BendikH

Still at the gate in MSP, but glad I have good shoes. Figure the IAD sprint will be a good cardio workout!

PVDProf

It arrives nearly 10 hours later, though.

AirTrain or People Mover?

Kacee

Death by hanging or lethal injection?

drewguy

Air train - fast walk to C for aerotrain, non stop to near B45. Good luck.

UAPremExecflyer

OP is hosed I fear! UX strikes again! UA3643 now due in at 2153, only 32 mins before SN departs.

Often1

Hope he rerouted xMSP.

catocony

D to B is the toughest connection since the Train to Nowhere doesn't go near D. But, usually, it's 10 minutes from D to the main concourse, then a walk down the escalator the train to B. I don't know if they do people movers from D to B anymore, but regardless, 25 minutes should be the maximum time total. If you're up for a walk, you can walk from D-14 to the Train to Knowhere at Futureworld C (probably 10-12 minutes) and then train direct to B (5-7 minutes).

D to B isn't an uncommon connection. *A passengers come into D on UA and then go over to B for LH, SN, etc.

Hopefully we'll get an update on this one. UA says the plane hit the gate at 9:54. Flightaware shows that SN 516 is leaving 20 minutes late, so the OP should be running for the gate as I write this.

exerda

I would have asked for the ORD-FRA routing given the number of backup options into ORD (3), personally, assuming UA wasn't willing to shift the OP to DL. Unfortunately, I bet the OP is getting a night at a hotel and a couple of cab (or possibly hotel shuttle) rides, and a lost day... probably not even on UA's dime.

mduell

Wheels up 20 min after scheduled departure... may block out on time.

catocony

Ok, so Flightaware showed wheels up at 10:59. So, the plane definitely pushed back late. I'm betting the OP made it.

BendikH

OP here and yes, I did make it! Would have updated sooner, but had to catch my breath! Thanks to everyone for your encouragement along the way. I could "hear" you cheering for me!

Here's a brief synopsis. Once on the ground and at the gate, 91 of us lined up to wait for the rollerboards that we had had to check at the gate in MSP. Mine came out about midpack and I hightailed it to the people movers area. I had just missed the mover that goes to the A/B gates, but a helpful guy there said it was still my best bet to wait for the next one. They ran every 10 minutes. He also explained that I had a long way from where the people mover arrives at the A gates all the way down to B45, so he suggested I run rather than walk when the people mover unloaded.

As I was jogging down the sparsely populated concourse past the A gates, I got a phone call from Brussels Airlines gate manager asking if I was in the terminal. I panted that I was just passing A31. He suggested that if I ran instead of jogged, I might make it... (actually he reassured me that they would wait). I arrived at the gate at exactly the scheduled departure time of 2225, plopped down in 2E and was not in doubt what to answer when the flight attendant came by and offered water or champagne....

We pushed back shortly thereafter, but the captain did say they had been subject to an extra check from TSA and that there were a number of planes in front of us on the taxiway, so we would be slightly delayed before we were airborne. We still had an early arrival in Brussels.

Kudos to Brussels Airlines for the courtesy call from the gate and the reassurance that gave me. I also thought the service and comfort on board the aircraft was excellent.

Thanks again for your help last week!

exerda

Congrats! And indeed kudos to the SN staff for the courtesy call!

On the People Mover, IMHO it is generally a much better option to take the train when going to the B gates--unless you pull up at a gate very close to the people mover stop and manage to get there while they're boarding. Even with the longish walk from C/D (around C17 IIRC) to the train station--due to the fact the station is situated for the eventual replacement midfield concourse, not the current "temporary" one--it's usually a quicker option and spits you out much closer to most of the flights you'd be connecting onto.

Glad you made it, again; I saw that yesterday's MSP-IAD was 1:38 late.

BendikH

Thanks for the tip, exerda. Will keep it in mind if I get routed that way again...

RJ1

Thanks for checking in. These types of threads are always interesting to follow. I was constantly checking your flight status on United and Flightaware, and hoping you would make it.

Celebratory champagne was the right choice!

mgcsinc

Thanks for the update.

Great service from SN (our whomever does their gate work) making that call!