More Sleep vs. CRJ 200

Both are early departures so the extra sleep probably won't amount to anything. The CRJ 900 is a newer, faster and more comfortable airplane, so just go with the 5:30.

I'd say sleep, it comes down to whether you want to be at the airport by 445 or 530. That's a pretty big 45 minute gap that will help. You could also do the 530am one trip and the 615am the next trip and compare?

I always pick the shortest travel day, so if you get there at the same time, go with the later flight. With delta I don't worry to much about the upgrade, especially on CRJs. The over head bins blow and I end up having to gate check my carry on which is a pain.

I'm still scarred from €¥£%ing US Airways, I always opt for the earlier flight in case they (any airline) behaved like US Airways usually did and

a) Ran late
b) Cancelled the first or the second flight
c) Merged the two flights
d) Moved connecting gates to BFE
e) Some other move to make me drink at 6:30 AM

tl/dr: Outbound I get the earliest possible flight, it gives me more options in case of Plan B

I'm 10 min from BTR

I just hate the 200 with an absolute passion.

Agreed. I love parking and security at BTR... however DL Terminal D pre check is fast. What kills me is simply my lack of options to BTR if shite hits the fan. If I am anywhere but the SE I am screwed. With MSY you have NYC, MSP, DTW, SLC, LAX, and ATL (I may be missing one) but with BTR it is all ATL. I like options.

That said- 530am would be my jam.

The 200s will stick around in some markets for a while. Certain markets command a high enough yield to fly but not enough volume for a 64 or 76 seater. Fortunately most of these places are out west and in the upper Midwest. A year or two back DL said they'd start to concentrate them at DTW for maintenance purposes and the fact that RJ markets are under 500 miles there. I think Delta's magic number was 500 or 700 miles being the max they'd put a 50 seater, but I could be mistaken.