Denver Travel Forum

I've booked myself a trip to alaska in September. I'll be flying from NY La Guadia via Denver to Anchorage.

I had a 1 hour 10 mins stopover in Denver with United but now they have gone and changed the flight time of the first flight. now I only get a 35 min stop over.

Its not clear if I have to change planes although there are 2 different flight numbers.

The denver- anchorage plane is the last one of the day so if I missed it I'm stuck.

I bought a non refundable ticket but as they changed it do you think I could get my money back?

I can't believe they would advertise a 35 min layover and get away with it

Anyone know otherwise??

Denver isn't a huge airport like O'Hare, or DFW. your luggage may actually be a bigger problem than your connection. You might wish to have a small carry-on that will sustain you for a few days, just in case. Gary

I can't afford to lose my luggage as I'm joining a tour in Alaska - it will never catch up with me!

Do you think I could get a refund from United as they changed the schedule

I've pretty much given up on flying personally. Your $ 129 fare ends up being $ 200 after they add on all the fees, taxes, and surcharges. If you booked in advance, many times refunds are available. That isn't always the case though. I would contact the airline and see if they would let you take an earlier flight. One of the few advantages of being 53 is that I was able to fly when it was fun & you weren't charged for the cabin air. Gary

In the past when I've had a connecting flight and the first plane left late - I had 10 minutes to run to the next plane (and made it!). You can communicate with your airline steward as to your dilema and they can notify your connecting flight gate attendant that you need to board that plane. They can find out which gate you will need to board at. Also, the airline steward can ask everyone to remain seated while you get off the plane first to make your connection. They try to accomodate these situations (for the most part).

Print out a copy of the Denver airport gates and keep that with you.
Good luck!

United will reroute you via Chicago or San Francisco if you ask. They can also put you on an earlier flight to Denver. This is an airlines preferred way over a refund.
Ask them to do this under Rule 240, 'Schedule Change Re-Booking'

Not sure about getting a refund, but under the circumstances you should be able to ask for an earlier flight out of NY. If they insist that you stay in the same flight because it "should" be ok, for what it's worth I would ask to talk to a supervisor or get the name of the person, and make it very clear you cannot afford to stay stranded in Denver. Ahhhg! this would annot me too.

You would have to call the website you booked the flight from to find out if you can get a refund. Many discount websites have an absolute no refund policy. However, I wouldn't be worried, especially if the airline will be the same. All you have to do is look on the departure screens and find which gate your flight is at and finished. The airport is easy to get around, so as long as your plane isn't late, 35 minutes will be enough time.

35 minutes is tight if you have to get from one end of the terminal to the other. The United terminal in Denver is pretty long, so you and you luggage may have to hustle to make the connection. Also, LaGuardia has a lot of delays, so you can't be guaranteed that you will get there on time. For peace of mind, I would try to move your NY-Denver flight up to an earlier time if you can do it without a massive cost penalty.

My point exactly mikelissana. But since they made the changes, there should not be a charge - she had booked a flight with a reasonable layover, so she has a very good point to be moved without a charge.

Last time I had connect and run thru long mile high DEN the 4 of us got to the United gate 7 minutes b4 departure and the gate agent said "Sorry, too late". These days I wonder if your bags don't make it do the airlines give your your $25 bag fee back!!
Gary

if you on an united flight for all connections they cannot charge you if you miss your flight. they will probably hold up the anchorage flight so new york passengers can make it. if you do miss it they have to put you on the next avialable flight.

the next flight is the following day (not sure if you noticed she mentioned she was on the last flight) - so having it changed would be optimal, and there should not be a charge because this change is caused by their change.

Well good news,
I called United. They said that it was a valid layover time. I said I was not happy with it and they changed me to the flight before without any hassle or charges.
Now I have a 4 hour layover in Denver - lovely! But better than missing the plane!
Thanks to everyone for their help

Awesome! When I have something at stake, like an international flight, if I have a choice between 1.5 hours and 5 hours - I always take the 5. I have seen many people panic and miss connections. I'm sure you have many choices of what to do with that time -if nothing else a good book.

I sometimes break a long layover with a long meal at a nicer restaurant.

Enjoy Anchorage - it's on my list. And enjoy your stress-free flight!

Good news

That's good to hear, make sure when you get to Anchorage you get out of the city. There isn't anything there for a tourist except for expensive hotels.

Enjoy your trip ! That's a very beatiful part of the world, and much under appreciated. Gary

thanks everyone,

yes I'm getting out of the city, I'm on a 2 week tour going up to Denali, Seward,Valdez and Wrangell St Elias NP. Should be good!

~I can see some tip writing coming on :oD

Sounds great lol. The only tip I have is see if the Silvers are still running, they put up a tough fight!