Originally Posted by
danger
Well I'm used to driving on the other side of the ride so I think it would be safer for me to hitch-hike. Ha.
Oh damn. The second snowiest city? That does not bode well for the middle of February travel. I'm now looking at the 3.45pm arrival on DL, which gives me about six hours before check-in even opens. There is a later DL flight, arriving 8.22pm which could potentially serve as a backup if the 3.45pm arrival is delayed or even cancelled. There's plenty of availability on that flight at the moment so I don't need to book just yet.
I appreciate all the knowledgeable advice.
Lived in Buffalo for half my life... yes, the airport closes, but it is rare. Flights can definitely get delayed, but I would theorize more flights are delayed to/from Buffalo because of issues in NYC vs the other way around. Your odds of everything working out just fine are probably above 99%. However, there is risk.
Originally Posted by
Thunderroad
I don't want to overplay the risk: The chances are that you'll make the connection with oodles of time to spare if you arrive on that 3:45 pm DL flight. But for that particular route at that time of year, it's a considerably higher risk than warm-weather connections.
If you were to fly in the previous day, you could certainly head into Manhattan and make a good day/evening of it in NYC (weather permitting, of course).
All your advice was good and this is an excellent point. If OP has the flexibility, go to NYC for the day and enjoy. Remove the risk of a flight delay misconnect and treat a "day of" flight as your backup.