Originally Posted by
mahasamatman
Is it more important to you to get back on time, or just to get back? If this is all on one ticket, and you meet the airline's official minimum connect time, it's up to them to get you to your destination if there's a delay.
This flight leaves on a Friday, we were actually hoping to fly home on Saturday, so even if we missed the flight and had to wait a day, we'd still be home on Saturday.
I'm not positive what you mean by all on one ticket, but the return leg from Europe is all on one reservation for both people. The flights to Europe were booked using amex MRs so that is a separate reservation, but for all intents and purposes I think the answer is yes. I looked for a minimum connection time on UA.com and didn't find anything definitive.
Originally Posted by
channa
Yup, and also gauge how picky you are about things like seat assignments. Last-minute rebooks don't often get good seats, it's whatever is left at the time.
IST-ORD is a long flight. If you don't mind being scattered in a couple middle seats near the lav for 10+ hours and getting home hours, or maybe a day later, then the cost of a misconnect is low (TK J has middle seats).
If it's going to cause you to miss work or other appointments, and you'll be annoyed losing pre-selected good seats, then the cost is high.
We won't be missing anything at home if we miss the flight and have to fly home the next day. Admittedly, a middle seat rebook would suck, but it's better than Y!
Curious to see what others say. I'm leaning towards spending another week looking, but this flight will most certainly be gone by then. My final destination is SFO actually and I have been monitoring about 10 routes but have been finding that due to starting our journey home from Prague, there are limited options for not having to spend the night in the Europe-US gateway city.
For reference:
ZRH-SFO
LX: departs 9:40am and 1:10pm, same day arrival from PRG is available 11:50am arrival
ZRH-LAX
LX: departs at 1:15pm, same day arrival from PRG is available 11:50am arrival
FRA-LAX
LH: departs at 10:15am and 2:05pm, same day arrival available on LH at 7:10 and 11:50am
FRA-SFO
UA: departs at 1:55pm, same day arrival available on LH at 7:10 and 11:50am
LH: departs at 10:30am, same day arrival available on LH at 7:10 and 11:50am
IST-SFO
TK: departs at 1:05pm, no same day connections from prague available
IST-LAX
TK: departs at 12:55, no same day arrival on Star Alliance Carriers
MUC-SFO
LH: departs at 4:00pm, same day arrival from PRG is available at 9:10am and 10:40
VIE-ORD
OS: departs 10:05am, same day arrival from PRG is available the 23rd, not 22nd.
FRA-DEN
LH: departs at 1:25, same day arrival available on LH at 7:10am and 11:50am
Secondary Routes
DUB-SFO
EI: departs at 12:20pm, no same day arrival on Star Alliance Carriers
DUB-LAX
EI: departs at 3:00pm, no same day arrival on Star Alliance Carriers
LHR-SFO
UA: departs at 1:35, no same day arrival on Star Alliance Carriers, available on british airways
LHR-LAX
UA: departs at 10:30, no same day arrival on Star Alliance Carriers, available on BA airways
NZ: departs at 3:30, no same day arrival on Star Alliance Carriers, available on BA
CPH-SFO
SK: departs at 12:25pm, no same day arrival on Star Alliance Carriers available on Czech airlines
ARN-LAX
SK: departs at 9:55am, no same day arrival on Star Alliance Carriers
FRA-IAD
LH: departs at 10:45am and 1:15pm, same day arrival available on LH at 7:10 and 11:50am
UA: departs at 12:20am and 5:10pm, same day arrival available on LH at 7:10 and 11:50am
MUC-IAD
LH: departs at 3:55pm, same day arrival from PRG is available at 9:10am and 10:40