aimeekm

I'm flying from LAX to FCO, connecting in ORD. There is only a 50 minute layover. I've never been to ORD. Is this a sufficient amount of time to get to the departing terminal and for AA to transfer my luggage?

DonTopaz

On many days 50 mins is sufficient time. On some days it is not.

Does that make you feel better or worse?

DonTopaz

Correcting my own reply, it would have been more accurate to say, "On many days, a scheduled connection time of 50 minutes is sufficient. On some days, it is not."

Citylghts

If you're continuing on AA, you'll arrive and reboard in the same building-Terminal 3.

As the previous poster said, if your LAX-ORD flight is on time you'll be ok, if not it will be a tight connection.

Jeff801

It is more likely you will have a problem with luggage on so close a connection.

I think there are only two kinds of luggage, carry on and lost. There is sufficient storage space on a 767 for a rolling bag and tote.

I think the opinion in these pages is nearly unanimous against checking luggage, particularly when you have connecting flights.

Queenie

Wouldn't a flight to Rome depart from the International terminal? Terminal 5?

If so, I don't think 50 minutes is enough. You have to take the train to Terminal 5, and that could take some time.

I would check from which terminal the Rome flight departs.

ms_go

There are a number of international flights that depart from the domestic terminals at O'Hare: American, United, Lufthansa, ANA...probably some others from T3 that I don't know about. Your American flight to Rome will depart from Terminal 3 (where you arrive).

Citylghts

To the above list add Iberia (T3) and Air Canada (T2).

And Queenie, just to keep you on your toes, all AC flights arrive in the domestic terminals because you clear US customs and immigration in Canadian airports before boarding. ;-)

However, I've never understood why LH and ANA use United's domestic facilities for international departures, but SAS and BMI make you schlep to T5.

andrews98682

I think 50 minutes is pushing it. You'll make it if the LA flight is on time, but you have little time to spare. I'd rather have a longer layover than risk missing a flight to Rome.

Odin

The standard minimum connecting time in ORD is 1hr 15mins. Are both flights on AA, can't find a connection using AA all the way thru with a 50min layover, but then again I don't know the date.

ms_go

I think the 1:15 is international to domestic. United hasn't published MCTs in the last year or so, but the last time it did, domestic to international at ORD was something like 35 minutes (not that I'd feel particularly comfortable with that). I know we're talking about American here, but they have similar operations at O'Hare--i.e., domestic to international in the same terminal.

aimeekm

Thanks everyone for your replies.

I want to make a small correction to my original post, not that it's probably material. I'm actually departing from SNA instead of LAX. I had forgotten that on that day, it was actually the cheapest flight.

Yes...both flights are AA.

I called AA and confirmed that the flights are both out of T3. So if the flight's on time, I'm confident that we can make it, not as confident about our luggage though. I'd love to carry on only, but I know I won't be able to get my mom to do the same.

It looks like we're going to do a confirmed standby by calling the night before for a flight 2 hrs earlier. Unfortunately that's a 6:30 AM flight that I really wanted to avoid.

There are no other direct AA flights to FCO that day, only connections, most through LHR, so I definately want to make sure myself and my luggage make it on the ORD-FCO flight.

joethekay

Why not fly to ORD the night before your Rome flight and stay at the airport Hilton or another hotel. That way you won't be stressed about missing your Rome flight and for sure will make your connection and bags too.

ms_go

<i>It looks like we're going to do a confirmed standby by calling the night before for a flight 2 hrs earlier.</i>

Question...does AA allow same-day confirmed standby for a domestic segment of an international reservation? Some airlines don't. I tried to do the same with a United itinerary (ORD-LAX-SYD--standing by for an earlier ORD-LAX flight) last year. Several phone agents (and not the ones in India) told me that it was permitted, space available. Then, when it came time to call and make the change, I was told it was not allowed because mine was an international reservation. I had no problem doing it at the airport, however--a phone agent told me that the airport personnel would likely be &quot;more empowered.&quot; You might just want to clarify that.

Odin

&quot;I think the 1:15 is international to domestic&quot;

Intl to dom is 1hr30mins standard MCT (ie there are exceptions depending on airline).

aimeekm

Thanks to those who replied to my question. I just wanted to follow up...

12 hrs before the flight I called to request confirmed stand by. As ms_go had warned.....this is not allowed on domestic legs of international flights. The cust serv agent suggest we might have better luck by trying traditional standby as the gate agents have more wiggle room and the flight was far from full. My mom and I debated our options....carry on only... attempting standby...? At the end we decided to be risk takers and check our bags and take the original flight. Thankfully there was a happy ending, we and our luggage arrived intact and on time.

AAFrequentFlyer

For future reference folks.

AA minimum connection times:

<i>BOS DD- .30( 1) DI- .40( 2) ID-1.30 II-1.30
ORD DD- .35( 3) DI- .35( 4) ID-1.10( 5) II-1.10( 5)
DFW DD- .40( 6) DI- .40( 7) ID-1.10(7a) II-1.00
LAX DD- .30( 8) DI- .40( 9) ID-1.30 II-2.00
MIA DD- .40(10) DI- .45(10) ID-1.20(11) II-1.20(12)
JFK DD- .35 DI- .40 ID-1.15(13) II-1.15
EWR DD-1.00 DI- .40 ID-1.30 II-1.30
RDU DD- .25 DI- .35 ID- .55 II-1.00
STL DD- .30(14) DI- .40 ID- .55 II-1.00
SJC DD- .20(15) DI- .30 ID-1.00 II-1.00
SJU DD- .30(16) DI- .40 ID-1.00 II-1.00</i>

Exceptions:
( 1) Mainline &lt;-&gt; Eagle/Connection = .35; Canada -&gt; All = 1.00
( 2) Canada -&gt; All = 1.00
( 3) Eagle/Connection &lt;-&gt; Eagle/Connection = .29; Equip Widebody -&gt; All = .40; from 05SEP06 Flights 2300-2499 &lt;-&gt; All = .40; FPO/NAS -&gt; All = 1.00
( 4) Equip Widebody -&gt; All = .40; FPO/NAS -&gt; All = 1.00
( 5) Equip Widebody -&gt; All = 1.15; DEL -&gt; All = 1.30
( 6) Equip SF3 &lt;-&gt; Equip SF3 = .30; FPO/NAS -&gt; All = 1.00
( 7) FPO/NAS -&gt; All = 1.00
(7a) Equip Widebody -&gt; All = 1.15
( 8) Eagle/Connection &lt;-&gt; Mainline = .35; All -&gt; Hawaii .40
( 9) Eagle/Connection -&gt; Mainline = .45
(10) AUA/FPO/NAS -&gt; All = 1.00
(11) Europe -&gt; All = 1.25; Flight 922 -&gt; All = 1.15
(12) Europe -&gt; All = 1.25
(13) ZRH -&gt; MIA = 1.05
(14) DFW/DAL &lt;-&gt; All = .40; Equip J31/J41 &lt;-&gt; Equip J31/J41 = .25
(15) Hawaii &lt;-&gt; All = .30
(16) All &lt;-&gt; Equip ATR/AT7 = .40