oleg

I am flying from NYC (JFK) to Anchorage, AK in June'05. The carrier is NWA. It is a 2-leg flight with connection in Detroit (Detroit-Wayne County Int'l,(DTW)). The time to make the connection is 35 min. I called NWA and they assured me that this is a 'legal' connection. They also told me I can check my luggage all the way to Anchorage from NYC, which eliminates the need to wait for the luggage & to re-check it in Detroit. This last statement sort of surprised me. Last two times I flew on AA they made us re-check the luggage before the second leg. But it was international flight. Do they still allow to check the luggage 'through' on domestic flights? And even if they do, is 35 min too tight a connection? Is anyone familiar with Detroit International airport?

Seamus

NWA has done a great job designing their Detroit hub, and 35 minutes should be OK. You won't have time to stop and grab a bite but should make the connection. Yes, you can check your bags through to your final destination. Not sure why AA made you do otherwise.

rkkwan

Only time you'll need to recheck luggage is when you have to collect bags and go through immigration/customs. For example, if you're flying London-Chicago-Anchorage. You'll need to recheck your bags with AA after you clear customs at O'Hare.

For domestic trip, or for connection from the US to international, you never have to check with anybody again.

AAFrequentFlyer

Every time you are coming off an international flight, regardless of the airline, you are required to physically carry the bag through customs, but technically the bag is checked through. All you do is drop it off once you are outside customs.

Keith

35 minutes is mighty short. I have a Detroit plane change coming up that is 41 minutes, that I am nervous about.

Though I feel a little better knowing the the plane on my second leg is almost always late leaving. In 3 departures on that flight, the earliest I have departed is 30 minutes late.

Keith

PONCHOTJ

Yes, 35 minutes is a short connection, but if you are flying the same carrier on both flights, do not worry. If for any reason you do not make your connection, it is the airlines reponsibility to put you on the next available flight. I do like to relax a little at the airport I am connecting in, specially to use a regular restroom and have time to walk to my connecting gate without rushing. See if you can arrive to Detroit on an earlier flight, and still connect on your flight to Anchorage.

Flyboy

Provided you arrive on time, you should have no issue at DTW with a 35 minute connection on Northwest because you will be arriving from JFK and departing for ANC from the "A" concourse. It is one mile long with gates on either side, served by a tram and many people movers. If there is a large terminal anywhere that is more convenient or easier to use than Detroit's, I've never seen it.

oleg

Thanks to everyone.
PONCHOTJ: I do have alternatives here. a) Another flight with greater connecting time in Detroit.
b) Another flight with connection in Minneapolis (1 hr 04 min).

Problem with alternative "A" is that layover time becomes 4.5 hours. This means I will be travelling for 14.5 hours instead of 10. Even 10 is waaaay too much for me but it is shortest available to Alaska from New York City area.

Problem with alternative "B" (Minneapolis) is that it is $150 more. Travel time is about the same (9.5 hrs) as my current DTW choice.

As Flyboy noted correctly, "provided you arrive on time..." I will pray.

Flyboy

oleg, you may also want to just eyeball your reaccommodation on a "what if" basis to ease your mind a little. There are many flights between Detroit and Minneapolis on Northwesdt. I've often taken bumps and reaccommodations out of DTW through MSP when it worked pretty well.

oleg

Flyboy,
I just did 'what-if' scenario and realized that I am screwd if my JFK - DTW flight is late. It is bad. There'is only one NWA flight to ANC through Minnesota that departs after 3 pm later than my flight. It is long and torturous. And arrives to ANC at midnite. There aren't many other airlines. In fact, AA has one more flight on that day. Through Chicago. Arrives 10.30 pm.
Well, what could I do? There are no direct flights to Alaska from NYC. Allow myself longer connection time? Take the risk and pray that my domestic McDouglas 2-hr flight NYC-DTW will be on time on a balmy June day? The reason I take this risk is that I hate long flights. But if I 'miss', I will subject myself to even a longer flight.

jcasale

Don't want to add to your concerns, but we have flown NWA through Detroit a couple of times now and will likely NOT fly them again. Both times we barely made our connection (and I believe it was longer than 35 minutes) because the flight was delayed going into Detroit. This past December we flew through there on Christmas Day and checked our bags through from Chicago to Bangor. The flight into Detroit was on time, but the flight out was delayed by over and hour (plus we had a long layover - almost 2 hours). So, there should have been plenty of time to get our bags on. Lo and behold, our bags did not show up for 5 days. We only got them at that point because we drove into Bangor to pick them up. And we could not get ahold of ANYONE at NWA to find out what happened or where our bags were. If you haven't booked your flights yet, try to find some other way to get there. Otherwise, make sure that you have at least a few days worth of clothing in your carry on luggage and get ready to run through the airport. There is a tram, but the stops are often not convenient for the gates you are going between.

oleg

Do you think going thru Minneapolis with 1 hour 04 min. connection time is a better option?

ejcrowe

I think Detroit is a lot easier for a quick connection than Minneapolis is, for the reasons Flyboy mentioned above. FYI, the luggage fiasco that seemed to hit Delta, USAir, and Northwest (albeit for different reasons) over Christmas 2004 was an aberration, not their normal operating procedure.

That said, I am always uncomfortable with a connection less than an hour. And as DTW is as pleasant an airport to spend a few hours in as any I've visited, if I were traveling I would opt for the longer connection in DTW, despite the added travel time. You could always book the later connection and then if you get in early enough you could try to fly standby on the earlier flight. Let us know what you decide.

Flyboy

I would book the short connection through DTW with the knowledge that your worst case scenario is likely to be ending up with the long one if you happen to be delayed. There is no point in volunteering for the long layover if you have a shot at making it very short and you will be reaccommodated regardless. The Minneapolis connection is okay, but it isn't worth extra money to book it that way.

clevelandbrown

Perhaps you should broaden your search to include other airlines. You might be more comfortable with a 12 hour journey that has plenty of connection time than with a 10 hour journey that may turn into a 16 hour journey.

I don't like short connection times because I like to be able to walk around a bit between flights, use a real bathroom, and eat some "real food".

I've been looking at visiting Alaska, and I know the Continental has some flights that connect in Houston and some that connect in Seattle, and I don't recall any that had me worried about the connection time, although I would have to agree with the prior posters that Northwestern does have a good setup at the Detroit airport. My experience has been (we often fly the same airline to San Diego) that airlines will shorten connection times, but when experience shows that too many people are not making the connection, they will adjust the connection time.

rkkwan

In case you didn't make the connection, there is the later connection via MSP that can put you on, or another one via SEA (SEA-ANC on a codeshare, flown by Alaska Air). Sure that will take longer, but you still get to ANC on the same day. If you take an earlier flight, you need to pay more and you still will have a long total flight time anyways.

Therefore, in my opinion, you should just take this risk. If you miss it, then you get there 7 hours late. Not the biggest deal, in my opinion. I wouldn't pay more to change to another flight, unless you have important appointment at Anchorage that night or early next day (like having a cruise ship to catch).

ssp

I am trying to find info on a similar issue traveling internationally. I have 50 min to connect from Italy to US, in CDG(france). Delta.com is coming up with that as an option, but I wonder if it is"legal" connection. Will I make it, and if not, do they just put me on the next flight out to US? Any ideas?

nibblette

If this was a flight posted on delta's web-site (Italy to US, not 2 separate flights of Itlay to CDG and then CDG to us), it is supposed to be a legal connection. Your bags will be checked through to the US. If you miss your connection because of their problem (late flight, air traffic), Delta is supposed to put you on the next flight out to your destination. Haven't connected in CDG so can't tell you what the airport is like to connect. But I have had a connection time of 35 min at Frankfurt on United. Had no problems.

ssp

Thanks, the lingo gets confusing, but it is booked all at once through delta.com, as a connecting flight. I think I am just gonna go for it. What's the worst that could happen, I get on the next flight, which could be the next morning. But for a difference of $700 I think I will take my chances.