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Too Close a Connection
The Travel Troubleshooter · July 26, 2002

Q: I will be flying from Buffalo, NY, to London via Chicago for a three-week graduate study course at Oxford. But I have concerns about the close departure times between flights, and wanted to check with you.

My travel agent booked me on an American Airlines flight leaving Buffalo at 6:36 p.m., arriving in Chicago at 7:18 p.m. Then I leave Chicago at 8:10 p.m. on my international portion on American Airlines.

Will this be enough time to transfer planes and have my luggage transferred as well? Also, if something does go wrong, and I am either denied boarding for arriving so close or my luggage does not make it on, what should I do? Any advice you could offer would be greatly appreciated.

-- Diane Weston

A: You agent is cutting it close, but I think you'll make it. So will your luggage.

I checked with Mindy Milliron, an agent with Carroll Travel in Washington, and she agreed. "Ms. Weston's connection times are what are considered 'legal' and appear as such in Sabre," she told me. (Sabre is one of the computer reservations systems used by travel agents, and it lists a lot of flight information that isn't available to the average traveler.)

Your flight from Buffalo is scheduled to arrive at Terminal 3 at Chicago's O'Hare airport. Your flight to London's Heathrow airport leaves from the same terminal. In other words, the transit time between gates will probably be minimal. "I would not hesitate to book her this way," added Milliron. "Although we know that one can never count on unforeseen mishaps."

Just in case you miss your connection, there's another flight for London later in the day that you should be able to catch. Hopefully you won't have to.

If there's any fault to be found with your agent, it's your choice of flights. John Frenaye, who owns a Carlson Wagonlit Travel affiliate in Annapolis, Md., says there might have been a better routing. "I would think that there would be more options from the New York airports," he says. "From a personal point of view, I have flown on a few morning flights to the United Kingdom, and they are very nice. You arrive in the mid-evening and they tend to reduce jet lag considerably."

Regarding your luggage, I think there is some cause for concern. American Airlines had 26,425 reports of mishandled baggage - that's a general term for "lost, damaged, delayed or pilfered baggage" - in May, which is the latest month reported by the Department of Transportation. That's close to four bags lost per 1,000 passengers. Only one airline, American Eagle, had a worse record.

Still, with new security measures being introduced this summer and fall, it's impossible to predict how American Airlines, or any other carrier, will do with its luggage.

I would keep your travel agent's number handy. Make sure that you also get an after-hours number to call for help. If your retailer belongs to a chain of agencies or a consortium, then it will have a 24-hour number to call in case you run into trouble on your trip. Oftentimes, they can help you fix any scheduling problem faster than an airline's 800-number or even by standing in line at the airport terminal.

Also, make sure that your luggage is clearly marked - just in case it doesn't go to London with you on your intended flight.

Christopher Elliott is a travel commentator based in Key Largo, Fla. All e-mailed questions may be edited, condensed or republished at the site's discretion. The Travel Troubleshooter appears weekly on this site.