fadeforward

I'm not sure why you're being so dramatic. If the flight is late, there are 6 more flights that day that the OP can catch, and there is still moderate availability. Plus, the weather looks fine and, with so many fewer flights these days, ORD has been relatively mellow. I say the OP has a 90% chance of making the connection. If the OP has any elite status and can speed walk, it's absolutely a risk I would take for a cheaper fare.

LNKed

I recently had about a half hour connection at ORD and made it without a problem, so I don't think you have much to worry about, especially since there will be plenty of later flights if you do happen to miss it.

UAX_Brasilia

About a year ago, I was routed PVD-ORD-DEN-SBA, with a 30 minute connection in ORD, and a 31 minute connection in DEN. Perfect day of flying actually. It is kinda nice to land and be able to have a relaxing walk over to your next gate and be able to board right away.

Then again, the flight could be late and you might miss a flight, but UA handles IRROPS pretty well, even for a GM.

COSPILOT

I have a 1hr rule for ORD. If in doubt I book the next flight, but if I make it in time I standby for the earlier flight. My success with standby for an earlier flight is around 80%(not ORD specific.) Works for me and takes some of the stress away.

ddrewboy

Have you look at PS flight? The early LAX-JFK gets in at 1446. If that was too expensive, take a redeye with a connection the night before. Otherwise, like you said, DL and VX have direct flights that will get in mid afternoon. AA has a direct flight that will get in right at 1800. All of these flights are into JFK. I dont know about your date but May tickets are about $129++ for the outbound.

I would say a hail mary before counting on making a 35 min connection in ORD .

good luck,
drew

AGSF

My opinion:

You are already flying between two cities where the airports are not known for being stress-free, why add the stress of ORD? Buy a LAX-JFK non-stop ticket, and you'll probably save money over flying to LGA. I agree that if you're going to Manhattan, LGA is the preferred point of entry. But given the choice between a one-stop to LGA and a non-stop to JFK, I choose the non-stop. Treat yourself to a cab, and JFK isn't too bad. Plus, T7 at JFK (UA's terminal) is a fairly pleasant place, as compared to some of the other JFK terminals (Delta's terminals come to mind).

emcampbe

This is true, why not just fly non-stop to JFK. Not exactly the OP's question, but I would beg to differ on LGA being a preferred entry point to Manhattan, at least for me. Granted, all my travel is personal, but I much prefer either JFK or EWR to LGA. LGA is closer, but its a hassle to get into/out of, even in a cab, because you never know how long it will take in traffic to get into the city. Unless I have a huge bag (almost never), I much prefer taking the LIRR from JFK or NJT from EWR - its pretty quick. If you time it right, you can be at Penn Station from EWR in 30-35.

aluminumdriver

I think that is wise advise. 1 hour minimum for ORD. Put it this way OP, you could be 14 min late and still be "on-time" into ORD. Takes 7 min to get off plane, then you take 10 min to walk between terminals and you are already within the 10 min prior to departure where they close the doors on you. I say it is not a smart connection. If you can afford to delay to the next flight it might be worth the risk, otherwise get a bigger connection time.

jamjets

I connect thru ORD coming and going to SEA from the east coast all the time. I NEVER allow connections this tight at Chicago. It is entirely feasible to walk to your gate with ease if everything is on time, but if you take even a minor taxi delay at your departure you will be running. I don't run at airports. Think about it.. your departure will be boarding as you pull up to the gate. Not for this 1.5K who has never missed a ORD connection....

Fredd

IMHO your advice is good for at least some other hub connections as well, e.g. IAD. ^

I don't like to run at airports. When we have upgraded seats 3A-3B on a 757, I focus on my chances of keeping the upgrade on whatever the next plane is (319?) as I jog.

u2fan

Is 50 minutes enough time?? I just finished reading a post from a flyer who can arrive on a connection, go over to AC and check availability on their flight, walk back to UA, offload and rebook on AC, then go back to AC and checkin for their flight - all in 40 minutes.

stevenshev

30 minutes is plenty. If you're on time. On the way to NY, I wouldn't worry about it. If you're delayed coming in, chances are that your flight to NY is delayed going out. Even if you're not, chances are that it is. And, if you do miss, tons of flights to LGA, EWR, and even HPN, if need be.

I'd keep the 30 minute connection if it saves you a lot of money of a p.s. flight (btw, whoever suggested JFK would be cheaper than LGA is dead wrong). Otherwise, go for p.s..

COSPILOT

I stand by my one hour rule for ORD. I have booked connections in ORD with less and with success, but I prefer limiting my stress in ORD, always having a 1 hr rule; especially with a UX inbound to ORD flight which guarantees a gate checked bag for me. Big deal if I'm in first, I'm going to wait for my gate checked bag for a few minutes or more.

I consider my success in ORD is partly due to NOT booking tight connections. I know my time is coming for ORD headaches, but I'm limiting my exposure by keeping connections to a reasonable amount of time. I even do this in DEN now, you just never know what may delay a flight.

Having said all of the above, if the price difference was very significant, I would probably favor the tight connection and role the dice.

glex50

You know, it's not the end of the world if you miss a mid-day flight ORD-LAX.

It can get dicey if you have a hard time rebooking on the next flight, but there's enough capacity from ORD into SoCal that I wouldn't sweat it.

For my own purposes, I'd probably book a 60+ minute connection, but I wouldn't sweat about a 35 minute connection as long as there was some redundancy.

GUWonder

If I only had 35 minutes for scheduled connection times at ORD on my UA flights into and out of ORD, I'd count on missing my flights at least one out of four times or even substantially more than that. Missing a flight is no big deal if there's an available seat on the next flight and that next flight is convenient too, but that's only because I'd be prepared for a misconnect.