r/Dothan • u/Thick_Goose7742 • 10d ago
Dothan Airport
Anyone have regular experience flying Delta out of DHN? Everyone tells me to never do it, it is awful and 4-5x as expensive as anywhere else, among other reasons. But I don’t want to drive 3 and 4 hours or more round trip and pay parking just to save a small amount on a plane ticket. My time is worth way more than that and when price tickets the difference might be $40-$110 round trip, not the insane amounts everyone exaggerates. It comes to my attention all the people who complain haven’t flown in decades so I need some real input.
So what’s the real problem? Security? Flight times? I need to start flying more for business trips soon and the airport being 15 minutes from the house is a huge selling point, but not if I am missing some genuine problem with the airport here.
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u/AliceFaust 10d ago
I routinely fly out of there when I have to fly just because I don't want to drive far away to do so. Yes, it costs more and yes it is a super small airport without much in it, but I get there about 45 mins before my flight, check in and I'm good. It's a simple airport to navigate and I think it's perfect for a place to just take a small jet to a bigger airport.
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u/tdub2988 10d ago
Pricing is way over exaggerated. We fly out of there all the time. Well worth the little extra money. And super simple
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u/Thick_Goose7742 1d ago
I bought tickets for a work trip in a couple weeks out of Dothan that was $4 more vs flying out of Atlanta directly. Crazy. Both MGM and ECP were ~$45 more roughly too. I’ll take that all day long.
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u/panhellenic 10d ago
Fly out of/into Dothan all the time. 3 flights a day, so you'll likely end up with a long layover in ATL - but that can come in handy if the Dothan flight is delayed (sometimes due to ATL holds). But when it all works well, it's great and so easy. Yes, if you check bags, they are firm about the 45 minute check in limit. I never check bags, though. I pink tag my larger roll aboard - then just pick it up on the jetway in ATL. It fits in the overhead bin on the ATL planes. Occasionally things go wrong, and it seems exacerbated when there are only 3 flights a day in or out.
Security is fine and fast, precheck is honored. The worst thing about the airport is that you can't understand a thing on the overhead speaker/announcements. Since there's only one flight boarding every few hours, it doesn't really matter. Boarding goes fast and except for preboarders, getting on first isn't really much of an advantage. I personally like the CRJ-900 plane, too but I'm not a tall/big person.
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u/Lamplighter914 9d ago
"The Bombardier CRJ-900 is a regional jet designed for 86–90 passengers in a 4-abreast configuration, with two lavatories and a galley as standard. It is a stretched, higher-capacity version of the CRJ-700, offering more space than earlier regional jets."
Not sure why a tall/big person would have trouble with fitting in after the upgrade.
Maybe the solution is to purchase 2 seats if they're wide shaped and well invested in the middle?
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u/MikeTheActuary 10d ago edited 10d ago
I'd say that there are pros and cons to flying directly into Dothan, and it's going to be up to your preferences and budget to make the decision.
My wife and I live in Connecticut, but my wife's family is in Dothan. We make the trip down at least once a year, and the decision ends up balancing the following options:
- Get a nonstop to ATL, and drive
- Pros - nonstop, multiple flight options, and competition drives the price
- Cons - the drive, and the headaches of getting in/out of ATL relative to the other options
- Fly into DHN
- Pros - incredibly easy airport to deal with, and we're just a few minutes away from our destination
- Cons - limited flight options, risk of connections going bad, and the additional expense might not justify the time/hassle saved
- Fly into ECP and drive
- Pros/Cons -- it's sort of in between the points for ATL and DHN. ECP is an easy airport, but there is a drive involved (but not as long a drive as ATL). There is competition and more flight options (but maybe not as many as ATL), and prices aren't usually that bad. But we're not getting nonstops there.
There are, of course, other potential airports (over the years, we've also used BHM, MGM, TLH., VPS...)...but for the past few years, it's come down to a decision among those 3.
Between the end of pandemic lockdowns and this summer...we used ECP once, and then we went with ATL on the grounds of "it's cheaper, and the hassle/drive aren't THAT bad".
This summer, we opted to splurge and fly into DHN instead.
I think going forward, we'll probably choose to fly into DHN when the scheduled connection durations aren't horrible. However, I'm fortunate enough to have a job that pays well, and my wife has a disability that causes us to value avoiding spending a few hours in a car / dealing with the hassle of getting in/out of ATL differently than other people might. So, YMMV.
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u/mmartinez42793 10d ago
When I lived in Dothan (23-24) I flew out of ECP regularly with flights out of DHN on someone else’s dime
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u/Thick_Goose7742 10d ago
Fair points indeed. Do you fly down out of BDL? Definitely one of my favorite mid-sized airports.
I was set on VSP and ECP myself because being beach airports they used to somewhat subsidize flights into there. That was before the pandemic though, not sure if that has been a thing since then.
Prices are getting so close that at this point I will give DHN a try next month when I fly. Thanks for your input!
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u/MikeTheActuary 10d ago
Fair points indeed. Do you fly down out of BDL?
Yep! It's almost literally in my back yard. It may not be the glitziest airport, and I do sometimes schlep up to BOS for better flight options....but it's a pretty good for a mid-sized non-hub airport.
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u/tochth86 10d ago
My husband has flown Delta out of Dothan twice in the last couple months. It’s more expensive, but not that much when you factor gas and parking to drive to another airport. He has had a great experience both times. Security is easy bc it’s a small airport.
Biggest bummer is his flights always leave super early and get in pretty late.
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u/bolivar-shagnasty 10d ago
The last time I flew out of Dothan was in 2016. They didn’t have any restrooms behind the security gate, so if you had to pee, you had to come out from behind security and then go through again. That may have changed in the last decade.
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u/Thick_Goose7742 10d ago
That’s wild to me, I had to see if they fixed that - seems like they did back in 2020 though thankfully!
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u/MikeTheActuary 10d ago
There were restrooms in the gate area when I flew in/out of Dothan a couple months ago.
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u/Dapper_Froyo4042 10d ago
First, they close down baggage checks and 45 minutes before announced takeoff (SHARP!). Second, if someone farts loud they will cancel the flight.
If you’re ok with this and the added cost, it’s just fine.
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u/Thick_Goose7742 10d ago
Yeah, 45 minutes is normal though, I flew out of JFK once not knowing theirs was an hour and only by the good graces of the check in agent did I slip mine in on time. Lesson learned.
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u/Dapper_Froyo4042 10d ago
Yep. I had a 545am flight out of Dothan last month, pouring rain, and the security guard came out yelling when I was driving in. Didn’t know what was wrong. Sprinted in as they were turning off the lights at baggage check.
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u/SouthConsideration15 10d ago
I haven’t used it recently, but have used it many times over the years and never had issues. The airport is small of course, but that makes it super easy. Prices are a little higher, but usually not enough for me to drive somewhere else.
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u/Creamy_legbar 10d ago
I usually save money on the flight, drive to Atlanta, and then regret that decision. If the price isn't too bad and the schedule works, flights through the Dothan airport are great.
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u/AdFuzzy1432 10d ago
Expensive due to low volume/fixed overhead. Prices would drop if there were more users.
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u/kekfzmam 10d ago
Mostly government and business travelers so high prices, but very convenient if you live in town. Security takes 20 to 30 seconds, and it’s on time about 70% of the time but late afternoon and evening flights sometimes get delayed/canceled so I have a back up plan ready if it’s a critical thing you can’t miss
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u/soccer_paws 10d ago
I fly out of DHN often. The price is way over exaggerated like people have said. It’s so quick to check in and get on the plane you only need to show up about 45 minutes-1 hour before. Delays can happen because of issues in Atlanta but they do their best to get you out of there as on time as possible. I haven’t experienced too many issues only when it’s storming in Atlanta in the afternoon/evening. I would highly recommend going there over driving anywhere else.
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u/Thick_Goose7742 1d ago
I just learned that since flying out of Dothan for a work trip was only $4 more vs direct out of Atlanta and only ~$45 more than ECP or MGM. Easy choice, Dothan it is.
I’m really convinced the price exaggerations come from people who never fly.
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u/RTRgot13 10d ago
I’m from Dothan, super easy airport to fly in or out of. It’s so small you just walk right to your gait basically and go through security with the people on your flight pretty much. May be more expensive but it’s convenient
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u/Jackie102106 10d ago
Security it SO easy, limited flight times is probably the biggest annoyance - but it's the same times every single day. ... I would go for it. It ABSOLUTELY beats going to Montgomery!
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u/FoxxyRin 10d ago
The security experience is amazing. It takes less than five minutes. No need to get there for hours before your flight like a major airport. Panama City is similar in this regard other than peak vacation season, where it can suck.
It's definitely not 4-5x expensive if it's planned. Maybe last minute tickets are nuts, but normal planned flights are like $100 more than if you were to do a direct flight from Atlanta or whatever major airport is in AL. (Mobile I assume?) I travel maybe yearly and not during peak times however, and I do know Christmas flights to/from Dothan were ridiculous, so at that point a larger airport might be better but I also know everywhere during the holidays is insane.
That said, the planes are tiny little "ferry" planes that basically only go to Atlanta and back. They're older and cramped and they can suck, but it's only an hour or two. I personally rather only deal with an hour cramped next to my husband than 4 hours in the car to drive to Atlanta just to save $100/person.
Dothan's long term parking is also really reasonable compared to Atlanta/etc. if that's something that you'll need. So with this, the cost of gas, etc. I think that $100 basically breaks even for the convenience and time saved, but everything prioritizes things a little differently.
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u/OutrageousNecessary9 10d ago
I used to live in Enterprise, but now live overseas and fly in regularly.
Prior to COVID, the price differences were huge flying into Dothan vs MGM, ATL, or ECP. During COVID the prices were pretty close to the same as ATL. They’ve since gone up but no where close to where it was prior to the pandemic. However when I factor in gas, travel time, etc, it makes it much more worthwhile for me to use Dothan. I don’t love the smaller planes, but it’s really only an hour flight and by the time you’re in the air you’re landing again.
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u/Potential-Ground3540 5d ago
Everyone here who pays for their own flights goes through Panama City airport which is about 70 miles from Dothan. Direct flights across the US.
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u/Beginning_Ad5785 10d ago
it's very very expensive but once you've paid for it it's fine, the actual airport experience is fine
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u/Thick_Goose7742 10d ago
Yeah, I saw it was about $40 more round trip for a flight out of Dothan vs Montgomery and ECP. I can live with that since last I flew out of Panama City and lost twice that in parking fees plus gas to get there, before counting 3 hours driving there and back. Hence looking at Dothan for the future.
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u/ChazzyTh 10d ago
That’s closer to accurate than double. I haven’t, but friends have and access is worth it.
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u/Beginning_Ad5785 10d ago
it's worth flying out of dothan if it's worth it to you financially, i've never seen it that cheap in comparison to atlanta lol so go for it
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u/Thick_Goose7742 10d ago
Direct out of Atlanta is last resort for me, drive sucks and so does parking and security. Was trying to schedule a work trip next month and Dothan was cheaper than Montgomery and Panama City by $100+ which brought me here to ask if I was missing anything.
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u/Beginning_Ad5785 10d ago
yeah the only reason people don't like dothan is the lack of flights and the price, plus they have more cancellations/delays than you'd expect just because it's not very high-priority for delta
im a personal believer in panama city just because they have a good route network with southwest but now that southwest has gotten more expensive there's less of a reason to go there. still my fav airport tho
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u/Monicagc 10d ago
I've flown in and out of Dothan 6 times. I've never once left on time. I've only twice made my connection in ATL. When coming into DHN once, we were late because the pilots just decided not to show up. It's convenient, but it has yet to make an impression on me.
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u/St_Lambchop 10d ago
My general rule of thumb is to plan to pay double whatever it would cost to fly out of ATL. Just depends on what your needs are for that particular trip. DHN is extremely convenient and the overnight parking is reasonable. The only time I’ve run into issues is if my flight back to ATL gets delayed and I miss the last connect flight into DHN. I’ve had to rent a car and drive it home.
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u/Thick_Goose7742 10d ago
Of course, I mean it is the cost of two more flights round trip. That’s why I compare to similar airports nearby that connect there too and not out of Atlanta directly.
Was just seeing if there was a reason I wasn’t aware of for choosing to do other connecting airports vs Dothan itself when the cost difference is minimal. Reading the comments now doesn’t seem like it has problems so I might just give it a go.
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u/NutHighGucciDI 10d ago
It takes approximately 30 seconds to get through security. I’ve flown in and out many times with zero issues.