Hoping those of you familiar with these flights/airports can provide some guidance:

Flying PHX-ORD-PHL-MUC.

PHX-ORD is flight 3, only 40-50% on-time, departs 8:49am arriving 2:14pm.

ORD-PHL is flight 5397, unknown on-time, departs 4:10pm arriving 7:17pm.

PHL-MUC is flight 5300, unknown on-time, departs 8:15pm [corrected].

So my questions are:
1. Do I need to be concerned with flight 3 and missing my connection to PHL (or is a 2-hour layover enough time to overcome weather/other delays)?
2. Is one hour enough time to de-plane in PHL and (if necessary) switch terminals for the PHL-MUC flight?
3. Any weather or other issues to be aware of in late September/early October for ORD or PHL?

Obviously, anything can happen - I'm just wondering what your historical/recent experiences have been with these flights and destinations.

Thanks for your help!

Sean

Your problem will not be with your ORD connection. Except for some act of nature, you will be fine. Any problem that occurs will be in PHL. Do NOT check luggage, or it will not end up in MUC until 2 days after you get there. I think that your PHL-MUC flight will actuall leave at 8:15, not 7:17. If I were you, I would really try to pay the $25 and go nonstop PHX-PHL, starting with the 7:15 AM flight. The MUC flight starts boarding on most days at 50 minutes before departure. So, with your current reservation, by the time you get over to gate A-21 there will be no place for your luggage in the cabin.

ORD-PHL is flight 5397, unknown on-time, departs 4:10pm arriving 7:17pm.

PHL-MUC is flight 5300, unknown on-time, departs 7:17pm.

If you typed that correctly, you're not going to make it. ;)

That's awful. I differ - both ORD and PHL scare me. ORD's a mess. PHL's a mess. The PHL connection is too short but 2 hours at ORD isn't always a piece of cake. It can easily be eaten up with bad weather.

Poster is right - try to get out early and standby on PHX-PHL. If you are *G you can enjoy the terrific Envoy Lounge in PHL.

At least in ORD the gates will be either next to each other or the same gate (the plane making up ORD-PHL arriving after the PHX-ORD plane leaves) since we only use two gates there (three at time for overnight aircraft). Plus, if ORD weather affects your inbound flight to ORD, chances are it'll affect the inbound that makes up the ORD-PHL segment.

One hour is tight in PHL to connect from B/C concourse to A-West. A 30 minute arrival delay and you could miss that connection (assuming that the MUC flight leaves on time, which might not be the case if PHL is experiencing delays.

On the other hand, if you either misconnect in ORD or it looks like you'll miss your PHL connection because of departure delays from ORD, there are rerouting options. Once you're in PHL, I think the only alternative is the next day's flight. So I'd say better to have problems going through ORD or find some way to get to PHL earlier.

Jim

I flown many late afternoon ORD-PHL flights. They are often delayed, on either or both ends. If you must make the MUC flight, I'd suggest a different routing.

I presume you mean you are leaving at 815pm PHL to MUC..

That aside, hoping that a ORD-PHL flight is going to leave ORD on time or not get delayed into PHL on a late afternoon flight is asking for trouble in my opinion. Both airports during these hours are subject to flight delays. You also need to get from terminal B or C to A West. I presume this is not an RJ from a brief review of the flight schedule. If it was, it goes to Terminal F, I'd say absolutely no way. B or C, I give you a 50-60% chance.

Any chance to just go direct... PHX to PHL?

Sorry all - 5300 does leave at 8:15 - otherwise I'd be most impressed if anyone could make the 0-minute connection... ;)

This is FT, right? Of course I had to book the most obtuse routing possible for miles.

I think you're all right though - I'll talk to the ticket counter tonight in PHX and see if I can move things around a little. Is two hours enough time in PHL or should I plan to get there even eariler? Bummed about losing some miles though...

Thanks for the advice - I really appreciate it!

Sean

Two hours should be fine... even if you are an hour late, you'll be on time.

Also coming via PHX, I think the chance of delay is lower..

If you are *Gold, you can chill in the Envoy lounge...

Sorry all - 5300 does leave at 8:15 - otherwise I'd be most impressed if anyone could make the 0-minute connection... ;)

This is FT, right? Of course I had to book the most obtuse routing possible for miles.

I think you're all right though - I'll talk to the ticket counter tonight in PHX and see if I can move things around a little. Is two hours enough time in PHL or should I plan to get there even eariler? Bummed about losing some miles though...

Thanks for the advice - I really appreciate it!

Sean

Why not just do the PHX-ORD-PHL at the first possible time and go from there?

(disclaimer: i am too lazy to look at schedules today and see if this is even possible)

I agree with everyone else; you should try to get to PHL on the PHX-PHL nonstop to give yourself more time in PHL for your connection. You don't want to have this hanging over your head for the next month worrying about it, make your trip as stress free as possible so you can enjoy Munich once you get there.
If you are travelling in September then you will be on the A330, so carry on bag space won't be an issue at all!
Have a great trip!! :)

Why not just do the PHX-ORD-PHL at the first possible time and go from there?

(disclaimer: i am too lazy to look at schedules today and see if this is even possible)

Mostly 'cause I'm too lazy to wake up at 3:00 in the morning... ;)

It's a 1.5 hour drive from my house to the airport, so you figure another 1.5 hours for parking, shuttles, check-in, security, and 1/2 hour to shower/dress/load car up, and that leaves just enough time to be ready for the 7:30am departure...

So I wanted the 8:49am departure for the slightly more sane wakeup...

Alas, it appears that a 7:30am departure is in the cards for me.

This is FT, right? Of course I had to book the most obtuse routing possible for miles.

Bummed about losing some miles though...

Thanks for the advice - I really appreciate it!

Sean

Are you serious? PHX/ORD/PHL is 2112 miles if I got it right. PHX/PHL is 2070. If I had hours to kill and the anxiety of getting stuck in PHL it would have to be for more than 42 miles. :)

ps..Isn't there another nonstop later than your original departure through ORD that would still get in early enough? On at least some days in September there is...

Are you serious? PHX/ORD/PHL is 2112 miles if I got it right. PHX/PHL is 2070. If I had hours to kill and the anxiety of getting stuck in PHL it would have to be for more than 42 miles. :)

ps..Isn't there another nonstop later than your original departure through ORD that would still get in early enough? On at least some days in September there is...

I guess I'm either a die-hard mileage earner or a dumb*** - probably both... :D

I didn't realize the distances were so close (I don't do a lot of east coast flying). Other than segments, there isn't any reason to route that way. Perhaps I can appeal to the generosity of the ticket counter in PHX to let me change flights without a fee (assuming fares are unchanged).

The PHX-PHL non-stop is another $200, so I'll take the earlier PHX-ORD-PHL if they'll let me change. If not, I'll probably have *plenty* of time to explore the clubs at PHL (and to get an authentic philly cheesesteak - yum) while I wait for the next night's flight.

Thanks for the head's up - I had no idea I was only getting another 42 miles out of that... :)

. . . This is FT, right? Of course I had to book the most obtuse routing possible for miles . . .

Just my own opinion here, but if one if flying TA via a connecting flight itinerary, your primary goal is to get to your TA gateway city leaving time to spare. It's just too difficult to repair a broken TA itinerary to play the MR game. Now if your DM strategy is segment based, I could understand trying to add a routing leg, but one still has to see the big picture, and in this case it's the TA leg. Doesn't make sense to me to say you want to sleep late. You're flying forward into 7 or 8 time zones and need to be in PHL.

One has got to look at their routings and destinations to figure out how much leeway they have to play with. Those PHL TA flights only leave once a day, so that sets the ground rules.

We done several PHL-MAD-AGP routings, our most recent in July. Our last itinerary had us arriving MAD at 0730 and departing to AGP at 0900. Looks managable, but it only takes one summer thunderstorm to turn the whole thing upside down. And there's the matter of navigating to another terminal. The good news is that if things did go wrong, MAD had lots of connections to AGP, so the key was getting to the right place at the right time. And we have indeed missed connections in MAD in the past, but could easily patch things up because of how we contruct our itinerary.

So planning is important if smooth travel is what one wants.

Barry

Just an additional thought. Why don't you drive to PHX and spend the night at the airport hotel? A few extra bucks, but it save the hassle of driving. We live 15 miles from PHL and we do this when we have early AM departures. Works great in PHL as the Marriott is right off of B concourse.