injera

Book EWR->MSY with a 42 minute connection in ATL when traveling with a 2.5 year old?

pay $40 more p/p and have a 3h 20min connection in ATL? (would be an earlier flight out of Newark and same flight ATL to MSY)

pay $175 more p/p and take a non-stop out of JFK with an additional $100 cost for Uber?

This will be a Saturday afternoon in April (Easter weekend) so i'm hoping it wont be too crazy of a travel day. If we miss our connection in ATL there's a flight 2 hours later to MSY.

With a layover this short - i'm thinking its easier to just check the stroller and run with him on my back through ATL (they dont have golf carts like MSP right?) then gate check the stroller and have to wait for it at ATL. Thoughts?

I have full confidence that if my Newark to Atlanta flight is on time that our bags will make the short connection.

RRDD

Don't run with a child on your back.

42 minutes is doable, but uncomfortably tight with a child. Keep in mind a "plane train" ride may be required between terminals.

injera

yea - i've had connections that have been 1 gate away, and connections where i'm going from the end of T to the end of D. I feel comfortable navigating myself through ATL and am sure that walking at 'adult' speed would easily allow me to make this connection if i were alone.

I'm curious about gate checking a stroller or about any golf cart service like they have at MSP.

cmanc

My vote is direct - no worrying about missed connections or stressing if your flight runs late. If your flight is on time rushing thru airport with toddler not fun and if you have a 3hr connection then hanging about airport with toddler not much fun either. Unless a connection is the only option or a stop over helps break up a long flight we always choose direct.

Stygian7

Has he flown before? If so, is he a good flyer? If he is, easier, albeit more expensive to take the non-stop.

ive traveled extensively with my son since he was 6 months. He's a great flyer and always has been. If it were me, I'd take the long layover though, even though I know my son would be fine on the direct. Cost savings, plus he really enjoys watching the planes take off and land. We usually hang out in the Sky club. Flight times would factor into my decision also; I'm not about to go for a 5am departure with my son if I can avoid it, even if it means a long layover.

BHArt

I'd go with the $40 option and 3h20m connection, our 3 y.o. loves planes so that helps, but it's ample time to not only make your connection but also let them run around the terminal and burn off some energy. Gate check for the stroller is usually very quick, but that has pros and cons. It makes running through a terminal easier, but with the plane train at ATL, you'll also need to wait on elevator service up and down or collapse the stroller for the escalator.

fishsupreme

With my toddler (now 2yo, has been on 20 flights so far) I find that connections are actually better than nonstop. Fussiness seems to increase proportionally to the amount of time sitting in an airplane seat. Getting off one plane and onto another "resets" the timer and gives me another hour or so of happy toddler on the next plane (plus he likes takeoff and landing.)

mpheels

I would not assume the day before Easter is a light travel day - it will not be Thanksgiving or Christmas levels of busy, but there will be a lot of people traveling for the holiday. That is also a busy time spring break travel, and there will likely be large groups to high school and college students.

42 minutes is a pretty comfortable connection time for me as an adult, but probably not fun with a toddler. ATL does have carts to move people from one end of the concourse to the other, but they don't necessarily move faster than people walking, given the size of the crowd at ATL.

I would just pay the extra $40 for the longer connection. The extra cost for the direct flight from JFK is not insignificant, and I'm not sure that the non-stop is actually more convenient given the extra time needed for ground transportation to JFK.

injera

Thanks for the feedback. We actually searched again and found one thats $50 more but has a 1h20min connection. Will go with this one.

I prefer non-stops as well but I always figure the extra hour getting to JFK or LGA offsets the layover (not even thinking about the cost). My wife thinks different and will go non-stop at all costs. Of course i'm the guy who will fly from New York to Miami via Minneapolis. But $175/ticket * 4 pax is a pretty big chunk of change.

My son loves flying and usually does pretty well on planes - especially now that we buy him his own seat. He gets so exciting seeing all the airplanes and i've found Delta staff usually goes out of their way to make his flight pleasant (even in coach he gets offered a PDB of milk or juice half the time).

The easiest solution would probably just be to fly United. If only they weren't terrible.

third_wave

As much as I agree with you re: United, I think this is the easy answer in your case. It's not worth the extra hassle or cost to fly DL when United has 4-5x/day nonstops.

Cory6188

A bit of a side note, but a heads up, assuming that you live in NJ (figured as much since you're looking to leave out of EWR and JFK is $100 more via Uber): a lot of Uber drivers will refuse to take you to JFK from NJ, depending on where you live.

I tried to go to JFK last August via Uber from northern Bergen County, and I had 4 Uber drivers in a row cancel on me when I said my destination was JFK (I texted them ahead of time before they arrived out of courtesy since it was a long drive). I didn't fare much better with Lyft, either.

Just a heads up so that you don't bank on that and the end up panicking (with a toddler in tow) about getting to the airport in time for your flight.

ChangingNappies

Would I be faced with the same options, I'd go that way too. Long car ride to airport pretty would be in my eyes pretty much the same inconvenience as an additional flight. With $700, I can also bribe some peace from the kid

knit-in

Your solution seems to be the best possible. Well, perhaps not having to spent more money would have been better, but under the circumstances, this seems a good compromise.

pvn

Is the toddler going to be in a stroller? Will you need early boarding? If the answer to both of those is no, then I don't think the 42 minute connection will be a problem, especially if you have another flight 2 hours later just in case.

PDXpress

I had a 3 hour connection in ATL with my 2.5 year old a few weeks ago. If you're killing time head over to Terminal F. There's a lot more space for a kid to run around.

I still can't believe ATL doesn't have a single children's play area. But then again SLC doesn't either which, given the demographics of SLC, may be even more shocking.