Is 36min connection time enough at MSP?
 

As above... I'm surprised this is a legit routing. It's also going to be the last plane out that night to my final destination, will Delta hold the flight? Diamond btw...

If your plane arrives on time, sure, it's enough - especially as a Diamond since I assume you'll be sitting closer to the front.

If it doesn't arrive on time, then you may miss your flight. So if a 1 out of 10 or so chance of an overnight stay in MSP is too high then it is not a sensible connection time for you and you should book a longer connection.

Delta will not hold your flight for you (although some very slight leniency is sometimes used on the last flight of the night you should not expect it).

There is also another flight departing later that day, although it gets be back home at 12am instead of 9pm. Assuming it's not fully booked, will my Diamond status help to ensure that I will get on that flight?

It will help to ensure you are a priority to get on that flight, but no certainty that you would get on. Have you never misconnected as a Diamond?? (not trying to sound rude--just impressed!)

I just got Diamond a few months back. I spent $250k on my DL cards to get it. Don't really fly that much, and normally I don't do tight connections.

I'm assuming IF I know the flight is going to be delayed, I can call up Delta and do SDC to the other indirect flight?

This is the standard question of what the consequences are of a misconnect. It's within MCT and thus "legal" but has no margin for delay.

If you misconnect, DL will put you on the next flight with availability. If there is no availability, your status may place you higher on the WL, but that doesn't mean you get on the flight.

Not necessarily--but possibly. Depends if your fare class is available on the other flights. Again--if you absolutely must be there that night, I'd book a seat in something that gives you a longer layover. Otherwise, at the first sign of trouble, you would be correct to call Delta up to get an agent to work on alternative routes the day of. (which COULD include SDC, but could very well just be standing by for the next flight)

I fly 4-5 segments a week and have been for almost ten years. I have been Diamond for as long as the level has existed.

In all that time I have missed my connection three times. And Delta has held a flight for me twice.

As for your case, if you are INBOUND on a regional carrier and have a pink-tagged bag, beware you may need to wait in the jet bridge for it. I have waited for up to 15 minutes for that, and so when I am on a tight connection I always check my bag to avoid that added delay.

I think it's probably pretty common. The majority of Diamonds are at Delta hubs where connections are rare. I've only connected on DL metal maybe 2-3 times in my life (the number goes up if you count SkyTeam partners but that's a whole different beast). As such I've never misconnected on DL (although VIPR did proactively make me miss my connection once... but I made my original connection anyway, except in way worse seats - thanks DL).

Welcome to the "I hate VIPR" club.

If you arrive on a regional jet at B16, the very end of B concourse, and your next leg is leaving from F16, and you have to wait for a gate-checked bag, and the A-C-D tram is down or you just miss one, and you have 21 minutes to get there (36 - 15)... yeah, you could miss under those circumstances.

FWIW I pretty routinely board last and have literally never seen the door shut at T-15.

That's because Delta closes the door at T-10 (at the earliest) and not T-15. I've definitely seen T-10-ish minute door closures (which, ironically, always then seem to be followed by a 7-10 minute wait at the gate before the actual pushback). They say you need to be at the gate 15 minutes before departure, but they do not close the door until T-10 at the earliest unless all pax have boarded. And T-10 is rare, especially at hubs.

Does anyone know if DL takes pax status into account when deciding to hold a flight? My assumption is that they don't, that they hold it if they can without causing more problems down the line (crew time out, delaying pax for connections at destination, etc) and/or if holding it will prevent them from having to pay for a bunch of hotel rooms.