Tight Connection In Houston

[keesmon]

I'm trying to book a flight way out (330 days) from NYC to Cozumel.
On March 3 2017, United has:
flight #1161 from 5:05AM-8:04AM into IAH, and
flight #1545 from 8:45AM-12:10PM into CZM.
That would be a 41 minute connection on paper.
This is the only IAH CZM flight I can find on that date.
Besides from some funny time zones (EWR is -5, IAH is -6 and CZM is -5) it seems like a tight connection.
On the flight back on 3/12 the US will be in daylight savings, but Cozumel won't. Thereby confusing me even more.

Two questions:
1. Will the flight to CZM typically wait on passengers and luggage from incoming flights?

2. If I were to miss that connecting flight, how likely is United to put me on one of the many flights to CUN later that morning or afternoon. I could do the bag drag or Maya Air from CUN to CZM if needed.

The flights back on 3/12 are all pretty automatic.
I'm looking at:
flight #1546 12:05PM-2:33PM into IAH, and
flight #1284 4:35PM-9PM into LGA

That United combo is coming up $481 which is nice.
My other options are Delta for $646 and AA for $610 and I like the early arrival and departures.

Thinking Dandydon will be able to help with this one......?
Thanks in advance

 

[Dave Dillehay]

I go back and forth every week or so and would not worry about the short connection going down. IF one flight is late, most are, and you don't have Immigration variable to deal with going out.. And yes, you could end up in Cancun which is not as bad as some claim (sometimes I choose that). If that happened I expect UAL would pay for extra costs…maybe? But the bus and ferry would probably get you there quicker than Maya Air.

For $150+ I'd say yes.

Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers

 

[Altamira]

According to flightstats.com, United # 1161 Newark to IAH has a 94% on-time statistic, which is pretty good. Unless the Northeast corridor airports have early morning bad weather, the very early morning flights tend to depart on-time, more so than later in the day as the NYC airport area gets more congested.

 

[DandyDon]

I'm trying to book a flight way out (330 days) from NYC to Cozumel.
On March 3 2017, United has:

It really doesn't make any difference as the airline is under no obligation to fly those flights & times in the future. Any plans more than a month in advance are really just for being first in on the list when they do decide what flights to fly - if they fly to Cozumel at all that day. I know, we like to plan fun trips as far in advance as possible, then enhance plans - but the airline will change whatever they want. Be sure your email address is on the record of whatever you do book so you should be advised at each change and can make new seat selections.

2. If I were to miss that connecting flight, how likely is United to put me on one of the many flights to CUN later that morning or afternoon. I could do the bag drag or Maya Air from CUN to CZM if needed.

Now, once you do get your body & bags onto a plane to IAH with a planned connection, you will probably make the connection. I've done connections in IAH with old Continental (same terminals) in under 30 minutes.

If you can't make the connection because your inbound flight is late arriving, like Dave said - they'll accommodate you getting to Cancun at no extra charge, and might offer to pay for your extra expenses.

According to flightstats.com, United # 1161 Newark to IAH has a 94% on-time statistic, which is pretty good.

Ever heard the term "Springtime in Texas"? Ok, technically it'll still be winter, but whatever - we have wild weather swings across the state. Even NYC could be snowed in then, altho they are equipped to handle snow better. Weather happens.

I took United last May and ended up setting in Lubbock all morning as weather severely canceled flights all across the middle of the state. I got to Houston several hours late, got on the next flight to Cancun, skipped my plans to take a bus into the city & cab to my appointment, grabbed the first taxi I could find and paid too much as I was in no position to haggle. I eventually got to leave the city on the bus to PDC but no porters working that late when I got in. I was happy that United had delayed one of my bags and promised to deliver it to my hotel later, plus that I hadn't planned any diving the first morning - but it was still rough getting to the dock. I did find a local willing to drag one of my bags when I got to 5th street when I asked where the dock was. I tipped him well. And I did make the last ferry only because the new ferry had started with its later 11pm departure. At Coz, there was one porter on the dock, and I grabbed him! I slept 'til noon the next day when my bag was delivered..

 

[chillyinCanada]

Why do you want to book your flight that far in advance? Take DandyDon's advice, wait awhile.

The only time I feared the short connection was because the gates were in different terminals. (For the record this was to Belize or Roatan not Cozumel) that hadn't happened before, far more often the gates were right next to each other.

 

[DandyDon]

On the flight back on 3/12 the US will be in daylight savings, but Cozumel won't. Thereby confusing me even more.

Wherever you're shopping flights should quote length of connections. I know Matrix does, and I can't imagine buying any plane ticket without checking there.

I was tempted to buy my August birthday flight when I saw that fares had dropped to $440 the other day, but adding a $150 change fee would ruin that bargain. I punted.

 

[jhunt]

I recently had a 45 min connection in IAH and stressed over it for weeks until I actually got on the plane to Grand Cayman. I had to change terminals, I think C to E. It was a common flight they flew every week so I went to flight tracker or flight aware to see on average if it was on time. As it turned out my flight from Seattle to IAH was early, and the flt out of IAH was about 20 min late, so all that worrying for nothing. I made it.

 

[ggunn]

I'm trying to book a flight way out (330 days) from NYC to Cozumel.
On March 3 2017, United has:
flight #1161 from 5:05AM-8:04AM into IAH, and
flight #1545 from 8:45AM-12:10PM into CZM.
That would be a 41 minute connection on paper.
This is the only IAH CZM flight I can find on that date.
Besides from some funny time zones (EWR is -5, IAH is -6 and CZM is -5) it seems like a tight connection.
On the flight back on 3/12 the US will be in daylight savings, but Cozumel won't. Thereby confusing me even more.

Plane scheduling times are always shown according to the local time at the airport in question. That's why it always looks like flying west takes a lot less time than flying east if you are crossing time zones.

Flying from AUS to CZM as I do every May, I usually have two choices for the AUS to HOU (ABIA to IAH in new airportspeak), one with a 50 minute layover and one with an hour longer. I never missed a connection to CZM using the 50 minute connection but I came very close one time, close enough that I never do that any more. Texas weather in the springtime can mess with you; that time we were still sitting on the tarmac in Austin in a raging thunderstorm when we were supposed to be landing in Houston. And no, they do not hold the flight waiting on late connections (they might for a few minutes if there is still a crowd at the gate, but not for long). They can't; if every airline did that for every flight, scheduling would go to... well, it would snarl traffic everywhere.

Coming back through Houston I never book a flight with less than a couple of hours layover. Customs and immigration when several planes come in at once can really hold you up.

 

[Prop Joe]

There are direct flights from ORD (Chicago) to CZM that time of year on both United and American, weekends only. You could check on AA.com with a multi-city option. I've found good deals that way. Weather can always an issue at ORD that time of year but there can be crappy weather in any of the major hubs (ATL, IAH, DFW, MSP) in the spring.

 

[ggunn]

BTW, that time we were held up by the thunderstorm in Austin we landed in Houston after boarding had already started on the flight to CZM in another terminal. It took a bit of a sprint to get to the departure gate and we just barely made it. We were worried about our luggage but they told us that if we made it so would our bags. They were right; in fact, if we *hadn't* gotten there on time our stuff would have gone to CZM without us and it was the only flight that day.

Ever since then we have always opted for the earlier (5:30AM) AUS-HOU flight and sleep on the plane.