New England - How much time should I need for a layover at Logan if I'm getting in from Europe?

Hey guys. I'm traveling to Paris next month for one big sightseeing adventure. I've never flown into or out of Logan before. So I don't know what to expect in terms of how busy it usually gets there.

I'll be flying Air France on my return flight to the States. And my flight lands at Logan at 1 P.M.

However, after my trip to Paris, I'll be immediately traveling to Baltimore to visit some friends. And it just so happens that my flight to Baltimore is scheduled to fly out of Logan on the same day that my flight from Paris arrives at Logan.:eek:

For my flight to BWI, I'm flying Southwest, and my flight departs from Logan at 5:00 P.M.

So here's a recap:

1) My CDG-BOS flight (Air France) lands at Logan at 1 P.M.
2) My BOS-BWI flight (Southwest) departs from Logan at 5 P.M.

I understand that upon deplaning my flight from Paris, I'll need to clear Customs and Immigration, and proceed to collect my luggage. And it could be a bit of a wait.

But then, after all that, I'll have to nagivate through the aiport, find the Southwest check-in kiosk, check in for my flight, get my boarding pass, drop off my luggage, and clear the security checkpoint.

I must mention that my seating assignment on my CDG-BOS flight is located in 30's aisle section of a 747. So I don't know how long it will take for me to get off the plane.

The last time I had a layover on US soil after coming off an international flight, it was at LAX, and I was able to make my connecting flight. However, I had an 8-hour layover at that time.

Would a 4-hour layover be enough time for me to deplane from my CDG-BOS flight, clear Customs and Immigration, collect my luggage, find the Southwest kiosk, check in for my BOS-BWI flight, and clear a security checkpoint?

Do you guys think I'll be cutting it close?:(

Four hours should be fine in BOS.

By way of comparison, American Airlines publishes a 1.5 hour minimum connection time for international-to-domestic connections in BOS ( http://flyerguide.com/wiki/index.php/Minimum_Connecting_Times_(AA), http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/american-aadvantage/959842-bos-boston-logan-connection-times-domestic-international-consolidated.html ).

AA have to land in terminal E (all AA international arrivals), clear customs and recheck bags, take a shuttle to terminal B (all AA domestic departures), re-clear security, and get to the gate.

Things should be a little faster for you, since Terminal E serves both Air France intl arrivals and Southwest domestic departures.

The only thing to be wary of is that if you have purchased two separate tickets, and something goes awry with your Air France flight (weather, mechanical, or crew delay or cancellation), Air France may not feel any obligation to get you to anywhere but BOS.

By way of contrast, if you had a single ticket from CDG->BWI (connecting in BOS), and your CDG-BOS were severely delayed, you might be able to sweet-talk Air France into rerouting you on AF or another carrier from CDG-IAD. This will be a little harder (not impossible) now.

Certainly Southwest will take care of you at BOS no matter what; "delayed inbound flights" are not an unusual thing for US carriers. And you've picked a good carrier and route -- there are plenty of BOS-BWI shuttles on Southwest, and if you're traveling on a weekday there are even two more at 7 o'clock that you can count on as backup.

You'll be fine. You don't even need to switch terminals for this connection--after you leave customs, just head up the escalator to the Southwest check-in desks. As long as the inbound is on-time, you'll have at least two hours to spare and can get a sandwich from Earl of Sandwich in the food court in the main post-security area of Terminal E.

So I'll be fine even though my seat is in Aisle 32 on my CDG-BOS flight?

It's the only aisle that AF still had available seats.

Yes. You could be the very last person to get off the plane and you'll still be just fine.

Where you're sitting on the plane, as mentioned, is wholly irrelevant in your case since you have so much time in between flights. If it were me, I'd even leave the airport and go get pizza at Santarpio's since you'll already be in Eastie. Just a few blocks from the airport and some of the best pizza in Boston + lamb skewers... Yum.

That being said, are you sure you're on an AirFrance flight and not an AirFrance coded Delta flight? The two AirFrance flights land at 3:30pm and 8:30pm respectively while the Delta flight is the one that lands a little after 1pm. Pretty sure you still go through Terminal E if you're on Delta, although the Delta terminal is A so I think they just tow the plane there after. Can anyone else confirm this?

That being said, are you sure you're on an AirFrance flight and not an AirFrance coded Delta flight? The two AirFrance flights land at 3:30pm and 8:30pm respectively while the Delta flight is the one that lands a little after 1pm. Pretty sure you still go through Terminal E if you're on Delta, although the Delta terminal is A so I think they just tow the plane there after. Can anyone else confirm this?

Yes, Delta international flights land at E and then they tow the plane to A for departure.

That being said, are you sure you're on an AirFrance flight and not an AirFrance coded Delta flight? The two AirFrance flights land at 3:30pm and 8:30pm respectively while the Delta flight is the one that lands a little after 1pm. Pretty sure you still go through Terminal E if you're on Delta, although the Delta terminal is A so I think they just tow the plane there after. Can anyone else confirm this?

Sorry, guys. I got my flights mixed up.

My return flight into BOS is a KLM coded Delta.

My bad.

Hey guys. I'm the OP.

I apologize for bumping this thread. But I just learned that my Delta flight from Paris will arrive at BOS at Terminal A. Remember that my Southwest flight to BWI departs from Terminal E.

I understand that Logan has a walkway connecting Terminals A and E. But I don't know if that walkway is within the secure area or outside of it.

Will I still be able to make my connecting flight, considering that I'll need to leave the secure area and switch terminals?

Jericho-79, no worries. Transfer between terminals is outside of security but it won't take long and you've got plenty of time. You can either walk or take one of the free blue and white buses that run between terminals every few minutes.

Not sure why Delta would say you'll arrive at Terminal A. I suspect you'll find you are in fact arriving at Terminal E since that's where customs and immigration is. That's also where Flightstats shows the Delta flight today from Paris arrived.

Cristobal is correct - The only International flights that arrive at a terminal other than E are ones where you pre-clear customs before you take off (some flights from the Caribbean fall into this category). All flights from CDG should end up at E.

Jericho-79, no worries. Transfer between terminals is outside of security but it won't take long and you've got plenty of time. You can either walk or take one of the free blue and white buses that run between terminals every few minutes.

Not sure why Delta would say you'll arrive at Terminal A. I suspect you'll find you are in fact arriving at Terminal E since that's where customs and immigration is. That's also where Flightstats shows the Delta flight today from Paris arrived.
4 Hours is a ton of time. If by some chance, when you get to CDG, there are delays which call into question the 4 hours, let DL know that your final destination is BWI, even though it's a separate ticket. They may well acommodate you and get you to BWI (or offer you IAD, DCA) through other routings.

Jericho-79, no worries. Transfer between terminals is outside of security but it won't take long and you've got plenty of time. You can either walk or take one of the free blue and white buses that run between terminals every few minutes.

Not sure why Delta would say you'll arrive at Terminal A. I suspect you'll find you are in fact arriving at Terminal E since that's where customs and immigration is. That's also where Flightstats shows the Delta flight today from Paris arrived.

My apologies again. My Logan-bound flight back to the States is actually flying out of Amsterdam Schiphol. It's a KLM flight coded Delta.

Either way, according to Wikipedia's article on Logan, all Delta flights flying from Europe arrive at Terminal A.

I didn't know that Customs and Immigration is only located at Terminal E. I guess Wikipedia is not on the mark.:confused:

Ahh Wikipedia... in this case it turns out there's some fine print :D They don't make it very obvious but if you look at the top of the terminal and airline section on the Wikipedia page there's a note that says all international arrivals, except those with pre-clearance (not you) arrive at terminal E.

Enjoy your trip and have a nice flight! :)