Potential missed connection with an upcoming international rewards flight?

[MEL_Traveller]

Don't let the optimists fool you, it took more than 2 hours to transit the customs hall when I went through in May before getting to the baggage conveyor.

Is that using automated kiosks (ESTA) on arrival? I have an upcoming arrival in a few weeks and I was hoping it would be a lot quicker now

 

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Thank you again for all of your replies and info.
I appreciate your time and help.

I now know the be prepared for a missed connection (due to potential flight delays/customs hall delays), although it is good to have confirmation that being moved onto an alternative flight is a likely scenario.

Just a shame that I booked a day late.
The previous day my preferred 19:36 LAX-PHX flight was a rewards option, although it was not available for booking the following day.

As for min connection times, I was looking at other options for this trip and the Qantas website flight-search provided a rewards flight option with a tight connection into DFW.
QF7 arrving at 13:00, with a 14:50 connecting flight with AA.
I clicked on it to see if that flight combo would be able to be booked, however it was prevented via a pop-up message stating that the min connection time is 120mins.

 

[RichardMEL]

Is that using automated kiosks (ESTA) on arrival? I have an upcoming arrival in a few weeks and I was hoping it would be a lot quicker now

The issue is not so much the APC Kiosks (when in use) it's that you still have to line up and see an officer post the kiosk, which while in general is usually a pretty quick question or two and on your way, is another line up which can still take time.

It all depends on where you are, other flights arriving at the same time, pax mix etc (eg a lot of non English speaking folks unfamiliar with using the kiosks or needing extra attention from CBP and so on.

Sometimes I've arrived LAX and literally been through that in 10 minutes *waiting* for my bag at the belt. Other times an hour, even with the APC.

I am going to guess that a 4pm arrival at LAX is possibly a bit less congested than the early morning influx and *may* be a bit quicker, but that doesn't mean it won't be.

As an aside.. somewhere REALLY quick to enter the USA has to be IAH off the NZ flight (arrives ~4pm local). There's barely one other flight at the same time from central America, they have an lamost dedicated set of lanes for pax off NZ (with signage and agents directing people etc) and several times this year I've entered there, while no kiosks, it has been super quick (in the order of 15 minutes including bags). Irrelevant to the OP, but I've found it one of the nicest entry points to the US by air so far (friendly CBP too).

 

[JohnK]

One of the limitations of Qantas is the lack of connecting flights available when making revenue or reward flights.

You'll be protected on the one ticket but there's a chance the next flight will be full. Before making any booking I call and check my options and tell Qantas the flights I want and they usually book for me without any fees.

 

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One of the limitations of Qantas is the lack of connecting flights available when making revenue or reward flights.

You'll be protected on the one ticket but there's a chance the next flight will be full. Before making any booking I call and check my options and tell Qantas the flights I want and they usually book for me without any fees.

Understood. Thanks for the advice John.

 

[BAM1748]

Is that using automated kiosks (ESTA) on arrival? I have an upcoming arrival in a few weeks and I was hoping it would be a lot quicker now

The kiosk wouldn't accept the passport, it did on departure. A minor glitch for sure but meant waiting for the man with the stamp.

 

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Last selfish request from me on this matter;

Hypothetically speaking, if I were to change my flights out of Australia to QF93 I would then have the option of connecting to QF11 to JFK or a United flight to EWR.
Both of those connecting flights are on B787 aircraft, although QF11 is much more full compared to the United flight which makes that one more appealing and that my final destination is New Jersey.
The catch is its only a 2 hr connection time between QF93's arrival the United's flight departure from LAX.

1) Is it safe to assume that its highly unlikely I will be able to clear the customs hall and travel all the way down to United's Terminal 7 with the 2hr window at that time of the day? (I would think everything would need to go my way including an early arrival on QF93)

2)If I miss the connecting United flight, would it be possible to try and get put onto QF11 (if this was prior to checking-in my bags with United) , or would I have to stay with United and be put on a later flight?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Last selfish request from me on this matter;

Hypothetically speaking, if I were to change my flights out of Australia to QF93 I would then have the option of connecting to QF11 to JFK or a United flight to EWR.
Both of those connecting flights are on B787 aircraft, although QF11 is much more full compared to the United flight which makes that one more appealing and that my final destination is New Jersey.
The catch is its only a 2 hr connection time between QF93's arrival the United's flight departure from LAX.

1) Is it safe to assume that its highly unlikely I will be able to clear the customs hall and travel all the way down to United's Terminal 7 with the 2hr window at that time of the day? (I would think everything would need to go my way including an early arrival on QF93)

2)If I miss the connecting United flight, would it be possible to try and get put onto QF11 (if this was prior to checking-in my bags with United) , or would I have to stay with United and be put on a later flight?

If it's a Qantas award booking, there won't be an immediate option for you to fly United. Separate tickets, forget it. QF-->QF might be a better option, people do it every day.

 

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If it's a Qantas award booking, there won't be an immediate option for you to fly United. Separate tickets, forget it. QF-->QF might be a better option, people do it every day.

Thank you, yes I should have been more specific - this would not have been an awards booking, rather a new booking paid by cash.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Thank you, yes I should have been more specific - this would not have been an awards booking, rather a new booking paid by cash.

If you are taking advantage of the current QF premium sale to the USA, I'd stick with the 93/11 connection if offered. I can't see the benefit of changing over to united.

 

[justinbrett]

In my honest opinion you are at a very high risk of missing the connection - by the time you get off the plane, go through customs, recheck bag, walk to T4/5 - best case, your flight will already be boarding. I nearly missed a connection despite 3 hours (actual) on the ground due to a very long walk (and bus) and a nightmare in immigration.

But you're heading to New York - where they could take you direct from LAX, or via any of their other hubs (eg DFW, ORD, PHL, CLT, DCA - and MIA if they're desperate) - which gives so many different options. It might be a little easier to get a flight to LGA instead of JFK as there tends to be more flights there from their Central & Eastern hubs. From experience you would have to elect to go to LGA, the system by default will rebook to your ticketed destination (JFK).

In short, don't worry.

 

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MEL_Traveller/justinbrett - Thank you for replies and info. That confirms my beliefs.

Cheers.

 

[justinbrett]

Is that using automated kiosks (ESTA) on arrival? I have an upcoming arrival in a few weeks and I was hoping it would be a lot quicker now

When I went through last month (although it was DFW), the problem was the queue to use the kiosk, and then to see the immigration officer. The downside is there doesn't seem to be ESTA only lanes, like what they had before the kiosk, so you can end up with more "complex" nationals in front of you making the line go slow.

However, when I arrived at the booth the officer took the slip, scanned it and said "Have a nice day". First time I haven't had my passport stamped on entry to the US.

On approach into DFW, AA played a video from CDP stating if you were flying on an ESTA and you had already entered the country on that ESTA the process was going to be somewhat expediated, but other than the complete lack of questions and passport stamp, I didn't notice any other difference.

Looking forward to Global Entry being rolled out for us Aussies.

 

[RichardMEL]

1. Yes, QF will seell tickets on UA for those legs- it's unusual but they do do it. I know the flight you mean on the 787-10 and yes it's a tight connection. Usually when I have flown UA/UA via LAX I pick the later flight after 9. They are all on 752's with the less good, but still decent, product in J.

The issue is more that for QF->QF connection at LAX it's within the same building (TBIT) and QF have a semi dedicated system for these connections to QF11 (as in they know you'r ethere, there's a specific signed lane at connecting bag drop to the right after you clear customs and it's prganised - you can then use the connecting flights security to re-enter TBIT and go to the gate (or lounge if time).

With QF->UA, you sitll go via connections, but then have to get to T7 - which is either wait for the shuttle bus, or a 15-20min walk outside.. all fine if one enjoys that - catching the shuttle bus may save a bit of time, but it will stop at T4/5/6 first.

One could always use the connecting security at TBIT (as above) to re-clear and go through the airside connector, but it's still a 20-25 minute walk to T7 (I've done this a number of times - and I'm a fairly fast walker) so it's not trivial to walk.

On the other side, it's fair to say that UA have virtually hourly flights to EWR so they can just put ypu on the next one with seats, but that could involve a wait.

If it were me, I'd still QF->QF. At the very worst they will protect you on AA either on one of the 321T services to JFK (nice!) or via DFW or ORD. There are plenty of options.

And again, sometimes arriving ~0630ish I've been in the lounge by 0730 having a shower and could catch a UA (or QF/AA) connecting flight east if need be. Other times, it's been a mess and I've still been trying to get through CBP at 0800. Everyone's mileage will vary.

 

[DC3]

Allowing for two hours to transit LAX is never a good idea. It may work sometimes. I always allow about 4 hours, or book the onward flight for the following day.

Anyway, I've found AA check-in agents to be very good at re-routing when things go wrong.

 

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RichardMEL - Thank you for the detailed reply, especially the walking time between terminals, a terrific help.
I know for future reference to go with the QF-->QF connection as the safer option.

 

[jpp42]

A follow up on this topic - first I'll agree that AA is good at sorting out misconnects. In my recent case I was slightly late arriving DFW on QF7 from SYD, and I was automatically rebooked on a later flight to my final destination, ATL. A boarding pass had already been printed and put in an envelope with my name on it, then handed to me as I got off the plane. That's great service - not sure if unique to DFW but I was impressed.

The one thing that I'm noting is that the new flight was an AA flight number instead of QF codeshare number. This means I got slightly fewer miles as no WP bonus. Is this worth pursuing original routing credit ? I think the status credits would be the same? I got the 10 SC for the AA leg flown (DFW-ATL); the SYD-DFW was discount economy and earned 70.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

With QF->UA, you sitll go via connections, but then have to get to T7 - which is either wait for the shuttle bus, or a 15-20min walk outside.. all fine if one enjoys that - catching the shuttle bus may save a bit of time, but it will stop at T4/5/6 first.

One could always use the connecting security at TBIT (as above) to re-clear and go through the airside connector, but it's still a 20-25 minute walk to T7 (I've done this a number of times - and I'm a fairly fast walker) so it's not trivial to walk.


And again, sometimes arriving ~0630ish I've been in the lounge by 0730 having a shower and could catch a UA (or QF/AA) connecting flight east if need be. Other times, it's been a mess and I've still been trying to get through CBP at 0800. Everyone's mileage will vary.

Oh great. I'm so looking forward to my connection in LAX in a couple weeks now I hope I get the 0630-->0730 option and not the two hour version. (I'm connecting UA-UA).

I got an invite this morning by email to use the private suites at LAX. Just $750. I contemplated it for about 10 seconds. If just for the arrival clearance.