Connection Time in Houston
 

Booked a flight on Priceline. Flying on Continental...San Antonio to Houston to STL. We have 30 minutes to connect in Houston on a Sunday morning. Are we cutting it too close? Since we booked through Priceline, does that affect anything?

Thank you!

Very close. Because you'll come in at Terminal C or E, but go out at B, you'll need to ride the TerminaLink train, and then another fairly long walk to the gate. The actual transfer itself can take 20 minutes.

Good thing is that your flight from SAT is likely to be early on a Sunday morning. And if you miss your connection, there are quite a few later flights to STL they can put you on. They fly IAH-STL 8x daily.

Thanks rkkwan. That's too bad that we're leaving out of a different terminal, although the fact that we're flying on a Sunday does work in our favor.

I think we'll keep the flights as they are, and be ready to walk very briskly once we're off the plane. :)

Print this out, or rip it out of the inflight magazine on your SAT-IAH leg:

http://www.continental.com/web/en-US.../maps/iah.aspx

You need to find the shortest way to get to the TerminaLink station in either Terminal C (close to Gate C24) or Terminal E (above the words "International Arrival"). TerminaLink is that red dotted line along the north side of the terminals.

DO NOT take the bus between C33A and B67 as it doesn't run regularly. And you CANNOT use that diagonal walkway between gate E1 to the central part of Terminal C, as that requires reclearing security.

Finally, hope that your flight to STL doesn't leave from B84. Unlike the other gates at Terminal B, B84 is actually 20 gates, from B84A to B84T. It can be another 7-8 minute walk from the waiting area of B84 to the plane itself.

A few years ago, I connected in Houston and had to go through security again. I must have taken the walkway you mentioned. Won't make that mistake again!

Thanks for your help!

Just looking at the link you provided. Looks like Terminal E is mostly international flights (Continental and ExpressJet). Is that the case?

NO!

Mainline flights can depart from any C or E gate, or D 1-3. COEX departs from Terminal B (though very occasionally from D - so you should still check the monitors, just in case).

International mainline flights can come in to many E gate or even D. International COEX flights (from Mexico) usually come into D.

CO suggest those departing from Houston to check-in for international flights at E and domestic at C. But one can use any terminal to check-in or drop off bags, and to go through security. They don't care at all. CO desks at B, C, E are all good.

Oh O.K. I understand. Wishful thinking on my part, I guess, since C is closer to B.

I checked the itinerary and we actually have 35 min. instead of 30, so that's promising. And even though I booked through Priceline, the CO website offers the same flights with that connection...I was wondering if the short connection time had to do with booking on PL, but I don't think that's the case.

Thanks for your help! I'll let you know how things turn out.

That's not due to your using PL - 30 minutes is a "legal" connection at IAH that CO sells all the time. I fly out of SAT all the time and used to freak out with similar short connecting times but have rarely missed a connection.
As rkk notes you will likely be OK, especially on a Sunday morning. Do heed his sage advice to get thee to the terminal link tram - do not stop to shop or even use the loo until you are at your connecting gate.

We ended up missing our connection...but we would have even if we'd had a more reasonable connection time. Our flight out of San Antonio was delayed for two hours. Another flight leaving around the same time was also significantly delayed, so the line for the CO ticket counter was insane.

Our flight out of SA left about two hours late, and we were rescheduled for a flight out of Houston that left about 45 min. after we finally got there. I thought 45 min. was pretty tight, so 35 would have definitely been a struggle.

Everything worked out in the end...we made it to STL about 2 hours later than expected. There were other people we talked to in line who are probably still in Houston or SA now (the next morning)!

P.S. We were SHOCKED to see our checked bag in STL. We were sure it would end up elsewhere with all of the delays, reschedules, etc. :)

For flying through IAH last few days, it probably won't matter if it was 30 minutes or 3 hours. You probably would have missed that one as well.

Thanks for reporting back and glad it worked out. Always hard to figure out the baggage, isn't it?

Rkkwan-- Thanks for all of your help. You're right; we would have missed the flight either way.

Dfr4848-- The baggage situation is either like magic or ridiculously annoying. There's no in-between!

Thanks for reporting back! Sorry to hear about the hassle but glad to hear you - and your bags - made it without lengthy delay. Given the weather in Houston last weekend you were probably - believe it or not - one of the more fortunate ones.