Given a choice, almost no one actually likes connection cities.
Sometimes cost is an issue. Sometimes nonstops are not available. And sometimes, even if a nonstop IS available, the times are inconvenient at the connection cities.
Decades ago, as a young travel agent I had a client who hated Washington Dulles Airport. So much so that she cheerfully connected in Chicago, flying from San Francisco to the much closer National Airport. And I do have occasional clients who prefer to break up really long international trips.
But in general, air travel feels increasingly difficult and prone to delays. Most of my clients want to avoid changing planes, if possible. Increasingly, I’ll have clients drive from Madison or Milwaukee to Chicago, from Fort Lauderdale to Miami, from Providence or Manchester to Boston, just to avoid connections.
When it’s not possible, however, there’s often the question: Where to connect?
There are several factors that matter — from cost and preferred airline to where am I less likely to get stuck?
One suggestion I make is to do the longest flight first. For example, connecting in Washington, Dulles, to get to Charlottesville, Virginia, means that driving when a flight is cancelled is theoretically possible, whereas connecting in Chicago doesn’t have that option.
For years, my stock answer in winter was “warm weather airports are safer.”
But that, sadly, is not always true. Especially this year.
While Chicago, Denver, and Minneapolis have had plenty of weather this year, those and other major cold-weather airports have been doing pretty well this winter.
But at time of writing, Charlotte is a gigantic mess. As were the Washington DC airports last week. Both cities traditionally do not have regular major weather issues. However, when they do have storms they don’t have the equipment and experience to handle them.
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Janice Hough is a California-based travel agent a travel blogger and a part-time comedy writer. A frequent flier herself, she’s been doing battle with airlines, hotels, and other travel companies for over three decades. Besides writing for Travelers United, Janice has a humor blog at Leftcoastsportsbabe.com (Warning, the political and sports humor therein does not represent the views of anyone but herself.)
