The school of hard knocks is a great teacher and that certainly holds true with layover times. This week’s Travel Tip Tuesday deals with layover times and the importance of using caution when booking a connecting flight.
It’s all about air travel this month! For the month of July we are bringing you air travel and airplane related travel tips and hacks. Be sure to tune back in each Tuesday for the next tip. And, you can read all of the preceding Travel Tip Tuesday’s here.Â
Travel Tip Tuesday Tip #27 – Watch out for those layover times
Whenever possible, book a direct flight. That’s just common sense. However, many times that simply isn’t possible. Be it destination (there’s not a lot of direct flights to Minot, ND from Ontario, CA). Or be it price. Or schedule even. Whatever the reason, sometimes we have to take a connecting flight.
When doing so, though, you need to pay special attention to the timing and length of your layover. Too short of layover could have your rushing through the airport. Too long of a layover and you will be bored out of your mind as you sit through a soul crushingly long layover.
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The shortest layover I’ve ever seen (and booked) is a 39 minute layover. It was a rookie mistake. It was through Atlanta, if I recall correctly, and if you know anything about Atlanta you could find yourself hoofing it between gates (especially if it’s in a different terminal). I made it, but not with more than a few minutes to spare.
The problem with too short of layover is that any sort of hiccup on your inbound flight can screw you on your connecting flight. The drawback to a really long layover is boredom.
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I try to keep my layovers hovering around 1 hr and rarely go below 50 minutes. And I always consider the airport itself and the logistics likely involved in making the connection.
Each airport has its own idiosyncrasies that must be considered. For example, DTW is a really really really LONG airport…with a separate terminal for smaller flights. You could find yourself having to hoof it to the smaller terminal depending on your destination (e.g. SAN to DTW to SCE guarantees a trip to the small terminal).
There’s an airline (I forget which one) that has you take a shuttle across the tarmac in DC (I think it’s Reagan, but I can’t recall).
It helps to know the airport and plan ahead when booking your connections.
Here are some more Air Travel Tips and Tricks
Since you stopped in, I’d encourage you check out these other articles we’ve written about air travel:
- 147 Business Travel Tips – the ultimate list of road warrior tips & tricks
- Top Travel Pillows – the best travel pillows for 2019
- 101 Travel Hacks for the Business Traveler – the Best Business Travel Hacks
- 11 Packing Tips for Travel (the best packing tips for air travel)
- 26 Must Have Travel Gadgets & Gear to add to your travel kit
- Product Review: Travelpro Luggage Crew 11 21″ Carry-on Expandable Spinner with Suiter and USB Port, Black
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Thanks for tuning in to Travel Tip Tuesday again
Thanks for tuning in this week! Please check back each Tuesday for a new travel tip. This July we are focusing on air travel tips and tricks.
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- The Ultimate List of the Best Travel Blogs 2019 Edition
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2 comments
As a frequent traveler, I try to book 2 hours for a layover. While it might add a bit of time to my travel, I’ve been burned too many times with short layovers that were missed because of flight delays.
Yeah I can behind that – makes sense. 2 hours is a bit long for me (as a biz traveler), but it’s not horrible, really. 1.5 is better :-). Hope you are well, Patti!