Clarise

Hi everyone,

I was wondering if someone could help me. I have never taken a connection flight before nor have I been in IAD, and this Summer (July 9th) I will be flying home from New York to Manchester via Washington D.C. IAD. Both flights are with UA but I only have a 42 minute stop-over (this is not what I had requested but lastminute.com are not replying to my calls/requests to speak to supervisors today!).

Would 42 minutes be enough? And do I have to go through immigration and collect my carry on to place it on to my flight to Manchester?

Any advice would be a great help to myself. Whilst I have travelled several times to many different places I have been lucky enough to secure cheap direct flights.

Many Thanks!n

Dukey1

You can check your luggage all the way through from LGA to Manchester. It will be transferred automatically at Dulles. If the flight is on time you will have plenty of time to make your connection. You will not go through any sort of immigration or customs until you get to the UK.

Clarise

Thanks Dukey1, so even though I'm British I won't have to go through any further checks or security before boarding the connection? And does UA have the majority of their flights leave from the same section of the terminal? If so, that would make it a lot easier for my friend and myself

nytraveler

If the same airline your bags should be transferred and you don;t have to go through immmigration.

However, for switching from one flight to another you may well have to go through security.

Separately, I don't think that is enough time to make a connection at any airport. If your flight is even a few minutes late (and LGA has a huge % of late flights) you will be deplaning the first flight when they are closing the boarding on the ongoing flight.

If it were me I would call the airline and ask them is this is a legal connection. If it's not - and you don;t make it - you wold have to buy a new ticket at the walk up price. If it is a single ticket and a legal connection (it might have started out as one and lost it when the flight changed) they have to get you on the next flight - but that might not be until the next day.

Clarise

Hi nytraveler,

I looked up UA's website and they sell the same flights connected together, just like lastminute.com. Since both flights are UA and they do sell the tickets as an outbound journey together, I should be covered, right?

In the morning I will try lastminute again. I can't talk to UA direct as I booked the flights through lm's call centre. Can't complain at the price though, £397 return!!

yestravel

UA flies out of three different concourses at IAD. Terminals C and D are adjacent to one another and it will be quick to get from one to the other. Terminal A is not connected to C and D and you have to take a people mover or the air train which will add time. your international flight will leave from either C or D. you should check and see where the LGA incoming flight will land. Try to sit at the front of the plane on your flight from LGA so u can get off quickly.

gail

"I would be covered, right" Not sure what "covered" means to you, but if you miss this connection they will put you on the next available UA flight with a seat. That might not be the same day. If it is their fault that you missed the connection, you will probably get a hotel and meal vouchers. But what is "their fault" is not easy to prove. If there is a weather delay, or flights just starting backing up and you are even 10-15 minutes late, you could be in trouble. That is not "their fault". Only mechanical problems, flight crew unavailability, etc would be considered their fault. So if delay could end up costing you an extra night of expenses.

And FYI, all UA Customer Service personnel are based in India and have on several occasions with us been completely unhelpful.

yestravel

What time is your flight from LGA to IAD? Late afternoon and early evening can have bad thunderstorms in July which cause lots of delays. Also as mentioned above LGA is notorious for all its delays.

nytraveler

If it's all one ticket you won;t have to buy a new international flight.

But there is no guarantee you - or luggage - will make this connection. They will put you on the next flight there is a free seat. I would assume there is only one flight per day - so your return would be delayed one day - perhaps more if the next are fully sold.

I never take a connection that is less than 2 hours - and more at some airports.

yestravel

TW -- meant to say you do not have to go thru security to get to your outbound flight when you reach IAD.

I have had many connections under 1 hour and have so far made them all, sometimes with plenty of time to spare and other times with barely a minute to spare. If your flight arrives in IAD close to on time you should make your international flight. I have also been on many flights where they hold the plane for a bit (10-15 minutes) to allow passengers from connecting flights to arrive. So if your flight from LGA is running late, mention to the Flight Attendants that you have a connecting UA flight at IAD.

obxgirl

I think it's a moderately risky connection. You're flying during rush hour on the eastern US coast at a time of year, as already mentioned, when thunderstorms can severely disrupt air traffic. Your flight could be all good or could be troublesome.

Prepare yourself ahead of time with appropriate smartphone apps for United, LGA and IAD so you can keep track of gate and departure time changes. I've occasionally found FA's to be unable or unwilling to share that information. Sign up with United to be emailed about flight changes.

Looks like IAD has one flight a day (yours) to Manchester. Hard to imagine it would be booked solid everyday, but who knows. United has a lot of flights into London airports which would more likely be a back up they'd offer you.

Great price you got. It will probably be fine but have a contingency in case it isn't. What did LM say?

Clarise

I am so glad I joined this forum, it's nice to see so many responses, so thank you!

I don't understand why lm gave me this ticket as I have looked on united's website and there is a flight that leaves LGA to IAD two hours earlier for exactly the same price and, by the looks of things, has the same availability. Still waiting for a reply from lm too!

My flight is in the afternoon at around 4pm. What I am glad about is that this flight is my flight home and not my flight in to America (which is thankfully a direct flight!) At the end of the day, I am a pretty laid back person; and I've heard that if I do miss the connection and it's UA's fault then they have a liability to put me on the next flight and sort out a hotel etc.

Also, and I be incredibly naive here, but if UA thought that this connection time wasn't viable then would they really sell the ticket when it would cause them problems?

I will see if I can find out which terminal LGA-IAD arrives in and which terminal my flight to MAN leaves from so I can plan ahead too.

Again, thank you all for taking you time to reply to me. I am feeling slightly better about the situation if it has to remain this way.

yestravel

I think if everything goes according to schedule, you will be fine making your connection. Airlines establish "legal" connection times at various airports assuming that flights are on time. What everyone is saying is that there are lots of possibilities for problems so if you can get an earlier flight I'd keep trying to make the change.

I'd say 90% of the flights I take leaving IAD are full these days esp during in season which July would be. No guarantees you will get out the same day. As someone above suggested have all the info available for alternatives that would work for you.

Again as stated above, if you miss the flight due to weather, UA will put you on the next flight available with a seat, but they very well may not provide you with a hotel as weather is not considered the fault of the airline. Worse case scenario you will have to foot the bill for a hotel or sleep in the airport, but you will get home and as you said, its not the start of your vacation.

Hope it all works out for you.

nytraveler

Most late flights are NOT the "fault" of the airline. Weather and traffic is not their fault - and that's the cause of most delays. It's their fault for mechanical problems(rare) or lack of crew (very rare).

Be prepared with info on hotels in the area - if you are stuck you will have to organize your own hotel and local transit.