Can you book a red eye?

[mcjohn]

I have a flight from PHL to ATL in the AM Sat. the 26th. I have to be at a wedding in Augusta GA that Sat. night. Problem is I HAVE to work back near PHL Sunday morning. I figure there must be a way to get a flight at 3 or 4 A.M out of ATL of all places! Nothing on any websites though. Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[RipCurl]

I have a flight from PHL to ATL in the AM Sat. the 26th. I have to be at a wedding in Augusta GA that Sat. night. Problem is I HAVE to work back near PHL Sunday morning. I figure there must be a way to get a flight at 3 or 4 A.M out of ATL of all places! Nothing on any websites though. Thanks in advance for any advice.

Aren't most red-eyes essentially repo flights that run from somewhere relatively far west to somewhere relatively far east? I'm not sure that ATL qualifies. If you were flying out of PHNL, maybe...

 

[smellthejeta]

mcjohn,

Most planes spend the night on the ground at the outstation. So, from a relative standpoint, the outstations have earlier morning departures than the hubs do, and the hubs have later evening departures than the outstations do. There will be a few single-city pair exceptions where there are heavy business travellers.

So, in plain English, you are more likely to find an early AM flight out of ATL on US than you are on DL. But as far as anything leaving that early, I'm thinking you are SOL. Nobody in their right mind travels that early. Wait, you can charter a plane, that will work!

Re: the comment about red eyes. I don't think red eyes qualify as repos anymore. When I travel on them, they are packed. And they serve a purpose for me, like if I want to skip a night in a hotel.

 

[LarryinTN]

Red eye's are typically coast-to-coast or long international flights.

 

[EMBATP]

airtran

I have a flight from PHL to ATL in the AM Sat. the 26th. I have to be at a wedding in Augusta GA that Sat. night. Problem is I HAVE to work back near PHL Sunday morning. I figure there must be a way to get a flight at 3 or 4 A.M out of ATL of all places! Nothing on any websites though. Thanks in advance for any advice.

check airtran...i know we have a lot of late departures from the hub in atl.....

 

[Big Duke Six]

As a last resort you could try some freight outfits. Might be able to score a ride in a Metro, a Lear or a Navajo...

Even they prolly won't depart until 0530 or so though.

 

[TheRaven]

Red-Eyes are normally West Coast to East Coast Trans-Cons which leave at 10 PM or so and arrive at 0700 or 0800.....there is a demand for this because people can be at work on the East Coast early but with "red eyes" from travelling all night in less than optimum rest conditions. If you leave LAX at 0600 to go to PHL or LGA you arrive at 3 PM and a whole day is wasted travelling, but with a red eye flight you essentially eliminate the travel down time cause you are asleep.

Do you honestly beleive there is a demand to fly from ATL to PHL at 0300 on a Sunday morning? Most people would either get on a 0600 flight and arrive at 0800, or travel out the night before if they had to be there earlier.

I'd say your best bet is to get out of your work obligation.

 

[mcjohn]

Thanks folks. One airline could get me from CAE to PHL at 9:47 am but then I need to drive 2 hours south for work that starts at 10:00 am. I'm screwed.

 

[EMB170Pilot]

I'll stand in at the wedding for ya

 

[mcjohn]

Please do. This wedding couldn't come at worse time!