Afraid of missing connections
 

I'm flying out of ORD->IAD->LHR and the connection in IAD is 1 hour. I've heard ORD is notorious for delays and it looks like it may be snowing when I'm flying out, so I'm really worried I may miss my connection. Added it's the last flight out to LHR for that night.

Should I be worried? Also, I was thinking of trying to go on standby on an earlier flight. I checked the seats and it's pretty full with only 7 seats left (and 1 week to go). Are my chances pretty slim to get on that plane (for 2 people) Thanks for your advise.

I'm flying United/BMI which I have no status on, but I am Platinum on AA. Will that help any?

Status on Airline A is no help with Airline B.

And, yes, in the winter months I would be worried about a one-hour connection at IAD. Remember that you are supposed to be boarded and strapped into your international leg 30 minutes before departure. Even if your ORD-IAD arrives exactly on time, if you're sitting in the back of the plane, that gives you 15 minutes to make it to your next gate.

I would pay the change fee to move to an ORD-IAD that gets you in three hours before the international leg leaves. That way even if it runs two hours late, you're cool.

UA to UA xfers @ IAD can allow for very fast connections. The problem is its easy to get a slight delay on both sides, quickly eating into your connection time. If possible, I'd try and standby an earlier ORD -> IAD flight (there are plenty) or try and fly standby on the ORD -> LHR non-stop.

BearX had a good point. Is this an all UA itin or is an AA/UA mixed?

It is an UA/BMI flight. the ORD->IAD leg is UA and the IAD->LHR is BMI (but operated by United).

The ORD->LHR nonstop on standby is very tempting. Is this something they will let me do? Is this something they will let me do? Will they want to charge any fees?

Was availability an issue on ORD-LHR direct when you booked your flight? If I was given the option of flying direct versus dealing with a 1-hr connection, I'd prefer the former.

availability wasn't the issue, price was :rolleyes: (refer to Millage run forum). b/c these fares can be gone in a sec, I didn't get to spend much time trying to figure out my best itinerary :(

What time is your flight? UA has a ORD-IAD-LHR that is all the same flight number. I can't remember what the exact times are but I am pretty sure this is it. I few it a while back (on the same deal) and the purser made an announcement that all passengers that weren't traveling to LHR needed to stay in their seats for just a moment to let us LHR passengers off. I had absolutely no trouble getting to my gate. It was in the same terminal just down the hall. Boarding was in progress but I zipped to the red carpet and went right on board with no problems.

It's been my experience that the ORD agents won't typically rebook you on ORD-LHR if you are booked ORD-IAD-LHR. The LHR agents will often offer to rebook you on the non-stop back to ORD though.


Halothane

I don't have that flight unfortunately (would of been too good to be true)

here's in my itinerary

United Airlines Flight UA976 on a Boeing 757 (jet) in coach class
Departs Chicago, IL (ORD) Tue, Dec 16 6:11p 1 hr 50 min
Arrives Washington, DC (IAD) 9:01p

United Airlines Flight UA924 on a Boeing 777 (jet) in coach class
Departs Washington, DC (IAD) Tue, Dec 16 10:04p 7 hrs 11 min
Arrives London, United Kingdom (LHR) Wed, Dec 17 10:15a

I really hope my connecting gates are close. I see there is some shuttle service to inter-terminal travel which scares me!!

I'm flying SFO-ORD-LHR this weekend with a 50-min connection at ORD. Let's hope for magic. Maybe a nice agent at SFO will let me go on a direct SFO-LHR flt that leaves 2 hours later and gets in 1 hr earlier.

I have a YOW-IAD-LHR connection on chirstmas eve, with 1h02m between. I'm not worried, even with the E145 more prone to Winter storm delays in YOW.

Despite the BD code on the flight you have a straight UA->UA connection. One hour leaves very little room for a delay out of ORD so I would second the recommendation of trying for an earlier flight out to IAD. If that doesn't seem to be working and there is any hint of a delay on the ORD-IAD flight talk to someone about re-booking on the non-stop as you're likely to misconnect.

You can standby for free for the same routing (or a non-stop) on the same day of travel. If you arrive a couple hours early, you can standby to travel on the 10am ORD-IAD flight instead of the 12pm ORD-IAD flight for example. If they think you'll have problems or weather looks difficult, they'll probably rebook you/confirm you immediately on the non-stop. Ask at check-in and see what they'll do for you. You probably won't be able to standby for the non-stop as if you didn't make it, you won't have time to get to IAD to catch your regular flight. That doesn't mean that won't automatically confirm you on it if there is space available.

I don't think I'll be able to go on standby b/c I have to check in luggage (going for 2 weeks). I see there is a nonstop flight from ORD-LHR at around the same time, but that flight looks pretty full too. Has anyone tried to change their flight when checking in, and what were the results?