Is 30 minutes enough time to change terminals in Houston?

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I am visiting Japan. Tried countless times to get through to United customer service (no toll-free number available, costs long distance), with no success. Tried making international calls to United customer service in US only to find the same result; no human comes on the line and wait on hold goes on forever. I don't know what to do. Please advise.

by Kiki on Monday, March 19, 2012

We are flying from Calgary to Houston with Air Canada and then from Houston to Bonaire with Continental in Feb. This is all same day travel. Will we have to go through customs? Can we book our luggage direct to Bonaire? Our tickets do not say what terminals we have to go to after we land inHouston. Please Help. We have enough time on the trip there but on the return journey we only have a couple of hours.

by goofysk on Monday, January 09, 2012

Allow more time than the airline suggests. If you are going also from international to domestic, you will face endless lines thanks to both immigration and TSA, which has you re screen hand baggage. They don't care about your connecting flight.

by Robert on Friday, August 12, 2011

Continental (now United) is in the habit of selling tickets with very short connection times at Houston. Maybe they feel having a shorter overall trip time boosts sales but it makes me nervous. Personally, I've run from one terminal to the other and made it. It all depends on if your first flight is on time and your ability to be swift. Having no checked baggage helps, too. Getting off an international flight, I ran to be the first at the inspection desk and smiled and I was lucky to make my connection.

by Babs Johnson on Friday, June 03, 2011

Same again here...I arrive at terminal B from an internal Continental flight and then 1 hour later, I have a flight - same airline - leaving for London from Terminal E. I have no ideea if I need to get baggages out, or if the transfer between terminals takes longer than 30-45 min...

by dan on Friday, May 27, 2011

We too have concerns about making a connecting flight booked through and using Continental. We are flying in from MSP and then to San Juan Puerto Rico. If everything goes as planned, we will only have 33 minutes to change planes. I would imagine we could make it, however we too are concerned about our luggage making it. From San Juan, we then fly to Vieques, so our luggage may get stranded. Maybe we should just pack enough for our carry ons.

by mnwizkid on Tuesday, February 01, 2011

You definitely should try to get Continental to change your connecting flight to a later time, or your departure flight from SFO to an earlier time. Because of flight delays, etc., it's never a good idea to have that little of time to catch a connecting flight. But if you aren't successful in getting Continental to change anything, I think you will be fine - as long as your plane leaves on time. I was just in the Houston airport two days ago returning from Jamaica and had to go from Terminal E to Terminal C. Even though it sounds like they might be a ways from each other, they really aren't. You don't have to take a shuttle from one to the other. As long as your flight is on time, and you don't have to go through customs (and you shouldn't have to if you're on your way to England) you should have enough time. You'll be ready to board your flight to England as soon as you get to your gate.

by D.J. on Thursday, July 30, 2009

I totally agree . I travel to England alot but I stay in Houston so therefore I dont even have to make a connection when I fly back home. It takes me longer than 30 mins just to come out the airport. It takes about that long just to get your luggage and thats not even including all of the customs , immigration and security checks you have to go through. Keep trying to get a longer connection time I would hate to see you miss your flight.

by lrr1998 on Thursday, July 23, 2009

You can check everyday on the airline website whether or not this flight is arriving in time to make the connection. If you see it is not, that is ammunition to persuade them to give you a better connection and help you to avoid considerable inconvenience.
Even if you made the flight, your luggage probably wouldn't. That happened to me on the way to Buenos Aires connecting in Atlanta. I had to wait a whole day with only the clothes on my back and my purse for them to deliver my luggage to my apartment. The first day of my vacation was spent on worrisome phoning to the airline hoping I would see my luggage again.

by Donna on Thursday, July 23, 2009

Previous commentors are right on Continental's VERY short connect times. Barely made a flight to BWI, a few months ago. H have better luck w/ United. For So. Oregon, good itineraries are MFR-SFO - ORD -BWI or MFR-SFO-LAS-ORD-BWI.

by charmarjon on Wednesday, July 22, 2009

I have PTSD recollections of racing between terminals in Houston, to catch the last plane home after a business trip. Continental's policy is what led me to my "never less than an hour between planes, anywhere, any time" policy when I book travel.

Just keep asking for a longer connection. For international travel, I would look for at least a two hour connection. You are required to be AT the gate 45 min before the flight for international travel--use that the next time you call.

by mickisue on Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Continental is notorious for booking short connections in Houston, even with incoming Int'l flights requiring a customs visit....???? Since you booked through Delta, contact them, explain the situation - they may be able to offer you something else, especially now that they are merged with NWA. Something else to keep in mind - depending on when your flight is - supposedly after October, Delta and Continental are no longer partners and will not be booking rewards tickets on each other. Though I have been looking at Delta's Skymiles award ticket site for a trip to Costa Rica next year and they STILL post Continental flights...go figure!

by Jeff on Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Thirty minutes is not enough time. I had a similar situation returning to the US from Guatemala. Noticing the really tight connection and the fact I would have to go through customs, I called Continental to inquire. I was assured there would be enough time. Well, it took twenty minutes for my bag to come and then I got selected for a bag search. By the time everything was said and done, I missed my connection and had to get a hotel room (no more flights out that day). Room and dinner cost me over $200, and no, Contintental would not pay. Give yourself plenty of time if connecting through Houston.

by nomikins on Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Houston is terrible - double check the terminals. A couple of times flying to New Orleans, I had a connecting flight in Houston with 30 minutes inbetween flights. I had to take a shuttle from one terminal to another. This happened twice. Once, I missed my flight. The other, I barely made it on. Call Continental daily.

BTW, I now make sure I fly through Memphis whenever I go to New Orleans.

by Steve-n-ONE on Wednesday, July 22, 2009

If you have reservations, I would highly suggest you check your itinerary on a regular basis. I had reservations with Delta to Sydney with a return on a Tuesday. They have canceled their Tuesday schedule and didn't notify me. Now I am having to return one day later. It was mentioned that a lot of the airlines are doing away with their Tuesday and some are also doing away with their Wednesday international flights. Oh, by the way this was the second schedule change on this itinerary.

by Traveler on Wednesday, July 22, 2009

me too.

by biscuit on Wednesday, December 17, 2008

I recently faced a similar situation due to a delayed flight. I was using Delta SkyMiles to fly from SFO to Newark, and was booked on Air Alaska via Seattle. The SFO departure was delayed by summer fog, and I would have arrived in Seattle too late to make the connection. Unfortunately, I was booked on the last Alaska flight of the day out of Seattle, so they offered to put me on the first morning flight, even though there was technically no frequent flyer seat availability.

They didn't offer to pay for the Seattle hotel, though, because it was a weather delay - the implication being that they would have covered it if it were an airline-caused delay. I opted for an extra night in San Francisco, and flew the original itinerary the next day, without additional fees or miles.

So in addition to trying for an earlier SFO-Houston flight, I would ask Continental what will happen if you miss your connection. Is there a later London flight that they'll guarantee? If you have to stay over in Houston, will they cover or defray hotel costs? Does it work for your plans to arrive later than expected? Particularly given how common fog delays are out of SFO, the short connection time would make me very nervous.

by on Friday, August 08, 2008

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