Originally Posted by
ExplorerWannabe
I've found this many times. United seems to want to avoid giving me the option of long layovers; it's strange to me that they would rather present me with a 53 minute connection in Chicago (in February!) than a 3 hour connection for domestic-to-international flights. This last time, I had to force it in the itinerary by booking the trip as multi-city; yes, I am taking a little risk with an additional layover in DEN but I'd rather have an additional 75 minute layover in DEN and 2 hours in ORD than chance a 53 minute connection in ORD for a once-daily flight. The end fare was comparable to what United was presenting with short layovers.
Now that I no longer live in a UA hub, this precise practice by UA is one of several reasons why I usually end up flying with other airlines. I think DEN is a great place to jump off to Europe from here in SEA, but UA continually wants to give me a routing that includes a 45 minute connecting time. Which I absolutely refuse to accept. Of course they offer other DEN connections - with 4 and 5 hour connecting times. Good luck finding a 2 hour connecting time. I do understand that they do this to maximize their network flexibility, but all it does is push me to the competition.