This has all been very enlightening. I don't usually worry about connections. I seem to have very good travel karma, and have never experienced an excessive delay because of a transfer.
One time in Chicago, my inbound flight was held on the tarmac for 45 minutes, causing me to miss my connection. As it was getting pretty late, the airline (United) told me there were no more flights and gave me a hotel voucher, and I was literally on my way out of the terminal when I heard a PA announcement for another United flight in final boarding for my destination. I ran like crazy to the gate, which had already closed when I got there, but as the plane was still sitting there, they opened the gate for me to get on. It turned out to be an extremely late flight from earlier in the day that for some reason had not shown up on the computer system, and I flew home on a virtually empty 747 that got me home only an hour later than originally scheduled.
Fortunately, this upcoming trip is not time critical. No meetings to attend. I'm just visiting my home in the Bay Area for a few weeks to take care of a few things and spend some time with friends. If I arrive a day late, it's no big deal. Ditto on the return trip.
Last time I experienced a serious delay, my flight got into SFO so late that there were no longer any trains running to take me home from the airport. Instead, I wound up getting a ride from my seatmate, whose sister was picking him up and lived only a mile from me. The seatmate turned out to be the principle oboist of the Philadelphia Orchestra.
Life is an adventure!
Last edited by Mark in CA; 9th Jun 2012 at 12:22.