Help with Houston airport
 

Help! I'm planning a trip overseas. I'm looking at flights and it looks like the best option includes a layover in Houston. I'm starting in Lubbock, through Houston, to London. How quick a layover can I have there? On orbitz there's an option for a 49 minute layover--is that enough time to get from where ExpressJet Airlines (affiliated with Continental) arrives to the international section of Continental, doing whatever I have to do (showing passport, etc, I forget as it's been a few years since we traveled internationally)?. Thanks!

Oops--I didn't specify which airport. It's Bush Intercontinental.

49 minutes may be enough on your outbound trip but it's cutting it VERY close. It's not nearly enough for a return trip when you have to clear US Customs/Immigration.

Personally, I find that a 2-hour layover is good on the beginning of an overseas trip. This is enough time to let me find my connection, go to the restroom, buy a magazine, etc., and it also allows some "fudge factor" if the arriving flight is a few minutes late. As Dan said, anything less than an hour is just really pushing it!

I fly through there all the time. You will have shown your passport, etc. at Lubbock and checked through all the way to London. You'll arrive at terminal B then take the shuttle tram to C then walk to D (which connects to C.) You will do all this without ever leaving the secure area so won't have to clear security again. With 49 minutes you'll have time to make the connection but not a whole lot of time to spend in the duty free shop.
The other concern is possible delay from LBB (weather, etc.) If you miss your connection because of weather (as opposed to a mechanical or other delay for which the airline is responsible) the airline is not responsible to put you up overnight, provided they advised you at your point of origin that this could happen.
Bottom line - if you can get a great fare taking the 49 minute conenction, go for it and hope for the best. If you can have a little more breathing room without a lot more cost, I'd go for that.

Hey Jocelyn--

Just wondering if you got a good ticket to London on ORbitz? I'm going to London in July (I know it's pretty far away), but just curious to see if you got a decent fare. I don't know if you know this or not-but Orbitz has a Care Alert Feature--that let's you know if your flight is on time. I think they even go as far as to call your cell phone. Just thought I would let you know!

Thanks for all your advice. Still not sure what we're going to do--we're actually going Lubbock-Houston-London-Verona so we're trying to cut down on layover time. I guess it's best to play it safe. There is no price difference between the 49 minute layover and the 3 hour + layover. Flyfaraway, I wish I had good news for you on orbitz. Right now my Lubbock-Verona ticket for May is $980, so I'm holding off, hoping the price will go down. Someone on this board said there's typically an airfare war in January, I'll keep checking.

Wow--that's kind of a lot..I'm sure Orbitz will have some deals coming up after the holidays! I need to start looking right when the new year begins. I have my deal detector set to let me know when there's a good fare. Beats having to search every day! Good luck!