ScruttonStreet

Hi all, wonder if anyone has experience of making international-domestic connections at these two airports.

I have a flight coming up and have the option of changing at JFK, MIA, DFW, ORD or the above two. All connections are roughly 90 mins. That rules out MIA in my experience, but wonder if people think I'd make it at Philadelphia and Charlotte on US - I've never connected through those.

Many thanks

FCO36

I had super long waiting time at PHL arriving from LHR on the afternoon BA flight. The airport layout is not very convenient too especially if your next flight is leaving from Terminal F.

On the other hand, CLT is super easy as it is a smaller airport. A couple of years ago they refurbished their international arrivals/connection hall making the whole process faster as how to go from luggage drop to TSA. I would choose CLT any times as, on top of it, it is a nice airport.

windowontheAside

Another vote for me for CLT. I've only been through PHL a couple of times and don't recall any problems there, but CLT is a light airy airport that I enjoy visiting.

And it has rocking chairs!

dj_jay_smith

I have done this at several of these, but not PHL or MIA.

CLT is a nice airport, and the rocking chairs are cool and different! And although it has been a while since I went through here I remember it being a long walk as we always seemd to arrive at one end of the airport and had to walk the whole way to the other end.

ORD, JFK & DFW have the advantage of the train between the different terminals, so walking is less. I done DFW last year and quite liked the airport and found the connection very quick and easy.

corporate-wage-slave

CLT is indeed a great airport for INT to DOM, so given a completely free hand that is the better option.

PHL, however, is still very good. My last visit (which went down in my notorious travel diary) had me from gate to downtown train in just a few minutes. Even on public transport I was in my downtown hotel room within an hour of arrival. It has been built as a long line of buildings, so if your onward connection is at the wrong end it's a bit of a schlep. Whereas CLT is more tightly compressed around a centre, with arms going off the hub area.

But having said that, both airports are a well away from IAD, BOS, EWR, JFK, ORD, MIA. PHL and CLT are massively better places to arrive. PHL has some pretty juicy connections too, and the US Airways lounge in PHL is massive.

mjuler

Another vote for CLT over PHL. My most recent trip to PHL had a 149 minute connection from international to domestic and ended up making my flight with seconds to spare despite an on time arrival from LHR.

CLT is a very nice airport, lots of natural light and easy to navigate.

MOC991

The only connections that are a walk at CLT are if you're going to/from the end of terminal E, which are regional planes. I don't think BA even codeshares on those. The distance from the end of a terminal at PHL to the shuttle or train to the other terminal would be further. It is deceptive to say that there are any longer walks at CLT unless of course you're in the same terminal which of course would be slightly less. Going end to end of two terminals is shorter at CLT than PHL and the other airports listed.

The problem is that PHL has terrible backups at immigration and moreso at the security checkpoint. My experience was about 90 minutes. CLT has less international traffic and a better arrivals area so it is definitely your best bet. Your flights will most likely be US operated though.

BlackBerryAddict

I positively hated connecting int to dom at PHL the one time I did it. Immigration took over one hour, security to get back inside again even longer. It was a total mess - the queue simply extended into the hallway. I ended up missing two alternative connecting flights, plus was given the run around at the AA lounge when trying to rebook.

superweak

In my experience PHL has much more fluctuation than CLT in immigration queue length - I've spent everything from 0 to 45 min in the US citizen line at PHL depending on how many arrivals there were before my flight, while CLT was pretty much one flight at a time (that being said, this was before the recent international expansion, so things may be different now).

I actually disagree about walking distances in PHL - it's not that bad if you know about the airside shuttles (in particular A-F). I suspect a transfer from international A to F involves less walking than from A to the tip of C.

If the security queue is long at the "standard" checkpoint you are directed to from INTL arrivals at PHL, you can always try a different terminal - remember, you're landside now, you have a choice! (Same for CLT by the way.)

I personally slightly prefer PHL (CLT is more off great-circle route for most of my trips, and the customs people at CLT seem to have a bit of "we're bored, let's interrogate someone" syndrome), but either is way, way better than, say, IAD.

snuffi

All other things being equal, for a 64 minute domestic connection on AA early to mid-morning on a Saturday in August, would you choose JFK, PHL, CLT or MIA? The research I have done so far suggests CLT as being top choice, but I wondered what the experienced people here thought.
I am working on suggesting a proactive reroute following not being enamoured with an AA schedule change auto-rebooking.
cheers!

shefgab

I connected LGW-CLT-DCA a few years ago. I was one if the last off, and had a good half hour wait at immigration (only our flight being processed, but hardly any staff). I entered the baggage hall to collect my bag to walk through customs and they still hadn't unloaded them all. So slow!

Other than that, it's a fairly nice small airport, and hopefully they've added some immigration machine etc.

I flew through DFW last week and was back airside again within half an hour. In ORD last year it was a bit quicker. Best I managed in MIA was 40 mins, from landing, immigration, baggage, security, and into the lounge. Not bad.

corporate-wage-slave

CLT in a heartbeat. Then PHL, then MIA. I would love to put JFK T8 in there too, and once airside it's pretty good. It's just security there is so poor even for those of us with TSA pre-check. Or rather, you end up allowing 30 minutes for security, when it could just be 5 minutes, which to my mind is particularly annoying. The other JFK terminals are nothing like as bad.

Fitch

Just a quick thought - I assume the dynamic is different if you preclear at DUB ?

I am doing DUB-PHL-MCO on AA in the summer and am assuming that the PHL connection will be a breeze...

rareair

I've done CLT a few times.

Once we landed just after a full LH747 from Frankfurt.
Waited an hour (this was in 2010 and I was in Y).

Other than this anomaly has always been pretty quick and through border control nice and fast.

Have also flown DUB-PHL. Landed at a domestic gate with bags automatically transferred to next flight.

P.s. I've also spent 90 minutes in line at PHL, it was horrific.

JAXBA

+1 for CLT, PHL, MIA, JFK in order of preference. CLT is easier and nicest to navigate, PHL not too far behind. MIA immigration can be painful but at least it's all inside - then there's JFK immigration and the outside inter-terminal train.