COS-OGG advice
 

Hi, I am a 1st time poster but have been reading for quite a few years. Thank you all for all of the advice over the years. Now I have a question. We are flying COS- OGG on 1-30-20. There are 5 of us and we are flying 1st class. Of course the flights keep changing and will continue to over the next 4 months. Since there has been a significant change to the flight times I can request to have different flights. We are flying with two elderly folks with limited mobility and one has cancer (Maui is his bucket list trip) so 1st class is the most comfortable and safest seating for both of them. We are now scheduled the following: Colorado Springs, CO, US (COS) to Denver, CO, US (DEN) UA 5291 (now a 49 minute connection) - Denver, CO, US (DEN) to San Francisco, CA, US (SFO) UA 2362 - San Francisco, CA, US (SFO) to Kahului, HI, US (OGG) UA 1273. (The flight had already been changed from a 1-stop in LAX with a 2 hour layover to a 5+ hour layover getting into OGG at 9:30ish PM so we opted for the extra stop to arrive in OGG at 3:15 PM. We did not select the DEN direct to OGG because they did not have enough seats) Now there has been another change and I can request to change to a flight on the DEN to OGG leg to be COS- DEN- DEN to HNL instead of SFO. If all goes well we would arrive in OGG at 4:35 PM. I would prefer to arrive earlier but here is what I am thinking. If we are delayed for any reason between COS and SFO and we miss the SFO- OGG leg there is only 1 other later flight that day to OGG. If they don’t have any 1st class seats left we are stuck in economy for a long flight. Would we be better off changing to the COS- DEN- HNL-OGG flight with a 2.5 hour layover in DEN and more chances if that flight is delayed to get a flight on HA that day as they have another 7 flights to OGG later that afternoon/evening? Thank you.

Welcome to FT.

I'd avoid SFO - the COS-DEN-HNL-OGG routing looks the best, although that makes for a very long day. Make sure you have arranged transportation from UA to Hawaiian as they are in completely different ends of the airport.

Another option is 4 people fly COS-DEN-OGG the next day and 1 person fly perhaps the previous day or another routing - there are 4 F seats available the next day.

Or 3 people go COS-DEN-OGG on Jan 30 and 2 go a different routing that are the most mobile

With elderly/ill passengers in the party, I wouldn't try for a tight connection in a big airport.

I assume that driving the COS-DEN leg wouldn't make sense from your location, especially during the time of year you're traveling.

I've generally found the DEN-HNL leg to be pretty smooth and relaxing, especially in first.

Probably the most stressful part of the trip will be the connection at DEN. You will generally arrive at the Godawful "temporary" gates and have to hustle to to gate 40 area where DEN-HNL departs. Since you have 2 folks with limited mobility, request carts to pick you up and take you to your gate. You should be able to request that at both DEN and HNL.

I think you're much better off with COS-DEN-HNL-OGG than COS-DEN-SFO-OGG; having 2.5 hours to make your connection in DEN is much better than 49 minutes, especially at that time of year. I've heard them call "final boarding" for DEN-HNL while I was getting off my COS-DEN flight more than once. COS-DEN-OGG would be even better but I think you would be stressed by splitting up your party.

I appreciate the feedback. We do need to stay together to help everybody out.

Driving that leg can be tough in the winter. We choose to originate out of COS because it is so much easier to get around than DIA. Now that we have booked the flight originating in COS it is my understanding that I can't change the origination and final destination due to schedule changes otherwise I would certainly consider that.


Thank you very much for the feedback. You are correct that splitting up would be more stressful. Thanks for the input on the DEN= HNL leg!

Do not choose the tight connection between COS-DEN. Based on my experience there is only about a 25% chance the COS flight will operate on schedule and about a 30% chance it will be cancelled. I live near COS and fly several times a month for work. I drive to DEN to start all my trips because that COS-DEN leg is the first thing on the schedule to get cancelled or delayed if there is a problem anywhere in the network. If you at least give yourself the 2.5 hour turn time in DEN you can possibly drive up there in time to make your flight if the flight out of COS gets cancelled or significantly delayed. I’ve had to do that several times.
I wish I was wrong or exaggerating because the COS airport is so much easier than DEN. But I’ve been burned a majority of the times I’ve tried it.

There is absolutely no way that I would fly the COS-DEN segment. Miserable aircraft, miserable and distant gate at DEN, and subject to cancellation & delay in any bad weather.

With five of you, why not arrange car service? Absent blizzard conditions which will likely affect DEN anyway, you will make it through and if the weather is looking poor, you can make departure adjustments the day before.

We fly the COS to Den leg frequently. DIA cancels and delays more flights than COS does in any kind of storm. The flight from COS-DEN is only 20 minutes. I can fly on a smaller plane for 20 minutes no issues.
We had originally scheduled COS-LAX but the layover changed into an almost 6 hours layover so we changed to COS-DEN.

Nonetheless.
1. If you have passengers with tough travel issues, nonstop is always better than a connection.
2. COS-DEN gives you options if there is a cancellation or delay, e.g. driving. DEN-OGG does not.

In the end, it's of course your choice.

Thank you for taking the time to answer. I totally agree that non- stop is much better. That was my first choice but there were not 5 first class seats on any of the direct flights DEN-OGG on the dates that worked for my work schedule.

Can you leave three days earlier? There are seven seats in First Class (flat bed) on DEN-OGG.
Good luck!

Unfortunately I cannot leave earlier at all. When I booked the tickets I could have had 5 seats on January 29th but I can't get away from work until the 30th. Now we are pretty much tied into the dates that we have booked with our condo reservations. Coming home we are direct from OGG-DEN-COS.

Can some of the five go a couple days earlier and enjoy staying elsewhere in Hawaii?

Let's not exaggerate. 25%? I've had some disappointing delays in the past couple of years but probably not more than 1 time in 10 (if not 1 time in 15). The only flight I've had cancelled from COS to DEN in the past 13 years was the crazy snowstorm in 2006 that dumped 3.5 feet of snow down on Denver. Driving to Denver wouldn't have helped because that airport was completely shut down. DEN-COS flights on the other hand seem to be the lowest priority when DEN is stacked up.

I routinely fly out of COS rather than drive up to DEN because I detest the traffic on I-25, the tolls on E-470, the horrible parking lots at Denver and ridiculously long security lines. If anything, I prefer to fly COS-IAH if I'm headed to the East Coast because Denver can be so bad but the DEN connectors are often more convenient. Of course, there's the Colorado Springs Shuttle, a longer drive but someone else has to deal with the headaches.

I will not argue about the horrible E145s and CRJ-200s on the route up to DEN but it's 20 minutes of cattlecar experience compared to 1-2 hours of I-25 (gotta love Monument pass on a snowy day). It sounds like the OP is familiar with the area so he can use his own judgment and experience WRT fly or drive to DEN but keep in mind he said he had 2 elderly passengers with limited mobility.

Flight 5291 leaves COS at 6am with 2 hour 49 minute connection to DEN-HNL, unless an extraordinary event they'll be fine