bigbadbuff

Planning a late August family vacation to Maui, home airport is RIC. A few questions for the forum:

1) There are a decent number of 1-layover options to EWR/ORD/DEN but several are 70 minute connection times, and I won't do that with kids (and checked luggage that we'd really like to see when we arrive at OGG). This leaves me with choosing between ORD or DEN for a roughly 3 hour layover. The ORD flight departs quite early, DEN is much more reasonable departure time. Is Premium Plus on the 787-8 Dreamliner from ORD worth a 5:30am flight with kids over Economy Plus on a 767-300 from DEN?

2) Initially I thought we would do United First but it seems most of the Polaris (new or retrofit) offerings are now the pod style. While I'm aware some of these configurations (like the 1-2-1 setup on the 787-8) do have 'side by side' seats for those that prefer it, they are every other row at most and we would rather not be separated by rows if possible. A bigger deal for sure is the fact that if your kid needs anything more than just 'reach over the separator' help with anything, you cannot really get to them, you're stuck in your respective aisles- so bathroom visits, etc. become a real challenge. So the only real kid-friendly option to me is something like the old 2-1-2 configurations on the 767-300. Those are far from amazing but would work great for our needs. I'm extremely fearful though that a simple plane change would almost surely result in a Polaris cabin that didn't really work for us. So I guess I'd like input on how often leisure route plane changes to HI happen, and how close to departure date to expect it could happen (my assumption is it could happen any time for any route generally speaking).

WineCountryUA

Bags will not be an issue for that sort of connection.

"Normally" not that much of an issue but recently with fluctuating demand, the grounding of the 772 Hawaii workhouse, ... things have been more dynamic. 4-6 weeks out has been the recently milestone but even more recently there has been a lot of shuffling for the early summer. Late August could see changes.

UA's goal for all but the 772 Hawaii config is to eventual convert to the polaris style seats on the lie flat aircraft.

Economy Plus is a normal economy seat with couple inches more spacing between rows. Service is standard economy service.
Premium Plus (Premium Economy) is a wider seat, more row spacing and recline, close to a domestic F seat than an economy seat.

ATLflyer2017

1. Why does a 70 minute connection scare you? Luggage won't be an issue. Also planes typically arrive a little earlier so your connection may end up being a little bit longer.
I'd choose what works best for your family's schedule. Are they better in the morning? I never choose flights based on product offered. I want to quickest/most convenient travel time possible.

2. Again, I never book based on expected product because equipment swaps do happen. Even if you do get swapped to a Polaris cabin, I'm sure there will be a way to make it work for your family.

bigbadbuff

If this were a mainland flight I don't think a 70 minute connection would phase me at all, in fact I'd probably consider it ideal in most situations. But flights to OGG from these connecting airports are generally 1-2 a day max, and the idea of missing the first or only/having no room for a party of 4 on the second flight (again with young kids that can't sit by themselves) seems a realistic possibility.

You are probably right re: making whatever Polaris option work. Appreciate all the advice.

Kmxu

OP: The connection time is not a concern; the current schedule has a much longer layer over time than 70 min. There are two DEN-OGG flights in summer. On return, you want to choose EWR or ORD for longer sleep time.
If seats are really concerning you, check other airlines, especially AA with one connection. I do not know whether or not DL offers one connection from RIC. Good luck.

bigbadbuff

I understand the finalized schedule's layover times for these flights are longer, but they are adding more flights from RIC to ORD and DEN daily and that's messing with the connection times. I would love to feel comfortable that 70 mins is sufficient in those airports...

DL does not currently offer one connection to OGG from RIC, which is a shame as I'd like to fly them.

I am looking at AA as well, they have a connection in DFW that would work fine.

halls120

If your flight arrives at its connecting airport on time, I agree. When it doesn't, IME that means my bag and I have a good chance of being separated. On my next to last flight before COVID, that is exactly what happened.

I'll do a 70 min connection if I'm on a business trip and carrying on, or on my way home, but if I'm on a vacation and checking a bag, I will not book any connection under 90 mins. YMMV, of course.

Kmxu

There are benefits from schedule changes because airlines will let you switch to another routing with a better connection time and another aircraft type free of charge. If the change of schedule is more than two hours, you can get refund of your tickets.
Pre-COVID, there were only two daily RIC-DEN flights; only the morning RIC-DEN can connect to DEN-OGG. It is very unlikely that United will add another RIC-DEN anytime soon. I also doubt that added RIC-ORD (currently, two daily flights) flights will mess up the connection to ORD-OGG. RIC-EWR-OGG is a wild card because RIC-EWR has a huge reduction of flights from Pre-COVID.
I fly out of RIC a lot and love the airport. If you need a chaperone for your trip, sign me up
As mentioned earlier, the longer-duration return flight is important (OGG-EWR or OGG-ORD) because you will get more sleep.

bigbadbuff

A few additional questions please:

1) Strongly entertaining a layover at ORD that is 90 minutes on a Sunday in August (United just made some changes to flights from RIC to ORD; they took away an earlier flight and extended the connection time of the remaining morning flight from 70 to 90 mins). I know United flies out of Terminals 1 and 2 at O'Hare. Is this generally considered an acceptable amount of time to not be really pressed for time, to go from an (as it currently stands) gate that an Airbus 319 would land at, to a gate that a 787-8 Dreamliner would take off from? I am traveling with a 5/7 year old and don't want to have to stress over making the flight or having our luggage make it on the flight to OGG, of which there is only 1 nonstop per day on the schedule as is.

2) My options I am most interested in for returning are:

- 1hr 40 minute layover at DEN on a 767-300 in a Polaris 2-1-2 configuration, which I believe is still the older non-pod style, or
- 3hr 20 minute layover at DEN on a 787-8 Dreamliner with the typical 1-2-1 configuration.

An hour 40 sounds like enough time at DEN but United lists March 2021 on-time performance at only 63% for this flight (I understand there is some grain of salt with this but I can't help taking it into consideration). Who wants to make a long return day even longer but I am strongly considering the additional 2 hours at DEN to be quite confident in making the flight to RIC and also getting an, in theory, nicer ride/better sleep on the Dreamliner. The flights to the east coast airports are either significantly more $ or the seat choices still available don't work for my family, hence being forced to look at DEN for connection.

What would you choose here?

halls120

I'd do 90 mins at ORD on a Sunday. I'd do the 100 min connection at DEN, assuming the 787 flight is later.

JimInOhio

Ninety minutes at ORD is plenty of time for a connection.