How long to go though immigration?

[JayneL]

The flights that I have got the best price on are indirect and stop at Charlotte.
We arrive at 14.35 and leave again at 16.10 so that gives us 1hour 35 mins to clear immigration and catch the next flight.
Will this be long enough?
What would happen if we missed the connecting flight? Would we be put on the next available?

Also to include car is an additional £196.91 for 2 weeks car hire including insurance is this a good deal?

Thanks for your help I'm .... this close to booking

Jayne

 

[allie5]

Well, on paper it does seem enough time, but I have been reading through some old trip reports and the nightmare scenarios I have read about made me vow NEVER to fly indirect.

The problem with air travel is it dependent on many, many factors. It only needs ONE thing to go even slightly wrong and you are up a very muddy creek with no paddle. It depends soley on the discretion of the airline whether you will be allowed onto the next flight (often the following day) and any accomodation costs would be met by you, not the airline.

One of the biggest factors in delays, is of course the weather. Many US cities are affected badly by snow in winter months and this should be a consideration.

When pricing up direct flights, read the small print of all the airlines involved (sometimes your connecting flight will be operated by someone else). See what the T&Cs are involving missed flights.

I looked very briefly at flying non direct last year (decided against it pretty quickly). The saving was less than £100 pp and I didnt think it was worth jeopardising what could be several days of my precious holiday if something went wrong.

Having said that, plenty of people do use connecting flights with no problems. I would try to allow a more comfortable gap between flights (2-3 hours). It can take an hour purely to clear immigration, so I would be very unhappy with only 1.5 hours between flights.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Allie

 

[signtalker]

Jayne, personally I would pay the extra and fly direct!!!

Lots of people are saying give at least 2 hours to clear immigration with addtional checks involved now.
If I was spending all that money on a holiday Id hate to be stuck in an airport lounge not knowing what i was doing!!!

If you scout around you can pick up a good deal flying direct, with Car hire

 

[JayneL]

I've tried to find a good deal flying direct but cant get anywhere near £1977 for 4 Adults. It is several hundred pounds more. Where can I look?
Perhaps I'm not looking in the right places. Can anyone help The dates I want to travel are 14-28th October this year. Only flexable by 1 or 2 days.

PLEASE HELP

Jayne

 

[squitty]

Jayne

I have just priced flights flying out of Manchester with Virgin for £1,876.00

However this does not include the car hire, one of the stipulations for booking this flight is that you take either 5 days car hire or 3 nights accomodation.
I found these on Bon Voyages website, they are very good, this is who I have booked my upcoming trip with and I also booked with them in December.

They are really helpful.

Here is the website for you: Bon Voyage

Or you can give them a ring tomorrow morning, it is a free phone number.

hope this helps you, good luck

 

[JayneL]

Michelle

Thank you sooooo much.

They came up with some very acceptable prices

Flying with virgin + car hire £2186

Flying with British airways + car hire + 4 bed villa £3292

That is fantastic

I cant wait to get one of them confirmed now and booked.

I never wanted to fly non-direct anyway but thought that was the only way to go on the cheap.

Thank you thank you thank you

Jayne

 

[squitty]

My pleasure Jayne

Hope you get sorted tomorrow

 

[allie5]

I will be very interested to know whether you get these prices.

I have gotten EXCELLENT prices using their website, but after submitting the quote, they have ALWAYS come back with "Oh, sorry, thats not available" and the prices suddenly go up considerably. Im sure its just me, as I have heard good things about them....Im just a jinx I reckon!!

Good luck and please keep us informed as to what you finally book!

 

[squitty]

I have always got the prices that they quoted on the website.
I cannot fault them at all. The service is brilliant, that is why we went back to them.

 

[Dazed]

I'm now really worried after reading these replies.
Only charter flights fly direct from Scotland.
We're connecting in Newark and have just had our connection times shortened. Expedia have now given us a connection time of 1hour 5mins going and 58mins coming back! I queried this as being too tight but they checked with Continental who say it's within recommended times.
I'd assumed the airline would be liable for accomodation costs if we had problems as they're making the change.
Can anyone reassure me? or tell me the worst. Can I insist on being given alternative flight times. Help!

 

[allie5]

Dazed. I really dont think thats acceptable. I think every flight we have ever taken to the US has ALWAYS left late....usually only 20 or 30 mins, but that is really eating into your safe connection time. We are booked through Expedia this year (Virgin flights) and I went through the T&Cs pretty carefully as we have to book flights that are flexible due to hubby's job. Im sure I read that it was YOUR responisbility to allow enough time between connecting flights and that neither they, nor the airline were liable for any costs incurred if you miss connections.

I would get onto them sharpish and find out where you stand. If need be contact Continental yourself and get the info from the horses mouth. If they say 58 mins is OK and it turns out they are wrong, WHO is liable? Get it all faxed or posted to you just in case there is a problem.

 

[RUSHBURY]

DAZED

Don't worry!

I also fly from Glasgow via Newark - we had an hour stopover/change of plane in Oct of last year and the same again this year. We made it!!! As did our friends the day before us. It was a rush there's no doubt but it is possible - the one hour stop has been in operation now for over a year so surely Continetal whom we fly with would have amended it if it didn't work. prior to the one hour we had 1 hr 40 mins. My flights are in the same terminal at Newark.

We're flying the same flights this Oct - 1 hour stop again.

 

[AlisonB]

It's not so much the flights going to Orlando - as there are usually several internal flights a day. It;s the ones coming home that are a bit of a worry - if you miss the transatlantic connection you usually have to wait until the next day!

 

[JayneL]

NO LUCK

No flights available on our dates.
The closest she could come up with are leaving Wed 13th come home Mon 1st which is nearly 3 weeks!!!

After reading other peoples comments about non direct flights I think I'll have one last try this afternoon and then book the london-charlotte-orlando flight. I think there is a later connection so if need be I will book that one just to be sure.

I feel so dissapointed after finding that yesterday and wish these companies wouldn't put unavailable flight on their sites.

Back to the drawing board.

Jayne

 

[squitty]

Hi Jayne

Oh no what a shame

I really hope you get something sorted soon.

Good Luck

 

[Dazed]

Helen
Thanks again. I wasn't too worried at first about the shorter connection times - just pleased to be getting to Orlando earlier and leaving later! This thread mainly got me worried about missing the flight home especially if I have to pay the hotel!!
Has anyone been stranded overnight because they missed the connection? What happened? I've a few days before back to work/school so that wouldn't be such a problem.

 

[wendym]

I've been delayed several times and as it was never my fault the airline pay the hotel/meals etc. Been to some really nice hotels that way! Always remember to ask for meal vouchers as they aren't always forthcoming with them.
Wendy

 

[juliebro]

Have you tried ringing Airline Network? You can find their number on their website. Just booked with them for next Easter and found them extremely helpful, especially as I wanted to spend some time in Washington DC on the way home. the flight prices when we got the confirmation have ended up even cheaper than they first quoted me!

Julie

 

[JayneL]

Thanks Julie

I've now booked with Britannia Airways as we really wanted to go direct.
We did try Airline Network but they didn't have any direct flights left. (that we could afford anyway!)

Thanks anyway

Jayne