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50 minutes enough?

Chadly
Explorer C

I am traveling in January from MKE to LAS for my birthday. Doing a plane switch in STL, is a 50 minute layover sufficient, or is there an increased risk of missing the connection?

6 REPLIES 6

Re: 50 minutes enough?

DfDrPepper_23
Frequent Flyer C

Possible. If there are delayment leaving MKE and the chance are: You might miss it. If you having some concern try calling Southwest helpline. I dont' know if they can help you in case you missed connecting flight. Goodl uck with the trip and let us know if they are helpful to you.

Re: 50 minutes enough?

dfwskier
Aviator A

@Chadly wrote:

I am traveling in January from MKE to LAS for my birthday. Doing a plane switch in STL, is a 50 minute layover sufficient, or is there an increased risk of missing the connection?


When Southwet sells you a ticket wth a 50 minute connection, Southwest is telling you that it thinks you will make the connection. If you don't Southwest will rebook you on another flight.

 

Of course if your flight out of MKE is sufficiently late, anything is possible.

 

By the time you disembark your flight from MKE and walk to the LAS flight, it is likely that LAS flight boarding will have already started, so you will probably get a less desireable seat regardless of your boarding position.

Re: 50 minutes enough?

DancingDavidE
Aviator A

The STL concourse is easy to navigate, try to sit towards the front if you can, even taking a middle in the front vs window in the rear to save a couple of minutes.

 

if everything is on schedule you absolutely will make it, and have time for a bathroom break -  but the LAS leg will likely be boarding already so don’t take too much time on the way to the gate if you have a good boarding position that you plan to use.

 

If the gates are next to each other you may even have tome for a sandwich.

 

 

Home airport MDW, frequent visitor to MCO to see the mouse.

Re: 50 minutes enough?

ZevSupport
Frequent Flyer A

In my personal opinion, the airline won't usually sell a ticket/connection it thinks it can't meet. Keep in mind that a manifest usually details which passengers need connections, so they'll do what they can to move you along.

 

That said, certain things are always out of airline and human control. If you can take a later flight, it might be wise if this a season (aka winter) where ice and snow can delay a plane for even a few minutes.

 

Hope this helps,

Zev


Community Champion | PHL based | ex-Companion Pass Holder | Southwest Passenger

Re: 50 minutes enough?

Chadly
Explorer C

I wanted to clarify the routing.... MKE to STL (Change plane) STL to OKC then OKC to LAS. Kind of a round a bout way but.......

Re: 50 minutes enough?

DancingDavidE
Aviator A

@Chadly wrote:

I wanted to clarify the routing.... MKE to STL (Change plane) STL to OKC then OKC to LAS. Kind of a round a bout way but.......


Sounds fine to me!

 

1) If you did miss the connection for some reason, there will be other routes from STL to LAS that don't go through OKC. 

 

2) If you do catch the flight but end up with a middle seat, you'll be allowed to re-seat yourself after the local passengers deboard at OKC, and the STL to OKC leg should be a quick flight.

 

3) There's no change fee, so if you go online and find a more direct route or a route with longer layovers you are free to change although you must pay the current fare price which may be higher (or lower).

 

In particular for these quick layovers there are often two connecting options that use the same MKE-STL leg, and then have varying layover in STL to go to LAS - you could choose one that was longer if it suited you better when you booked.

 

 

 

Home airport MDW, frequent visitor to MCO to see the mouse.