Better Pack Your Running Shoes

Posted by Tracy Stewart on Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Q. I am planning on flying with my elderly father from New York to Augusta via Charlotte. From Charlotte, he would need to catch a plane 35 minutes later to Augusta on the same airline. Will he have to go through security again or, since he is catching a flight on the same airline, can he just walk to another gate in Charlotte? Will he make it on time?

A. Thirty-five minutes, especially if leaving from New York’s delay-plagued LaGuardia Airport, isn’t enough time to make a connecting flight even for a marathon runner. Airfarewatchdog doesn’t understand why airlines schedule such tight connections. Many airlines require you to be on board and in your seat 15 or 20 minutes before scheduled departure or your seat is subject to resale, so a 35 minute connection actually leaves as little as 15 minutes to make the next flight. This makes no sense to us. When planning connecting flights, you can usually build in up to four hours between flights, but you might need to do this using a real live agent or travel agent rather than booking online. Your dad will not need to go through security again, but he still might miss his connecting flight. You can play the odds by researching the historical on-time records of your flights with the Bureau of Transportation Statistics at bts.gov. The airline should also be able to tell you what percentage of the time flights are on time (from zero to 90 percent or more).

You might want to order an electric cart ride for him.

by Agent Tina on Wednesday, May 11, 2011

This is not an ideal connection but the odds are that he'll make it. There are things you can do to improve the odds: As someone said, he should try to get a seat up front for the first leg. You said you're flying with him but that *he* is making the connection; if he misses it, can you stay in Charlotte to help him get onto another flight and possibly a hotel in the interim? Bring a list of later flights (on all airlines, even connecting flights) from Charlotte-Augusta in case you need it. If there is an earlier flight from NY-Charlotte that would work for him, try calling customer service and appealing to their sense of decency (he's elderly) and business sense (it would be cheaper to put him on an earlier flight now than pay for the consequences of a misconnect). Finally, US Air requires that you be in the boarding area 15 minutes before departure time, not "on board and in your seat" (which I've never heard of from any airline). Furthermore, I'm not sure those rules apply to connecting passengers; airlines routinely monitor passengers with tight connections (not that they're likely to delay departure for one).

by Bruce on Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Are you flying USair both legs? If so, and you will be changing from a larger plane to a smaller regional jet (likely to Augusta), you will have gates that are on opposite sides of the terminal. There are carts, of course, but the journey across the terminal is complicated with a set of unavoidable stairs/elevator. I am pretty spry, but I wouldn't try this connection unless I were truly desperate. Build in some more time and enjoy the rocking chairs in the main food court area, or get a shoe shine and a massage. Charlotte is not a bad airport ot pass a few hours in.

by shuggie on Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Ditto. If *anything* goes wrong to delay your outbound for more than five minutes, you may not make the connection. I assume you are flying US Airways (since CLT is their fortress hub), so if you are not on the last flight of the day and you miss the cnxn, US will put you on the next available flight--if there are any seats. Then again, maybe it will be a sunny day on the east coast, your firsts flight will arrive a few minutes early, your connecting gate will be right next to or across from your arrival gate and everything will go fine (it does still happen, you know). Always hope for the best and expect the worst, where the worst is you have to overnight somewhere at your own expense (without access to your checked luggage), you don't get to your destination until a few days after you expected, and your luggage won't be able to be located for another two days after that. As a bonus the airline will have a "that's the way it is and we can't do anything about it" attitude. If you lower your expectations far enough, you won't be disappointed. (Works for me all the time!)

by StanScan on Wednesday, May 11, 2011

An obvious tip with a tight connection; try to get a seat as close to the exit door as possible. Being at the back of the plane can increase your time by 10 minutes or so.

by cruiser on Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Couldn't agree more. we flew from jamaica through ft lauderdale to atlantic city and the connecting flight was about hr between flights and we just made our flight by ONE minute. We had to get our bags when we got in, hit customs, drop them back off at the desk, go through security again and then make our flight. I WAS FURIOUS....no idea why they created this flight if it was basically near impossible. We only made it because I flipped on the security people because they were announcing our names through the airport and told them we had to get through immediately so we went through one of the new machines that scns your body. We RAN to the gate and the girl was like you just made it by a minute, we were about to sell your seat. Sell my seat??? you know I am here, I was on your other flight and you created this nightmare. NEVER AGAIN.

by alc1113 on Wednesday, May 11, 2011

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