Later this year I’m going to be flying from Edmonton to Rapid City. Seems I have two choices - fly United and change planes in Denver or fly Northwest and change planes in Minneapolis.
All other things being equal I would go via Denver simply because I’ve changed planes there several times and know exactly what to expect. However, on the remote chance that I’m missing out on an “easier” airport, does anyone have a strong preference for Minneapolis airport over Denver airport? If so, why?
Or, a strong preference for Northwest over United? If so, why?
More like, a strong preference for United over Northwestern.
Not that the customer service is brag-worthy in either case, but United is not the carrier that left mutiple airplanes of people sitting on taxiways in a blizzard in Detroit in the past decade or two. For over 12 hours. Stuff like that.
If I was making that trip I’d choose United and Denver, but I’m not you and it’s not my trip. I’m sure other opinions will be along presently.
Both airports are huge, long distances between gates, same shops and restaurants, doesn’t really matter. Fares via DEN can be higher because of it’s much newer than MSP and they’re passing on construction bond costs to the airlines. On the other hand of what Broomstick says, NW’s service sucks even by airline standards but they’re not in Chapter 11. If you go via ORD you can switch to AA if things really go sour, but it’s hard to get out of MSP on anyone but NW. You take your chances no matter what.
I’d just go with the best fare on a schedule that fits, and don’t worry about it after that.
I’ve flown both United and Northwest many times…and am not impressed by either. I once missed a flight on United, not because I was late to the airport, but because they didn’t have enough ticket agents on duty to handle check in. By the time they handled the line, it was too late for me or my luggage to make it on the plane.
As for the airports, both are indeed very large. But it was my personal experience that both were very well organized, and if you have a bit of a layover there are plenty of shops, etc. in both to keep you amused. I would say either one would do just fine.
If you go through Minneapolis, I’m guessing the plane to Rapid City is probably a smaller one, which means you’d probably board that plane on Concourse A or B, which are waaaaayyyy the hell away from most of the airport. As in, a mile or so of walk from the main check-in/baggage claim area. Luckily, there’s a tram running the length of Concouse C (which is between the check-in area and the aformentioned concourses). There’s also a skyway between Concourse G and Concourse C which can save a lot of steps.
Here’s a map of the MSP Terminal (pdf) if you’re interested.
It’s been several years since I’ve been in the Denver airport, so I can’t provide much help there.
If you’re flying from Denver to Rapid City, you probably will end up on one of the United commuter flights that use Canadair RJ planes which are relatively small. They all leave from one terminal, but it connects to the main United terminal.
Denver has a train that connects all the terminals and is a pretty nice airport.
Like the Edmonton Airport, it’s not really near the city it’s named for.
One nice thing that MSP has that DEN doesn’t is a observation deck that is fun place to pass some time if you have a longish layover. Its in Concourse D, unfortunately it would seem from jweb’s post that the deck is a long walk from where your gate will be.
