Hi Alan I did it in LHR in 80 minutes one morning (landing at 6:45 AM) - it required sprinting at full speed in terminal 4 to the gate for almost 20 minutes and I got onto the plane at the last minute - there were 3 other people sprinting with me - the door closed before I even got to my seat! Since then, I try for 2-3 hours to change over. Jacqueline -----Original Message----- From: Alan Greenberg [mailto:alan.greenberg@mcgill.ca] Sent: Tuesday, June 05, 2007 5:03 PM To: NA Discuss Subject: Re: [NA-Discuss] Travel arrangements to SJ I checked several airline scheduling tools, and they all show this as a valid connection. I suspect a database somewhere is loaded with the wrong value for US-bound connections in Ottawa. HOWEVER, there are plenty of connections that are technically legal but physically impossible (arriving at LHR at 7 am and changing terminals in theory takes 75 minutes - only those with much faith and stamina would accept such a booking) - no travel agent should argue about wanting more time in any given situation - aside from situations like this, they know nothing about your age or physical condition. Alan At 05/06/2007 01:18 PM, Thompson, Darlene wrote:
To back up Evan's comments below - I was the one that they allowed 35 minutes as a switch over in Ottawa.
The reason *why* was that I was coming in on an airline that was unaffiliated to the two that Amex uses (sorry, the Canadian biggies just don't come to where I live). The Amex sales rep told me that "the airlines wouldn't have allowed that timing if it weren't possible", so it had to be right. I had to stand pretty much toe to toe with her and insist that she double check. She *finally* came back and said, "Oh, will you have luggage with you?" Grrrrrr...
I definitely second the thought that you should double check what Amex has you doing.
D
Darlene A. Thompson Community Access Program Administrator Nunavut Department of Education/N-CAP c/o P.O. Box 1000, Station 910 Iqaluit, NU X0A 0H0 Phone: (867) 975-6531 Fax: (867) 979-8870 dthompson@gov.nu.ca
-----Original Message----- From: na-discuss-bounces@atlarge-lists.icann.org [mailto:na-discuss-bounces@atlarge-lists.icann.org] On Behalf Of Evan Leibovitch Sent: Tuesday, June 05, 2007 1:05 PM To: 'NA Discuss' Subject: [NA-Discuss] Travel arrangements to SJ
For the benefit of ICANN staff and NARALO travelers to San Juan (especially those going from Canada):
My initial impression of the American Express travel service, contracted to handle the arrangements for participants in the San Juan meeting is -- shall we say -- less than stellar.
I say this as a note of caution, especially for other Canadians, to check their itineraries carefully.
Particularly for an international operation, the Amex agents handling ICANN seem strangely clueless regarding Canada/US travel, notably the fact that most Canadians clear US customs _before_ boarding the plane at the Canadian airport. This is great for Canadians traveling to airports without customs facilities (ie Laguardia, Midway) but it means that connection times must be significantly adjusted. If transferring from a Canadian domestic flight to one headed for the US, you need to reclaim your bags, check in again, clear US customs and immigration (and there's usually a queue), re-check your bags and head to the US-bound flight's gate (which in Vancouver and Toronto can be quite a trek).
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_border_preclearance#Canada)
Imagine my surprise to hear from one other San Juan-bound traveler who was given ** 35 minutes ** by Amex to accomplish such a transfer. That person would have most certainly missed the US-bound flight, and I believe that appropriate changes have been made.
Of course, if your flight originates in a city with pre-clearance, you need to get the airport sooner than you would for a domestic or other international flight. Even here, on my own itinerary, Amex proved themselves less able to book a decent flight than I could have done going online myself.
For my own flights to and from San Juan, the Amex agent booked me in seats adjacent to the lavatory on planes that were far from full. Thankfully I was able to go online to the airline's site and change my seat assignments.
(FYI, if you also care about where you sit -- and where the good and bad seats are in each aircraft -- I highly recommend http://www.seatguru.com/ )
Anyway, just be forewarned -- and check your booking. One would think that a company like Amex would actually care about their traveler's comfort.
- Evan
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