Intl flight with connection at EWR question
 

I change planes at EWR for an international flight to Spain. Will I need to claim my checked luggage at EWR and re-check it in? Will I need to go through security again at EWR since I may be flying into a domestic terminal and flying out of the international terminal?

I have done this before but it was years ago and my old brain cannot remember! My more recent flights have been directly to an international destination.

I have 2 hrs and 20 min between flights headed out and 1 hr 55 min on the return back through EWR so I will go through customs upon return. I just read where EWR customs can take a long time so now a little worried! I'm on business class headed out but waitlisted for the return. All flights are on United.

You will not need to pick up your luggage and re-check it on the way to Spain. Just make sure your luggage tag has your Spain destination on it.

There are no specific "international" and "domestic" terminals at EWR. What's more important is the airline. If you are switching airlines there is a much more likely chance you will have to change terminals, and in that case you'd have to go through security again, which could delay you significantly. Most United flights are in Terminal C, but you might end up in Terminal B or even Terminal A if your domestic flight is on United Express.

I'm not terribly concerned about your flight TO Spain as long as your domestic flight is more or less on time. You have plenty of time to change planes and go through security again if you change termianls (unless there is an abnormally long security delay).

Your return is a different story. While this is presumably a legal connection time since your airline sold the flight to you, I would never book an international-to-domestic connection with so short a time at EWR. On bad days, flights can be delayed significantly (though more rarely in the mornings, when most international flights arrive), and both US immigration and security can have very long and slow lines at EWR.

On the return, you will have to clear immigration, reclaim your bags, clear customs, drop your bags off outside the customs hall, and then continue to your domestic flight (and clear security again). Don't waste a single moment, and try to get off the plane as soon as you can. It's the return where you may miss your connection.

If you do have to change terminals on your way to Spain, there are shuttle busses you can take at EWR that keep you on the secure side of the terminals. You can catch the bus at near Gate 28 in Terminal A to connect to Terminal C. In Terminal C, you catch the bus near Gate 71. If you take the Airtrain instead between terminals, you'll have to go through security again. But this is only on your way to Spain. On the way back, you'll have to take the Airtrain and go through security again as doug_stallings indicated.

Yikes ! Thanks for the replies! I'm not on United Express - I'm flying in from SFO.

I have been cleared off the business class wait list for my return leg from LIS to EWR so we will be getting off the plane earlier than most and hopefully getting luggage faster too.

I am going to check and see if it's possible to get a later connecting flight without a change fee. I thought 1 hr 55 min was plenty of changing planes time but I was not thinking about going through customs when I booked this! My flight arrives at EWR at 1:15 pm so I don't know where that puts me as far as the possibility of delayed gates and further back ups. I would think it's a slower time of day, but who knows?

Thanks for all of your advice.

My guess is that this will be a somewhat quieter time, and I think that will make your transfer less hectic. Many international flights arrive in the early morning, so there's a big rush; they depart later, so there's another rush after 9pm. This might be the best of all possible times for you.

If you are flying business, you may be able to use the expedited security lanes (not Pre-Check, but simply bypassing most of the line). Take advantage of that if it's offered, and don't hesitate for a moment to tell the people in immigration and customs that you have a short connection time. They will expedite you there as well. Push push push everywhere you possibly can to bypass lines.

Thanks for the advice, Doug!
I called United to see if they would switch me to the next outgoing flight and they insisted that the timing was plenty to make the connection, and they would not make the change without a change fee of $300 each. I mentioned frequent air/gate delays at EWR and customs clearance, but the reservations clerk replied that the 'computer said' there is enough time. I looked at the next flight and there is plenty of room and no extra cost if I were purchasing it today vs. my current flight. But no deal...

If you do miss your flight on a so-called "legal" connection, the airline is obligated to give you the next available seat. So if there is another flight you at least have a back-up, which is good. Think good thoughts and thus may work. Airlines also often hold flights these days when connections are late. And the TSA is working to lessen the lines.

Immigration also has a new app where you can pre-enter your passport and flight info to get expedited clearance. This is available at EWR.

Since you are flying in the front of the plane you will have a bit of an advantage in that you will be among the first to get off the plane and your bag will be tagged for priority handling. Right after leaving customs you will drop off your checked bag which will already be tagged to go through to your SFO destination. I really would not fret over this connection, especially as you are on one airline on a single ticket so are covered in the event there is a delay en route.

If you have a smartphone, get the Mobile Passport app at http://mobilepassport.us/

If you don't have a smartphone you can still use one of the APC kiosks which expedite the process. https://www.cbp.gov/travel/us-citize...rt-control-apc

Personally, I never understand the advice take a later connection. If the airline schedules a legal connection and you are unable to make the connecting flight, you go on the next flight anyway. If the connection is legal, don't worry. You do your best and if you don't make it, it becomes the airline's problem.

xyz123 - The thing is that just because it becomes the airline's problem (assuming your flights are booked on one ticket) and you miss your connection there's no guarantee you'll be on "the next flight". If that "next flight" is already fully booked or you encounter some additional delays you may end up on an even later flight or even be routed on two or more connecting flights to reach your destination.

We recently had a 3 hour ground hold leaving JFK for LHR which would cause us to miss our original "legal" connection to Lisbon. Just prior to take-off I received a voice mail alert changing our connection and re-routing us from LHR to BCN then on to LIS. Trouble was due to air traffic over london our flight to LHR arrived too late for us to make the "new" connection.

We were then rebooked on a (6 hour) later non-stop flight from LHR to LIS but do to a coding error by the airline customer service clerk we were denied boarding for that flight even though we had valid boarding pass in hand. Evidently the computer system thought we were no shows for the LHR/BCN/LIS flights and automatically cancelled our newer LHR/BCN flight as well as our return flights. After much hassle we finally got on another flight from LHR to LIS 5 hours later. Real fun spending an extra 12 hours in in an airport and arriving at our hotel at 1:30AM rather than noon time.

Yes, horror stories do happen, but they are the exception rather than the rule, IME. Air travel is stressful enough without piling on the "maybe, could, perhaps" scenarios. The OP's itinerary will most likely work out just fine. If not, no amount of preparatory anxiety will make it better.

So let's see...90 to 95% of the time legal connections are met. In the remaining 10% of the time, almost always one ends up on the next flight. Yes every so often (weather, atc) things go wrong and the delay stretches. So that means always schedule a connection with a built in for a delay of several hours?

Unfortunately, stuff happens and the best laid plans go astray. Several years ago, I was on a trip to LHR out of JFK. Now I think most of us know every international airline flying that route has three or four departures every night out of JFK and because of code sharing (say Delta and Virgin Atlantic), you can go most any time you want. So I wanted to be in London by 9 AM so I booked a 9 PM flight. Wouldn't you know that particular plane had mechanical problems and the airline pulled the usual shtick on us (load the plane, announce a short delay and each thirty minutes stretch the delay) so we didn't leave till 2 in the morning. The thought we should be moved to one of the available flights leaving from the next gate never was given as an option so we were the last to arrive, 2 in the afternoon of all the flights leaving that night. Did this make sense? It's really much the same way. The suggestion to take a later connection just in case, to me at least, is silly. Stuff happens and if it happens, smile and bear it.

I thought I would come back to this thread and tell you how I fared through EWR to SFO.

Our plane was a few minutes early, landing at 1:05pm and we only waited a few minutes for the gate to be clear. Since we were in Business Class, we were the 4-5th passengers off the plane. We had our stuff ready to go and hightailed it out of the plane and into the terminal. No potty stops! The passport control line took about 2 minutes, then off to baggage claim. Our luggage took a little while to load, but ours were one of the first ones off. We walked right up to Customs - no line! I asked the agent about the legendary lines, he responded, "just wait a few hours!" We re-checked our luggage - 1 person finishing up before us and were directed to the train to get to the next terminal for our flight home.

We did have to go through security again, but we were TSA Pre so we got the shorter line. As usual, I was selected for a random electronic screening. This did not go well, for mysterious reasons, the whole screen lit up and I was subjected to a thorough pat down. They asked if I wanted a room, but I said 'just go ahead'. I think I can skip my annual mammogram after that pat down! I was patted everywhere. I did notice some random guy watching the proceedings with some amusement. Also got the hand wipes for explosives check. And my shoes lit up! Had to send them through x-ray. My shoes have no metal on them - a Clarks Mary jane style walking shoe. Jeez.

Even after my special massage, we had enough time for a brief stop in the UA lounge. Then off to our nearby gate only to find our flight is delayed. luckily the delay was only about 40 minutes, so all went well.

In the future, I will definitely schedule 3 hours if entering the country through EWR. Thanks for all or your advice.