Necessary transfer time at Newark when flying in from Europe for a cruise out of LA?

Please forgive me for posting a question that is only indirectly about cruising regarding necessary transfer times at Newark airport. I have tried to search the web for answers, but not really found the answers yet, and since the CruiseCritic forum is usually a goldmine of knowledge from its members, I am crossing my fingers…. I was advised that this might be the best board on CC for my questions. :)

We are going on a cruise out of Los Angeles in the beginning of October, and are flying in from Europe a couple of days earlier. We do not have a direct flight from Europe to Los Angeles, but we do have a connecting ticket all the way, with two different flight carriers (Scandinavian Airlines from Oslo to Newark, and then United Airlines from Newark to LAX). That there are two different flight carriers shouldn’t be a problem, since they are “partner” airlines with co-shared flight numbers. And, as I said, the ticket is purchased as one ticket for the whole trip and not separate for the different parts of the trip.

What I am worried about, is that we have exactly 2 hours in Newark to do the transfer. We will be arriving at Terminal B, and then the departure to LAX is with United Airlines at Terminal C. And since it is our first stop in the US after coming from Europe, we have to pick up our luggage, go through customs, drop-off the luggage again (it will be checked in all the way to Los Angeles already in Europe). Then we have to take the Skytrain from Terminal B to Terminal C, and be at the gate in time for our flight to LAX. We will be arriving Newark on a Wednesday at 1.15 PM, and our connecting flight is at 3.15 PM.

My question is: Would two hours be enough time to do the transfer??? My travel agent told me that the transfer time is within international rules, so we shouldn’t worry. But I do… I have done several cruises out of port in the US before, and also then had to transfer to a domestic flight at Newark airport, but we then had several hours to do it so I never paid attention to how much time we actually needed for picking up our luggage, get through customs, drop-off luggage, and take the Skytrain to a different terminal.

It probably doesn’t matter in this case, but we do have business/first class tickets all the way (also for United Airlines). I am an experienced traveler, but not when it comes to business or first class tickets, so would I be correct in assuming that IF we missed the connection they would place us on the next flight, without any additional cost?

I hope some of you have experienced this “dilemma” and can put my mind at ease, that 2 hours (120 minutes), should be enough time to do the transfer. Or maybe you can give me a link to a web page where I could find this kind of information?

THANK YOU, any answer will be highly appreciated!

Two hours will be fine. I would worry if it is less than 90 minutes, and there was a late arrival.

Two hours will be fine. I would worry if it is less than 90 minutes, and there was a late arrival.

Thank you for responding, you actually made me worry a little bit less about the time... :)

I have been doing some online research, and most of what I found actually confirmed my concerns, so even though my flight tickets is booked through Scandinavian Airlines, I just took a call to United Airlines service center. And the person I spoke to agreed that two hours for the transfer with customs was very tight, and suggested I called SAS to change to the next direct flight with UA to LAX, that leaves Newark at 16.36. She thought they would do the change without any charges, and I hope she is right about that. Last week I upgraded my ticket from economy to business/first because of some health issues, and that upgrade was NOT cheap....:p

Let us know how it turns out.

Last update:

They have now changed my flight from EWR to LAX from 15.15 to 16.35, and that gives us 3h21m to do the transfer, and I didn't have to pay anything for the change. Now I am not worried anymore regarding the transfer time, and I would like to thank you all one more time for your inputs. :)

FYI - Your class of ticket doesn't matter if you miss your connection due to late arrival at EWR; you will be rebooked on another flight at no cost to you. Keep in mind that there may not be availability in your desired class.

If you have Global Entry, 2 hours is more than enough transfer time.