Originally Posted by
Starman
Actually, I wouldn't take this as a laughing matter, i.e., "oh those naughty folks who try to fool you into thinking this is a "direct" flight. I bet the 757 will indeed depart SFO at 1000, and those on the arriving A320 from MEX at 0950 who have a "through" ticket will simply be left behind, just as in any misconnection. UA makes no attempt to hold the second leg of an unrelated aircraft just because the flight number is the same. The next SFO-SEA is almost 4 hours later.
You are absolutely correct about this.
Last week I had a "direct" flight from GRU-LAX (flight 842). The flight connected in ORD. The GRU-ORD was a 777 while the flight from ORD -LAX was an A320.
To make a long story short, the GRU-ORD was one and 3/4 hours late getting into ORD. I used Global Entry and begged my way through security and made the connecting flight by just a few minutes.
The gate agent told me there were 21 other passengers on the GRU-ORD section of the flight but that they all missed the ORD-LAX portion. The agent told me I was the only one that made the flight. This is because I ran fast and was not delayed at Immigration or security.
Bottom line, a direct flight is a joke and is certainly a cause for stress when your first leg of the flight is delayed. Try to avoid "direct" flights whenever possible.
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