Charlotte.Miami.Atlanta Which is Best Airport for Connection on AA to London?

I’ve transited on AA through Charlotte to Rome twice and once through Miami to Milan. Charlotte is a smaller airport and therefore easier to navigate. The one time I transited through Miami, it was fine. However, both times I had plenty of time to make my connecting flight. I strongly recommend at least 2 hours and preferably 2.5 or 3 hours. I would be very uncomfortable with only 1.25 hours.

I'm sort of in the 2 hour minimum layover camp. You will probably make the 1 hour change. If you go that way, choose the city that has a second flight an hour or 2 later so you will still get there in one day.

I would go back to Google Flights and check the options again.

My choice would be Charlotte, Atlanta, and then as the last resort of Miami.

My friend who works for American describes Miami as the United States version of a Third World Airport

They start boarding International Flights ONE HOUR before take off - so basically this flight will be almost boarding when you land - I think it's too tight. We go for a minimum of 2 hrs. That said, Atlanta is HUGE and you will have to get on a train/subway to get to your next terminal. I'd go with Charlotte. But I'd also see if you can find a longer layover. If your first plane is late taking off and you're late arriving = you and your luggage most likely won't make it on the flight.

I would make the connection in Atlanta. Nashville if they give you the option would be even better. They have one non-stop into Heathrow.

If DFW is your originating airport, I would actually spend the extra money for the nonstop from DFW.

First, you will arrive less tired and stressed. Second, if you fly very much, you know that DFW is notorious for weather problems. All it would take is a 30 minute departure delay and you are in trouble with your international connection. Yes, they would put you on the next available flight, but what if it’s not till the following day? I was on a DFW to Auckland flight just Sunday and high winds were causing ground stops both in and out. I had 5 hours so I was ok, but lots of people missed that flight. This week it will be snow and ice. In the spring it’s thunderstorms and tornados. Most of the time you will be fine, but why ask for trouble at the beginning of your trip if you don’t have to? And third, if there were some compelling reason you have to choose a domestic connection, I would not choose Miami. Opinions are split between CLT and ATL in the frequent flyer groups I am in.

I will also tell you that AA sold me a 1 hr 15 min connection (at Heathrow) last fall on my way to Vilnius and at some point my connection simply disappeared. “Your flight has changed.” When I called to ask, they told me it wasn’t long enough. Well, then why did you sell it to me on your website?

The reason the price is cheaper is because it is less desirable. For obvious reasons. If you have plenty of time and losing the first day of your trip wouldn’t cause havoc, then go for it. Today is my built-in “throw-away” day on this trip. I nearly needed it, too.

Looking at google flights with random dates, I see numerous nonstop flights from Dallas Fort Worth to London. Unless the flights you’re looking at are really a huge savings, I would go with the nonstop. It would eliminate the stress you seem to be experiencing with the short layovers. Personally, I don’t care for American because of the number of times they’ve changed the schedules for flights we’ve booked, so yes, I would be nervous, too.

We are traveling in March, and are looking at economy plus fare with the wider, more comfortable seats. For some reason those seats are more than 2 times the price on the direct flight, and there are only middle seats with extra leg room in economy.... nothing for 2 together. Just hoping for more comfort !

I always wonder if when people come in and tell you that they were nonstops and you should take those instead if they plan to send a check for the difference in the price

The original poster clearly knows those nonstops exist, and has already indicated why they are looking at the other options.

I live in Atlanta. My next flight to Europe goes through Boston. There are lots of nonstop out of Atlanta. And if you would like to send me a thousand dollars, I’ll be glad to take them. the nonstop flight out of Atlanta is $1800, and the flight out of Boston is $800. I think it would be better for us to assume that the poster has actually considered the nonstop based on their message.

Now back to the original question. If the airline is giving you this, it’s a legal connection and you can assume you can make it. No you probably don’t have time to go to Chick-fil-A in Atlanta and get food and Stop & Shop and do 10 other things, but if you go directly from your landing gate to your departure gate, you won’t have any problem. When I used to have to commute Atlanta, I routinely landed at one end of the airport and had to go to the other in 45 minutes and I never missed the flight. When they start boarding is not your relevant concern. It’s when they stop boarding.

Oh, and if your flight from Dallas to wherever is delayed, and you have checked luggage, no your luggage will automatically not miss the plane. My luggage has made a lot of fights that I actually missed. Luggage often has a much shorter route to the plane than humans. And yes, an hour and a half doesn’t allow for a significant delay, , but the truth is significant delays as we see from the woman screaming about Delta in here are often significantly longer than two hours.

The other thing to keep in mind is that at least out of Atlanta you’re actually on British Airways and you have to pay for seats or wait until 24 hours in advance to pick a seat so add that into your calculation. A lot of American Airlines flights to London are actually on British airlines. This is one of the reasons I generally wind up not flying American and British Airways when I add the math for the seat assignment any savings just disappear. I looked at them, for example, for my flight that I talked about from Boston to London, they were about $100 cheaper and after I picked the seat, it was $50 more expensive so I went with virgin where I could pick the seats for free

Exactly what dates are you looking to travel? I presume you are driving from Lubbock to Dallas. FYI, old West Texas guy here. It appears that AA is using a 787 for the DFW - LHR route. What don't you look at the nonstop flight and book two aisle seats in economy across from each other and go that route.

Just in case you are shopping elsewhere than the airline website. I assume that you went to AA and BA (if those are the choices you are looking at) official website and went through the booking process to the seat selection page and actually viewed the seat map of what is available and the costs if any for seats. If you have, then those are your choices other than a direct flight or doing standard economy. One other thing to look at is a standard economy exit row for the legroom but the seat will cost more, but probably less than Plus.

Apart from the obvious tradeoffs in cost vs scheduling to take a non-stop vs a
connection, a couple of additional factors I can think of might be:

• how experienced are you at navigating airports? If you require assistance, that is definitely a consideration, as you might be delayed getting off the 1st plane to try and make your connection.
• you don't say when you are planning to travel, but if you have time, start monitoring the prices now and be ready to book if a sale comes along. If you can end up with a nonstop DFW-LHR in the same price range as a connection is now, it might be worth booking it.
• look at the connection options from each airport. There are most likely multiple flights to London from ATL and MIA. Maybe not from Charlotte. If you miss the connection, is there another flight that night that gets you there, or are you faced with spending the first 24 hours of your trip in a US airport hotel?
• note that if you fly on British Airways metal, they are subject to UK261 rules for compensation if you are delayed for reasons within the airline's control. Since AA is not based in UK/EU, they are not subject to those rules.

But overall, if the 1st flight is on time and you are not delayed for reasons specific to you, 1:15
should be doable.

The above is really not a fair criticism. The poster also stated she “was nervous about the layovers.” In my opinion having flown American several times with connections and changes made after booking, I would be nervous, also and offered alternate suggestions as I believe others did, too.

I think it would be better for us to assume that the poster has actually considered the nonstop based on their message.

And I think this is a faulty assumption for a first time poster.

Although I answered the question asked, I DO fly into and out of DFW regularly. I wouldn’t presume to have the same sort of knowledge about Atlanta. Sometimes we don’t know what we don’t know. Regularly on the forum people are offered information they didn’t have previously and it has affected their choices.

I decided to book the premium economy seats from LBB-DFW-LHR. We do have some flexibility of a day before we board our cruise, so if it goes awry, we will still make it. I like the idea of more options out of Atlanta if something does get delayed. This fare also gets us prime seats at the front of the plane on connecting flights, so we can get out quickly and on our way! I really appreciate everyone's input! I'll let you know how it goes.

Blockquote And I think this is a faulty assumption for a first time poster

WOW I think the assumption that just because someone is new here they are not knowledgeable is a faulty judgement.

you don't say when you are planning to travel

In fact, they did:

We are traveling in March

I had a short connection time in Charlotte and made it. It was only a tight connection because my flight had been delayed. I hate Miami and haven’t gone thru atlanta in decades so I can’t comment on it.

how experienced are you at navigating airports?

Seriously? How experienced do you need to be to read signs, follow direction arrows and walk?

As for TexasTravelMom, TTM answered the question and discussed options. It is the sort of response that best serves many OP's and the forum.

For others asking this question, unless things have changed, it is much easier to get to another terminal in ATL than in Charlotte. The Plane Train in ATL is the best connector of any airport I've traversed.

I also live in metro Atlanta and have flown from/to ATL innumerable times. The Plane Train is great, but it’s still a huge airport. If you have to connect I think Charlotte would be the best of the three options listed in the original post.

The connection time is just about 1 hr to 1hr 15 min

I think these are reasonable times for domestic-to-international connections. Your bags go through and you walk. No extra check-ins or security.