man-phl-las

[purplehelmet]

some friends and i are in the process of booking a trip to las vegas later this year.
the plan so far is to fly from manchester to philadelphia and onwards to vagas,the problem is assuming we arrive in phl on time the booking form says we have 2 hours 5 mins to transfer onto our connecting flight to vegas which i belive departs from a different terminal.
my arguement is that by the time we have cleared us customs/immigration we will be hard pressed to make our conection ,on our return the transfer time is 1 hour 26mins again i feel that gives us very little leeway.
your thoughts and advice please guy's
many thanks in advance.

all flights will be with us airways.

[Johnny F@rt Pants]

Slim chance, especially outbound where you will also have to collect your luggage and re-check-in. However if US Airways are selling it as a through ticket it's their responsibility to get you to your destination, ie they accept liability if their service is late, or the connection just doesn't work. So you could go with that in your back pocket. The only other factor is when you're returning, the next flight is a day later, and US Airways are highly likely to leave you high and dry for the 24 hours, ie accommodation etc is at your expense.

[Hartington]

I know everyone goes on about how bad the London airports are, and if you are looking at flights from Manchester I assume you live "up North". However, connections over US hubs can be a bit of a nightmare. I'd seriously consider coming down to London and flying non-stop (which means either BA or Virgin). You could say that transatlantic carriers are in a race for the bottom; the US carriers (all of them) are leading that race right now.

Inbound connections at US hubs mean queuing for immigration, collecting your bags, going through customs, finding check in to hand over your bags again (usually not a major issue - just outside customs), find you way to the next terminal, go through US security (don't buy any duty free liquids or if you do make sure you put it in your luggage before you recheck it) and then find the gate.

Coming home is easier (hence the shorter connecting time) since you don't have to do customs and immigration.

A thought - the fare will almost certainly permit a stop of up to 24 hours at the point where you change planes so you could actually stop in Philadelphia for a night either/each way (at your expense). I did that once coming home from Denver via Chicago and, by getting a flight out of Denver that arrived Chicago after the London flight had departed I got the best part of a day in Chicago.

But in the end I strongly suggest either driving or taking the train to London or even take a connecting flight to London.

[radeng]

I would agree with Hartington. You will also get somewhat better service on BA or Virgin or Air France or Lufthansa (well, not always with them) than you will from any of the US carriers. DO NOT use a BA flight that is a code share with American Airlines, though.

My suggestion would be BA to Phoenix, as immigration there is usually pretty quick, unlike Chicago, New York, Miami, etc. Then drive or take South West or failing them, US AIR to LAS

[Heathrow Harry]

to be fair it rarely takes over an hour at most US airports to get through Immigration - everyone has a horror story - normally involving Miami, JFK and worst of all LA

last few times I had two under 10 minutes and one around 50 minutes inbound

Outbound is relatively easy

[spannersatcx]

Virgin fly twice a week to Las Vegas from MAN, why not just go direct with them?

[Captain Capstan]

I have been MAN-PHL-MCO with US Airways a couple of times and never had a problem with the connection which was less than 2 hours. Immigration took 15 minutes both times.

[tb10er]

Yes, it is do-able. I know from experience.

If the prices are good, go for it (and don't bother shlepping down to the smoke)

[purplehelmet]

thanks for the replys.
in response. i did mention to the group about going via lhr/gat but was out voted as we only live 15mins from man in a taxi.(i know). also virgin dont have flights on the dates we want to travel, the price with us airways is a lot cheaper than any other flights we have seen.
its good to know that it is doable,but im still a bit unsure.

[CallBell]

It might seems a bit off the wall, but could you route via DUB to avail of the USCBP per clearance? That way there is no need to collect and recheck bags in PHL and immigration is completed before you arrive in the USA.

[tb10er]

As long as the tickets are bought as a single journey, then you are safe as the airline will re-book you on the next available flight.

Don't worry

[TURIN]

Ignore the doom mongers extolling the virtues of LHR.

MAN has very good connections to the USA.

United to DHW and EWR (Daily)
US Airways to PHL (Daily)
American Airways to JFK and ORD (Daily)
Virgin Atlantic to LAS (Not very often):O


Support your local airport and it will flourish. :ok:

[ExXB]

DHW? I'm guessing you mean IAD (Dulles airport, outside Washington DC)

[Johnny F@rt Pants]

As long as the tickets are bought as a single journey, then you are safe as the airline will re-book you on the next available flight.

Don't worry

Yes they wiil, but as I said, they will almost certainly not pay for your accommodation and other out of pocket expenses:=:= if you miss the inbound flight from PHL to MAN.

In that case would the fare be cheaper than going via London, Amsterdam etc?

Try skyscanner.net for a variety of options and fares:ok:

[ConstantFlyer]

Yes, try the Dublin option sometime when heading over the Pond. The pre-clearance of US immigration means you arrive in the USA as a domestic passenger, and will therefore have more time to make a connection. Although several US airlines fly from Dublin, I'd avoid all of them; Aer Lingus is OK, but will only take you to Boston, Chicago or JFK. From Manchester, I'd take the Virgin direct service.

I hope you enjoy your trip to Las Vegas. I went there once and was quite amazed and astounded by it. People talk about culture shock when travelling in India or China; but Las Vegas was so far removed from reality - even by US standards - that it was like being on another planet. I'm glad I went, but don't think I'll need to repeat the experience. You can eat really cheaply (and plentifully) in the casino restaurants.

[cjhants]

I have connected in Eastern USA many (prob 40/50?) times, and only missed one connecting flight, and that was a couple of weeks after 9/11, and the US hubs were in understandable dissaray.

It is certainly cheaper than going direct, in most cases, and can make a big difference in total cost when travelling with a large family or group of friends.

Inbound, no problems, your bags are checked through to UK, and you only have to travel from one gate to another. Outbound you have to queue at immigration at the US hub, this can take 10 minutes or 90 depending on which hub, amount of staff on duty, amount of international flights arriving at the same time etc. You then collect your bags from the carousel, go through US customs and hand in one form (normally no or little wait). You do not have to go to check in, just drop your bags at a transfer drop off point, normally right outside customs, and then go back through security to the gate for your US domestic flight. When you arrive at Las Vegas, you are a domestic customer, so just collect your bag and go and lose some money!

So, if cost is not an issue, yes, it is better to go direct. But don`t be put off by some of the stories about what can go wrong, in my experience it hardly ever does, and I have saved 10s of thousands of pounds over the years with 6 of us regularly travelling together.

Good luck, Vegas is certainly an interesting place.

[lakerman]

Havedone this route a couple of times, though not to LAS. Last time arrived at PHL 30 minutes early and was through Immigration and Customs, got my hire car(was Fly Drive this time) and on the I 95 before the scheduled arrival time. Found the staff in PHL were very organised when you enter the Immigration Hall and allocate you a line to get in.

As said previously, forget the doomsayers on here, you will be OK subject to normal operating methods and normal weather etc.

[Ifield Lad]

I have been "out of the loop" for a few years but there always used to be a "minimum connecting time". This would vary depending on certain situations such as if it was the same carrier, changing terminals where applicable etc. You will have to clear US customs at the first point of arrival of course.

[malcolm380]

Its well worth considering transferring at IAD if possible, as there are separate immigration desks for transfer passengers in, if memory serves me right, Terminal B. As a regular connector from LHR through IAD, I don't think I've ever spent more than 30 mins from deplaning to rechecking bags post-immigration.

[purplehelmet]

thanks for all reply's plus all the tips and advice guys.
the trip has been booked man-phl. phl-las.
@ johnny f@rt pants we booked via the company you mentioned as they were a good deal cheaper than the others we looked at,so cheers for that i owe you a drink:ok:
once again thanks all.

ph.
viva las vegas:ok:

[Heathrow Harry]

Let us know how it goes!

And read "fear & loathing... " before you go....

tho' of course no-one on here would recommend exactly THAT level of stimulants :eek::eek:

[purplehelmet]

thanks will do...
im sure ive seen the film, very funny if memory serves.

[ex-XL-in-exile]

I did a similar route last year: MAN-PHL-SFO on US Airways and had similar concerns due to a tight connection. What I hadn't bargained on was being stopped and thoroughly baggage-searched by a grumpy official.

Still managed the connection though. Just. I think you'll be okay but, as others have said, if you're really worried why not just go direct?

[purplehelmet]

just returned from our fantastic trip to vegas, heathrow harry asked me to post how we got on so here goes. (still a bit jet lagged so please bear with me).
checked-in at man using the automatic check-in machine which was quick and easy, except for my friend I was travelling with used a different machine so we ended up with seats no where near each other for both flights, there must be a way round this but we didn't get chance to suss it out.
we were booked in to a vip suite a first for me at £18 probably the last.
flight left on time a us airways a330, it wasn't full so we managed to get seats together, uneventful flight but after a couple of hours my bum was numb (not much padding in the seats) the onboard service was ok as was the food. the i.f.e. touch screen was so slow it became annoying.
landed slightly early and cleared immigration etc no problem, as someone mentioned collected bags and dropped them at transfer point.
the onward flight to las was easy to find and we even had time for a couple of beers.
the flight to las was on us airways a320 which was small and cramped compared to the a330, also it was full so we had to sit apart, muggins here ended up with an ailse seat (not great when your trying to sleep).
again flight was on time.
return flight to phl was awful for me, again I ended up with an ailse seat but this time at the back next to the toilets, again no sleep..
shortly after take-off the captain announced we had a slight problem and that the undercarriage heat sensor warning had gone off so we would be slowing down and lowering the undercarriage for 5/10 mins to allow it to cool down, the noise was horrendous.
uneventful flight back to man on the a330.
in conclusion next time id either fly direct or have a lay over at the connection point, its a lot to do in one day and very tiring.
vegas was fantastic and one off the bucket list for me. but what goes on in vegas stays in vegas :).
cheers p.h.

[Dee747]

Purple

As a means of comparison, I'm also just back from Las Vegas last month, but routed there differently. My experiences were -

DUB - ORD Precleared immigration in DUB, which is a godsend. Flight on AA 767-300, almost full, with no seatback IFE, just overhead screens. Crappy interior, with mediocre service. Arrived 30 mins early as a domestic flight into T3.

ORD - LAS My colleague flew on after 2 hour stopover. No problems. Because my overall itinerary was different, I had a separate booking, and I mis-booked my ORD - LAS flight, meaning I had a 9 hour stopover!! Paid to use the AA Admiral's Lounge to pass the time more comfortably - best $50 of the trip. My flight, on an MD-83 was full, but with a window seat I did manage a doze, before arriving into LAS at midnight local time.

Return LAS - ORD 08:25 departure on an MD-82 - almost full again, straightforward with no problems. Arrived 15 mins early. Very mediocre service onboard.

ORD - DUB 767-300 heap of tin and aluminium which looked like it had been trashed inside. One single row of CRT screens down the cabin, above the centre seats, atrocious overhead bins which didn't always stay closed - most noticeably on take off and landing, and were obviously state of the art when the Wright brothers had the idea of leaving home, and mostly uncomfortable seats. As we boarded (we were the first onboard) an engineer was still working on the arm of the aisle seat two rows in front of ours. As the flight progressed the occupants of that seat pair discovered they had no reading lights, and no volume control for their earphones, or indeed any attendant call buttons. They weren't impressed.

Overall - as a means of getting from Ireland to LAS it worked, but I'm not sure I'd choose to fly AA ever again. They had no style, finesse or even the slightest impression they were trying to compete with other carriers on a prime route across the pond. The aircraft were like well used Transit vans nearing an MOT. Clearing US Immigration in DUB is something I've done several times, and can't be beaten - especially now that they're located in the very spacious and pleasant lower floor in DUB's new T2,

[Heathrow Harry]

Thanks for the updates guys - confirms something I think a lot of us have norticed traveling domestic in the US - the planes are in awful internal condition and when they get full they are a grim experience

Always go direct if possible!!

[Tyke]

Next time, try Thomas Cook Airlines! Now selling scheduled seat tickets MAN LAS in partnership with Condor. The service will be better and the A330s have decent seat pitch. Not sure about the IFE though.

[jackieofalltrades]

I flew AA once to Vegas via KORD. Never again. I liked Chicago, but AA has been the worst transatlantic flight I've ever had the mis-fortune of taking. Never again!

[smith]

Just back from Miami, flew through Philly from Man US Airways. 1.5 hour layover and had plenty of time. Luggage transfer is simple, pick it off carousel and place on the transfer belt. I think all US Airways flights at PHL are the same terminal but maybe a long walk. I would fly them again although the trolley dollies were older than George Burns.

[rowly6339]

I do this same trip every year, same airline same route and i have never missed a connection, been close a few times but never missed it. This year i am looking at Condor as it is direct and not overpriced like Virgin.