Baze

Very true. But I have yet to see a plane completely within the jetway (all BP's scanned) before T-30 Min. It's a chance ya takes for getting to the gate after T-30 Min.

rove312

If you go by the Minimum Connect times at the FlyerGuide Wiki http://www.flyerguide.com/wiki/index...Times_%28UA%29 for Dom to Int it's 40 minutes at EWR, and 30 at some airports including LAX. Can they really book people with connections like that and say they need to have boarded at T-30 minutes? Don't they have provisions for people being known to be on a connecting flight?

indomitable

unfortunately, i can't explain this to my travel desk..for them, if UA is offering the connection on its website, then it is doable .. And i guess, if my flight gets delayed by and hour or so, i will miss my connection. In that case, will UA get me an accommodation for the night, or am i on my own till my rebooked connection time? I am trying to get a plan B set up in case i miss the connection

feobrien

Stay overnight. It is too tight. Even with Global Entry, no checked bags and arriving and departing in terminal C this is tight. It's possible if everything goes perfect and there is no line at security - enjoy the Newark Marriott and relax.

Often1

Unless it's a MX or some other delay within UA's control, you will be rebooked, but on your own for hotel + food. There are "distressed" traveler rates available, but food is food.

As to the huffing and puffing about "UA can't do this and that" the answer is that UA can and does. If you are on a connection to BOS or some place with close to hourly service, this isn't a big deal. But, when it's 1/2-way around the world with 1x/day service, this is tempting fate.

Do have backup plans handy. Start with UA, followed by *A, followed by other carriers. Remember, GA's are trained to process lots of people quickly. Complex itineraries are not their strong suit. If you've got specific carriers, flights -- and are polite but firm, you stand a better chance of getting to where you want to be.

armagebedar

Wouldn't I simply recheck my bags after passing through customs as is the usual practice on an international-to-domestic connection? Although they are on separate tickets I plan to interline the bags at my departing airport.

Also, can you please confirm that I'll need to go landside? I was pretty sure the airside transfer shuttle goes to Terminal A; if not, I'll have to add time to clear security again.

LaserSailor

T-30 is the last checkin time, not gate arrival time. I've found gate arrival times varying between t-20 and t-10 depending on airport and carrier

I did arrive at ALB gate at T-21 to find ALB-EWR pushed back, and they brought the pane back and boarded me.

njcommodore

I live in EWR, fly 100k+ a year out of there, yes I can confirm you will be landside (like every other INT arrival into US). As with every INT-DOM connection at a US airport you'll need to clear security again. UA has 0 checkin counters at B, and I don't believe they will accept bags. Accepting bags after clearing customs is generally for the airline you flew in if the departing airline has a presence at that terminal. But since you will need to get from B to A (or C), you will have to take your bags with you. So, my original advice still stands. Take your bags on the AirTrain to your departing terminal. You'll be treated like a regular domestic checkin at that point. If you don't believe me, feel free for others to confirm exactly what I said.

indeus

Though not related to EWR, recently I was offered a 39 min US-EU connection at IAH. Feeder flight was to arrive in B and EU departure was out of E. Supposedly this is a legal connection at IAH. Saner sense prevailed and I opted for a longer layover.

Going by T-20 logic, I have 19 minutes to make this and UA believes this is doable? I timed the transfer. From parking of aircraft to reaching the E gate, it took most of 30min.

AZjohns

I'm a little lost. If bags are interline checked though to the UA flights then OP would just drop off his bags after customs down the hall and to the left. I did this several times last year at EWR coming into B from Europe. I never had to drag my bags to A when continuing on. And its the same way at every other US airport I flew into from Europe also. Please note this is for bags checked through as interline as OP mentioned in his post.

Not sure what the "rolled eyes" were all about????

indomitable

okay..so, i will keep list of possible flights of UA followed by *A at my disposal in case things go wrong. Thanx all you guys for making this easy for me. Will post my experience of a 51 mins international connection

rove312

Yes, same for me. You do need to reclear security, since passengers could have taken restricted items out of their checked bags at customs.

armagebedar

AZjohns, rove312, thanks for your comments. Yes, I expected to have to reclear security but wasn't sure if there was some quirk due to the inter terminal shuttle being available. Since my luggage was interlined successfully I'm less concerned about that than I am the transfer process from B to A. I was hoping to avoid any lines at the normal TSA checkpoints by using a transfer security point instead.

zrs70

Flight from Punta Cana was two hours delayed for mechanical. Was bound to miss last LAX flight of day. Original connection time about 2 hours, 40 minutes. I wouldn't have felt comfortable with anything under 2 hours.

UA auto rebooked me on an alternative via SFO (with an overnight in SFO).

Anyway, we arrived in B. departure was in C. Global Entry whisked me through formalities. I ran to the AirTrain. TSA pre-check whisked me through security.

Got to the gate with time to spare to grab a dunkin donut!

sfonorth

Did you have checked baggage? Can one purposely skip baggage retrieval to catch a tight connection? I assume the bags eventually arrive at the destination airport.