st3

This Saturday I am flying YLW-YVR-SFO on one ticket (booked through UA) and SFO-TPA on a separate ticket, also booked through UA. I called previously and had the PNRs linked. The layover in SFO is only 55 minutes. With the runway construction it looks like delays are stacking up daily and I am worried I won't be able to make my redeye flight. I don't have any expectations that UA will be able to hold the plane or provide any IRROPS help. I am considering booking a hotel in SFO as insurance in case I don't make the flight. Short of changing the itinerary proactively and routing through another city (which I am looking at right now) any other ideas?

cfischer

I would change SFO-TPA proactively and yes, get a hotel room in SFO. Even on a good day 55 mins on separate tickets (there is no such thing as linking them) is 'aspirational'.

jsloan

Delays work both ways -- it's entirely possible that your SFO-TPA flight will be delayed, allowing you to make the flight with ease.

I don't see any particular reason to book a hotel room in advance, though. So you get to SFO and you miss your flight -- it's unlikely that every hotel in the Bay Area is sold out.

IAH-OIL-TRASH

That's likely to have zero benefit - pretty much waste of a call. It is just a note in the record and has zero impact on any other UA info systems. It won't (for example) show up in United Connection Saver program that you're connecting from YVR.

ContinentalFan

Were I in your position, I wouldn’t worry: construction delays impact departures as well as arrivals. I’d also suggest you monitor the equipment performing the red eye: it could be delayed too. I’d like to have more than 55 minutes, but more often than not, things seem to work out.

Repooc17

Both of these, basically. Go with the flow and familiarize gates info and waypoint

Also nearly as important would be to track the aircraft for the inbound flight before SFO-TPA, as most aircraft spend little time on the ground. That inbound flight is likely to be in the air around the same time as your flight from YVR, which will give you some guidance and next steps closer to SFO.

For what it's worth, I made a 12 minute "connection" last month from AS gate in D concourse to UA gate in F concourse (high F gate - F22). Inexplicably, UA moved up the departure time by 10 minutes, which meant I lost 10 minutes + 15 minutes door closure time right away.

More realistic situation, last week, I had connected AS to AS at SFO, my flight to SFO got in an hour late (when SFO had just ONE runway available for both landing and takeoffs for a few hours). The inbound aircraft for my connecting flight was also late by around the same time, so my connection time was still more or less the same.

Would not worry about accomodations, as there is not going to be a shortage of rooms under normal circumstances.

xooz

I would consider paying extra for a seat as close to the door as affordable on the YVR-SFO segment.

st3

Yeah, I understand the value is dubious at best hence zero expectation it would matter. More of a footnote than anything.

Well I am in 2F so I have that reasonably well covered.

Doppy

Practically every flight I've been on for the past year has had at least delayed boarding if not departure, since it's a surprise to SFO operations every flight that planes need to be cleaned.

chavala

I wouldn’t book a hotel in advance, but I’d have a contingency plan set. Make sure you know which ones are near the airport, have all the apps updated or phone numbers at the ready.

stevenshev

Never understand this logic. It's a legal connection if it's on one ticket, which means we can infer UA expects you to make it the vast majority of the time. By changing now, you accept your worst possible outcome, so why not just wait and see if it works out as planned, which is how UA is underwriting things will go?

DenverBrian

I'd switch to an aisle seat - the extra 30-60 seconds could end up being the difference.

DiminishedSeventh

OP is on two separate PNRs.

Kacee

Why? Because the risk profile is different on separate tickets.

Also, it's not that UA sells the connection because it "expects you to make" a 55 minute connection, it's that UA's willing to accept the risk it will have to rebook you. That's not much of a risk from UA's perspective, but it can be a big hassle for the passenger, which is why most of us would also be thinking about contingency plans even if this itinerary were on a single ticket.

stevenshev

Which is largely irrelevant to the likelihood of making the connection other than to cover the relatively unlikely scenario (more unlikely than missing the flight) where the OP needs to rely on Connection Saver to hold the second flight.

Sure, agree 100% it's always a good idea to have a Plan B. But the comment I quoted above was effectively take the L now and forget about trying to make it - that is what makes no sense to me.