Remember, the holidays have this nasty habit of scheduling themselvs at a time of year when weather is a major factor in air travel.  Now, if you’re flying from the northeast to the northern midwest, you don’t have many options.  But many of us do.

If you are traveling transcontinental or ir you are traveling in a way that requires transiting through a hub, consider very carefully your choice in hubs.  I have written about this before but its worth covering again. 

Let’s say you’re traveling from Albuquerque to Richmond Virginia.  You know you’ll have to transit at least one hub but which is the better choice?  Denver, Chicago, Minneapolis, Detroit, Atlanta, DFW, Houston, Charlotte, Cleveland and Cincinatti are all choices.   Now, many people choose the cheapest and fastest routing for such a trip but the real question during the holidays is this:  do you want cheap and fast or reasonable and certain?

You could safely eliminate Denver, Minneapolis, Detroit, Cleveland, Cincinatti and Chicago from the list of good choices.  All are subject to severe weather and most have a bad reputation for operating in severe weather (the exception really being Denver.)   Now, routing through one of those cities might be cheaper, but, is it really?  If you were stuck in Chicago with a flight cancellation, how much would you have paid to avoid that problem?  $50?  $100? 

And is time really of the essence or is getting to your destination with as little potential for trouble more important.  In most cases, I’m sure most of us would accept a slightly longer travel time in exchange for being much more certain of our arrivals.

Better hubs to search would be DFW (very rarely affected by weather), Houston (same as DFW) and to a lesser degree Atlanta and Charlotte.  Atlanta is always congested and while not subject to a lot of weather problems, it is a hub heavily impacted by operations at other Atlantic seaboard airports.  Charlotte is a minor hub but one that can be impacted by winter weather although not often.

Most likely, you could book through DFW or Houston for the same price (possibly less) and have a very high degree of likelihood in getting where you are going on time or reliably at the least.  No airport is totally safe and no airline is completely certain.  No connection is free of weather related problems either. 

Even if you were flying from Portland, Oregon to Virginia, your best bet is still via those southern hubs.   Yes, the flight may well take 1 to 2 hours longer but how does that stack up against the potential of being stranded for 5 to 8 hours or even days because you went through Detroit?  In most cases, that flight path would take no more than the same time to transit and sometimes less than it would routing through a northern hub.   The listed times might be shorter but the *real* times are often the same or better. 

Furthermore, it is far better transit a warm hub feeling secure about your flight and in no hurry to catch your next flight than it is to bet that Minneapolis will be snow free and you’ll save 1 to 2 hours on your travel.  It’s just not worth the hassle to you or the people you are visiting.

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In honor of the holiday season approaching, I thought I would start offering a series of tips on how to cope with holiday travel.  No doubt, some will be well known but I also hope to offer a better strategy than often supplied.

First, boarding passes and check-ins don’t have to be a battle.  Or, at the least, there are strategies to win the battle instead of limping onto an airplane with the pain of defeat.   Most everyone knows they check-in and get their boarding pass with most airlines online.  But having a strategy is important.

First, find where you should check-in and print your boarding pass from a couple of days before your travel.  This is sometimes buried inside the website and if you find yourself unable to locate it at midnight on Tuesday night for a Wednesday departure for Thanksgiving, you’ll be sorry.  Find it ahead of time and if you can’t, then you have time to call and get directed to it.  Oh and make sure you have ink in your printer. 

Second, plan your airport check-in.  In other words, know your airport and know where you *can* go for check-in.  If you have baggage to check and there are long lines inside at the ticket counters, consider a bag check at a check-in kiosk.  If that looks extremely busy, consider going outside and having a Skycap check your bag.  This may cost you $2 per bag plus a gratuity per bag but if you’re just checking a couple of bags and it costs your a few dollars, isn’t that better than sweating things out inside the air terminal?

There may be multiple areas to check bags at certain airports.  For instance, DFW airport has numerous check in areas for several airlines such as American Airlines.  Often all you have to do is go down about 8 gates, check in and walk back to your actual gate area.  A quick check in / bag check combined with a light walk is far more preferable to long lines and crowd, no? 

This same strategy will work for going through security.  Some airports funnel everyone into a central area.  If this is the case, show up extra EXTRA early.  This kind of setup will often be overwhelmed and can’t be relieved easily.  Still other airports make it possible to go through security at a variety of points.  Know where security is and how to transit through it.  It can save time and aggravation.

If you aren’t a frequent flyer member of the airline you are traveling on, become one and get the phone number that the offer for reservations.  If you arrive to check in and find your flight delayed or cancelled, that phone number could make it much easier to reach a reservations agent.  Write it down and put it in your wallet or, better yet, program it in your cell phone. 

Get someone to drop you off or pick you up at the airport.  Traffic is always murderous but parking is even more murderous.  Arrange for the person dropping you off or picking you up to have access to flight tracking (FlightAware.com or FlightStats.com are both good) so they know when they have to leave.  Make sure you have exchanged cell phone numbers.  If you can’t get someone to do this for you, consider leaving a bit earlier and taking public transportation where possible.  It sounds bad but it can be much easier to navigate and much more reliable for arriving at the airport on time.

Most important, get some sleep the night before you travel.  This is always the time when people stay up late packing.  You really can avoid that problem.  Pack early, get to sleep early (even if your flight leave in the afternoon or evening of the next day) because starting the day off with rest always keeps you calmer in the face of challenges. 

Eat.  Eat something good for breakfast (again, even if you’re leaving much later in the day) and eat prior to getting on the airplane.  Avoid sugar or massive carbohydrates.  Try to have some protein such as a hamburger and avoid alchohol.   A hamburger will keep your temper more under control than, say, a candy bar and a cup of coffee. 

The central point is to leave early, know where you are going, have a back up plan and have enough information about your airline and the airport to deal with a problem.  Leave time for yourself to accomplish the tasks of check-in and if you have a chance to save sometime, even if it costs a bit of money, take it.  You may need that time later.

Filed under: Travel Hints by ajax
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