sp4168 Posted January 13, 2018 Report Share Posted January 13, 2018 My interview is Saturday, March 17, at 8:30 AM. I am looking at a flight from Calgary to Hamilton on March 16, which would arrive in Hamilton at approx 4 PM. I am a bit concerned because March weather can be unpredictable, and this is cutting it a little close. It would be a nightmare to miss my interview due to bad weather and a canceled flight. There is an option to take an overnight flight leaving Thursday, March 15 at 11:45 PM. I am wondering if I should take this one instead, but not so keen on this either as I would arrive in Hamilton so early the next morning I would not be able to check into my hotel until hours later. I would take an extra day off and fly during the day on Thursday if necessary, but then there are extra costs for another night in a hotel, food, etc. Anyone have experience flying from a different province? I am not quite sure which option to choose and I would like to book my flight this weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamham Posted January 13, 2018 Report Share Posted January 13, 2018 5 minutes ago, sp4168 said: My interview is Saturday, March 17, at 8:30 AM. I am looking at a flight from Calgary to Hamilton on March 16, which would arrive in Hamilton at approx 4 PM. I am a bit concerned because March weather can be unpredictable, and this is cutting it a little close. It would be a nightmare to miss my interview due to bad weather and a canceled flight. There is an option to take an overnight flight leaving Thursday, March 15 at 11:45 PM. I am wondering if I should take this one instead, but not so keen on this either as I would arrive in Hamilton so early the next morning I would not be able to check into my hotel until hours later. I would take an extra day off and fly during the day on Thursday if necessary, but then there are extra costs for another night in a hotel, food, etc. Anyone have experience flying from a different province? I am not quite sure which option to choose and I would like to book my flight this weekend. CaRMS is not the time to save money. Always go with the safest option, even if it costs more. Edit: I am surprised there are CaRMS interviews in March for 1st iteration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted January 13, 2018 Report Share Posted January 13, 2018 3 minutes ago, hamham said: CaRMS is not the time to save money. Always go with the safest option, even if it costs more. Edit: I am surprised there are CaRMS interviews in March for 1st iteration. Medical school interview(?) I assume of course you looked into this but it is odd there are no other flights from Calgary to Hamilton or say Toronto available earlier in the day before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamham Posted January 13, 2018 Report Share Posted January 13, 2018 24 minutes ago, rmorelan said: Medical school interview(?) I assume of course you looked into this but it is odd there are no other flights from Calgary to Hamilton or say Toronto available earlier in the day before. My bad! Med school applications seem so long ago.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sp4168 Posted January 13, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2018 Yes, this concerns a medical school interview. I only have one more paid vacation day to use before March 31 this year. I could take a second day off, but it would be unpaid. I would do this if necessary, but that's why I prefer not to leave earlier in the day on Thursday, and that is why the options I presented involved leaving either late Thursday night at 11:45 PM or Friday morning at 7 AM. Is the general consensus that it would be better to leave earlier in the day on Thursday? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hopeful_med Posted January 13, 2018 Report Share Posted January 13, 2018 I had 6 med school interviews, 4 of which I had to fly (also from Calgary). Always arrived the day before the interview and never had any issues with flights Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Persephone Posted January 13, 2018 Report Share Posted January 13, 2018 58 minutes ago, sp4168 said: Yes, this concerns a medical school interview. I only have one more paid vacation day to use before March 31 this year. I could take a second day off, but it would be unpaid. I would do this if necessary, but that's why I prefer not to leave earlier in the day on Thursday, and that is why the options I presented involved leaving either late Thursday night at 11:45 PM or Friday morning at 7 AM. Is the general consensus that it would be better to leave earlier in the day on Thursday? Hey, I'm flying in from BC for the same weekend and arriving around 1pm to Toronto on March 16th, then taking the Go Train into Hamilton. If you are worried about cancelled flights take comfort in the fact that you can always ask the ground agent at your gate (should your flight be cancelled) to rebook you on a flight to Toronto instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
insomnias Posted January 13, 2018 Report Share Posted January 13, 2018 Two things to consider: 1) how well can you sleep on a plane? I can't sleep on planes at all. If I had the option between a red eye and non red eye, well, I'd take the non-red eye. If you're flying anyone other than New leaf, you can plan to fly into Toronto if weather gets bad and they cancel the flight to YHM but still have YYZ flights running. If with Air Canada, consider buying On My Way coverage. Don't check in any bags. 2) Most hotels that aren't at capacity the night before will generally allow you to check in early the same day for free / a half-day rate (99% of the time, it's the former). You can call the hotel (make sure you're calling the hotel, and not some central reservations line) and ask them whether they'd allow an early check-in and, if so, whether there are any fees. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted January 13, 2018 Report Share Posted January 13, 2018 11 hours ago, hamham said: My bad! Med school applications seem so long ago.... ha time does fly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted January 13, 2018 Report Share Posted January 13, 2018 10 hours ago, sp4168 said: Yes, this concerns a medical school interview. I only have one more paid vacation day to use before March 31 this year. I could take a second day off, but it would be unpaid. I would do this if necessary, but that's why I prefer not to leave earlier in the day on Thursday, and that is why the options I presented involved leaving either late Thursday night at 11:45 PM or Friday morning at 7 AM. Is the general consensus that it would be better to leave earlier in the day on Thursday? Personally I would not take the Thursday flight and go Friday in the am. There is plenty of time in case something is delayed, and most importantly as insomnias points out sleep is the primary concern there. You mess up your sleep schedule and put yourself at a disadvantage at the interview by doing strange late flights (imagine that flight is delayed a couple of hours even - when exactly would you get getting to the hotel? Or gets delayed even longer and you are stuck at the airport for sometime). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sp4168 Posted January 13, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2018 Thank you for the feedback, everyone! I am going to book the Friday morning flight at 7 AM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted January 14, 2018 Report Share Posted January 14, 2018 3 hours ago, sp4168 said: Thank you for the feedback, everyone! I am going to book the Friday morning flight at 7 AM. good luck with your interview! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sp4168 Posted January 14, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2018 3 hours ago, rmorelan said: good luck with your interview! Thank you very much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eyeheartbrains Posted January 27, 2018 Report Share Posted January 27, 2018 Hey, sp4168 it looks like you've decided already, but in case anyone else is thinking about this: I'm flying into Toronto the Thursday before my Saturday interview. I had a friend trying to get from here (Halifax) to Calgary over the holidays who was on the phone for two hours at 2am to make sure she got out on a flight the next day; my boss just flew back from Saint John and was delayed a full day for a storm. I'm also making sure to book direct flights (don't want to mess around with the possibility of a third place being stormy). Risk assessment: probability is low, but the loss would be very high. To hamham's point: this is not the time to save money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacMed2018 Posted January 28, 2018 Report Share Posted January 28, 2018 Give yourself a full 24 hrs if possible after you land to settle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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