flight conundrum--need answer fast

In My Humble Opinion
1

Going to visit my snowbird parents. Flying SFO to Orlando. Have a conundrum. The only nonstop is United. I loathe United as a rule. Shitty customer service, and those older planes they have, I forget which they are, but with the bathrooms in the middle of the plane, have even narrower rows and seats than other planes. Plus, last time I flew United, they made the last 50 of us or so check our carry ons, which incensed me and delayed boarding by a fair bit. The Mrs. Lady at the gate indicated this was a regular practice for United and cared not that it inconvenienced many customers. But… I love nonstops because I hate flying.

The other options is American, with a layover in Charlotte. Advantage here is a significantly lower price. But, the layover on the return is only 45 minutes, which will make me anxious. I only fly once or twice a year. Frequent flyers, thoughts about United vs American, and the 45 minute layover in Charlotte? Thanking you.

2

I would only fly United if I was desperate.

3

Take the layover. I actually prefer flights with a stop to non-stops. Since you dislike flying, think of it as a chance to get a break from flying. You’ll have two relatively short flights, so you’ll barely have time to dislike them before they’re over. Even the short layover will give you less time to be nervous.

Combine all of that with a lower price and not flying United, and I see this as a win-win.

4

I would be very nervous about a 45 minute layover. It wouldn’t take much of a delay and then you’ve missed your plane. Are there many other flights from Charlotte back home, so if you miss your connection you could get on another one fairly soon?

5

Well, in this case San Francisco to Charlotte is only slightly shorter than San Francisco to Orlando. He wouldn’t really have two shorter flights. He’d have the same flight as before plus an extra bonus flight.

6

This.

I avoid layovers of less than an hour, unless there is an acceptably soon flight after that one, in case I miss it.

I also loathe United, but that is mainly because I fly on United more than anyone else. I have no doubt that they all suck equally.

7

IMO, 45 minutes is plenty for a layover. I’ve only got 30 today, that makes me a little nervous.

8

Charlotte is a main hub for American (the part of it that used to be US Air) and has a large terminal with 3-4 sections. Unlike LAX or Dallas, they are all interconnected but 45 minutes would mean a good stretch of the legs if you have to go from Concourse A to D, for example.

The good news is that being a hub, there are probably multiple flights from there to Orlando, so getting a replacement flight shouldn’t be impossible. And if the airline programs 45 minutes, that usually indicates the flights are in the same concourse, so that the connection (and the baggage transfers) can be made.

In sum, there is risk but it should be doable if the flights are on-time.

9

I would know that 45 minutes is probably enough time, and there probably wouldn’t be an issue. But I would also know that there would be a chance that I could be delayed, and I won’t have enough time, and I’ll be running through the airport and miss my plane, and that would make me nervous. For someone who wouldn’t get nervous about that, then the layover would be fine. For me, I’ll pretty much always take a direct flight if possible, so I don’t have to worry about the layover, and I’ll have less time flying and less stress having to deal with airports and everything.

10

45 minutes should be plenty of time to make a connection in Charlotte on a typical day.

It’s those atypical days that cause a headache.

My advice is to only book the connection if there is one more later flight for San Francisco so that if you have a minor delay inbound you still have an option out of there later that evening.

And American over United because American serves Dr Pepper.

11

Rule number one: Never, never, never, never take a layover if you don’t have to.

Every stop is a chance for a misconnect, a screw-up, your luggage getting lost , and you getting stuck sleeping at the airport.

When you fly, you lose ALL control over your life. But if you take a single, nonstop flight, you have a fighting chance of arriving at your destination on time.

When you take two flights, all hell can–and will–break loose.

You may think you’re okay, because you arrived on time for your layover, but that doesn’t mean anything. Maybe the plane you want to continue your flight isn’t even at the airport…or isn’t allowed to take off because there’s no pilot (this happens a lot–the crew for your plane was supposed to arrive on a flight from Nowheresville, but there was a thunderstorm in Nebraska that delayed them , so now you are delayed too.
Lather and repeat for a hundred other reasons.: the cleaing crew didnt have time to vacuum the plane, the food service truck is late, etc.

If a flight is less than 70 or 80% full, it is unprofitable , so it will just be cancelled with no explanation given, and you will be told to wait till tomorrow. If you scream and cry,he clerk will give you a meal voucher worth $8.
etc, etc, etc

The mathmatics of flying defies the laws of statistics .
Two opportunities for a screw-up does not mean that you merely double the chances. You don’t even quadruple it—Somehow, the probability of your day being ruined doesn’t increase arithmetically, or geometrically, or even exponentially. It increases by quantum leaps of infinite proportions that even Einstein can’t calculate…

12

QFT.

I’ve shifted vacation destinations because we could get a non-stop to City 1 and couldn’t get one to City 2.

13

There are a few reasons why I can’t believe that this is true.
-The aircraft STILL needs to get to it’s next city, so that it can be in turn loaded with more passengers and flown again.
-If you elect not to travel because the airline has cancelled the flight, you can opt for a refund of your ticket; even if it is nonrefundable. Now, the airline has NONE of your money.
-The airline now has to deal with all of the displaced travelers with food vouchers and possibly covering the cost of a hotel; both at airline expense.

It may be true that airlines have cancelled flights due to low load factor, but if it is less than 70% full?.. I can’t see that happening.

14

Other options: Southwest, JetBlue or Virgin America (which looks like it has a direct flight).

15

Looked at them all, the first two won’t work, and I didn’t see a direct flight from Virgin. Could you post details plz?

Thanks all for responding. LEading towards (shudder) United.

16

For such a short stop, I’m willing to bet that the same airplane continues to Orlando with no transfer of baggage needed, and you just stay in your seat at Charlotte. I took a quick poke at Travelocity, and American has an SFO-MCO flight with a 38 minute connection at CLT.

For three dollars less, on the random days I’m looking at, there’s a flight that connects in Dallas (DFW). This may be a nicer option as the two segments are closer to equal time with a one hour stop, rather than getting 95% of the way there with a stop so short as to be useless if you want to get out and stretch your legs.

There’s no way I’d willingly connect in anywhere like Denver (DEN), Minneapolis (MSP, or Chicago (ORD) in the winter.

17

I’m not sure I get the hatred of United. All the big network carriers are pretty interchangeable in my mind, so the tradeoff is between cost and convenience. If the price difference is 150 or more, and I didn’t feel like I critically had to be at the destination on time, I’d probably take the layover. Otherwise, I’d take the direct. And I’d pay for one of the EconomyPlus seats (but I’m 6’3.)

18

Virgin has only one route in and out of Orlando, and its other end is LAX. If you don’t mind a roughly 3 1/2 hour drive in Florida, Virgin does have nonstops SFO-FLL (Ft Lauderdale)

19

My wife was a little nervous about her 30-minute layover today. I told her not to worry.

Turns out I was right. The second flight has equipment problems iand she’s sitting in the airport with plenty of time to spare.:wink:

Take the non-stop, even if it is United.

20

Went with the nonstop. Thanks all.