kop84

I guess for me (us I suppose) it's risk vs. reward. If I take the 30-45 min connection over the 2 hour connection, I can keep ~90 minutes of my time either at home or my destination. I'll only gamble for those 90 minutes if I'm only risking 2-3 hours. If I'm gambling 4+ hours or a forced overnight, the odds are no longer in favor of the 90 min savings.

It's a conservative strategy, but maybe it's because I've (and most of us here) seen what can really go wrong with poor planning.

carljanderson

I tend to try give myself a little time if I need to connect, especially if it is the last flight of the day to my destination. Luckily for me, its mostly at SLC.

Zorak

This applies for me as well. So in most cases whatever I do to kill time during a layover is something I was going to do when I got where I was going anyway, thus I haven't really lost anything by increasing my connection time (or for that matter, taking a longer routing, since what I'm doing usually doesn't require low latency or high bandwidth, so as long as Gogo is vaguely usable... )

I realize that doesn't work for everyone though.

KenfromDE

Being a bargain seeker, in addition to maintaining a good seat, place to put luggage, etc., a major reason is this: Having bought a NW lifetime lounge pass, I want to get the most for my money. This means allowing enough connection time to use it for myself and guests as many times as possible in the Skyclubs. It's down to $6.80 per admission and still dropping. Needless to say, the improved food has made the visits more enjoyable.

Gig103

If I have a 10 day vacation, I don't want to lose one of them because a misconnect on a once-or-twice daily international flight. Being re-accommodated also means losing my selected aisle seat or possibly being not seated near my wife. Once, the only replacement availability (due to a cruise departure) was a Jetblue economy seat when I had paid for AA F. I was glad to make it but the reimbursement for the wrong cabin didn't fully compensate me.

If I can avoid those types of situations by planning a longer layover, so be it.

pvn

Do you buy flights with connections when a nonstop is available just to max it out?

MEMLawGuy

Being MEM based and having what seems like 90% of my flights go through ATL, I usually pick the short connection. This is especially true on the way home because if I miss one flight, there is another leaving an hour after it.

That said, those choices are for work travel, where I'm travelling alone and usually arrive the day before and leave the day after any meetings I have.

For leisure travel, I want to maximize my time at the destination, but I prefer the 1+ connections because my wife and/or kids are with me, placing a premium on keeping routing/seats in tact. I have a trip to San Diego planned where I had to book a 38 min connection via ATL because we can't make the earlier departure from MEM due to childcare arrangements. I'm a little nervous about that one because if we missconnect, we lose the whole day in SAN (12:45pm arrival vs almost 7pm arrival).

And as anyone who has young kids knows, vacations without the kids (as this one is) DEMAND maximizing your time at the destination!

Zorak

I mostly agree with you, in that I would not add a connection or lengthen one for the purpose of visiting one. Although, all other things being equal, schedule permitting etc. I might book a slightly longer connection after a redeye if would give me time for a shower.

ATOBTTR

"Weird" is in the eye of the beholder and is going to vary from person to person. And this forum is filled with users that many other people would find "weird" for finding value in airline status (and who do "weird" things to achieve it). I have family member who find it "weird" that I would pay $400 to fly DL when AA is $350 and Spirit is $250.

anc-ord772

Timely thread. I was agonizing over a 45 minute connection at SEA. If I get in late there is an AS flight I can get pushed to.

I am going to let it ride and not worry.

SJC ORD LDR

I've had no fear of short connections at most airports.

Explorer789

I avoid it as much as possible, unless I am certain that the flight has a consistent record of arriving at a given time and that airport transit time is minimal (e.g. connecting flight is within the same terminal). Although the airline is obligated to book you a new flight and provide additional compensation where required, it just isn't worth the stress or headache to deal with GAs and customer service to get it sorted out.

SpinzCity

Leisure traveller priorities here:
AMS: 5 hours please (lounge, maybe shower); 9 is cool too for daytrips;
CDG: 4 or 5 hours mandatory (inc. lounge, shower);
ATL: 3 hours - - thunderstorms then no real problem;
MSP DTW even SLC: 1 hour generally okay; 3 hours okay too;
LGA: always 3 hours plus - - delays are the norm;

One hour quickies are nice: 1) if there is protection on a later flight; 2) if losing the prime seat on the ongoing connection does not represent disaster; 3) if VDB is not in the picture (longer layovers allow time for schmoozing at the gate). But international connections? Three hours minimum, 5 hours no problem; more than that can be a benefit sometimes, in fun connecting cities.

KenfromDE

Of course. (You've got my number) And it is usually a less expensive fare.

Miesque

That is pretty much my policy on each point. Having a buffer makes it less stressful. Also, I fly First and nothing will screw up my trip more than having to fly coach because I didn't make my connection. I do have to emphasize that Sky Clubs do make connections a lot more tenable.