 Poster: A snowHead
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Hello,
I'm going to go to Aspen at the end of January but getting there from Edinburgh where I live will involve 3 flights - probably Edinburgh to Heathrow, Heathrow to Chicago and Chicago to Aspen.
I've been searching for flights on Expedia and it has thrown up lots of different options but some of the gaps between one flight arriving and the next departing seem a bit on the short side. Obviously I'd like to spent as little time waiting at airports as possible, but I don't want to myself or my skis to miss a connection because we don't have enough time to get off one plane, round the airport and on to the next plane.
Has anyone got any advice on how much time to leave between flights? Delays will obviously be an unknown factor, but are there any sensible rules of thumb for how long to leave for transfers to transatlantic flights and internal flights? Expedia is showing some waits of just 50 minutes between the internal flights and 1 hour 30 mins for the international flights - would choosing these flights be asking for trouble?
Thanks,
Ricky P
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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rickyp2, Going out you will need to clear US immigration at Chicago. I don't know the airport itself but this can take some time with fairly lengthy queues. I think 50 minutes would not be long enough.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Not been thru chicago, but friends that have tend to advise 2hrs minimum layover to allow for Baggage reclaim, Immigration+Customs, plus Baggage re-drop. SF is about the same apparently.
Saying that, I managed to do all of the above in 10 minutes at Philadelphia.
As for expedia... it did a pretty good job at coming up with potential flights (apart from hopelessly short layovers and inability to configure this as a preference), but we actually got the same flights cheaper direct from US Airways than via Expedia (etc.). Once you settle on flights, that may be worth a try 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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When I look at flights on the internet I regularly reject options which have, to my mind, absurdly short transfer times. One of the things that you have to watch out for is how many flights a day do they do between A and B. Leaving aside the luggage not making it issue, if you have a tight transfer time and there is only one flight a day from Chicago to Aspen then if you miss it, you have 24 hours to the next one (assuming that they fly every day at the same time). On that basis you may want to build in some contingency time.
To an extent the same may apply in getting to Heathrow, a delay leaving then a period of time in a holding pattern over Oxfordshire or whereverwhilst you dont get down on the ground can eat into the time to transfer.
I try to limit the trips to 2 flights/ 1 connection to minimise problems but you cant always do that and Aspen is one of those. The other option is fly to Denver (which can be 2 flights )/ and drive (but it is a longish drive)
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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rickyp2, Chicago is the pits. I have had baggage delayed in transit from there twice. The very minimum transit you want there is 3hours.
I once waited 50 minutes to clear Dept of Agriculture there... let alone immigration
Remember - at your entry airport on the US you have to clear immigration, reclaim your baggage, clear customs, clear agriculture and then put you baggage back into the system
We do everything possible to avoid O'Hare now. It is a busy airport and when "Lake effect snow" hits it gets big delays.
No possibility of going via Denver?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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If you are happy flying BA (can't imagine why anyone wouldn't be), then via Heathrow direct to Denver, there are then a number of flights every day to Aspen with Frontier.
The timetable (in January at least) sees the flight get in at 1525, leaving plenty of breathing space for customs/immigration etc before the final Frontier flight of the day to Aspen at 2130. Flights also at 1755, 1855 and 2130 with United.
Beware though, being a mountain airport, Aspen is liable to be closed without warning in the winter.
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immigration can be a f*cker, last 2 trips were 2.5 hours (JFK) and 2 hours (SFO). If you could be bothered to study timetables for the airport then you could MAYBE avoid peak times - which will depend on incoming flights' origins at any one time - not very likely to be able to do this though (and who could be arsed with that anyway). Edinburgh - Newark could be a good first leg (continental), allowing you to look at newark or JFK (or even la guardia?) for the hop over to Aspen?
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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If you are going via heathrow, make sure you leave plenty of time. It can be long way between terminals and you may have to wait for buses. Also the shuttles down are often late or cancelled. Personally I always leave at leat 1 hour but preferbaly 1.5 hours.
I once had a 45 minute gap which the TO insisted was fine. We made it by running all the way but the ski equipment didn't. 
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FAQ
We were running for that 
Still we were in aspen by 9am the next day and on the slopes by 10 
Never suffered from jetlag at all, best way ever to beat it 
