Do You Book Flight with Stops

We're flying from Toronto to Miami or Fort Lauderdale for our cruise. We fly in the day before but I'm always worried of selecting a flight with 1 stop vs direct as you just never know. But, of course the flights with 1 stop are cheaper...and I suspect even more so over march break.

Just wondering if others only book direct when flying for a cruise (since if you miss your flight and can't get on another in a timely manner, you'll miss the ship)? Or do you take the chance.

Also, what is a 'safe' amount of time for a connecting flight? A lot of them are listed as 1hr (or less) which seems very tight.

Where we lived we had no choice.

We developed the ability to travel with "only carryons" and so never lost a bag. And never were late to arrive due to flight cancellations or rescheduling.

Our 'stop' was often in Charlotte, occasionally in Atlanta.

Remember, you only read about the problems a few people have with connecting flights...and you never hear about the millions who connect with no problems at all. Only problems are "newsworthy", successful travel doesn't sell papers (or time on newsbroadcasts).

The "safe" amount of connection time varies on the airport, and like so many other things, also varies by personal comfort level. There are airports that I am comfortable with a 45 minute connecting time, and others that I worry about a 90 minute connection time.

You have to remember there are other issues with connection times....does your luggage make it? Does weather affect connection time? Changing from big to small plane, potentially meaning a long walk to gates. So on and so on...

We take non-stops whereever possible.

Very true about when you actually hear of flight issues. :-)

So for a week cruise...or even a four day one...definietly couldn't manage a carry one only (my husband could but no way for me). That's great that you make it work can as that really helps.

The "safe" amount of connection time varies on the airport, and like so many other things, also varies by personal comfort level. There are airports that I am comfortable with a 45 minute connecting time, and others that I worry about a 90 minute connection time.

 

You have to remember there are other issues with connection times....does your luggage make it? Does weather affect connection time? Changing from big to small plane, potentially meaning a long walk to gates. So on and so on...

 

We take non-stops whereever possible.

Exactly...my worry of connecting flights. Never done it for vacation but as you say...weather, luggage transfer, and even some airports are huge so to walk from one terminal to another can take time. I'm actually amazed at how many flight options have say 55 minutes in between...and this will be at large airports such as Chicago.

For my upcoming cruise, there are no non-stops between Sacramento and Miami/Fort Lauderdale/Palm Beach Airports. However, I also only gamble with same-day flights if my cruise departs out of a California port. My layover is in Washington DC for 90 minutes to Florida, and 67 minutes back home. I also will be arriving on a Monday for a Friday cruise departure because I haven't been to Miami before.

My flight search site has been Kayak. You can set the parameters so that there is a minimum layover time and the earliest time your flight back home. (no flights before noon)

You said you will be departing from Toronto, Canada. Per the airport website, you will be screened by United States Customs prior to boarding your flight. Cool.

Unless there is a significant savings I avoid connections wherever possible. While the risk of anything going wrong is minimal I put a value on my time and would rather be enjoying the destination than in a departure lounge on the way to that destination.

You have the perk of living in one of the largest metro areas in North America, so you have a lot of nonstop flights. Many, many people don't have the option of flying nonstop to their cruise and have no problem making a stop somewhere...some people even may have to make two stops. Especially leaving a day in advance, I assume the vast majority make it without a problem. For example, I can fly halfway (or more) around the world with two or three stops and usually make it on time with all of my baggage.

Is nonstop best? Heck yeah, I'll almost always take it if it's an option. But there have been cases where I can save a couple hundred dollars per person by making a stop, and I'll definitely heavily consider doing so. The amount of time I have as a stop depends on (a) the location, (b) the anticipated weather, and © my general comfort level. I would take a shorter layover at, say, Dallas in September than I would in Chicago in January.

Just wondering if others only book direct when flying for a cruise (since if you miss your flight and can't get on another in a timely manner, you'll miss the ship)? Or do you take the chance.

 

Also, what is a 'safe' amount of time for a connecting flight? A lot of them are listed as 1hr (or less) which seems very tight.

My home airport is CHS (Charleston SC). As airports go, it's on the small side, with only 15 gates. Nonstop service is largely limited to airline hub cities/focus cities, and a few other large-ish cities. There are no nonstop international flights, unless you count the seasonal, once-a-week charter service on Porter to Toronto, so nonstop service to European cruises or land-based trips is never an option.

For a domestic cruise I can technically get a nonstop to Boston, NY/NJ, Philly, BWI, FLL, MIA, or SEA; however, some of those are primarily seasonal ports or only offer limited itineraries (Alaska cruises only from SEA, Bermuda cruises only from Philly, Canada/NE cruises only from Boston, none of which I care to do frequently. Additionally, for many of those, including the most popular cruise ports near FLL/MIA, the nonstop service offered is limited to one airline with just 1 or 2 flights a day so the times often don't work.

All of that is a long way of saying that with the exception of trips to NY, I almost always connect when I fly. Occasionally I have a delay at the connection airport, but after spending the last 12 years flying 10-20 round trips/year, the vast majority with at least 1 and sometimes 2 connections, I have only once ended up stranded overnight at a connecting city (this was actually about 20 years ago), and my luggage has only ever been delayed a few times, and when it was, I have always (with the exception of one trip returning from Africa that included 4 flights, 3 connections on 3 different continents with 3 different airlines,) had it returned to me within a few hours, or by the next morning if my flight was in the late evening.

As for comfortable connection times, it varies by airport as well as by traveler. The minimum connection time for a domestic flight at ATL is 35 minutes. ATL is huge so that short of a time scares the bejeezus out of a lot of people. I don't usually voluntarily book a connection that tight (though I have no issue booking a 50-60 min connection there), but I know ATL extremely well and have no physical limitations, so I've made connections there in as little as 20 minutes (luggage made it too!) when the inbound flight was delayed. But again- I know the airport well, all gates are connected airside, the train between concourses is quick and efficient and I can move quickly. No way would I be comfortable booking an hour connection someplace like LAX, where I don't know the airport at all and all terminals are not connected airside.

If you have concerns about a particular airport, post here and almost certainly there will be someone who is very familiar with that airport to help you plan a realistic connection time, and give you tips on getting between concourses or terminals there.

I don't have any choice but to have a flight with a connection because of where I live. I prefer having at least a 2 hour connection and I always fly in the day before. I've had run in an airport before and I will avoid it if at all possible. If I had non stop flights as an option, I would simply because layovers are annoying.

You said you will be departing from Toronto' date=' Canada. Per the airport website, you will be screened by United States Customs prior to boarding your flight. Cool.

Unless they are flying out of Toronto Island Airport, in which case they will go through passport control at their first US port.

We're flying from Toronto to Miami or Fort Lauderdale for our cruise. We fly in the day before but I'm always worried of selecting a flight with 1 stop vs direct as you just never know. But, of course the flights with 1 stop are cheaper...and I suspect even more so over march break.

 

Just wondering if others only book direct when flying for a cruise (since if you miss your flight and can't get on another in a timely manner, you'll miss the ship)? Or do you take the chance.

 

Also, what is a 'safe' amount of time for a connecting flight? A lot of them are listed as 1hr (or less) which seems very tight.

If you are going to fly during March break and want to spend time catching connecting flights then choose an airline with multiple daily flights to your destination. Also make sure you choose the earliest flight possible so you have a greater chance of recovery should weather, mechanical failure, or crew delays occur. If you take the last flight out and something happens there will be no more flights until the next day.

Thank you all. We just booked our flights for the summer cruise and went with direct (flying day before). It is an afternoon flight, but with big airline with many fights per day. It was more than we wanted to pay but it is what it is.

We also have March Break to book...which in the next month, all airlines should have their flights opened up. That's another one where I can see 1 stop making a difference in cost (but not sure we want to chance it when we have a choice of both). As Miss G says above, if we do select with a stop, then we will consider the advice of leaving early and airline with many flights (although I am sure at that time, most are 100% booked).

If it was me, I would opt to fly non-stop from Toronto Pearson to MIA or FLL. You have lots of choice at different price ranges if you wait for seat sales etc. especially for flights originating at Toronto Pearson. If not already, add your name to Air Canada and/or Westjet's mailing list so that you are notified when they have seat sales. For the money saved in connecting you will most likely spend it on an airport-priced lunch, snacks, magazines etc. or potentially a hotel.

We're flying from Toronto to Miami or Fort Lauderdale for our cruise. We fly in the day before but I'm always worried of selecting a flight with 1 stop vs direct as you just never know. But, of course the flights with 1 stop are cheaper...and I suspect even more so over march break.

My experience is that direct flights are almost always much cheaper than flights with 1 stop!

We always fly with British Airways when we can so whereever we go we always fly via Heathrow. Most of the times a direct flight should be cheaper but we then choose to pay more and fly with British Airways.

I have been using Air Transat to fly to FLL, cheaper than Air Canada and Westjet with direct flights.

I would pay more to have a direct flight.

Non-stops aren’t an option for us. Many times we’ve had issues with flights being delayed and connections potentially being missed. If this happens, we are very proactive and research any other flights that could get us to our destination. When approaching the agent at the counter, I offer suggested alternatives instead of screaming at them like many passengers do and they gratefully get us on any flight we ask about. We are always flexible. If cruising from a FL port, I will say, just get us to Florida. Anywhere in FL is 1400 miles closer than home. We also never, ever, ever fly in the day of embarkation! I cringe when people do!

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I have been using Air Transat to fly to FLL, cheaper than Air Canada and Westjet with direct flights.

 

I would pay more to have a direct flight.

I noticed an Air Transat flight pop up for our March break cruise that was a really good price (only Air Canada and Air Transat have reached our dates). We have flown them before with no issue, but my worry is that they only have 1 flight that day. So if any issues, then we may not get out and another risk to miss the cruise. We fly the day before, but still a risk since the flight the next day would also be booked up.