Apologies if there's a better place to post this, but I figured this group would at least have a good feel for getting through Houston! Can't say I've ever done a trip on separate tickets before, not have I ever been through IAH, so I'm trying to feel this out.

So. Later this year I'll be coming back from Japan through IAH on NH. Flight arrives 7:15 AM, I have Global Entry, and probably won't have checked bags. Need to get to CLT... and since I'll be going back to work the next day it'd be nice to get home as early as is feasible and try to shake off the time change!

Ordinarily I would fly AA, but the options there are 8:30 AM which seems unreasonably short / risky, or 1:30 PM which... eh, that's a bit of sitting around if I can avoid it.

There are two UA Express (Mesa) flights in between though. 10:15 AM and 12:25 PM. Is 3 hours a reasonable safety buffer...? Any sort of tangible advantage here booking through UA, with my incoming flight also being on Star Alliance?

Just curious to hear opinions and experiences. Thanks!