<p>16 yr old is hoping to go visit her sibling. Most flights involve a plane change. Flight would be mid Nov. Choices are Detroit, Minn, Atlanta or Memphis. Last time she flew through Memphis but this time the layover is under an hour so not sure if that is the best choice. Any feedback on those airports? She has gone through Atlanta before but doesn’t like it.</p>
<p>Son has gone through Detroit a couple of times. He even had to change concourses and laughed because it was so close. I believe his connection in Detroit was about 1 hour layover and he had no problem. As long as the 1st leg of the trip is on time (always a gamble!) Detroit airport has been ok. He has a trip upcoming where he is going through Detroit with 1 hr. 10 min. layover.</p>
<p>He also like Lexington, Charlotte and Allentown if those are options for your D.</p>
<p>I like MSP. Nice airport, pretty easy to get around.</p>
<p>Sounds like she’s stuck on Delta…?</p>
<p>Atlanta is very very confusing >< I’d say avoid it.</p>
<p>Last time I flew Delta, I went through both Detroit and Atlanta (twice, coming and going). Every time, my arriving gate was about as far from my departing gate as it could be – and my arrival plane arrived late every time. I had to sprint through the airport. It was not fun, and I decided I disliked both Atlanta and Detroit airports. Perhaps if my flights had been on time I would have a different opinion.</p>
<p>Delta it is. She has frequent flyer miles on Delta. Being from Ca I am concerned about her getting stuck in bad weather in Detroit or MSP. She has vetoed going through Atlanta. Plus it seems silly to go from LAX to Atlanta and back to IND. She could fly non stop if she was willing to arrive at 5 am and take a shuttle. Her sister is kind but not willing to pick her up at 5am.</p>
<p>I am a frequent flyer & feel Atlanta is one of the worst airports in the world to make connections. Delta operates from 3 terminals (T, A & B) and you need to take underground subway among them or walk nearly 0.5 mile between terminals.</p>
<p>Detroit airport is very nice now (used to be a total dump). I think either Detroit or MSP would be fine.</p>
<p>I agree that both Detroit and MSP are excellent.</p>
<p>Bad weather may be less of a concern in mid-November if she travels through MSP or DTW. Both airports are pretty easy to navigate. </p>
<p>Personally, I don’t mind the Atlanta airport, but I agree that it doesn’t make sense to fly to Indiana via the southeast U.S.</p>
<p>Memphis is fairly easy because the Delta terminals are pretty close. Atlanta, kind of stinks to me, because everything is so spread out…the flights always seem to be late inbound, but on time outbound. I would want plenty of time for a connection in Atlanta. Detroit’s Delta terminals could potentially be a long walk, but it is a comfortable airport as long as there is enough time for the connection. MSP, same deal. I would also consider the possibility of backup connection flights if there was a misconnect. Is the child getting scheduled on the last flight out, or if there is a delay, is there a later flight? Honestly, I’d need to know the specifics to determine the best route. In the winter months, I avoid commuter connections in the Northeast, particularly turboprop aircraft. November should be fine.</p>
<p>I travel constantly, have been an airline pilot for 18 years…and am very careful what flights I book my kids on, when they travel alone.</p>
<p>This is a no brainer. Memphis. It’s relatively small compared to Atlanta, easy to change plans (especially Delta). I had never been through there until last year when I had to change planes (Delta). I found it to be an easy airport to navigate. I am an Atlanta resident so am quite familiar with Hartsfield. </p>
<p>If I can avoid it, I would always choose a southern city from the months Nov-March.
Much less chance of weather issues in general. I’d follow the advice of busdriver11 above–sounds like he knows what he’s talking about!!</p>
<p>actually I would say that you are less likely to have a weather delay at a Northern airport Nov-Mar, as they have the equipment to deal with bad weather (unless we are talking a blizzard!). Snow is a no-brainer for airports to deal with. Ice, however, makes things a huge mess and you are more likely to get an icestorm in the South than the North. Atlanta seems to shut down with a dusting of snow vs MSP keeps on going with 6+".</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Sounds like a red eye. I would do this…tell her to sleep on the plane and then have breakfast at the airport on her arrival. Wait for her sister to pick her up at a more reasonable hour. Avoid a stop if you can…especially when weather is a possible issue.</p>
<p>I agree with thumper1!! Non-stop would eliminate so many potential problems!</p>
<p>I agree with the above. Non-stops have so much to recommend over layovers in cities where one doesn’t know anyone. You never know when you’ll be stranded during a layover due to a plane malfunction or whatever and then what? (On the other hand, I never take red-eye flights unless I have absolutely no choice, but then I’m not 16. My 20 & 22 year old kids both prefer red-eye flights to stopping in strange cities where they don’t know anyone.)</p>
<p>I’ve been to all those airports and I would choose MSP. It’s nice big airport with lots of shops and food choices. And the chances of getting delayed by snow there in November are pretty low. That happens more Jan or Feb or maybe late December at the earliest.</p>
<p>
No worries-- Delta will be late!!</p>
<p>In all seriousness, agree that nonstop is the best way to go. Why waste a half a day on plane changes and such? Agree that hanging out at the airport and grabbing an early breakfast (if anything is open) is a good idea.</p>
<p>I am quite familiar with the Atl Airport, and yes its big, and yes, as its hub, Delta has a lot of planes on a lot of terminals. There used to be additional subways connecting the outer terminals but after 9/11 they closed those smaller underground trains. They did cut down on the walking though. I miss them.</p>
<p>The Atl airport was redesigned and expanded in 1980. Before then, I remember having to connect from one end of the airport to the other, and the walk (run!) was even longer! At least everything is connected and does not require bussed to other terminals or anything like that. The airport is big and laid out a bit like the Denver airport, thought I personally feel the Denver airport is a little more confusing.</p>
<p>Bottom line, if a 16 yr old is not comfortable with a big airport, then that makes sense to choose a smaller one, or, IMO a direct flight. Good luck.</p>
<p>My family flies Delta into Detroit 2-3 times each year. The terminal is very easy to navigate: the main terminal (“A”) is essentially one long rectangular building. There is a tram within the building that just runs from one end to the other and also moving sidewalks. I have had 30 minute layovers occasionally and no problem moving through the terminal. Even if one flight is in terminal B or C (mostly regional commuter flights, which the leg to Indiana may be), the walk is short and also involves moving sidewalks. In 30 years, I have never lost luggage or missed a flight ;). And my kids have also flown alone to and through the Detroit airport with no difficulty. As someone above said, there’s really not much chance of snow-related delays in November.</p>
<p>Have also flown through Minneapolis a number of times. The terminal layout is a little less intuitive, but there are plenty of services, food and shops to occupy one during a layover (we even took the train to the Mall of America during one layover). As I recall, there is quite a distance between the two most opposite ends of the terminal.</p>
<p>Non-stop may be ideal, but I wouldn’t hesitate to have my kids fly through Detroit, especially if it’s early to middle of the day.</p>
<p>Thanks. I need to act quick before all the FF mile trips in her mileage range are gone. She is firm about not wanting to do the non-stop flight. She has no school on that day so hates the idea of waiting around all day to go to the airport that night.
One problem I encounter is all the flights eastbound from LAX seem to leave in the very early am or late in the day. We have a 2 hour drive to the airport plus the time needed to check in which makes it impossible to catch one of the first flights out of the day.
Right now we are looking at eastbound through Salt Lake City and outbound through MSS. Unless something else interesting comes up this AM. She would do Atlanta if she had to. She visited a relative in Florida this summer and flew home via Atlanta also on Delta and handled it fine. It just is not her first choice.
When we pay for a flight we prefer to fly out of our local airport which is a 10 minute drive from our house. Unfortunately they are wanting 40,000 miles for those trips. H hates dealing with LAX.</p>