Hello all,

I am looking to take a trip to Mexico over the summer, and my flight leaves EWR at 7:30 am, connects in Houston, and goes onwards to Cozumel.

I plan on taking the 5:15 am amtrak from Philadelphia to Newark which gets in at 6:15 am. I shouldn't have any problems meeting the checkin requirements, right? Or maybe I could just checkin online the day before?

Interestingly enough, the continental website let's me book the train segment from philly (zfv to czm), but it is far more expensive than simply ticketing the flight/train separately.

I have never flow international on continental before, and I just wanted to make sure I am not going to end up missing my flight.

Thanks!

In short, I would not book that train/plane combination as you have proposed based on your circumstances.

If you do decide to do this then you should absolutely do online check-in the night before. The cut-off is 60 minutes prior to departure to be checked in and to have your bags dropped off at the counter. See this thread if you want to understand what can happen if you don't meet those times.

If you are checking bags there is no way I'd chance it.

If you have never flown CO internationally before such that your passport isn't scanned into the system - a scenario that will prevent you from doing online check-in - I wouldn't chance it. And you noted that you'll probably fall in to this category.

Any chance that the PHL-IAH-CZM routing all on airplanes is competitive in price? You'd probably be on that 5:35am out of PHL but you wouldn't have to bother with the train or EWR.

I don't think you will make it unless you can online check-in and you have no checked baggage, and even that it will be tight. You need to factor in 10-15 minutes for the Airtran from the Amtrak station to Terminal C, as well. Best case is you arrive at Terminal C almost exactly 60 minutes before the flight.

Thanks for the reply(s).

I booked it from PHL, not ZFV. It isn't worth missing the trip for the sake of a few saved bucks. I wonder why Continental would sell me that "flight" from ZFV to CZM if it really is that close?

On a side note, any idea what the upgrades are like to CZM? I know getting upgraded on the first leg of the journey is probably unlikely...

If you are on the CO itinerary from ZFV then you are technically checked in at that point so that gives you a bit of leeway. But it still would be a risk getting to the plane on time, especially with baggage.

I've never missed an upgrade on the 5:30am PHL-IAH flight Not sure about the IAH-CZM, but I'd guess you have a chance on both.