Tarantism

Hello Everyone,

I've been lurking in this forum for quite some time now. My boyfriend and I are leaving for London/Paris on August 1st, and I found the tips and advice on this forum to be quite helpful. That being said, I sincerely hope I can get some advice regarding my flight plans.

I ordered our plane tickets on cheaptickets.com. Our flight to London (Heathrow) leaves from Sacramento and there is a 30 minute layover in Houston (George Bush International). I'm really beginning to freak out because I'm thinking 30 minutes isn't nearly enough time to get to our connecting flight. I realize I should have thought of this before, but it's just now hitting me (needless to say, I'm not an experienced traveler). I went to the Continental Airlines website to see if I could change our flight (so we would have a longer layover), and it looks like it was going to cost us upwards of $1,000!

So my questions are:

1.) Is a 30 minute layover in Houston doable?
2.) If not, is there anything I can do? There must be a cheaper way to change my flight... right?

ANY help would be *MUCH* appreciated.

adrienne

I'd say 30 minutes isn't enough but you should repost this on the US board as you will probably encounter more folks familiar with Houston. Houston transfer times have nothing to do with Europe.

jmw444

May I suggest that you post the same message at the airline forum, too? Surely from the three forums, you should receive some constructive information. Only having used the Houston airport once, I'm wondering if it is doable IF your bags are checked all the way to London from Sacramento, AND you have both boarding passes, AND you run (or ride) as fast as you can between the concourses. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you as you wait for more replies. J.

MelJ

I would be concerned if you are changing carriers in Houston. If you are taking one carrier all the way you should be put on the next flight out of Houston (on the same carrier) if you miss the connection. It's changing carriers that can cause problems with tight connections.

We always have to get from the midwest to the east coast to fly overseas AND on a different carrier, so I always book those tickets to arrive at the east coast airport several hours early. I also make sure there is another flight going out if the first one is cancelled.

My advice: If you are flying to Houston on a different carrier, I'd try to get on an earlier flight and kill time in Houston.

Therese

You booked the ticket with cheaptickets, so you're going to have to deal with cheaptickets if there's a question of re-booking.

But I wouldn't get too worried, actually, assuming you're ticketed on CO the whole way. Looking at the CO website I see that you're likely on the 12:01 PM flight from Sacramento, arriving IAH at 5:54 PM. You then catch the 6:25 PM flight to Heathrow.

So clearly Continental thinks this a "legal" connection time. Your bags (if you've checked any) will be checked through. So if the first flight isn't delayed you should be fine.

But here's the great news: even if your first flight is delayed you'll still likely make it to London just fine, as there's another CO flight that leaves IAH at 10:25 PM, arriving in London at 2:05 PM.

Are the connections on your return trip as tight?

dutyfree

Considering that the last 10-15 minutes of an international departure is closing the flight out with weight and balance for fuel,bags,etc.-I cannot believe that this would have been a legal connection even with the same airline?

I would be VERY nervous because there is no guarantee that you can get on the next LHR flight as that could be full,mechanical,etc.
Post on the airline forum as a man there is totally in the loop with Continental and lives in Houston.

.

txgirlinbda

I second the concerns - so many things have to go exactly right for this to work, planes landing on time, luggage smoothly transferred, not having to change terminals - and this is from someone who flies all the time. Post this on the airline forum, and good luck.

Odin

CO are not going to allow bookings on their site or via an agent for connections that are not legal. If the computer comes up with this combination then it is OK (and it does) If it is missed you will be booked on the next available flight to London.
Alot of the CO connection times at IAH are 30/35 and 40 min minimums.

J62

Definitely repost on the airlines forum. Fodors is fortunate to have a Houston/Continental airlines expert in rkkwan, and he will surely chime in. Be sure to put "Houston/Continental 30min layover" in your title.

Seamus

Technically this is a legal connection per CO, but you will have to hustle. Your incoming arrives in terminal C and the LHR leaves from E, but the two are connected. IAH is well laid out for getting from one gate to another.
That said, a delay on the incoming could make it dicey for either you, your bags, or both. Especially on a Friday, and later in the day, the chances of delay increase. The red eye (Lv 1215 AM, Ar 554 AM) and the early morning (605AM- 1154 AM) SMF-IAH flights both show 90% on time. Your flight shows 80%, which is still not bad.
As Therese noted, there is a later flight to LHR, though it is on a 767 rather than the 777 (at least it is no the godawful 757!). You would arrive in the afternoon so would miss most of the first day in London but you would get there.
Bottom line - you could well make this, but would probably be well advised to not schedule anything in London before the evening of your first day.

As an aside, wonder why you purchased through cheaptickets rather than directly with CO?

nytraveler

If this is all a single ticket and you can get both boarding passes in Sacramento and have them check the luggage straight to London - you have some chance of making it. If you don;t, they will put you on the next flight (I wold think more likely).

If this is separate tickets you are in big trouble - since there is a significant chance you won;t make the connection - and if you don;t YOU are responsible for buying new tickets at whatever price they offer.

Tarantism

Duh- I don't know what I was thinking posting this is in the Europe forum. Sorry about that...

MelJ: Fortunately, we will not be changing carriers. The entire flight is booked through Continental.

Therese: If we do miss our flight, would we be able to get on the later flight to London? I tried to change to the later flight on the Continental website, but they wanted to charge me over $1000. In other words, would I be charged that much if we missed the flight? And no, luckily we have almost 4 hours between flights on our way back home.

Seamus: How did you know which terminal our flight comes in/leaves? I've been trying to figure that out myself. A friend of mine suggested to book though cheaptickets. Was this bad advice?

Thanks for all your help! And again, I apologize for posting in the wrong forum (newby here!).

This whole thing is really bumming out. I've been nothing but excited about this trip for the past few months. I'm a grad student studying English and there are so many nerdy things I can't wait to do (Poet's corner, possibly Lake District, etc.), so I really hope I can work this out so I can go back to be excited.

suze

I would get on the telephone to the airlines. See what they have to say.

If your luggage is checked thru, & your first flight arrives on time, & the gates are close together, you might be OK. But that's a whole lot of maybes.

Myself I never take a transfer less than 90 mins. and prefer 2-3 hours, just as a general rule (realize this doesn't help you much at with your current situation).

mari5

Since you got the ticket on cheapflights, Continental may or may not help you. I'd call them and talk personally to someone....(they might say "no, can't help"...However you can ask Continental IF what you have is a legitamet connection as they would book. You might also ask the the "on time" percentage of the flight into Houston. Late afternoon with most airlines,,in most cities,,, is a terrible time to try to land ON TIME.
I lived in Houston 25 years....flew in and out and it is a wonderful terminal. IF you fly into the INTERNATIONAL terminal from CA , and have checked your bags through to London you MIGHT make it, if your incoming plane is on time.
If you had bought your ticket through Continental and they told you that connection was too tight, then don't you have a case against cheaptickets.?
It IS a change of planes in Houston,,,right? 30 minutes is close!!!
Yes, there are two flights a day from Houston to London.....IF you don't connect and IF Continental will honor your ticket1

luv2cthings

I see rkkwan has responded to your post on the airlines board. He is very knowledgeable about these matters, and I think he has told you everything you need to know.

IMO, you can disregard the last sentence of the previous post -- there is no question that Continental will honor your ticket and put you on the next flight out of Houston if needed.

Tarantism

Thank you, thank you, thank you everyone! Here's my plan:

1.) Call Continental and see what they have to tell me.
2.) Try to get on the 6 a.m flight out of Sacramento. I'll call the night before and see if they'll let us on it (it will cost $50/ticket to do that, but that's no biggie).
3.) If we can't get on the early flight, we'll run like hell to make our connecting flight.
4.) If we miss our flight, we'll just have to try to get on the later flight, which will be fine. I don't mind getting into London later than I expected, I just want to GET INTO LONDON

Thanks again everyone!

RandyK

Here's two more tips. 1. Be very kind to the flight attendants on your first flight---explain your situation when they have a few free moments either before the first flight leaves OR more likely, once in the air. See if they would announce before landing that there are passengers with very tight international connections and to ask the other passengers to wait to depart the plane after you. It will all depend on the kindness of your fellow passengers and their willingness to cooperate. Also, being nice might get you moved to the front of the plane (if seats are open) before you land, putting you a few feet closer to the door. I observed this very thing last week when two people were moved to row 2 of the plane so they could make a mad dash. 2. Pray your first flight is on time! Good luck!

karens

I posted this comment on the airlines thread, too.

Do you all think that the luggage can make the next flight in only 30 mins?

tuscanlifeedit

I don't think the luggage can make it, and I think that doing carry-on only always makes my mad dashes so much more difficult.

I would have to try and get that earlier flight out in the morning. I would keep trying until I got it. Or exhausted myself trying.

Tarantism

*Sigh* I never thought about the luggage. I just thought it would magically be there when we got to London. I'm really going to fight to get on that 6 a.m. flight! I guess this is a learning experience for me...