Avoid changing terminals?
 

Hi,

My grandfather will be flying from Kona to Toronto Pearson this May and has great difficulty walking. The best fares I have found have been on United via LAX, SFO or ORD but they all require terminal changes (I think some flights are operated by AC on a UA codeshare.) I think there are some flights via Chicago that don't require change, but the long layover (~4 hours) will probably be worse than changing terminals. Apart from this, are there any cities that he can transit through that avoids a terminal change?

If not, how difficult is it to change terminals? Is there a bus or do you have to walk between then? Which city will be the easiest to transfer in?

Thanks!

LAX T7 to T2 transfer is easy on the ground level - walk directly across the U. There are crosswalks. With granny in wheelchair, will take no more than 10 minutes.

doesn't that require going landside and then reclearing security? for ORD, if you don't arrive/depart T5 (should be the case for all canada flights), you will be able to transfer airside.

At SFO, there's a bus that runs between the United, US Airways, and International terminals. You don't have to re-clear security, but you do need to walk up and down a flight of stairs (no elevator/escalator). I've frequently seen older people or families with small children and strollers struggle, but as far as I could tell, there was no way around it, short of exiting the secured area, walking/being wheeled around, and then going through security again. That wouldn't be too bad, though, if you could get a wheelchair and had enough time.

At LAX, I can only remember taking the bus when switching between American Eagle and Northwest (same terminal as Air Canada). I think they have an elevator, but I'm not positive.

Personally, I would try to go through ORD if the connection is an issue. Even if is T1 United to T2 Air Canada, that is fairly easy and definitely the easiest of the 3 airports. Just request a wheelchair.

BillJ

UA 5pm departure to ORD connecting to 630a flight to YYZ. No terminal change, shortest routing, easiest all around.

If he is connecting UA mainline to AC at ORD, he will need to get from T1 to T2. There is a shuttle bus from the C concourse to near the AC gates in T2. He could also just request a wheel chair and a skycap will get him to his gate...

One bad thing about Kona is the lack of jetways. KOA-ORD is a 777, and that is a heck of a long flight of stairs up to that aircraft if he has trouble walking.

Hilo (ITO) and Maui (OGG) both have jetways that would make boarding the flight to the mainland a lot easier. The only flights I know of from Hilo to the mainland is on ATA, so probably not the best... though they do fly to Phoenix where he could connect to Air Canada. The Maui option on the other hand isn't bad. Island Air flys Dash-8s around the islands, so boarding would be a lot easier for him in Kona going to OGG. From there he could get one of the flights directly back to the mainland (avoid UA 3 to ORD since it first stops right back in KOA where you must deplane). The United terminals at LAX are easy to go between if need be, all on ground level so he wouldn't have to climb stair or escalators.

Just kind of an out of the box idea, it may not work well in your case but I thought I'd put it out there.

UPDATE: Looks like using some sample dates in may OGG-YYZ is running about $100 cheaper than KOA-YYZ. The Island Air flight from KOA to OGG should be in the neighborhood of $40 or so.

Thanks very much for all the replies. United suggested connecting via LAX since it is the easiest with a wheelchair (fewer stairs apparantly) and his journey is broken down into 2 shorter flights rather than one long and one short.

Thanks again!

Cheers,