UX NYC-IAD Contingency Planning
 

In June, I'd like to take a NYC (LGA/EWR/JFK) to IAD flight (2:30pm-ish), to join friends for the 5:30pm flight back to SFO. This should give me at least 1:30 cxn time.

Checking the flight statuses for the last couple of days, UX has been consistently cancelled or late. I've never taken UX, and this was eye-opening.

So I was thinking...

1. Don't book at all from EWR/LGA. If the UX flight is cancelled/late, I'd skip IAD, and take the next available flight back to SFO. From EWR/LGA, it wouldn't be non-stop to SFO, and it may be challenging to get rebooked.
2. Book UX from JFK. The UX Shuttle America is nicer (E170), and in case of cancellation, there's a better chance of rebooking a direct p.s. flight to SFO (or even JFK-LAX-SFO).

Is this a good strategy? Thx.

I believe EWR has UA nonstops to both LAX and SFO. Not p.s., but still 757s...

No - not with today's full flights. Rebooking isn't easy and you often get ...... seats. I would just leave a little earlier. Especially if you want to join you friends. If the latter isn't important. Book a non-stop.

All 319s now.

1. Stay away from anything operated by MESA.
2. You will need more than 1:30 cxn time.
3. Pray there is good weather, but just in case there isn't,
4. Stay away from anything operated by MESA.

If you really want to take the IAD flight, fly out the evening before.

Stay off anyone's RJs. Period.

Another option would be the US shuttle from LGA to DCA, then cab or something out to IAD. Probably not as attractive as flying UA EWR-IAD, but it's a viable choice in that it's a lot more reliable than any RJ.

Train?

Yeah, or bus for $30

or the $1 bus @:-)

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=799358

Ger3sf - I fly the route a fair bit and you are right to opt for the JFK option. At 230pm JFK is still pretty quiet and while there are usually ATC holds on the taxiway (average 30 mins) the schedule is pretty padded. I have never misconnected for the 530pm onward bank of flights to Europe though a couple of close calls to be sure. Hope it works out for you!

I agree with adambrau, having had similar experiences on this route very often. My policies:

a) JFK is the best of the airports in general before 6pm
b) Avoid Mesa
c) At the first sign of delay, call and get protected to your final destination
d) If your final destination is not transcon (like ORD or MSP) then JFK is *bad* because your protection options are not good.
e) Know the alternative airline options (JetBlue, etc) to your destination JIC you need to find an alternate path to your destination
f) Check the *inbound* flight status over and over again. You can easily figure out which aircraft is operating your flight INTO JFK (because UA only flies from IAD-JFK) and that flight's status will be more accurate than yours. Really. Don't count on UA/UX to update flight status in real-time, they won't. The more leadtime you have, the better.
g) Don't be afraid to change airports between LGA and JFK if you find that a situation has degraded. They are only 15 mins apart (and $20 cab ride). You need to call and find out what the situation is with the alternate flight at LGA and keep your finger on the pulse of it by calling/checking online repeatedly.

Yes, I know it sounds neurotic - but it's the only way to take control of your destiny (used lightly) when UA/UX won't really help.

<G>

lI've had several previous nerve wracking experiences trying to make a EWR to IAD 5 PM'ish connection to Europe. So last December I took the 10:15 AM flight and spent 5 hours in the RCC.