SFO Schedule Change?

I'm booked on VS019, 25th June and my original ticket booked through ebookers was for an 11am departure. However, I recently got an email telling me its now leaving at 11.30am instead.
The VS website however still shows 11am as the departure time.
I'm assuming ebookers i right here and VS is just late updating. Can anyone confirm?

Kev.

I'm flying VS19 7th August and the website has asked me to acknowledge the later time 11:30.

Also noticed VS43 moved back 40 mins

[Darren Wheeler]

Same here for 14th May.

Edit- Just did a dummy booking and it changes on March 29th, when the current 09:30 winter departure ends. BA depart at 11:35 and the CDG AF at 10:30 local time. Not sure if they have been changed too, but immigration could be busy.

[RichardMannion]

Thank goodness for that - the 9:30am departure I did in January was far too early, talk about cut into Clubhouse time.

[mitchja]

Looks like it's a seasonal change and goes back again to the earlier time in the winter, as my VS19 flight on Dec 30th still has a departure time of 09:30.

Regards

quote:Originally posted by Darren Wheeler
Same here for 14th May.

Edit- Just did a dummy booking and it changes on March 29th, when the current 09:30 winter departure ends. BA depart at 11:35 and the CDG AF at 10:30 local time. Not sure if they have been changed too, but immigration could be busy.


Ouch. Don't like the sound of that! [n]

..But extra half hour in the Clubhouse [y]

[honey lamb]

Mine's changed as well in July. Pity, as the last time I was through SFO Immigration was deserted thanks to the later departure of the BA flight. Now it looks like it will be the neck and neck race again [:(]

Funnily enough, i had a (miserable) flight back with United from LHR yesterday and at SFO noticed several people with lots of VS stickers on their passports, and priority *A tags on their suitcases. United was full. I realize that with all the schedule changes VS needs to re-adjust its calendar, but a 9:30am departure makes connections very challenging for most but the shorter UK flights. I'm having to get creative and stop in Boston on my way back to get back CH time and make connections more easily!

Hi all, new member and first time poster here.

Just seen this time change and have checked my tickets as am scheduled to fly on VS019 on 26th June, originally booked for the 11am and 13:50 arrival. I have an onward flight booked at 15:40, so now only have an 1h 20min in between flights.

Never done a connection through SFO before, should I be ok to make the next flight form people's experience??

[honey lamb]

quote:Originally posted by carter
Hi all, new member and first time poster here.

Just seen this time change and have checked my tickets as am scheduled to fly on VS019 on 26th June, originally booked for the 11am and 13:50 arrival. I have an onward flight booked at 15:40, so now only have an 1h 20min in between flights.

Never done a connection through SFO before, should I be ok to make the next flight form people's experience??

Welcome to V-flyer

What flight are you on? It will help in determining which terminal you will use although I am wondering if 1h 20min will be a legal connection.

On one occasion I connected to UA. The move from the International terminal to that terminal was very easy but what held us up was the long lines at Immigration as we had landed just behind the BA flight.

Woo-hoo SFO back to a departure at a normal time of the day [^]

[Darren Wheeler]

One for the not-morning-persons

[Scrooge]

Carter, did you book your connection through VS as well ?

I am booked as UC on VS019 leaving LHR originally at 11:00am, arriving 13:50 my onward flight is VS2471 to LAS operated by US Airways leaving at 15:40.

I planned to make the booking via the VS website but despite offering this flight combination as the cheapest first option, when it came to booking it kept redirecting to the direct flight from LGW to LAS, meaning old 747, no clubhouse, twice the price, etc etc...

I called VS directly and they said the internal flight was operated by Virgin America and had to speak to them to book the internal flights separately. Whilst holding I keyed all the details into Expedia and it gave the above options for the same price so booked it then all as one package and meant not dealing with 2 separate bookings

Subsequently the outbound flight from LHR is now 30min later and my timings are much tighter.

Appreciate all advice and thoughts.

I have just found this thread after posting about the same problem on a different forum.

We are also booked on the VS019 on 26th September from LHR to SFO with the same connecting flight to LAS as Carter. Luckily the connection was booked with Virgin as a code share.

UC Reservations tell me that the legal minimum connection time is 1 hour 30 minutes and our connection time is now down to 1 hour 20 minutes. Having talked to UC Reservations I am now a bit confused about the connection procedure. I had thought that on arrival at SFO we would have to collect our luggage and clear immigration and customs and then re-check in our luggage as SFO will be our point of entry into the US. Virgin have told me that this is no longer the case and that as we are on a code share our luggage can be checked all the way through to LAS and we clear customs and immigration at LAS rather than SFO. Can anybody clarify this for me because it does make a tremendous difference as to whether the short connection time is possible or not. Also I don't want to break any immigration rules!!

lilyjosh at least you know i'll be a guinea pig for your trip in september! since we have VS codes on the connection a friend has said they would be required to hold that flight if we had a slight delay.

But i'm sure others on here will be in the know

quote:Originally posted by lilyjosh0
Having talked to UC Reservations I am now a bit confused about the connection procedure. I had thought that on arrival at SFO we would have to collect our luggage and clear immigration and customs and then re-check in our luggage as SFO will be our point of entry into the US.


You are correct, it is a requirement for all pax to clear customs and immigration, including collecting their luggage, at the first place they land in the US (the 'Port of Entry').

There's the odd exception, but your case isn't one of them.

quote:
Virgin have told me that this is no longer the case and that as we are on a code share our luggage can be checked all the way through to LAS and we clear customs and immigration at LAS rather than SFO. Can anybody clarify this for me because it does make a tremendous difference as to whether the short connection time is possible or not. Also I don't want to break any immigration rules!!


What the Virgin has person has told you is misguided.

Despite being on a code-share, you having boarding cards for both flights, and your bags being tagged all the way to LAS at London, you will still have to pass through immigration at SFO, collect your checked luggage, pass through US Customs, and then drop your bags off back into the baggage system.

This is how International to Domestic transit works in the US.

Now, if you're transiting Domestic to International, on a single itinerary, that's not a problem. You through check your bag from your origin, and that's it. You don't see it again until you're in the UK (assuming the airline doesn't separate it from you due to mishandling).

Mike

quote:Originally posted by carter
lilyjosh at least you know i'll be a guinea pig for your trip in september! since we have VS codes on the connection a friend has said they would be required to hold that flight if we had a slight delay.

But i'm sure others on here will be in the know


I doubt they will be 'required' to hold your flight. That would delay the other people already on board who may also have connecting flights at the far end.

If there isn't a later flight same day, there's a chance they'll hang onto the flight, especially if the delay is only 20 minutes or so, but the normal thing is to reprotect you on a later flight when you are likely to mis-connect, and you arrive at your destination later.

Mike

Mike,

Thanks very much for the info. I even rang UC Reservations for a second time to double check and got the same story ie. no need to worry about immigration/customs/baggage until LAS. Pretty poor really that they should be giving customers totally incorrect information. Anyway at least I know what I'm doing now.

Carter - good luck! If you remember when you get back it would be great if you could post an update.

[honey lamb]

Although LAS does have immigration and customs services, the fact that you will be arriving on a domestic flight may well mean that your flight will arrive in a different area/terminal than those services. In addition there is no way you can be identified as an international traveller and thus accorded the necessary services.

With regard to onward travel, I have travelled on a through ticket, albeit not a codeshare. The VS flight was delayed leaving LHR and when I arrived I found that I had been re-protected on a later flight. I was checked in to my original flight at my request (which I caught by the skin of my teeth!) but told that I was still booked on the later flight. That was the flight my bags came on!!

Spoke to UC customer services overnight. They confirmed baggage would be cleared all the way through to LAS, clearly don't have the correct info.

Said the minimum connection time advised at SFO is 1h 45min and possible to do in 1h 30min.... I have 1h 20min between flights. Offered to re-book my connection to the later flight that day. But since flying UC he said with the priority clearance i might make my original flight, plus am thinking if I smiled nicely at immigration I might make it through, more to jump a queue than to Homeland Security I know no point bothering there! Otherwise will be re-scheduled on to the later flight that day.

Will let you all know how it goes

[preiffer]

Ah, technicality...

Your bags will be CHECKED all the way to Vegas (the bag tag will read SFO on one line, and LAS on the next) - meaning you just dump it back on the belt in SFO without having to get it re-checked in.

BUT you still have to collect it and clear customs at your first port of entry.

Same thread going on here over at FT

[honey lamb]

Ask the FSM to arrange assistance in getting through Immigration. While you should be OK if Immigration is quiet ( which it was the last couple of times I went through) it could be chaotic if the BA and/or AF flights arrive just before yours. With assistance the ground staff will help you by-pass the queues

u know when one thing goes wrong, there's always more to come....

I logged on to the Virgin site and found my connecting flight to LAS from SFO was no longer showing on my itinerary. I call Virgin and they say, dont worry its because its gone below the minimum connection time, but you're still booked on it.

I then log on to Expedia where i made my booking orginal booking. There's an urgent message window, your flight status has changed. I expected this to be the time change for VS019, but no...

The connecting flight at 15:40 from SFO to LAS is cancelled so now been forced to rebook on the 18:30, altho they were trying to book me onto a 13:30 (ie before i land from LHR!) at least wont have a connection issue now.

I think this is poor from both VS and Expedia, neither has made contact with me. Also goes to show planning and booking ahead isn't always ideal as schedules can and do change, just fortunate there is a later flight that day.

Do things like this happen often if you book months in advance??

[Nottingham Nick]

quote:Originally posted by carter
Do things like this happen often if you book months in advance??


It has happened in the past - but not very often. The aftermath of the WTC attacks being a case in point.

There are absolutely no guarantees that it won't happen a lot more in the future though. The airline industry is one of many that is in a massive state of uncertainty at the moment.
The economic downturn has hit both business and leisure travel. It could be that we have sen the worst... but then again, who knows? [?]

Nick