding toothbrush and bar of ‘new’ lush brand bar shampoo. If you wear comfy loafer type shoes [easy to get in and out of] and pack 1 extra travel outfit [for me, bra, undies, socks, clean microfiber elasic waisted palazzo pants and a microfiber polo. Designed to travel well, can be washed and hung to dry in a few hours, and folds rediculously small.] you are good if you have an unexpected overnight or xtra long layover, or suffer lost luggage.
Do not bring any alcohol of your own onto the plane. It’s illegal. So is getting drunk and becoming sick on the plane as a result of drinking said alcohol. I dont think you will have a problem with such things, but, seeing as everyone else got the basic stuff, it’s really all I can contribute.