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PDX - CLT - BCN (American)


kokopelli-az
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I'm looking at an AA flight from Portland, Oregon to Barcelona with a connection in Charlotte. The connection is 1 hr 3 minutes in Charlotte. Can that possibly be enough time to catch a connecting flight to Barcelona? Would there be a change of terminals in Charlotte?

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CLT is a very efficient airport. You won't need to really worry about changing terminals (but may need to change concourses), and no re-clearing of security. That being said, I wouldn't be thrilled with a 1h03 connection to a once-daily international flight. If PDX-CLT is on time, you really shouldn't have any trouble making it...but if it's delayed, you're stuck in CLT for the night.

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All international longhaul flights from CLT leave from the D gates. Your flight from PDX could arrive on B, C or D.

 

CLT is an efficient enough airport that if your flight is one time, and assuming you're not in the bowels of the aircraft then you should be able make it with some ease. If you're flying economy sit as far forward as you can. Also download the AA app, and if you don't have wifi onboard then as soon as you're on the ground look at the airport layout and familiarize yourself with how to get to the D gates from your arrival gate. It's not hard to get around but you don't want to be hanging around unnecessarily.

 

I have had 45min connections at CLT where I arrived on time and boarding for an ontime departure hadn't even started after I'd moved from one concourse to another.

 

Legal minimum connection times are based on the fact the vast majority of passengers should make the connection.

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The only issue with this is if your PDX-CLT flight is delayed there is not many ways to get to BCN that day. Maybe you'll be able to catch another flight say to London and connect from there.

 

If there is a two day buffer from the day your cruise leaves to your planned arrival I would be ok with this.

 

If it is only a one-day buffer I would try to find a way to get more time in-between getting to CLT and your flight to BCN.

 

If you are planning on arriving into BCN the day of the cruise, re-think the entire thing.

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The only issue with this is if your PDX-CLT flight is delayed there is not many ways to get to BCN that day. Maybe you'll be able to catch another flight say to London and connect from there.

 

If there is a two day buffer from the day your cruise leaves to your planned arrival I would be ok with this.

 

If it is only a one-day buffer I would try to find a way to get more time in-between getting to CLT and your flight to BCN.

 

If you are planning on arriving into BCN the day of the cruise, re-think the entire thing.

 

 

We would be arriving in Barcelona the day before our cruise. I'm getting stressed just thinking about what might go wrong with the short layover in CLT so it's on to Plan B... Thank you, everyone for your input!

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We would be arriving in Barcelona the day before our cruise. I'm getting stressed just thinking about what might go wrong with the short layover in CLT so it's on to Plan B... Thank you, everyone for your input!

 

May I recommend looking in to Delta as they fly PDX-Amsterdam which could then give you many options for connecting to BCN should something go wrong.

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We would be arriving in Barcelona the day before our cruise. I'm getting stressed just thinking about what might go wrong with the short layover in CLT so it's on to Plan B... Thank you, everyone for your input!

 

Could you find a flight that gets you into CLT earlier that day? Or the night before? Or find a way to get into Europe easier say flying non-stop from PDX. I know there are few options. Or taking a bus/train to Seattle and fly from SEA non-stop to say London or Amsterdam.

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Could you find a flight that gets you into CLT earlier that day? Or the night before? Or find a way to get into Europe easier say flying non-stop from PDX. I know there are few options. Or taking a bus/train to Seattle and fly from SEA non-stop to say London or Amsterdam.

 

Unfortunately, there are no nonstops from PDX to BCN. I think what we're going to do is go on AirCanada, flying to Vancouver, BC and Toronto and then to BCN. The good news is that AirCanada has a flight back to PDX from BCN with only one layover in Toronto. I think this will be quite doable, especially with only one stop coming back.

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Unfortunately, there are no nonstops from PDX to BCN. I think what we're going to do is go on AirCanada, flying to Vancouver, BC and Toronto and then to BCN. The good news is that AirCanada has a flight back to PDX from BCN with only one layover in Toronto. I think this will be quite doable, especially with only one stop coming back.

Two stops is going to be a pain since you'll be getting on a domestic Canadian flight, meaning full Canadian customs and immigration will be necessary. Give yourself extra time and know that it's not the easiest way to get to BCN by any means.

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Being you are considering a 3 leg trip, take an earlier flight out of PDX and get in earlier.

 

I do this all the time, frequently I'm leaving on an early morning flight for an overnight overseas flight. I find plenty to keep me occupied in airports, and my style of traveling.

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Unfortunately, there are no nonstops from PDX to BCN. I think what we're going to do is go on AirCanada, flying to Vancouver, BC and Toronto and then to BCN. The good news is that AirCanada has a flight back to PDX from BCN with only one layover in Toronto. I think this will be quite doable, especially with only one stop coming back.

 

From the frying pan into the fire....

 

You're worried about misconnecting through CLT and would prefer to add an extra connection, plus an unnecessary chat with Canadian immigration and customs and CATSA?:confused:

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From the frying pan into the fire....

 

You're worried about misconnecting through CLT and would prefer to add an extra connection, plus an unnecessary chat with Canadian immigration and customs and CATSA?:confused:

 

My thoughts too. I still think OP really needs to look at PDX-AMS-BCN on Delta/KLM.

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My thoughts too. I still think OP really needs to look at PDX-AMS-BCN on Delta/KLM.

 

Agreed, I don't think the CLT is a bad idea, and AA pad the schedules into CLT enough. However, if you do miss the CLT-BCN flight you're kind of toast in terms of your connecting options. CLT is pretty limited on the international front.

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We do plenty of comparison shopping between PDX, SEA and YVR for any flights we're taking - and I'm 100% behind the 'take a non-stop flight to ANY European airport as the first leg' options. Amsterdam, Frankfurt, even London Heathrow are all options (at least pre-Brexit!)

 

You will have so many more chances to be put onto that final short flight to BCN once you're over the pond - and in the event of some total debacle that closes airports, or a total sh*tstorm of unavailable flights, at least you have high speed trains, buses, and rental cars as potential options for getting to Barcelona in time for the cruise. Whereas unless you're Aquaman, you're hooped if you get stuck in some US or Canadian airport without an empty seat on a viable flight to BCN!

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We do plenty of comparison shopping between PDX, SEA and YVR for any flights we're taking - and I'm 100% behind the 'take a non-stop flight to ANY European airport as the first leg' options. Amsterdam, Frankfurt, even London Heathrow are all options (at least pre-Brexit!)
I'm not sure what you're concerned about so far as Brexit is concerned. The UK isn't leaving Europe, only the EU. For schedules and connection opportunities, Heathrow will still be amongst the forerunners in any itinerary building process.
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even London Heathrow are all options (at least pre-Brexit!)

Transiting through LHR shouldn't change at all post-Brexit. Heck, even as a non-EU citizen, going from the UK to Schengen isn't going to change since there is a hard border pre-Brexit.

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Canada option seems more problematic.

 

If you can only get to AMS from PDX that time of year and the PDX-AMS option is not good/too expensive then fly over to the east coast as earlier as possible. Instead of getting into CLT or PHL or JFK only 2-hours before the flight get in 8-hours before.

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Transiting through LHR shouldn't change at all post-Brexit. Heck, even as a non-EU citizen, going from the UK to Schengen isn't going to change since there is a hard border pre-Brexit.

I'm aware UK was never in Schengen - the comment about Brexit was ~80% humorous (although frankly I wouldn't be surprised about anything related to borders & Brexit at this point, with the various UK attempts to ensure a smooth border between NI & Eire being constantly rebuffed by both the Brexiteers and the European negotiators, sometimes both at the same time... and as a UK citizen, losing the EU aisles for customs in British airports would make a difference to me even if it doesn't impact you or OP)

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I'm aware UK was never in Schengen - the comment about Brexit was ~80% humorous ...
It was the 20% that bothered me. I'm not sure what you think might change (amongst realistic possibilities), from a connections point of view.
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You can also look at going via PHL, JFK, MIA or EWR (this would be on a United flight though) are just a few examples. There is no reason to have more than one connection with all the flights to BCN from the US. I went to BCN via JFK two years ago no issues. Most of the flights from the east coast are all red eyes anyway so at worst you can catch a red eye from PDX and just hang out at the airport all day (boring as heck yes, but better than stressing over a tight connection).

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It was the 20% that bothered me. I'm not sure what you think might change (amongst realistic possibilities), from a connections point of view.

Hmmm - realistic? And Brexit? In the same sentence...? Government can't manage that, but I'll give it a go;-)

 

Howsabout the reduced number of flights that will be available thanks to decreased demand due to fewer business travelers and tourists from the UK heading to EU countries (and EU citizens coming to the UK), thanks to reduced trade/weakened currency/many companies moving HQs out of London to European cities? LHR may still end up having comparable or better numbers of flights to any given EU airport than alternative smaller hubs, but it will definitely have fewer than it does now unless you feel it's realistic that travelers from outside using it as a hub will increase by the same amount as the number of UK/EU citizens using these routes will drop.

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We do plenty of comparison shopping between PDX, SEA and YVR for any flights we're taking - and I'm 100% behind the 'take a non-stop flight to ANY European airport as the first leg' options. Amsterdam, Frankfurt, even London Heathrow are all options (at least pre-Brexit!)
Howsabout the reduced number of flights that will be available thanks to decreased demand due to fewer business travelers and tourists from the UK heading to EU countries (and EU citizens coming to the UK), thanks to reduced trade/weakened currency/many companies moving HQs out of London to European cities? LHR may still end up having comparable or better numbers of flights to any given EU airport than alternative smaller hubs, but it will definitely have fewer than it does now unless you feel it's realistic that travelers from outside using it as a hub will increase by the same amount as the number of UK/EU citizens using these routes will drop.
Even if that were to occur, LHR would remain a viable option for anyone connecting from the US to a European point. A reduction in frequencies might possibly make it a good option in fewer cases than now, but whether any of the European hubs is a good option for any particularly trip is always a bit of a lottery anyway as it can be very dependent on how schedules fit together on the day in question - something that we advise on quite a lot here. But even if there end up being fewer occasions on which LHR is a good option when seen from the perspective of planning any specific trip, it will remain a viable option; there is no realistic possibility that Brexit will change that.

 

The only scenario that I can think of in which LHR would cease to be a viable option for such itineraries is if the UK were to leave the EU in a manner which means that no ASA is in place between the UK and the EU27, so that there could not be any direct commercial flights between any UK point and any EU27 point. Although this is theoretically something that could happen, it is not a realistic possibility.

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The only scenario that I can think of in which LHR would cease to be a viable option for such itineraries is if the UK were to leave the EU in a manner which means that no ASA is in place between the UK and the EU27, so that there could not be any direct commercial flights between any UK point and any EU27 point. Although this is theoretically something that could happen, it is not a realistic possibility.

I agree, that's ridiculously unlikely especially since the UK was part of the founding memberships of ECAA, ECAC, EUROCONTROL - but even if LHR remains a very useful airport for nonstop flights from PDX for me, who would be connecting to other airports in the UK, for folks in the position of the OP it will definitely become less useful as the number of flights drop, compared to FRA/AMS.

 

Still, the odds of it not remaining at least one of the top handful of choices for US-Europe connections are slim indeed, you were right to call me on my post.

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