Connection time in Washington?
 

I am about to book a ticket to Philadelphia in october. On the return I got an option to book Philly-Washington with UA which arrives at 21.00 and my LH flight to Frankfurt leaves at 21.35 is that really enough time? Will i get any compensation if I miss it?

kempis -- I don't think it would work. The minimum legal connection time at IAD is 45 minutes for Domestic-to-Int'l and 90 minutes for Int'l-to-Domestic.

KEMPIS this will only work, if you're able to find the very connection in either sabre or amadeus. If you don't find you will get NO compensation, if you miss your flight in IAD. And if you catch your flight on time - your bags won't !

How much do you really want to spend a night/day in Washington DC on your own dime? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

UA is not delivering on time now and probably still won't be that trustworthy in October. And it looks like the candidate flight has a 20% ontime record to boot.

Hi Kempis!

Nice to see that I'm not the only FT in Sweden!

It is not impossible to make the connection that you are talking about. And if you don’t make it you will get compensation. THERE ARE HOWEVER SOME THINGS THAT YOU NEED TO THINK ABOUT WHEN BOOKING YOUR TICKET TO GET COMPENSATION.

The flight that you will be traveling on from Washington to Frankfurt is a code share flight. It is operated by United (UA978) but also has a Lufthansa flight nr (LH6603). This means that you will be traveling on a United aircraft even though your ticket says Lufthansa.

The flight from Philadelphia to Washington is operated by United (UA1745) but also has a Lufthansa flight nr (LH9737).

Minimum connect times at IAD are as follows:
-From a domestic flight (any airline) to an international flight (any airline): 45 minutes.
-From a United domestic flight to a United international flight: 35 minutes.
-From a Lufthansa domestic flight to a Lufthansa international flight: 35 minutes.

This means that if you book the flights with the same airline either LH or UA your connection is OK. But if you book your domestic flight as UA and the transatlantic as LH your connection is NOT OK. I.e if you will travel through Washington make shure that you book both flight with the same airline code. This might seem strange since you will be traveling on the same aircraft regardless of what you book. But then again, it’s a strange world...

[This message has been edited by nilsman (edited 07-31-2000).]

I found some relevant posts in this thread concerning compensation and hotel/meals vouchers.

To get UA compensation or hotel, the delay would have to be mechanical, according to the posts.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum71/HTML/001278.html

kempis: you are a SK-employee (aren't you?), and as a SK-employee you are probably (I hope for you) flying on a heavily discounted employee-ticket? If so, I don't think that you can expect (have a right) for compensation, but I guess you will get all the support and help (and hotel discounts etc) from one StarAlliance-colleague to another if you get stuck in IAD.

Wouldn't SK help a StarAlliance-colleague in Scandinavia too?

As a frequent international traveler (and many from IAD), I would never give less than 1 hour, and prefer 90 minutes, on any international connection, wehther here or in Europe. Too much chance that either the passenger or at least their luggage won't make it. Always take into account the not unlikely possibility of the ATC/Weather and other delays. (By the way, LH/UA share the same terminal at IAD).

Rudi
Yes I am a employee of SK. Yes I could fly on great prices(standby basis) but in this case its important that I am in Philadelphia certain dates so this time I will book a regular ticket.

Of course I would help an Employee of another * airline on vacation in Scandinavia.

Thanx all for the info about IAD. I will book the flight directly to Frankfurt instead.

have a great trip (and please report) kempis http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Probably a wise choice...

Have a nice trip Kempis!

You might want to consider using the train for travel between PHL and Washington.

It's one of the few areas in the US where there is good, covenient rail travel. I think the train station in PHL is downtown (unsure of this). The station is Washington is in an excellent location with direct connection to the subway system there.

If you can Kempis, flight out a day before and stay in the D-C area near the airport and take the first available flight out.

That way, no missed flight.

I think kempis has now already decided to take the direct LH flight from Philadelphia to FRA have a good trip http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Rudi
Have you ever been on the LH flight to and from Philly? If so do you know if its usually crowded or? (I am looking to get dumped as many times as possible http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif