jsloan

There's a seasonal departure around 5 AM from EWR. I just did a search for a Friday in June and got a 5 AM departure with a 7:01 AM arrival; I'm sure UA adjusts the flight schedule on other days.

If this is a group of 14 adults, I wouldn't worry too much (but I would watch for schedule changes and consider requesting a proactive re-route if one occurs). If this is a group of 6 adults and 8 children, I'd have serious concerns. The first flight of the day is the least likely to be delayed; there aren't many 4 AM arrivals at EWR, so there's a good chance the plane and crew will have remained overnight there, and there aren't likely to be big taxi or weather delays at EWR at 5 AM either. UA requires that you be in the boarding area 15 minutes prior to departure, so that gives you 27 minutes to deplane and cross the airport if everything is exactly on time. DEN Is big, but it's not that big.

Do any of the travelers have status? Are they flying in F or Y? If Y, regular economy or Basic Economy? They should sit as close to the front of the cabin as possible.

Do not expect UA to hold the plane, although they might; UA operations will take a lot of factors into account. It's possible that the next BIL-DEN flight has 30 people with very tight connections, and holding the plane for your group of 14 actually causes more harm than good in terms of the overall number of affected passengers. Also, as has been pointed out, if the previous night's last DEN-BIL flight got cancelled, there might be 15 standby passengers at the gate; all things being equal, UA would probably rather take 14 of those and deal with your group later than induce a delay.

And, the chances of UA allowing a fee-free change in advance are close to zero, barring a schedule change. I wouldn't even bother calling, especially if you're trying to move all 14 people. A friendly agent might waive the change fee, but waiving a fare difference could be a more difficult request -- and there's no way to know what the fare will be by the time you're getting to the last group, since UA doesn't ever list more than 9 seats available for sale at a time. (A single reservation with 10+ people goes through group sales).

HNLbasedFlyer

I have to connect often in Denver from SF to get to Birmingham, AL (or, vice versa) - in my experience, 42 minutes gives me enough time to run up to the United Club for a some cheese/crackers/lunchmeat - grab a glass of wine or two - and still have time. Granted I move quickly but that should be plenty of time.

Bonehead

Well so there is.

Anyway, many CRJ200s leave out of the bus terminal at DEN (gates B80-B95); it is almost 4000 ft from the westernmost B gates (e.g., B11) to B95 (worst-case scenario). The good news is that a 5 AM flight should be early a decent percentage of the time.

JVPhoto

What I want to know if you’re going to take the flight when they may miss it by 20-30min. Should make for some interesting dinner conversations over the next 2 days as the rest of the group starts to trickle in.

ecaarch

The OP has been given some really good advice here (gotta love the collective wisdom of FlyerTalk). I would add:

1. Every experienced traveler should be paired with an unexperienced traveler/minor.
2. Don't even attempt to keep a group that large moving together. You will move slower than you ever thought was humanly possible.
3. Each pair is on their own to get from the arriving gate to the departing gate. If there are minors, make it a contest to see which pair gets to you first - you would be amazed at the ability of children to get adults to move faster.
4. As suggested, chat up the GA when you arrive (early) so that he/she is aware of the group.
5. All the pax should use the lavatory on the inbound flight just before landing. NO RESTROOM BREAKS ON THE GROUND AT DEN.
6. Every pax should have a copy of the airport map (https://www.united.com/web/en-US/con.../maps/den.aspx) so they know where they are and where they gotta get to. Xerox paper copies, have it on their phones, whatever it takes. Even the un-experienced and minor travelers should have it. They should also have the outbound flight number in bold on their maps. That way, they won't be fumbling looking for their boarding pass with the connecting flight number. Everything that they need to get from point A to point B is on the map.
7. The experienced traveler in each pair should be versed in the back-up plan in case that pair doesn't make it. Write the back-up options down and distribute them. In the stress of the moment, if something goes wrong, even experienced travelers forget things that they thought they had memorized. When I know that I'll have an exceptionally tight connection in advance, I will literally print out the combinations of flights that will get me to my destination. On more than one occasion, that prepared list of options included a routing/flight that the GA/transfer desk didn't think of but worked out for me.
8. You should be the last to board the flight. That way, you can count heads as the pairs arrive at the departure gate/board and you can let the GA know if your group is missing 2 people or 10 people.

Good luck. It is do-able, and you are wise to be thinking ahead. ^

PBAudit

Another factor is the season. If June, the headwind going west should not be too bad. Given that United pads flight times, there is a decent chance that you may arrive early. Of course this assumes everything goes well.

Palal

There is a 30 min connection EWR-DEN-BIL for tomorrow. Arr 7:47 p.m., Dep 8:20pm. B25 to B44.

TA

OP give us some demographics about the group so we can enjoy the drama unfold -- is it a group of high school kids who can sprint? Parents with infants? Elderly tour group? It makes a practical difference. And tell us about how it went afterwards...

mduell

1) Don't expect UA to hold the connection for you.

2) If there was a schedule change after booking that pushed this connection from 2h down to 42m, sure. If you booked something like this, no.

3) Plan appropriately for the age, temperament, and capabilities of the group when the predictable happens. That could mean snacks, electronic entertainment, clothes, etc in the carryons.

deek

Trans States Airlines that service the Montana airports are unusually accommodating on holding the flights in Denver for late pax; I fly to/from MT every week and half the time am delayed in Denver a few minutes. When UX is late arriving in Denver, well, not so much...

Expect to depart for BIL from gates 80-95, possibly the awful 70's.

azepine00

I wouldnt worry too much - 45 min is enough to make a connection in DEN and 5 am flt is unlikely to be delayed or sit waiting for a gate unless there is some major ground stop of smth similar. You'll be there to monitor the situation and talk to UA agent.

emcampbe

Some good advice on this thread so far. I agree - booking a 42 minute connection for a large group is probably not wise. Flight lands on time, and the group can walk at a normal pace, even if the far end of the B gates fro RJs should be fine. But most groups will not walk normal pace. And not all flights land on time. So I agree, everyone should work as fast as they can to get to the gate. I would book this kind of connection on my own, and ideally not for the family (including toddler), however, if connecting to a destination with multiple flights I probably would be ok. Wouldn’t do it to last flight of the night (except for maybe to somewhere like SJC, where they could rebook us nearby to SFO instead).

noah

You can do it. I've had several shorter connections in DEN recently. They also held our DEN-HDN flight for some inbound connections (so we left 15 minutes late but still arrived 10 minutes early).

chavala

Tell everyone to wear sneakers. No clogs, flip flops or kitten heels. And RUN. The pairing thing is a great idea, althought if no minors involved I’d say every man for himself

DENflyer3

For what its worth, I have had many flights to BZN and BIL that have been held because of connecting passengers. Those Montana flights seem to be held a lot for the bigger tour groups in the summer for certain. If you get the chance, make a gate agent at the incoming gate aware of it, and I would suspect that may make some calls on your behalf.