IAH Houston Airport Question

[Perki]

We have a connecting flight thru IAH Houston on our way to/from San Juan and Continental just opened a new wing for all international flights. Does anyone on this board have any info on how quickly one can get off a plane from San Juan at the new 'E' gates and get to a connecting flight in the 'C' gates. Our flight is a standard flight and we are booked thru both directions but the connecting flight on the way back from San Juan they only gave us 1hour and I'm worried about trying to get thru customs (do we need to since we did this getting off the ship?) getting our suitcases and rechecking them onto our next leg...seems tight. Anyone on here experienced this yet?

[Ms. B]

It's quite a long walk from the new terminal E to terminal C.

[Perki]

Thanks Beverly, that's what I was guessing. I have emailed Continental this same question to see if they can tell me if I will have to do Customs at the airport in Houston or just move on thru to my next flight since technically we weren't in another country as Puerto Rico is a territory, maybe that will save us quite a bit of time. Thanks for the response, I know in advance to wear tennis shoes for certain as I may be running!

[billybob123]

Good idea on calling Continental. You don't need to clear customs returning from PR - it's a US commonwealth. I haven't ever had to clear US customs on the way back - you do need to go through a USDA inspection before leaving SJU, so your connection in Houston is a domestic-to-domestic, which means your bags will be checked through to your final destination. Your connection will simply mean you'll be hauling yourself through the airport to make your 1 hour connection!

 

You might want to consider callling Continental rather than emailing, you can ask more than one question - i.e. is the 1-hour connection ok with the new wing arrivals? You should be able to make your connection barring a late arriving flight, but if your flight is late, generally the airline will take care of you by rebooking you on the next available flight.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

-bb123

[kelleya]

I fly through IAH every week due to my work travel. I usually have to go from the E terminal to the B terminal for my connections. At least you will only have to get to C so you should be okay with an hour. Much of this will depend which E gate you arrive in and which C gate you are departing from! Continental will tell you the 1 hour is a "legal connect" time. If you truly have 1 hour you will have no problem. However if your flight is more than 15 minutes late, you will have to really hurry! If you are 30 minutes late find an electric cart to get you to the train station. Try to get flights near the front of the plane so you will be one of the first off the plane when it lands. Also, when you get your gate info, check the airport map in the Continental magazine if you aren't familiar with the terminal layouts. You will take the train from E to C. From E you cut through D to get on the train and C will be the first stop. Also, don't assume you'll be coming into E.....I was on a flight from SanJuan a couple of months ago that arrived into terminal C.

 

Barring a really late arrival into IAH you should be fine. Good luck!!

[Perki]

I fly through IAH every week due to my work travel. I usually have to go from the E terminal to the B terminal for my connections. At least you will only have to get to C so you should be okay with an hour. Much of this will depend which E gate you arrive in and which C gate you are departing from! Continental will tell you the 1 hour is a "legal connect" time. If you truly have 1 hour you will have no problem. However if your flight is more than 15 minutes late, you will have to really hurry! If you are 30 minutes late find an electric cart to get you to the train station. Try to get flights near the front of the plane so you will be one of the first off the plane when it lands. Also, when you get your gate info, check the airport map in the Continental magazine if you aren't familiar with the terminal layouts. You will take the train from E to C. From E you cut through D to get on the train and C will be the first stop. Also, don't assume you'll be coming into E.....I was on a flight from SanJuan a couple of months ago that arrived into terminal C.

 

Barring a really late arrival into IAH you should be fine. Good luck!!

THanks for all that info, really helps me plan. I have been going to Continentals website each weekend and tracking this flight to see if it is ontime or habitually late or? So far it has been late coming in last 2 Saturdays from San Juan - just my luck! So all I can hope is they hold my connecting plane since I will be booked all the way thru and they don't have any other flights to Las Vegas after mine so I would hope they would hold it for us! Again, thanks for the info!

[kelleya]

Perki- I just realized my typo...I typed "try to get flights near the front of the plane" that should have said "seats" near the front of the plane...I'm sure you figured that part out! As a general rule, Continental won't "hold" a flight for you. If you land with less than 20 minutes to make the connection, go immediately to the gate agent behind the podium of your arrival gate and ask him/her to call the gate of your departing flight to alert them you are on the way. That will be your best chance of having them hold the flight for you.

 

Good luck!

[Perki]

Perki- I just realized my typo...I typed "try to get flights near the front of the plane" that should have said "seats" near the front of the plane...I'm sure you figured that part out! As a general rule, Continental won't "hold" a flight for you. If you land with less than 20 minutes to make the connection, go immediately to the gate agent behind the podium of your arrival gate and ask him/her to call the gate of your departing flight to alert them you are on the way. That will be your best chance of having them hold the flight for you.

 

Good luck!

thanks again, I didn't think to have them do that at the counter at the gate we are coming in from that might help. Guess I'll have to wait and see what happens! :)

[mconthehighseas]

Just in case it isn't obvious from the other notes, Terminal E and Terminal C are in the same building. (E is a large wing added on to C.) If you think you may have a tight connection, you can have a shuttle car take you from one gate to another. I've seen where the gate attendents can call one for you. Another thing you can try is to tell the airlines you are a passenger who needs assistance (by calling in advance). Then they may schedule one of those cars to be waiting for you.

[Perki]

Just in case it isn't obvious from the other notes, Terminal E and Terminal C are in the same building. (E is a large wing added on to C.) If you think you may have a tight connection, you can have a shuttle car take you from one gate to another. I've seen where the gate attendents can call one for you. Another thing you can try is to tell the airlines you are a passenger who needs assistance (by calling in advance). Then they may schedule one of those cars to be waiting for you.

Awesome, another good idea. And actually my hubby does have a bad back (rod fused to his spine due to scoliosis as a kid) and after 4hours (San Juan to Houston) sitting on a cramped plane he will be pretty stiff and won't be moving very fast so saying we need assitance won't be much of a stretch! We always try and get an exit row so he has more room (he's 6-3"!) but we all know those are hard to come by. Again thank you so much for the info!