Connecting flights are harder and harder to catch

There’s a piece in the NYT Travel section today about the difficulties many business travelers face when trying to make connecting flights:

The noon flight was overbooked, and the agent asked for volunteers who would accept a $400 travel voucher to be bumped to a later flight in the afternoon. Assuming he would be delayed only about an hour, Mr. Marasco volunteered.

But the later flight was canceled, and the afternoon stretched into evening, taking on elements of an old TV game show as agents and passengers haggled over potential prizes and penalties. A night flight had a seat open, but would arrive in Atlanta with only about 15 minutes to catch the last connection to Jacksonville.

One of the tips I posted last week for avoiding long travel delays and lost luggage was: only fly nonstop.

I realize that it’s not always an option to avoid flights with stopovers or connections, but it’s also sometimes a good idea to look at driving options.

If you’re flying in to Burbank on a connection, but you could fly into John Wayne direct and get a cab or rent a car, you’re only an hour’s drive away from Burbank (OK, assuming it’s not rush hour). In the end, that’s probably faster than missing a connecting flight…