Commuting from MSP to DTW
 

Anyone on here commute from MSP to DTW? I'm getting a place in MSP and will have to commute to DTW until I can hold MSP as a base. Should only be a few months. Just curious if it's a huge pain in the a$$ or what......

I have heard, although I do not personally do it, that it is VERY hard.

Oh and BTW...Welcome to the greatest city on the planet!! :)

MSP is an awfully nice place and I miss my old condo at University and Hennepin....

I'll be back.

I did it for two months. Its hard but can be done. The late night flight is usually empty but when something cancels have fun with that. The call in honest policy works well. The flights I always thought I wasn't going to get on, you do eventually. It only matters on the way back home.

I just finished doing it for a couple of months to sit reserve for 9E. The flights can be pretty full but they are also frequent. I never had to leave the night before to make it by 10:00 but I have had to sit up front and and/or taker the second flight.

The last flight out of DTW is usually about half full and will often have empty rows in first.

Commuting worked ok but i'm glad to be back home. I was also glad to have a crashpad there with a shuttle and breakfast/lunch.

It's truly a pain in the butt, but I've gotta say, as many times as I thought I wouldn't make it onto a flight, I frequently did in the end.

Needless to say, commuting around Thanksgiving and Xmas is absolutely miserable. Other than those times (and weather days) it shouldn't be too big a deal.

No one has mentioned it yet, so don't forget when going between hubs that you can connect at outstaions. When DTW-MSP is overfull and there is a line of mainline guys vying for the jumpseat any city served from both DTW and MSP is a potential way home. If you've got some airport appreciation time it never hurts to check out loads and come up with back up plans in case there is a feces/fan collision.

Try picking a place in the middle like GRB or MKE that are both served by mainline. You could also try smaller cities that are online for you. Don't know if you work for Mesaba or Pinnacle, but you could try CWA, MSN or something along those lines that you would have priority to the jumpseat.

How long were you in DTW before you could hold MSP? CA or FO?

This is a little off topic, but have you guys been to San Diego lately?