Flight connections in the US

[Teaboy]

Does anyone have any experiences they can share about getting a flight connection in the US when the ultimate destination was not in the US?

I understand that unlike a lot of countries you actually have to go through immigration even if you're never leaving the airport. I've read some blogs that suggest you should allow up to 4 hours but some flights I am looking at with American Airlines have as little as 2 hours between flights. Do American Airlines know something I don't or do they just not give a shit if you miss your connection because of a massive queue at immigration?

Obviously this is all pandemic aside because the border isn't open to me at the moment and when it does I imagine the process will be even slower? I'm just wondering about in general because I'm looking at contingency plans for a holiday I have booked at the end of the year which is looking increasingly unlikely and I want an alternative.

 

[Leafster]

Paging Bahnhof Strasse

I'm guessing he might know.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Depends on the airport and what other flights are arriving at the same time.

Right now a UK citizen can't transit the US at all, as we're not allowed to enter and everyone who transits must enter.

In normal times you will need an ESTA or visa and must go through regular immigration, anything from 2 minutes to 2 hours depending on how busy it is, (we landed in Miami 3 years ago just after 3 flights from Cuba, took so long we would have 100% missed our connection to New York, had it not already been cancelled due to snow.

Once we are allowed back in who knows what checks they will impose? Currently for people allowed in the answer is "not many". So perhaps it will be as open as before, we can only wait and see.

Where would you be connecting to? If it is somewhere with a few later flights that day it is no biggie, if it is somewhere that only has 3 flights a week that may be an issue.

Generally I advise on avoiding transiting the US if at all possible (often not possible to avoid it if coming from many Central American countries though).

 

[skyscraper101]

Yeah it's so ridiculous they make you 'enter' the country and require all the necessary visas/ESTA's too (I think they also do a transiting visa for those who can't get an ESTA).

What makes it worse for people transiting is that - in my experience - they seem to have no provision to fast track anyone through immigration. I've seen people in tears made to wait in line at LAX because they have an onward flight to Hawaii or Aukland or something, and the border staff just don't give AF.

 

[Teaboy]

Where would you be connecting to? If it is somewhere with a few later flights that day it is no biggie, if it is somewhere that only has 3 flights a week that may be an issue.

Generally I advise on avoiding transiting the US if at all possible (often not possible to avoid it if coming from many Central American countries though).

We're considering El Salvador. We'd be changing our BA flights to Argentina (because of its never ending red zone status) so are options are limited by the One World routes. El Salvador is currently amber and the flight looks doable its just the connecting bit in Miami.

 

[Teaboy]

Yeah it's so ridiculous they make you 'enter' the country and require all the necessary visas/ESTA's too (I think they also do a transiting visa for those who can't get an ESTA).

What makes it worse for people transiting is that - in my experience - they seem to have no provision to fast track anyone through immigration. I've seen people in tears made to wait in line at LAX because they have an onward flight to Hawaii or Aukland or something, and the border staff just don't give AF.

Seems really shit for the US airlines. They must be missing out on loads of potential business for a policy which doesn't seem to make much sense.

Thanks for answering the bit about fast tracking people who are making connections, something that is common across the world but obviously not in the US.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

We're considering El Salvador. We'd be changing our BA flights to Argentina (because of its never ending red zone status) so are options are limited by the One World routes. El Salvador is currently amber and the flight looks doable its just the connecting bit in Miami.

Iberia flies there via Madrid.



El Salvador is an exceptionally violent country, have you really thought this through?

 

[planetgeli]

We're considering El Salvador. We'd be changing our BA flights to Argentina (because of its never ending red zone status) so are options are limited by the One World routes. El Salvador is currently amber and the flight looks doable its just the connecting bit in Miami.

I haven't been to El Salvador but when I did my Central America trip it was a country I ruled out quite quickly as not being worth the hassle.

Belize is good, is that possible? Guatemala too, excellent for all sorts.

 

[Elpenor]

When I had to change from BA to AA at ORD, there was an express boarding pass voucher thing waiting for me at the disembarking gate which allowed me to make my 1:45 connection. Flight out of London had been delayed. I didn’t have any status then and was booked in economy but upgraded to Premium

Chicago was a sod to change at although it was during the period between Christmas and New Year.

Madrid would be much easier to change at for anywhere in Latin America. My parents changed at Miami when they visited Central America and Colombia. They didn’t recommend the experience.

 

[Teaboy]

Iberia flies there via Madrid.



El Salvador is an exceptionally violent country, have you really thought this through?

The Madrid route is a possibility but the timings don't really fit.

I've done an awful lot of research into El Salvador, I would never take these things likely. I've spent the last 20 years backpacking around the world and tend to migrate to places that are not always the obvious places. I've spent a fair amount of time in Bolivia and Colombia. I'm not some green tourist.

Like a lot of South and Central America the high levels of violence do not really reflect the experience of travellers and tourists as its mainly inter-gang. You stay in certain areas and you know which forms of travel are safer than others. In my experience the place you're most likely to get into bother as a tourist is Brazil and Rio in particular yet people still flock there in their droves.

When planning these things there is a key saying: Follow your dreams but do your research first.

ETA:I didn't really start the thread for a discussion on El Salvador. As I said I know what I'm doing in this regard and trust my judgement. Its more about the connection in Miami I was interested in.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Iberia timings:





Let us know when you go, I'll have a tenner on your bullet-ridden corpse being found in a ditch in under a week

 

[Teaboy]

When I had to change from BA to AA at ORD, there was an express boarding pass voucher thing waiting for me at the disembarking gate which allowed me to make my 1:45 connection. Flight out of London had been delayed. I didn’t have any status then and was booked in economy but upgraded to Premium

Chicago was a sod to change at although it was during the period between Christmas and New Year.

Madrid would be much easier to change at for anywhere in Latin America. My parents changed at Miami when they visited Central America and Colombia. They didn’t recommend the experience.

Were you connecting internally to somewhere in the US or just passing through a US airport? That express boarding thing sounds interesting?

I currently have a boycott of Iberia ongoing due to one disgraceful flight I had the misfortune to suffer. Having flown BA a lot I'm used to old planes and shit services but Iberia was on another level. It was shocking in every regard.

 

[Elpenor]

It was an international to Domestic connection which involved a terminal chang.

I nearly missed the voucher, they were stuck to a board marked with flight number, destination and name as I got off the air bridge. It allowed me to jump the queue at security but not immigration.

One benefit of the pandemic is a lot of old planes have been retired, so hopefully the fleet is more modern now.

 

[Teaboy]

Iberia timings:

View attachment 282848



Let us know when you go, I'll have a tenner on your bullet-ridden corpse being found in a ditch in under a week

When I look at our dates of travel (27th Nov - 18th Dec) on Iberia's website that flight isn't an option. Just the US routes.

 

[Sue]

I've done it three or four times going from London to Central/South America, always via Houston. I've never had a problem getting through in time for the connecting flight, though not sure if it makes a different that both legs in all cases were with the same airline or their Star Alliance partner. (United, think Houston is their hub.)

The US immigration people OTOH were fuckers on all occasions but that's another discussion.

ETA The last time was 2018.

 

[skyscraper101]

This thread reminds me of that Athlete song

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

When I look at our dates of travel (27th Nov - 18th Dec) on Iberia's website that flight isn't an option. Just the US routes.

A tiny bit of flexibility on your dates as a nod to Covid wouldn't hurt, 26th and 28th November they fly, and back on 17th and 19th December...

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Seeing as it is exactly a 2 hour connection in Miami I would say that is too tight.

There is a later flight to San Salvador which makes for a 4 hour connection:




Far less stress...,

 

[Teaboy]

A tiny bit of flexibility on your dates as a nod to Covid wouldn't hurt, 26th and 28th November they fly, and back on 17th and 19th December...

Flexibility is a sign of weakness. They can smell weakness in these places.

With the technical layover in Guatemala its 18 hours. There is an option for a 4 hour lay over in Miami which should give enough time and still get there quicker plus avoids Iberia.

Anyway, its probably all academic because we'll all be back in full lockdown by then or every country in the world will be on the red list except where Johnston wants to go on holiday to.

 

[planetgeli]

Just wondering what your issue is with Iberia Teaboy ? Obviously you don't have to say. I guess we all have issues with someone or other. I flew Iberia to Quito and loved it. Huge leather seats, one of the few flights where I remember being able to sleep.

Mine is with Qantas. They delayed an internal Aus flight I was on because, and I quote the Captain, "We are currently unable to prove we can pay for the fuel." 3 hours on the ground at Sydney until they sorted it.

 

[Teaboy]

Just wondering what your issue is with Iberia Teaboy ? Obviously you don't have to say. I guess we all have issues with someone or other. I flew Iberia to Quito and loved it. Huge leather seats, one of the few flights where I remember being able to sleep.

Mine is with Qantas. They delayed an internal Aus flight I was on because, and I quote the Captain, "We are currently unable to prove we can pay for the fuel." 3 hours on the ground at Sydney until they sorted it.

OK, I'll tell the story.

It was about 6 or 7 years ago and we were flying down to Buenos Aires via Madrid. The Iberia flight between London and Madrid was fine, the next one less so.

The plane was one of there A340's which they had had from new since 1992. In the years between they had done nothing and I mean absolutely nothing to the cabin. When we boarded there were several oxygen masks hanging and gently swaying. The legroom was dreadful and my seat had long since lost what minimal cushioning there was in the back and was just hard plastic. When I asked the air steward whether there was a spare cushion she barked at me that they don't carry spares. I had a back ache before we'd even taken off and I never get back aches.

The seat in front of my partner had a broken back so fell into her lap. She couldn't eat and the bloke in front couldn't sit up. Of course there were no screens in the back of the seats but there were the central screens which they didn't bother to put on until someone complained. They then put them on so they flickered a bit.

Whilst the plane wasn't dirty in the sense of not being cleaned it was so old it was heavily stained and felt minging and you didn't want to touch anything. Even by plane standards the food was inedible. I don't know how the flag carrier of Spain flying out of Madrid was managing to source inedible food but they did.

The only positive things you could say was that we arrived on time and didn't die. The not dying thing came as a shock to most of the passengers as it seemed like a foregone conclusion.

I've flown internally in South America, on Yaks in Russia and Ukraine and internally in China pre-2000. They were all bad and often scary experiences in their own way but that Iberia flight stands head and shoulders as the very worst flight. I see they've recently refurbed these A340's and made the leg room even worse. They are a company that do not deserve customers.

I know they are all part of the same group but it made the economy cabin of the shitty BA 777 we flew home on seem like first class luxury.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Sounds really shite. They use A320's on the San Salvador route, their last A340 retired last year.

 

[Teaboy]

Sounds really shite. They use A320's on the San Salvador route, their last A340 retired last year.

Yeah, its not so much of an issue for us now as we tend to turn left upon entering the plane these days. Its a principle though that that company thought that was OK. Hopefully you mean A330's? That would be a long slog on a 320, no wonder they stop in Guatemala.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Yeah, its not so much of an issue for us now as we tend to turn left upon entering the plane these days. Its a principle though that that company thought that was OK. Hopefully you mean A330's? That would be a long slog on a 320, no wonder they stop in Guatemala.

Yes, A330's!

 

[Elpenor]

A330s IIRC offer a 2-4-2 layout at the back so ideal for a couple.

 

[Yossarian]

I've had more negative experiences transiting through American airports than I did during 10 days or so in El Salvador, though that was in 2007, before the drug war intensified.

 

[Yossarian]

Don't know what connecting in Havana is like but that could also be an option, with TACA Air for the last leg.

 

[t0bytoo]

I was last in El Salvador about five years ago, and had a great experience. Was travelling with a six month old baby and found people very helpful and friendly.

One notable day we got our own police escort up a volcano. Apparently there is very little police corruption there, making a nice change from the rest of the region.

Another day we took a wrong turn and had a swat team descend on the car. Actually made us feel safer - once they'd put the guns away and figured out we were just stupid tourists. I started noticing guns pointing out of bushes at the checkpoints too.

Aside from that, it was a great time to travel there. Hardly any tourists and very recent history that gives you a lot to think about. Well worth going.

Oh, and passing US immigration is horrible. Especially when you're just in transit. I'll always pay more to go round / direct

 

[Teaboy]

Don't know what connecting in Havana is like but that could also be an option, with TACA Air for the last leg.

I wish. If I could get to Cuba and it wasn't on the UK red list I wouldn't be connecting through, I'd quite happily spend another few weeks there.