diff --git a/client/src/App.test.tsx b/client/src/App.test.tsx
index 5b69b26cd..91d3db58b 100644
--- a/client/src/App.test.tsx
+++ b/client/src/App.test.tsx
@@ -421,6 +421,20 @@ describe('RootRedirect — preference not mirrored on this device', () => {
     await waitFor(() => expect(screen.getByText('TripPlanner')).toBeInTheDocument())
   })
 
+  // Waiting for someone else's effect to fetch the settings made the decision
+  // ride on where that request landed in the queue — behind ~380 others on a
+  // cold start, which is how the redirect silently lost the race and fell
+  // through to the dashboard. It now asks for them itself.
+  it('FE-COMP-APP-033: asks for the settings itself instead of waiting to be told', async () => {
+    const loadSettings = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue(undefined)
+    seedAuth({ isAuthenticated: true, user: buildUser() })
+    useSettingsStore.setState({ isLoaded: false, loadSettings })
+
+    renderApp('/')
+
+    await waitFor(() => expect(loadSettings).toHaveBeenCalled())
+  })
+
   // loadSettings leaves isLoaded false on a failed request so it can retry, so
   // the wait above needs a floor or a launch with no backend never resolves.
   it('FE-COMP-APP-032: gives up on the settings after the timeout and opens the dashboard', async () => {
diff --git a/client/src/App.tsx b/client/src/App.tsx
index a200addd8..701d6d6af 100644
--- a/client/src/App.tsx
+++ b/client/src/App.tsx
@@ -190,6 +190,7 @@ function RootRedirect() {
   const { isAuthenticated, isLoading } = useAuthStore()
   const settingsLoaded = useSettingsStore((s) => s.isLoaded)
   const settings = useSettingsStore((s) => s.settings)
+  const loadSettings = useSettingsStore((s) => s.loadSettings)
   const [target, setTarget] = useState<string | null>(null)
   // Bounds the wait below: loadSettings deliberately leaves isLoaded false on a
   // failed request so it can retry, which would otherwise strand a launch that
@@ -205,7 +206,14 @@ function RootRedirect() {
   useEffect(() => {
     if (isLoading || !isAuthenticated || target) return
     const mirrored = readStartDestination()
-    if (!mirrored && !settingsLoaded && !settingsGaveUp) return
+    if (!mirrored && !settingsLoaded && !settingsGaveUp) {
+      // Ask for the settings instead of waiting for whoever else might. The
+      // store de-dupes concurrent loads, so this is free when one is already in
+      // flight — and it stops the decision from riding on where that request
+      // happens to land in the queue behind everything else a launch fires off.
+      loadSettings()
+      return
+    }
     // Loaded settings are the truth; the mirror is what we knew last time.
     const { page, tab } = settingsLoaded
       ? { page: settings.start_page ?? DEFAULT_START_PAGE, tab: settings.start_trip_tab ?? DEFAULT_START_TRIP_TAB }
diff --git a/client/src/pages/login/useLogin.ts b/client/src/pages/login/useLogin.ts
index a7f8bf378..d6adffd4b 100644
--- a/client/src/pages/login/useLogin.ts
+++ b/client/src/pages/login/useLogin.ts
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ export function useLogin() {
   const [confirmPassword, setConfirmPassword] = useState('')
 
   const { login, register, demoLogin, completeMfaLogin, loadUser } = useAuthStore()
-  const { setLanguageLocal, setLanguageTransient } = useSettingsStore()
+  const { setLanguageLocal, setLanguageTransient, loadSettings } = useSettingsStore()
   const navigate = useNavigate()
   const location = useLocation()
   const noRedirect = !!(location.state as { noRedirect?: boolean } | null)?.noRedirect
@@ -85,6 +85,18 @@ export function useLogin() {
     }
   }, [redirectTarget])
 
+  /**
+   * Start the takeoff animation, and spend those 2.6 seconds fetching the
+   * settings instead of letting them sit idle. Whoever we hand over to then
+   * already has them — which matters for the startup destination, decided the
+   * moment we navigate, and otherwise racing this exact request.
+   */
+  const takeOff = (): void => {
+    setShowTakeoff(true)
+    loadSettings()
+    setTimeout(() => navigate(redirectTarget), 2600)
+  }
+
   useEffect(() => {
     const params = new URLSearchParams(window.location.search)
 
@@ -197,8 +209,7 @@ export function useLogin() {
     setIsLoading(true)
     try {
       await demoLogin()
-      setShowTakeoff(true)
-      setTimeout(() => navigate(redirectTarget), 2600)
+      takeOff()
     } catch (err: unknown) {
       setError(err instanceof Error ? err.message : t('login.demoFailed'))
     } finally {
@@ -214,8 +225,7 @@ export function useLogin() {
       const assertion = await startAuthentication({ optionsJSON: options })
       await authApi.passkey.loginVerify(assertion)
       await loadUser({ silent: true })
-      setShowTakeoff(true)
-      setTimeout(() => navigate(redirectTarget), 2600)
+      takeOff()
     } catch (err: unknown) {
       // The user dismissing the native prompt isn't an error worth surfacing.
       const name = (err as { name?: string })?.name
@@ -240,8 +250,7 @@ export function useLogin() {
         if (newPassword !== confirmPassword) { setError(t('settings.passwordMismatch')); setIsLoading(false); return }
         await authApi.changePassword({ current_password: savedLoginPassword, new_password: newPassword })
         await loadUser({ silent: true })
-        setShowTakeoff(true)
-        setTimeout(() => navigate(redirectTarget), 2600)
+        takeOff()
         return
       }
       if (mode === 'login' && mfaStep) {
@@ -257,8 +266,7 @@ export function useLogin() {
           setIsLoading(false)
           return
         }
-        setShowTakeoff(true)
-        setTimeout(() => navigate(redirectTarget), 2600)
+        takeOff()
         return
       }
       if (mode === 'register') {
@@ -288,8 +296,7 @@ export function useLogin() {
           return
         }
       }
-      setShowTakeoff(true)
-      setTimeout(() => navigate(redirectTarget), 2600)
+      takeOff()
     } catch (err: unknown) {
       setError(getApiErrorMessage(err, t('login.error')))
       setIsLoading(false)