Oh, Atlanta

Manchester, England 11:50 Saturday morning.

I was booked on Delta from Richmond to Atlanta, where I was to catch an 18:25 flight to Frankfurt, Germany. I figured I'd spend a day in Heidelberg, see a few friends, then continue on by train on Sunday to Berlin for a conference.

Lousy weather on the US east coast, with the remnants of some tropical storm bringing wind and plenty of rain. With less than an hour between flights in Atlanta, I figured there'd be problems.

Sure enough, the flight doesn't leave Richmond until 17:00. With a flight time of 1:15, that would put me in Atlanta right about the time my Frankfurt flight is to push back from the gate. Naturally, my Richmond flight arrives at concourse A, and the Frankfurt leg is leaving from conourse E.

So I get to my gate at around 16:35, and I see that the flight has been delayed to 16:50. Woohoo! I made it! Not. Delta had already removed me from that flight and put me on the 20:00 flight to Manchester, England with a connection on Lufthansa to Frankfurt, and a leisurely 4:30 layover.

To Delta's credit, it was probably for the best. There's no way my bag would have made it on the plane with me even if they hadn't already re-routed me. Only time will tell if my bag makes the handoff to Lufthansa and meets me in Frankfurt.

Moral of the story: Never, EVER allow the corporate travel folks to give you anything less than two hours to connect in Atlanta.