BOS layover advice needed
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 75
BOS layover advice needed
OK, I am flying Southwest ATL to BOS and then have a 4 hour layover until a WOW airlines flight to Iceland. I have never flown WOW airlines, nor flown international out of Boston, and most importantly I have never flown domestic followed by international on two separate reservations. Hence my questions.
I have no bags and plan to check in online for my WOW flight the day before. It looks like Southwest uses terminal A and WOW uses terminal E. So I assume this means I'll need to leave the secured area, take a shuttle, and then enter security again in Terminal E?
I ask because I'm thinking about stopping by Faneuil Hall during my layover. It looks like I can take the airport bus to the MBTA station and then it is only a couple of stops to the Aquarium. Can anybody advise if this is reasonable to do with a 4 hour layover? I figure 45 minutes to get to Faneuil Hall, 1 hour there, 45 minutes to get to terminal E and we'd be there 1.5 hours before our flight. If we already checked in I think all we need to do is go through security?
Obviously they recommend arriving 3 hours before your flight for international, but I'm wondering how much of that matters if you are already checked in and aren't checking any bags. Do they check our passports at the gate?
I have no bags and plan to check in online for my WOW flight the day before. It looks like Southwest uses terminal A and WOW uses terminal E. So I assume this means I'll need to leave the secured area, take a shuttle, and then enter security again in Terminal E?
I ask because I'm thinking about stopping by Faneuil Hall during my layover. It looks like I can take the airport bus to the MBTA station and then it is only a couple of stops to the Aquarium. Can anybody advise if this is reasonable to do with a 4 hour layover? I figure 45 minutes to get to Faneuil Hall, 1 hour there, 45 minutes to get to terminal E and we'd be there 1.5 hours before our flight. If we already checked in I think all we need to do is go through security?
Obviously they recommend arriving 3 hours before your flight for international, but I'm wondering how much of that matters if you are already checked in and aren't checking any bags. Do they check our passports at the gate?
#2
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Now in SLC
Programs: DL GM 1MM, MR LT Titanium
Posts: 4,117
I ask because I'm thinking about stopping by Faneuil Hall during my layover. It looks like I can take the airport bus to the MBTA station and then it is only a couple of stops to the Aquarium. Can anybody advise if this is reasonable to do with a 4 hour layover? I figure 45 minutes to get to Faneuil Hall, 1 hour there, 45 minutes to get to terminal E and we'd be there 1.5 hours before our flight. If we already checked in I think all we need to do is go through security?
Obviously they recommend arriving 3 hours before your flight for international, but I'm wondering how much of that matters if you are already checked in and aren't checking any bags. Do they check our passports at the gate?
Obviously they recommend arriving 3 hours before your flight for international, but I'm wondering how much of that matters if you are already checked in and aren't checking any bags. Do they check our passports at the gate?
#3
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: SEA
Posts: 3,955
Is the WOW flight at 6pm? If so, security is usually a little lighter around that time, and gets heavier into the evening, so your plan works. Recall that Terminal E has no precheck, not that it would apply on WOW anyway, but just to state that all pax go through regular security and the regular drill.
#4
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Formerly Box 350, Boston Mass, Oh two one three four. Now near Beverly Hills 90210
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you should be able to do this if you have your boarding pass, no problem. There's a security line in Terminal E at the extreme right hand side of the terminal (closest to Terminal C) that usually has shorter lines than the other security lines in E, and that is the closer line for WOW (and Icelandair), so that should help, too.
#5
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I agree with the others that this is doable. As LoganFlyer indicates, walking from Terminals A to E through the Central Parking garage is quickest, but that matters only if you abandon your plan to travel from Terminal A to Terminal E via Faneuil Hall.
I will raise the question, though, of whether an hour of time at Faneuil Hall is worth all of this effort. I haven't been there in quite some time, but isn't Faneuil Hall nothing more than chain stores, bad restaurants and souvenir stores nowadays. (Not sure it was ever anything more than that, but when I was a kid we thought it was the coolest place on earth!)
I will raise the question, though, of whether an hour of time at Faneuil Hall is worth all of this effort. I haven't been there in quite some time, but isn't Faneuil Hall nothing more than chain stores, bad restaurants and souvenir stores nowadays. (Not sure it was ever anything more than that, but when I was a kid we thought it was the coolest place on earth!)
#6
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: SEA
Posts: 3,955
I will raise the question, though, of whether an hour of time at Faneuil Hall is worth all of this effort. I haven't been there in quite some time, but isn't Faneuil Hall nothing more than chain stores, bad restaurants and souvenir stores nowadays. (Not sure it was ever anything more than that, but when I was a kid we thought it was the coolest place on earth!)
If OP decides to just stay at the airport, Legal Test Kitchen in Terminal A (behind security) is a pretty good representation of the Legal Sea Foods chain (which started locally).
#7
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Unfortunately Legal -- the entire chain -- is a shadow of its formal self. That said, it's still better than most airport food.
#8
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... I will raise the question, though, of whether an hour of time at Faneuil Hall is worth all of this effort. I haven't been there in quite some time, but isn't Faneuil Hall nothing more than chain stores, bad restaurants and souvenir stores nowadays. (Not sure it was ever anything more than that, but when I was a kid we thought it was the coolest place on earth!)
#9
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: SEA
Posts: 3,955
As you said, better than most airport food, certainly at BOS. The location in A (airside) has been my favorite. The landside location on the pmAA side of Terminal B is also okay. I eat there too often, as we'll generally grab dinner there coming off of a west coast morning flight, to miss rush hour.
That depends on whether one is talking about Faneuil Hall, the old historical building, or the modern Faneuil Hall Marketplace next door, which is "chain stores, bad restaurants and souvenir stores" as described though located in historic buildings. Let's not confuse them. The old building can be worth seeing if, like the OP, one has a short layover at BOS.
#10
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That depends on whether one is talking about Faneuil Hall, the old historical building, or the modern Faneuil Hall Marketplace next door, which is "chain stores, bad restaurants and souvenir stores" as described though located in historic buildings. Let's not confuse them. The old building can be worth seeing if, like the OP, one has a short layover at BOS.
#11
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Now in SLC
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Posts: 4,117
You can still go up to the second floor of Faneuil Hall and see the meeting room. For food, I'd steer anyone away from Faneuil/Quincy entirely and suggest the nearby Boston Public Market instead--lots of locally-grown fresh food and drinks there.
#12
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You can still go up to the second floor of Faneuil Hall and see the meeting room. For food, I'd steer anyone away from Faneuil/Quincy entirely and suggest the nearby Boston Public Market instead--lots of locally-grown fresh food and drinks there.
#13
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Formerly Box 350, Boston Mass, Oh two one three four. Now near Beverly Hills 90210
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Legal's Harborside (2nd floor) is an outstanding restaurant with fine dining and should not be confused with any other Legal's establishment.