Overnight flight?

[glasscannon.livejournal.com]

Hello all,

This year will be my husband’s and my first DragonCon ever.  I’ve read everything I can get my hands on so I feel like we’re fairly prepared, but I do have one specific question I’m hoping those of you with more experience can help with. 

We’re flying in from California, so we’re looking at a 4.5 hour flight, even in the non-stops, and a 3 hour time difference. We’ve reserved a room at the Hyatt for Friday through Monday, so the plan was originally to take the first non-stop out on Friday, which would get us to the Atlanta airport around 2:30. I know a lot of people get there on Thursday to get right into the festivities, but that wasn’t an option for us this year. But now I’m wondering if we’re going to miss out on a ton of stuff during the day on Friday, and be too tired from getting up before the sun to really enjoy Friday night.

Looking at tickets, I found one other option: a non-stop overnight flight. The one I’m looking at would land in Atlanta at 5:00am on Friday. Now I have no problem sleeping on the plane (it’s literally our family motto), and in fact would probably sleep better on the plane than I would at home, excited for the trip and worried about over-sleeping and missing a 6:45am flight. I checked the MARTA schedules and it looks like the trains start running around 4:45am, so there should be no problem there, either. 

I figure we can leave our luggage with the bell desk until we can actually check in (I’ve read as early as 10am at the Hyatt, from other people on these boards, but I think that was for a Thursday check in), get breakfast and do a little people watching, then get into our room much earlier than we would have if we’d taken the morning flight, and be able to make it to stuff during the day on Friday if we want – or just nap and be refreshed for the evening.

So those of you with a couple of DCs under your belt, which way would you go? Standard day time flight and getting to the hotel around 3:30 or 4:00pm on Friday? Or overnight flight and getting to the hotel around 6:30 or 7:00am?  Thanks in advance! 

Comments

[nyssa.livejournal.com]

Dragoncon aside - I'd say the overnight sounds like a better fit for you. You said it yourself - sleeping on the plane is fine by you, and you don't want to miss the festivities.

[alexdelarge78.livejournal.com]

Love your icon, any chance I can snag it for our Lord of the rings faction?

I'm a part of www.theonering.net

:)

[nyssa.livejournal.com]

No problem, go ahead! :) Glad you like it!

(I used to be a member over at TORn a loooong time ago. It's been ages since I've been there. Perhaps I shall stop by again sometime.)

[alexdelarge78.livejournal.com]

May I enquire as to which nick you went by?

[nyssa.livejournal.com]

Possibly 'nyssa', possibly any one of the internet aliases I used back then, including several LOTR-themed ones. It's been probably seven years, so I can't remember for sure. :P

[neovenom.livejournal.com]

I would say whichever option allows you to start your convention with the most rest, because you'll need it. I like the option for you to arrive early, having slept on the plane. There will be some hours you lose waiting in line, getting checked in, etc. So even an on time arrival at 2:30pm would probably mean you won't really get started with the con until the evening at best.

[genesis222.livejournal.com]

Speaking as another D*C newbie and West-coaster (WA), I am taking the red-eye option as well but I am flying in on Thursday morning instead.

But as an employee in the hotel industry it is a good idea to call the hotel first and make sure they will hold your bags. Especially if you are staying at a host hotel. They might charge to hold your bags for you or might not have the room to do so. Just something to think about.

[noelleleithe.livejournal.com]

The hotels hold bags all the time, so that shouldn't be an issue. They're used to it. :)

[bobmage.livejournal.com]

From my experience, the hotels will gladly hold your bags for you.

If you are one of those lucky people who can sleep on the plane, the overnight option is probably a good one. You can go straight from the MARTA to the registration line, and be one of the first 300 or so people through the door when they open at 8. What else are you gonna do at 7am in Atlanta? :)

[fiawol.livejournal.com]

I would also say take the overnight flight, and check your bags with the hotel concierge until they can regiger you at the front desk later in the day. There usually isn't a charge for that, but you are expected to tip the doorman who brings you your bsgs back. Hope you have a good time at the con!

[lilithschilde.livejournal.com]

Definitely overnight. Who knows? You may even get lucky and they'll have a room open for an early check-in! I'd call a couple days before and let them know when you're arriving and see if that's a possibility.

[midnighttheatre.livejournal.com]

I adore your icon :)

[lilithschilde.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[laurie-robey.livejournal.com]

I too recommend the red-eye. If you don't arrive until Friday afternoon, you're going to miss the whole day Friday because you'll still have to check in at the hotel and get through the line to pick up your badges, which can sometimes take a couple of hours.

If you arrive first thing Friday morning, as bobmage said, you can get through registration before much starts in the way of programming.

I envy your ability to sleep overnight on a plane!

[noelleleithe.livejournal.com]

I'm with everyone else in voting for the overnight flight. I couldn't do it myself, but thankfully I'm local. :)

[wookieegunner.livejournal.com]

Another overnight.

By the time you land at 2:30 and get your bags you will probably be 3:00 or later to get on the Marta. Now according to the Marta schedule, the N/S train and the NE/S train both run from the airport to the Peach Tree Center ( http://www.itsmarta.com/getthere/schedules/index-rail.htm ). Peach Tree Center is attached to the Hyatt so if you don't mind carrying luggage up stairs (the station is below ground) this would be the quickest way at 20 minutes. To make math easy we'll say 30 minutes to include getting from the station to the check-in line. That puts you at 3:30. Next is standing in line to check in. Let's say another 30 minutes. Now we are at 4PM. Getting your badge, 30 minutes walking plus an hour in line. Now we are at 5:30. And this assumes stuff goes smoothly. It would not surprise me to see up to an hour at check-in and 2 hours at badge collecting (depending on how you hit the crowds) so you could potentially be at 7:00PM before you are actually ready to Con.

[keirandyl.livejournal.com]

We do the overnight thing ourselves being from the pacific northwest the flying time is a little farther and less likely to have direct flights (for a good price that is). IF you can't come on Thursday then overnight is the best. Call the hotel and ask for early check in if possible. Tell them the expected arrival. We usually don't have to wait long for our rooms.

[memysza.livejournal.com]

Depending on how light you travel, I will say there is an escalator up from the station to the mall level at Peachtree Center. A solid 20 minutes, maybe 30 sounds about right for the trip. The only thing to check is if trains are less frequent at the earliest hours on MARTA.

Badge collection times may or may not be different this year because that is now at the Sheraton.

I flew in early Friday last year and it was really nice to be in Atlanta by late morning and not have to rush off immediately into something. I got a good lunch and some planning time before things kicked off, which balanced out my sleep deprivation.

[eidolon-bird.livejournal.com]

Another west-coaster voting for an overnight flight.

Besides the whole luggage retrieval/MARTA/hotel/badge pick-up thing that's already been discussed, there's one other huge issue to consider: elevators.  Getting an elevator at the Hyatt can be an absolute nightmare - 4pm Friday afternoon shouldn't be too bad, but it most likely would be much easier to cart your stuff up to your room if you arrive and check-in earlier in the day.

[glasscannon.livejournal.com]

Thanks for all the replies! Unanimous on the overnight flight, wow. With all the input from you guys, the hubby and I are ready to book that overnight flight -- but as soon as I clicked through on the webpage, I found the price had gone up by about $135 each. The during-the-day flight is still the same price, of course. ;P Ah well, guess I'll be lurking around on Orbitz for the next few days to see if it goes back down, sigh.

Thanks again!