Charlotte airport

[Jinn]

Question for someone who flies out of or through CLT. AA has changed my flight. FLT from BNA lands at 3:20. FLT to FRA departs at 4:40. Can switch to an earlier which lands at 1:43. Both in FC. The earlier flight is on an E75 while the later is on a 319. Is an hour and 20 min. enough time? Thanks, Julia

[fbgd]

Yes. I've made 40min connections between concourse with ease at CLT. That is domestic to domestic but domestic to international isn't much different with the exception that boarding will start earlier because it's a larger aircraft.

 

The longhaul international flights use Concourse D.

[Bowie MeMe]

I have had some rather long walks in Charlotte. If gates are close, perhaps OK but you won't know that. I would much rather have a longer period of time to make the connection and for my luggage to make the connection. Just me but if I have a tight schedule -- all goes to pot! (or so it seems) and when I have plenty or more time -- well I just read more of my book.

[waterbug123]

Assuming your first flight is on time, an hour and 20 minutes is fine. That said, I always like to allow more time when I going to be connecting to an international flight, because options if you miss that flight due to a delay are usually much more limited than if you're just connecting to another domestic flight.

 

Ex. If a flight to CLT is delayed and you miss a connection to FLL, then depending on the time of day there are probably at least 3 or 4 later flights to FLL that you can hopefully catch. But if you're going to FRA that is probably the only CLT-FRA flight scheduled that day. If your inbound is delayed for whatever reason and you miss the onward flight, you'd either have to wait til the next day or hope they can possibly re-route you from CLT to say, Philly or DC, and then on to FRA from there, but that's not a given, especially since you have purchased first class and presumably would only want to be re-routed if the available seat on that flight was also in first.

[fbgd]

and presumably would only want to be re-routed if the available seat on that flight was also in first.

 

Which would be pretty difficult since despite what the OP indicated there is no F on flights between CLT and FRA.

[Jinn]

Thank you for your replies. Helpful. The flights between BNA and CLT are in FC. Between CLT and FRA is BC on a 332. We then take a train to Amsterdam to join the cruise. Julia

[ducklite]

Thank you for your replies. Helpful. The flights between BNA and CLT are in FC. Between CLT and FRA is BC on a 332. We then take a train to Amsterdam to join the cruise. Julia

 

If this is on AA and they are using an old US plane and you are flying in what used to be Envoy, while not the equivalent to first on Emirates or even BA, it's still a very nice product that will allow you to get a good rest before you arrive in FRA. One tip--order your meal served "express." You will miss one of the courses, but it will allow you to eat and then go to sleep and get an extra hour plus that would be otherwise spent waiting for them to serve course by course.

[TMLAalum]

IDK what time of year you are flying, but we changed to an earlier CLE-CLT Flight in January just for the comfort factor in case there were weather related delays that could compromise our flight to LAX and on to Brisbane. Even in summer you could encounter t-storms that might delay your flight from BNA. Plus with international 1st/business tix you are permitted to use the Admiral's Club Lounge in CLT, where you can relax if you go with the longer layover.

 

We used AA miles and were able to change to an earlier flight without penalty.

Edited April 24, 2016 by TMLAalum

[Globaliser]

One tip--order your meal served "express." You will miss one of the courses, but it will allow you to eat and then go to sleep and get an extra hour plus that would be otherwise spent waiting for them to serve course by course.

Or, if sleep is important and is a large factor in your decision to fly business class, eat at the airport before you board (perhaps in the lounge, if there is one), and then go to sleep as soon as possible after you get on board and ignore the entire meal service! It's an approach I often adopt - I remind myself that the airline spent millions on providing the seat for my use, but only a handful of dollars buying the meal.

[erby2283]

Charlotte is also widely known for not having a gate available for the planes after the land. Almost every time I fly, I have to wait for a gate. I'd play it safe and allow the most time if you can.

[fbgd]

Charlotte is also widely known for not having a gate available for the planes after the land. Almost every time I fly, I have to wait for a gate. I'd play it safe and allow the most time if you can.

 

I see you're CLT based but this certainly doesn't ring true with my experiences, not really different from any other airport IMO. I've connected through CLT maybe 30 times in the last year and can't recall anything unusual in terms of waiting on gates. All flights on AA.

[Jinn]

I changed our flight so we had plenty of time going over the pond to connect in CLT, However, on our return when we had more than an hour and thirty minutes the luggage was slow to be offloaded from London. Even tho' ours had priority tags, it was among the last. We had to reclaim, then recheck. Missed our flight to BNA and had to take a later flight. I guess I should have scheduled more time on that end also.

[ducklite]

Priority baggage tends to mean nothing on an inbound international flight. On domestic and outbound international they load them into a cage together and it is the last one on the plane so first off. In other countries, it pretty well all goes into cages together based in when it is received after check in. Don't ever count on early luggage arrival on international flights. It's one of many reasons we seldom check bags, unless we are bringing wine, in which case we use a bag purpose built and FAA approved for transporting wine.

[ducklite]

Charlotte is also widely known for not having a gate available for the planes after the land. Almost every time I fly, I have to wait for a gate. I'd play it safe and allow the most time if you can.

 

 

 

Huh? I have flown in and out of CLT at least 50 times in the past five years, and have only had that experience a couple of times. It isn't anything you need to worry about.

[Globaliser]

Priority baggage tends to mean nothing on an inbound international flight. On domestic and outbound international they load them into a cage together and it is the last one on the plane so first off. In other countries, it pretty well all goes into cages together based in when it is received after check in. Don't ever count on early luggage arrival on international flights.

Are you here specifically referring to AA's practices?

[waterbug123]

we seldom check bags, unless we are bringing wine, in which case we use a bag purpose built and FAA approved for transporting wine.

 

Note: We took a Wine Check bag to Europe earlier this summer as we were visiting several wineries. When we checked our bags for the return flight home at FCO, they sent us to a separate area to check the Wine Check as it was deemed "oversized." We waited nearly 45 minutes for the ONE person who apparently had the authority to ok the bag. It's never been a problem state-side- we've taken the bag through many airports and never had an issue getting it checked quickly, but if we ever take it to Europe again we will allow extra time in case our experience in Rome is repeated.