Hello,
I normally fly United but have to get to LBB from IAH and then back to IAH from LRD. Can anyone give me some hints or suggestions? How is the commuter version of CO? Will I be able to schedule short layover between my United and CO flights? Distance to gates?
I thank you all in advance.
Jon

Hi Jon. Welcome to Continental.

Continental Express generally has a good product. The flights will all be on ERJ-145 or ERJ-135 aircraft, which are small, but not miserable for flight of the length you are taking. The Continental Express flight attendants are generally very friendly and helpful. If your flight is at a mealtime, you may get a small sandwich, otherwise, service will be the usual drinks and pretzels or peanuts.

As for your layover at IAH. United uses terminal A, while Continental and Continental Express use B, C, D, and E. Your flights should be operating out of Terminal B. Unfortunately terminal A is not served by the above-ground and behind security TerminaLink people mover yet. To change terminals you will need to exit the secure area of Terminal B, take and elevator or escalator down to the lowest level, and then take the airport subway. It is old and fairly slow, so be patient. It does arrive about every five to ten minutes. You can also walk through the subway tunnel to Terminal A, provided the pedestrian walkway is open all the way. It has been closed some lately due to construction. The walk takes about 10-15 minutes at a brisk pace. Once you arrive in Terminal A you will have to clear security again for your United flight.

Unfortunately United uses the north concourse of Terminal A. If they used the south concourse, you could take a shuttle bus that operates to serve passengers making connections between Delta, Northwest, and Continental. You could still take this bus, but you will still have to exit security in Terminal A and clear it again to change concourses in A.

If your flight arrives on time, one hour should be ample time to change terminals and re-clear security in A. However, if you are arriving at a very busy time, or if you are delayed due to weather or anything else, more time might be necessary.

if you're used to CRJ's on UA, you'll find CO's ERJ's downright luxurious.

and i don't know how you're getting from LBB to LRD, but if it's not by air, it's gonna be a whole lot worse than anything continental express can throw at you. :-)

Most people don't realize just how big Texas is. If you're driving, that's a day's worth, and there ain't much to see along the way.

EmailKid

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I am NOT a tin elite! Then again, what the hell do I know?

Thank you for your help.
I have 8 days to do it and my mode of transportation is pretty cushy!

[This message has been edited by BDLORD (edited Mar 01, 2004).]

Even if you made that drive in just one day, it would seem like eight. I just made the trip between San Antonio and Laredo this weekend and that was one of the longest 2.5-3 hour stretches of interstate I've ever been down. I can't imagine doing Lubbock to Laredo!

Total Est. Distance: 156.55 miles per Mapquest. And I thought I drove slow

EmailKid

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I am NOT a tin elite! Then again, what the hell do I know?

I wasn't driving -- I was a passenger on a charter bus so I had no control over the speed. Trust me... I don't drive that slowly! Also, the northbound trip is slowed by the fact that all traffic now has to go through a customs checkpoint (before a few years ago it was just commercial vehicles) so that added about 20-30 minutes to the trip.

In any case the trip is deadly boring.

lrd-iah by car is a little over 300 miles. If you take 59, it is shorter distance, but more two lane highways with trucks, also watch out for DPS. It takes a little over 5 hours. You can also take 35 to I-10 through SAT. This is about 5.5 hours, but four lane interstate.

The flight from lrd-iah is about 1 hour, but actual fling time is about 35 minutes from iah to lrd takeoff to touchdown in an erj, about 50 minutes the other way as you are stacked going into iah.

The erj sure beats the hell out of the atr and emb 120 that use to be on this route.

If lbb is lubbock, then lbb to lrd would be about 8.5 hours driving on a mixture of two and four lane roads. LBB to IAH driving is about 9.5 hours also two and four lane roads. In the Texas hill country watch out for deer at dusk and sunrise.

The lrd airport is new and nice, and there is a good bbq and mexican restaurant there. lrd staff is very nice, and would call me on my cell phone when I was running late to catch a plane to see if I was going or not. It I was, they would meet me at the entrance to the terminal with boarding pass, and escort me through security. They also bend over backwards to uprgrade you if you have not cleared by check in.

good luck.

Wow thank you for all the advice. The routing is Lubbock-El Paso-Hidalgo-Laredo and back to IAH-BDL. Lots of miles plenty of days to do it.
Thanks

BDlord
LBB to El Paso is about 6 to 6.5 hours. If you mean hidalgo as in hidalgo, texas in hidalgo county, that is near McAllen, Texas or the tip of Texas. There is also a hidalgo, Mexico which is about 2 hours south of lrd.

McAllen to El Paso would be tortious drive, although you could stop in Langtry, Texas home of Judge Roy Bean. El Paso to Hidalgo, Texas would take you about 12.5 hours going very fast (80 to 90 mph). Plus you would pass through at least three immigration and customs check points, which could slow you down. Watch out for deer and mule deer in west texas. The deer congregate to the highway because Texas has planted a lot of wild flowers along the roads. The flowers are grass most of the year if there is water. Since this is a very dry area of the US, it is the only vegetation, thus the deer. When you drive you will see many accident scenes between deer and car (big blood spot on the road). YOu can always fly to all these on co or wn(except LRD). The intra texas fares on co are cheap ($100 to $200 round trip).

Pesonally, I would not drive it unless I had to. Also, there are not a lot of radio stations in west Texas. El Paso to Del Rio on 90 is very desolate (ie the movie with young Kevin Costner and the bottle of dom). Buy books on tape. At either Loves truck stops or cracker barrels you can buy the books on tape, and return them. They will only charge you by the week (about $5).

If you want restaurants, in those towns, I can give you more recommendations. The safe bets are Mexican food, chicken fried steak, steaks, and BBQ. As I always tell my kids, don't order the shrimp cocktail at a restuarant in West Texas. Fast food which is always good for great hamburgers is Whataburger. If you see one stop. I am recommending this even though my family owns franchises in another national hamburger chain in the area you are going. If you take I-10, I would stop in SAT. It is a lot of fun for tourist, plus we have Mortons, the Palm, and Ruth Chris. On the river walk you can not go wrong with Little Rein Steakhouse, for a cheap German-Deli Lunch there is Schilo's.

IN Juntion Texas at 1-10 at 83 try Coopers BBQ and get the smoked porke chops.

Good Luck.