EmailKid

It's not the walk you need to be concerned with, it's the arrival of the incoming aircraft

Haven't followed how good/bad sCO is at IAH, and my recent connections were OK, but sUA is horrible. Thought I was going to miss my flight due to late arrival, the the connectiong flight was delayed EVEN MORE

But to confirm, C to E and vv is an easy walk.

EmailKid

Alzarius

My upcoming connection at IAH has me worried.

I'm flying from SFO (depart 12:55pm)-IAH (arrive 5:55pm, depart 6:43pm)-AUS (arrive 7:41pm). It's United all the way, with a 48min connection in IAH. This is on a Thursday evening. When I booked the flight, it was supposed to be around 1hr for the connection.... since then United has changed the first leg and pushed the departure time from SFO back, and now the connection has gone down to 48min.

How likely am I to have a problem? I have checked luggage, and would there be a possibility that I will make it, and the luggage doesn't have time to make it to the other plane out of Houston, and vice versa? (luggage makes it and I don't)?

There does not appear to be any flights with available seats left that evening from IAH-AUS if I miss the connection. What would United do for me then?

I booked this flight back in June for the F1 weekend, and even back then, airfares with 1 stop from SFO were going for near $700, and this was the best scenario I could come up with.

EmailKid

IF your first flight is on time, you should be OK.

IIRC UA is adding capacity that weekend, so hopefully you will be OK. With a fare that high it is probably a more expensive bucket, and you may be able to do a same day change for your first flight starting at 24 hours before the flight, though depending on your status there may be a cost involved.

EmailKid

Alzarius

Thanks. Yeah, I think there will be a cost since I'm only Premier Silver. Hopefully the first flight is on time. Hate to think of the scenarios if it is late and I miss the connection. Hope United plans ahead as all the flights are full that day going into Austin.

Reifel

Good Day,

in a few weeks I will be flying from FRA to TPA. I was initially booked via EWR but could rebook via IAH, as this would give me a) a LH A380 instead of an UA 767 and a "safer" weather issues airport in this winter time.

Reading horrible reviews about immigration in IAH on Skytrax I am unsure if it was a good decision.

I will be arriving with LH from FRA in Terminal D at 1:50 PM, need to clear immigration, and then depart to TPA on UA at 3:59 PM, which is usually C or E Terminal.

Here are my questions:
-Is this usually a busy time for immigration? I have a German passport...
-Are the lanes really that long as suggested by the reviews? The good thing is that I will sitting in Economy Class first row on the plane, so I should be at immigration right after the premium passengers and before the horde of all the remaining Economy Class guests...
-Do you get any special treatment as Star Alliance Gold to clear immigation more quickly?
-Going to Terminal C I can walk, right? The Video on the Houston Airport website suggest to take the train.
-I believe connecting security is usually quite a mess, isn't it? Do they have special lanes for Star Gold at least there?
-Is there a plan B in case my LH flight comes in late and there is a mess at security? I.e. going landside and reclear through another security checkpoint?
-Do they use body scans in Houston and can one opt out without too much issues? I opted out once in Miami shortly after these things were installed and it was a quite easy pat down so I don't really mind...

Thanks very much for all your thoughts.

wcj1

I can only answer some of these, but:

* There are no special Star Alliance Gold immigration lines in the USA.
* You can walk to C, but you will come out of immigration near the train, so especially if you are close on time and need to get to C, I would take the train. Here is another map:
https://www.united.com/web/en-US/con.../maps/iah.aspx
* I do not know if they use body scanners coming out of immigration, but opting out is the same everywhere. Just say you want to opt out and you will get the pat down.

AAJetMan

I managed to book about a 3-hour layover at IAH in Jan 2013.
Is it possible to walk indoors and inside security between all terminals?
(Just did that at ATL and enjoyed the exercise.)

Bulldog83

You can walk freely between C, D and E (which is a pretty big area). You can take the airside (inside security train) to Terminals A and B (which are not connected). Really not much to see in either A or B, but A is nicer than B.

EmailKid

No, but Term D is pretty empty until the afternoon flights arrive / depart.

Term E is OK for walking as it's wider.

As I pointed out in another thread, I try to find a cart, put my hand luggage on it and walk all over IAH when connecting.

EmailKid

BuckleandBoots

C, D, and E is a lot of ground to cover. If you've never been to IAH, it's an interesting airport to walk through.

donjo

B has a rather large food court, but it's nothing to see.

WillTravel

Follow-up on my layover.
My flight was late, but eventually I got out of the airport. Following the signs at E got me outside Terminal C. At first I could not find where to call for the shuttle, but it is there inside.
I went to the Doubletree, and they do have a nice treed courtyard/pool area.
I had lunch at Derrick's Oil Salon restaurant, which opens at 2. The $5 Texas chili was fine.
A nice empty spot to hang out. I walked for a bit and discovered the Presidential Plaza, a strip mall with mostly restaurants, but also a cigar store and liquor store. Godfather's Pizza, cheap Chinese food, cheap donairs, and the Hoot County Saloon. Behind this strip mall is a large field with a wooden giraffe.
Across from the Doubletree is a Sheraton, and I actually took that shuttle back, as I was nearby and saw it loading up.
Around the same area are several parking operations and an office building, plus more hotels.
All in all, it was nice to be outside and poke around for a bit. But my late start and nervousness about getting back in time made it shorter than anticipated.
So there you go -- a trip report about the area at one edge of Houston airport.

deubster

About to purchase a pair of vacation tickets LBB-HNL through IAH. Outbound gives me 1:45 to change terminals, but return trip has only 54 minutes to get from T-E4 to T-B84N (the N is subject to change).

A bit nervous about this since:
1) This is a dirt-cheap vacation so we'd be sitting pretty far back. i.e., late getting off the plane. Baggage will be checked through, though, just some carry-ons to lug.
2) UA's on-time performance for this route (200) doesn't inspire confidence. It was 22 minutes late arriving this morning, and is on-time only about 70% overall.
3) Next UA flight out to home is about 4.5 hrs later.

I have options, such as AA through DFW, which gives plenty of time. We usually take this, but UA gets us to HNL about 1.5 hours earlier and gives us AVOD on a 777 (AA is a 763 with scattered overhead screens).

Is UA too big a risk?

EmailKid

Only you can decide that @:-)

I've done the flight a couple of times in the last six months or so (as part of longer itin), and coming back hasn't been the problem, it was getting to HNL late and missing the connection despite being told at the gate at IAH that they would hold the connecting plane for us

OTOH, with a later flight available, I personally would go for it, but then again I'm after all the UA miles I can get. YMMV.

Oh, and E to B84X is easily done, realistically 20 min max at normal walking speed plus train.

EmailKid

deubster

Sounds good to me. Appreciate the help.