View Full Version : Minimum time for changeover?
What would be the minimum time to change aircraft/terminals at Newark? The flights I am looking at allows 1.5 hours to transfer from the Edinburgh flight onto the domestic flight. My thoughts are that this is tight.
Our luggage would be booked straight through to MCO (I assume), but what if there is a delay, causing us to miss the connecting flight, would the airline be duty bound to put us on the next available flight?
I have not changed at Newark so cannot say whether it is enough time or not but at JFK 1.5 hours can cut it very fine especially when you spend an hour in the queue for immigration (luckily that time we were only going to New York).
You will have to collect your cases in Newark as this is point of entry to the States and then check them in again.
If you book a flight Edinburgh to Orlando via Newark and you do not make the connection then the airline will make alternative arrangements for you. The problem arises when they are separate bookings eg BA to Newark as one booking then Jet Blue from Newark to Orlando as a second booking then Jet Blue would not be under any obligation to help you out if you do not make the flight
We use Newark as our connection point each time and ALL BEING WELL 1.5 hours is sufficient but very tight. You have to allow from the time the plane lands to getting off, Immigration, collecting luggage, through Customs, delivering luggage for next flight. You may also have to change terminals which involves going on a shuttle train then queuing to go through security (again!) and getting to your gate which could be some distance away.
Immigration of course can vary considerably, last Thursday we were through in about 5 minutes, have three European planes land, and you could be there a long time and no concession is made for those with tight schedules.
When you have collected your luggage and gone through Customs keep to the left of the corridor, down a slight slope and hand in the cases to staff with stating your destination. Cases will then be flung onto a conveyor belt ready for connecting flight.
As Jill has said if both flights are with the same airline, I presume Continental, then they are duty bound to get you to your destination.
1.5 hours will not allow time for toilets, drinks or food.
I got caught with separate bookngs a couple of years ago with Virgin and they were terrible. The outbound flight was delayed by about three hours and the car hire company had returned our vehicle to the car pool. We didn't get the car until about 8.00PM.
The return flight was worse. We booked our luggage in early at Disney only to be told that the flight would be delayed by 9 hours. Spent the next three hours trying to arrange alternative connections to Edinburgh, it was a hopeless exercise using the phone cards that Virgin gave us. These cards allow calls to anywhere at Virgin's 'special rates' which is about 60p per minute. Each card lasted about two minutes, so it was back to the villa to use their phone.
We were scheduled to arrive at Gatwick on the Friday, but due to the delay we were missing our connecting flight. All other flights to EDI were full until the Sunday. Virgin weren't in the least concerned by our predicament, so off we went to the airport and made as much noise as we possible could.
Eventually Virgin came up with a plan with just minutes to go before gate closing. The plan....wait for it - they would fly us up to Newark with Continental, catch the Virgin flight to Heathrow, then ground transport to Gatwick, all in time to catch the connecting flight that we were booked on. The downside was we would travel without our luggage. I thought to myself that this may work, but how much time would we have from landing in LHR and getting to LGW - 3 HOURS! With no other option, we accepted Virgin's alternative arrangement and off we went running to Continental's check in desk. Arrived in Newark in nice time, then guess what, Virgin's flight is delayed from Newark.
Eventually we arrived in LHR with about 1.5 hours to spare, and went to Virgin's ground staff to find out what was happening with our ground transfer. The ground staff knew nothing about it so we were stuck. I then went to BA who were very sympathetic and came to our rescue. They waitlisted us from LHR to EDI, and managed to get all five of us on the next flight. Eventually arriving in EDI about 45 mins later than the flights we were booked on, so well done to BA. BA even tracked sown our luggage and I collected it next day, they did offer to deliver to my home.
Just out of interest, I asked Virgin at MCO if we would get compenstation, and was told yes we would be compensated - with AIR MILES.
Virgin can stick their air miles - they have lost good customers. Six of us went last year with BA - no problems, and seven going next year.
When I did get back, I decided to track Virgin's flights in and out of MCO, and the delayed flights were mostly around 9 hours late. To me it seemed that Virgin was using one aircraft to service this route. This went on for about three weeks.
have you looked at BA for your flights, we are going BA edin - london - orlando, great times , done it before no probs.[clap] we have also done Newark and i would say 1.5 hrs is very tight.
Yes looked at BA, travelled with them last year at a cost of £429 each EDI/LGW/MCO and return. Todays prices for around the same dates for next year are £693, a whopping £264 pp more expensive.
keep an eye out for their sale, we booked for june 2011 in the sale for £440, that was before the fuel tax though, people tell me that waiting and booking last min is the way to do it, we never have. good luck.
We have been through Newark a few times with 1.5 hours. It is rushed but doable. Good luck.
Sandra
Katys Grandad
09-11-2010, 18:22
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by shona
people tell me that waiting and booking last min is the way to do it, we never have. good luck.
[/quote]
Not so - buying on the last minute is probably the time the fare will be at its most expensive.
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Katys Grandad
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by shona
people tell me that waiting and booking last min is the way to do it, we never have. good luck.
[/quote]
Not so - buying on the last minute is probably the time the fare will be at its most expensive.
[/quote]
If it's so 'last minute' that the airlines don't think they'll be able to sell those seats through the usual channels, they'll most likely dump the seats on a bucket shop and you could get a fantastic deal - they'd rather get something than fly with an empty seat. But it's a risk, as there might not be any seats available at all.
As I've said before, we load literally millions of fare changes every single day and they change for hundreds of different reasons. There's absolutely no point trying to second-guess the airlines on prices - they have whole departments and hugely sophisticated systems dedicated to yield management, and you can't hope to predict anything other than general trends (eg higher during schools holidays) without access to their data.
What's the changeover time on the return leg via Newark with Continental like? I've booked my parents on this route and they're fine on the way out, with over 2 hrs connection time, but on the way back it's only 1 hr 17 minutes, which worries me.
christhear
16-11-2010, 13:10
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Tonish
What's the changeover time on the return leg via Newark with Continental like? I've booked my parents on this route and they're fine on the way out, with over 2 hrs connection time, but on the way back it's only 1 hr 17 minutes, which worries me.
[/quote]
Return changeover should be quicker as there is no immigrationinvolved and bags should be booked th ewhole way through. If you can book seats in advance get some as close to the fornt of the plane as possible.