Hah. Just like if you fly into Gate C7 and have to connect out of C45 - a mile plus walk. Or even better, C7 to E24. But you still have to pass C45 and keep going for another almost mile. Oh, and wait, when did I pass any D gates? Never if you're doing C to E. Even stupider - try to get from C28 to any B gate. Physical connections? No.

And, just like IAD, try to get from any C gates to A gates. Soooo impressed.

Soooo great!

Not.

David

Over time I have become fond of IAH for international connections and the airport has become much nicer over time. The addition of Clear in the UA terminals and expanded Precheck hours plus renovated lounges are a big plus. But all that said, it doesn't hold a torch to SFO. As Mr. Lee notes, some of the UA connections are quite laborious. At SFO they are all pretty easy, though I suppose Gate 90 to Gate 100 is a bit of a hike (but that's about as bad as it gets).

Apparently I hit a nerve. So sorry. And don’t worry, nobody will force you to connect in IAH ever again.

You should probably stop walking in circles. :D Walking in straight lines, it's about four fifths of a mile from C7 to C45.

Just less than a mile (total, not a mile past C45). And you don't need to pass by C45 if you don't want to. You can go through D terminal.

You passed the entrance to D twice on your C7 to E24 walk; once at the main intersection where the C North addition was added, and again near the D/E security. (Admittedly, you'd have to go a bit out of your way to get to D/E security on your walk).

Yes, they're connected, although it's the long way around. C15 is connected to B85.

This one is true; A isn't physically connected to the others.

The difference between IAH and IAD, though, is stark; the trains at IAH are actually convenient, not built for a location that might have a terminal in 20 years.

None of these long walks you've mentioned are actually necessary, because you can take the train. Which.. the United app will tell you, if you ask it.

None of this is germane to SFO, though, except to say that I agree, the current numbering system is bad, and this sounds like a massive improvement.

Sadly not true if you fly UA to destinations in the southeast. Or LATAM.

David

Yes, if I could walk a circle at IAH, I would. But I can't. I'll buy 0.8 mile walking/running/jogging straight lines but given the crowding along the C spine, you're dodging people (mostly the slow ones who decide to stop randomly) - thus the mile plus (sorta like Mileage Plus but worse ;) ):


So, by your own statement, the gate "numbering" system at IAH requires you to know that there is a difference between the C North addition gates and the C South gates. For me this is the biggest problem of having to navigate the IAH - knowing which gates are "North" versus "South". And yes, tho' I've never tried it, I could go from C to E through D, but the only options that I was informed of were a) walk or b) go up, up, up to the train, transition between gates, go down, down, down and still walk, walk walk. Oh, and the entrance to finding the escalators (which also weren't working at times) isn't obvious.

Again, the intrepid UA connecting traveller needs to know that there's "North" and "South" sets of gates within the same "Terminal" at IAH and that there's limitations on being able to get between different Terminals - even knowing that there's a potential train solution - as well as the total path length and travel time required to get between "Terminals".

The other issue I have with the C15 to B8x gates connection is the lack of signage and literally having to have faith that there's an end to the path that will put you in the B8x gates. Or that you'll have even further to go if you're in the lower B gates.



The trains at IAH are only convenient if you're switching terminals. With the IAH gate numbering system, why should a traveler need to take the train if they're going from C7 to C29 through C45? And, as shown above, the path length and travel time of using trains going between C North gates and E anywhere gates is ill defined. Again, the UA connecting traveler can't necessarily depend on the "awesome" gate numbering system at IAH because they have to know the difference between which gates in a given terminal are north or south.


Getting back to the thread topic at hand, renumbering at SFO should take into account that most folks won't be expert in the given airport and, specifically numbering gates differently so that Gate 90 isn't assumed to be near by Gate 91.

David

The above illustrations have reminded me that IAH is the only airport for which I regularly use the in-app airport maps/directions feature. :)

OK, I think I finally understand what you're saying. IAH C is designed sort of like (current) SFO: gates with similar numbers in the C terminal could be a significant distance from one another. I suppose they could use a renumbering there also, to split C North and C South into separate terminals (C and F, maybe).

Flashing blue lights... which are only useful once somebody tells you "follow the flashing blue lights."

I believe that they point B travelers toward the train because it may be faster than walking in general -- although from C15 in particular, walking is probably the best bet.

You don't take the train to get from C7 to C29. I mean, you're making it out to be more difficult than it is. The train stops between the north and south sides of a given terminal (D is basically E North). You only take the train if you are changing terminals, and even then it's sometimes faster to walk (another feature shared by any layout that incorporates both a train and physical connections).

This, times ten. Then, they should do the same thing, for the same reason, at EWR. And if you want them to change to A B C D E F G H at IAH, well, I can live with that. :)

Eh, as long as you're healthy and have a reasonable connection time, it's a good idea to walk a bit between flights in the name of reducing chances for blood clots, helping you sleep better on a red eye, etc.

Of course SFO is easier to get around than IAH. United's footprint at IAH is nearly double what they have at SFO.

Daily flights:
SFO -- 290
IAH -- 501

Follow up post:

I was making a connection at IAH yesterday. Inbound flight arrived at C9 and it only took me about 11 or 12 minutes to walk to B81. The interesting part is coming off the Jetbridge at C9, there was an airport employee holding an electronic sign, looking for two deplaning passengers that were making a connection out of E9 (listing the destination city). He was there to bring them all the way over to E9 in an electric cart. Anyone know if this done on a semi-routine basis for trekking to far away gates or might this have been something pre-arranged by the passengers (a motorized wheel chair service of some sort)?

They certainly never did it for me.
Must be pre-arranged, unless it’s some GS thing.

Looking into booking a flight from SAL-IAH-LAX

It will be ticketed through United with a 1hr 35 layover.

SAL - IAH 12:35p - 4:40p
IAH - LAX 6:15p - 8:00p

I will have checked-in baggage.

I don't have Global Entry, though do have Mobile Passport app

Will this be enough time to go through customs, deal with luggage, and get my flight back to LAX?

Is the wiki still correct about MCT on I/I? There was a schedule change for my flight, YYZ - IAH - CUN. Unless that's considered a D/I because of the preclearance at YYZ, I have a 1.13 connection time, which wiki suggests is illegal. Am I interpreting this correctly?

Tight, but doable. Hopefully there is another later flight to LAX just in case ...

This is considered D/I because of preclearance at YYZ. Again, somewhat tight, but very doable.