Do you think a 32 minute layover in Houston is enough?

[mediumone]

United is really bad for that, they will not give a **** if you miss your flight. I learned that the hard way. I never fly with United again after that.

We were on an American flight out of CUN two years ago. While fueling up, the shutoff valve didn't work properly, and fuel spilled all over the tarmac. We departed an hour late for DFW.

In DFW, the baggage handler recognized our time crunch, and escorted us to the closest screening area, and he asked the TSA twits to give us a hand getting through. as we were really tight on time. There were 3 lines waiting for the screening process. We were first in the 3rd line. Each time they finished with one group, we stepped forward, only to be admonished to step back behind the line. This happened four times. It was so nice to be taught again, (even though I would have told them), that my pair are smaller.

So, properly humbled, we headed downstairs to our gate. At the bottom, there was an American Airlines help desk.

"Sir, will you please call the gate and tell them that we're on our way"?

"Gee, I don't know if I have their number"

Bless his little heart, he tried 3 times, without success, to reach the gate.

So, off we go. As luck would have it, it was the very last gate, in an area with no horizontal escalators. We arrived 8 minutes before takeoff. The plane was still at the jet way, but the doors were closed.

Do you think the prick would let us on????

Ahh, what's 4 hours in an airport waiting for a connecting flight?

When it's their fault, and they knew where we were and why.

Btw, we were 2 of 6.

Yeah, I want to get on another American flight really bad.

 

[KeithG]

To be fair, it is also the responsibility of the traveler to be realistic of their connection times. It is not United's or any other airline's problem if one does not choose appropriately or pay attention at the time of booking and therefore misses their connection. Stuff happens that is out of every airline's control. Air traffic control and weather are among some of those things and if a delay is because of that, it's not fair to blame any airline for it.

I have had pleasant experiences with every airline where I have missed a flight. I guess I've been lucky.

Uhm, No.

As noted above if you book multiple flights on the same ticket then the booking agent will ensure at the time of booking that your flights respect the minimum connection times, regardless of your desires. This is enforced by the booking agent and is not the travellers responsibility since we are morons and have no idea what realistic connection times are. This is airline travel 101: book all flights on a single ticket whenever possible.

Some airlines then screw the booked traveller by nudging their flight times and reduce the connection time below the accepted minimum, often without notifying the traveller.

But I am not bitter with United because they have done this to me too many times...

YMMV, but I doubt it.

 

[Todd C.]

So the general consensus seems to be that we'll be just fine. (just kidding).

That was, however, the response I got from United when I called to verify their confidence level & discuss other options. They reiterated that their database knows the necessary connection times and we'll make it (along with our baggage).

I realize I share the blame. In my defense, however, their website just lists the Denver departure & Cozumel arrival time when you search for flights from Denver to Cozumel:

Of course, you can drill down & get more details and veto their results, but I think it's reasonable to believe any of those options will get you to Cozumel barring flight delays. My concern (which I still have) is if we can make it even if there aren't any delays.

Gotta' love their call center. I asked about moving as close as possible to the front (even at a cost) and she said we were already close to an exit row (the one over the wing) so we should be able to exit pretty quickly. I knew I'd better try back later with a different agent at that point.

Thanks so much for all of you who took the time to answer. You verified my concern. I'll let you know how it works out. I have done the bag drag before & it looks like that's my worst case scenario if we miss the connection. There aren't any issues with the ferries lately, are there? ;-)

 

[outofofficebrb]

Uhm, No.

As noted above if you book multiple flights on the same ticket then the booking agent will ensure at the time of booking that your flights respect the minimum connection times, regardless of your desires. This is enforced by the booking agent and is not the travellers responsibility since we are morons and have no idea what realistic connection times are. This is airline travel 101: book all flights on a single ticket whenever possible.

Some airlines then screw the booked traveller by nudging their flight times and reduce the connection time below the accepted minimum, often without notifying the traveller.

But I am not bitter with United because they have done this to me too many times...

YMMV, but I doubt it.

My response was to the poster who says United doesn’t care if you miss your flight. I may be misunderstanding the poster but it sounded like there was no accountability on the customer’s side, the sh*t happens factor, and all the liability and blame on the carrier and I was just trying to express that traveling smart and being realistic of possible outcomes is important. There are some things that airlines can’t control and I mentioned weather and ATC are some things that carriers can’t control that can cause people to miss a flight.

I always book my connecting flights on one ticket. Whenever I am given the option of a few flights with various connecting times and airport options, I am realistic about which one I think I will make and which ones I won’t. Flying from SFO (notorious for fog and wind delays), LAX (ATC delays)? Need a longer connection because I’m factoring that there will be possible delays. Connecting in Chicago? Thunderstorms and lightning in summer and snow storm delays in winter along with large terminals and long walks - I avoid it if I can. That was the point of my post. Thinking about what situation you are in or potentially putting yourself in and being proactive about it. In the case of the OP asking about a 30 minute connection....I would find it hard to blame the carrier if the customer knowingly booked a 30 minute connection. Yes, they may sell the fare and routing that way but it doesn’t make sense for everyone and mean that it will work out flawlessly. If it doesn’t work, a carrier will put you on the next available flight out but I have also seen customers who may be angry and demanding asking why they can’t get out on an earlier flight due to availability issues - also something else the carrier may not be able to control.

I fly often and have not had a problem with the above thinking. In fact, with international connections, I give myself a minimum of 3 hours. I also check every now and then that things are hunky dory with my flights.

 

[Altamira]

One last thought from me. Join the United frequent flyer program online. Get your FF number, then call the MileagePlus contact number, and ask/beg for their help to solve your problem. Tell them every airline pilot and IAH frequent traveller you have talked to told you that such a short of connection time at IAH, especially with a terminal change, is a recipe for a missed connection and a disastrous start to your vacation. I have found that a "Please help me..." goes a long way to finding solutions to your travel problems if you are a frequent flyer member. Good luck.

 

[ggunn]

One factor in all this is that over the last 10 (20?) years or so most of us have become our own travel agents. In the olden days only travel agents had the computer resources needed to book directly on the airlines' systems. They were very knowledgeable about necessary layover times in different airports, among other things, and their jobs depended on keeping their customers happy and not getting them into difficult situations. Most of those folks are now otherwise employed and we are booking flights for ourselves, and most of us don't have the same level of experience with it as the people who sat and booked flights full time, day after day.

 

[DiverDownD3]

Do you think the prick would let us on????

If the door is already closed that guy at the counter really has zero control at that point (regardless of what you see in the movies). To reopen the doors, that permission has to come from the pilots

 

[Lorenzoid]

One factor in all this is that over the last 10 (20?) years or so most of us have become our own travel agents. In the olden days only travel agents had the computer resources needed to book directly on the airlines' systems. They were very knowledgeable about necessary layover times in different airports, among other things, and their jobs depended on keeping their customers happy and not getting them into difficult situations. Most of those folks are now otherwise employed and we are booking flights for ourselves, and most of us don't have the same level of experience with it as the people who sat and booked flights full time, day after day.

So true. I believe a computer-based "booking agent" (see giffenk's post above) uses a fixed value for minimum connection time to determine whether two flights can be sold as "connecting flights." I don't know whether the value is even airport-dependent, but I suspect it isn't based on the best available data or updated frequently. Humans can look up what kind of connection times have historically been sufficient under the circumstances (e.g., seasonal), make judgments based on experience, etc.

 

[Charles2]

I checked your flights again for today:

Looks like the Denver to Houston arrival was 11 minutes early:

City: Houston, TX, US (IAH - Intercontinental)
Gate: C5
Terminal:
Scheduled Time: 11:15 a.m.
Scheduled Date: Tue., Mar. 20, 2018
Actual Time: 11:04 a.m.
Actual Date: Tue., Mar. 20, 2018

Good thing it was early - the Cozumel flight departure was 10 minutes ahead of schedule:

City: Houston, TX, US (IAH - Intercontinental)
Gate: E11
Check-in Terminal: Terminal E
Scheduled Time: 12:03 p.m.
Scheduled Date: Tue., Mar. 20, 2018
Actual Time: 11:53 a.m.
Actual Date: Tue., Mar. 20, 2018

But no worries, you would have had an extra minute. Must have something to do with Daylight Savings Time.

 

[outofofficebrb]

They usually close doors about 10 minutes before actual departure so the connection time you really have to get onto the plane would be even shorter!