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Decided on AA-NOW which airport???


teacherman
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We have decided to fly AA business class from CDG to DTW in April following our eastbound TA. ($500 pp less than Delta) Now the problem is where to do the transfer. The connection times are Charlotte-2:15, Philadelphia-2:30, and Chicago-2:40. TOTAL trip times are about the same. The Chicago flight is a 787, the other 2 are 330s. We are leaning towards the Chicago flight. Advice and info is most welcome. Thank you.

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We have decided to fly AA business class from CDG to DTW in April following our eastbound TA. ($500 pp less than Delta) Now the problem is where to do the transfer. The connection times are Charlotte-2:15, Philadelphia-2:30, and Chicago-2:40. TOTAL trip times are about the same. The Chicago flight is a 787, the other 2 are 330s. We are leaning towards the Chicago flight. Advice and info is most welcome. Thank you.

 

The 787 would have to be significantly better onboard experience to make up for the T5 and ATS shuttle experience at ORD, IMO. Much of that transfer time would involve the change of buildings. Though not an AA flyer, I'd be inclined to go with CLT, but that is from anecdotal information only, NOT personal experience vis a vis CLT vs PHL.

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While the 787 is enticing, O'Hare is where schedules and dreams go to die. Not like DTW is a long trip on the connection from there but I've always gotten royally you know whatted connecting through ORD.

 

I think PHL would be the answer- with the recent upgrades it's nicer and more manageable than CLT. I can't blame you if you take the 787 though- but been burned too many times by ORD not to say anything.

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Everything in BC on 787 is better than the Airbus 330! If you were flying eastbound, the overnight flight, it would be 100% 787. Coming west, during the day, isn’t as critical, so if you don’t want ORD. I’d do PHL. I flew through their both ways last month. Easy and efficient pass through C&I, and back through security again. With GE, from arrival through passing through security and to the Admirals Club was maybe 40 minutes.

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AA frequent flier here - as far as airports go, in my opinion, Charlotte will offer the smoothest transfer but is also the furthest out of your way. That being said, I may very well still choose CLT because my experiences with INTL-DOM transfers there have been very good.

 

I don't mind ORD and I think it gets a bad reputation. This would be my second choice. That leaves Philadelphia as last, despite it being the least out of your way. I just haven't had great experiences at PHL with INTL-DOM transfers.

 

Now on the aircraft - in business class, the 787 is a better hard product and I would take that one.

 

So, in the end, I would choose ORD as a combo of experience + aircraft. One other perk, in my opinion, is that ORD is the closest to DTW, meaning once you get to Chicago it's a pretty short hop back to Detroit. Not that PHL or CLT is that far, but when I'm ready to get home, I'm ready to get home.

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AA frequent flier here - as far as airports go, in my opinion, Charlotte will offer the smoothest transfer but is also the furthest out of your way. That being said, I may very well still choose CLT because my experiences with INTL-DOM transfers there have been very good.

 

I don't mind ORD and I think it gets a bad reputation. This would be my second choice. That leaves Philadelphia as last, despite it being the least out of your way. I just haven't had great experiences at PHL with INTL-DOM transfers.

 

Now on the aircraft - in business class, the 787 is a better hard product and I would take that one.

 

So, in the end, I would choose ORD as a combo of experience + aircraft. One other perk, in my opinion, is that ORD is the closest to DTW, meaning once you get to Chicago it's a pretty short hop back to Detroit. Not that PHL or CLT is that far, but when I'm ready to get home, I'm ready to get home.

Oh no...sorry to sidetrack or hijack but I just opted for an AA DOM-INTL and chose PHL instead of CLT for my May 2018 trip LAX-DUB... but just using premium econ. (6 a&b) seating. Hope I made the right choice not that experienced using AA.

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Oh no...sorry to sidetrack or hijack but I just opted for an AA DOM-INTL and chose PHL instead of CLT for my May 2018 trip LAX-DUB... but just using premium econ. (6 a&b) seating. Hope I made the right choice not that experienced using AA.

 

Looks like you'll be on an A330, bulkhead seats in Main Cabin Extra. If you've already booked your trip, no need to stress. One can second guess but there's no point ... you'll be fine connecting thru PHL. Now focus on the wonderful excursions and experiences of the Ireland/Iceland cruise that we'll be sailing!

 

It's all good :)

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Looks like you'll be on an A330, bulkhead seats in Main Cabin Extra. If you've already booked your trip, no need to stress. One can second guess but there's no point ... you'll be fine connecting thru PHL. Now focus on the wonderful excursions and experiences of the Ireland/Iceland cruise that we'll be sailing!

 

It's all good :)

Thank you for your input :)

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CLT is a smaller airport and the transition from international/customs/immigration to the domestic terminal is much easier there. We did it in under 30 minutes last year and that included 5 minutes arguing with an AA clerk who was giving us wrong info......

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There is also a chance of a late season snow storm in PHL or ORD, not so much in CLT. . But I would pick CLT over the other two anyway myself.

 

Although the flip side is that CLT is less well prepared the NE airports or those that experience more regular snow.

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I wouldn't worry about a major snow storm at CLT.

 

It's happened. I was caught up in the tail end of one last year. The storm hit CLT, snarling it up for several days and worked its way up the east coast. I was flying JFK-CLT and connecting onwards.

 

Crews struggled to commute and get to their flights and were stranded elsewhere (ours avoided timing out by 30secs). My seatnate had been trying to get back to CLT for four days.

 

Yes, April is less likely but I've been caught in big snowstorms close to CLT (non-mountainous) in March and early April several times in the past 10yrs.

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It's happened. I was caught up in the tail end of one last year. The storm hit CLT, snarling it up for several days and worked its way up the east coast. I was flying JFK-CLT and connecting onwards.

 

 

 

Crews struggled to commute and get to their flights and were stranded elsewhere (ours avoided timing out by 30secs). My seatnate had been trying to get back to CLT for four days.

 

 

 

Yes, April is less likely but I've been caught in big snowstorms close to CLT (non-mountainous) in March and early April several times in the past 10yrs.

 

 

 

It's really a worthless criteria to go on- purely speculative. If you don't have a snow storm it could be any number of things all the way to a power outage (who saw that coming?).

 

CLT doesn't have any major advantage over PHL or ORD in that regard. Stupid things happen and it's not always weather. Concentrate on things you can control like connection times, airport amenities, etc and deal with the things you can't when they come up. They're all hubs so this one really comes down to personal preference.

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I am executive platinum on AA and have connected through all 3 airports on international flights - both directions. While all three provide adequate times to clear customs and make a connection, I personally try to avoid PHL at all costs. All three airports can have delays for any number of reasons - summer and winter. It's just a fact of travel. And I have been stuck in all 3 airports at one time or another. That said, I tend to find PHL less equipped to deal with delays. CLT and ORD have more resources to deal with equipment and crew resource issues. Plus, CLT and ORD will both give you more options than PHL in the event of delays. I also find customs clearance and connections coming back into the US are smoother through ORD or CLT, which can help if you have a flight that is late arriving and you find yourself squeezed on time. For a reference point, I routinely make a connection in CLT that is literally from the far end of one terminal to the farthest end of the farthest terminal in 20 minutes. It's a brisk walk but you aren't running. The AA lounges (which you will have access to being in business class) in all three are pretty good, but I do find CLT's very well placed and convenient. Ultimately, you'll be fine in any of them - so don't stress.

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I fly multiple times per month involving all 3 of these airports, (just in ORD and CLT yesterday) CLT is usually more "stable" with weather. Both ORD and PHL are frequently impacted by winds, fog with in my experience CLT less so. I've especially had a number of delays in PHL this year. but PHL is a bit more manageable airport, simple design and reasonable distances. Depending on both CLT and ORD you can really be on the distance. Had to run for a connection yesterday out of ORD with slightly over an hour domestic connection, and was at one end to a last gate all the way across the airport. :) I never stopped and no mobility limitations.

 

Overall, my crystal ball doesn't give me any future information- yet. :)

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I fly multiple times per month involving all 3 of these airports, (just in ORD and CLT yesterday) CLT is usually more "stable" with weather. Both ORD and PHL are frequently impacted by winds, fog with in my experience CLT less so.

 

The flip slide is that CLT does occasionally get hit with a big winter storm (usually more ice/freezing rain than snow) and like ATL, is woefully unprepared to handle it when it happens, compared to more northern airports that are usually better equipped. Either way there is an element of risk.

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Just coming back on to say that after MUCH advice and information sharing, we have purchased our flight home from Paris on American Airlines. It is a 787 (?) to O'Hare, a 2:50 stop, and then on to DTW on another AA flight. We were considering an Air Canada flight to Toronto, but decided against it because IF we had missed the connecting flight, we would have been in Toronto over night.

 

We booked Business Class and selected seats in the smaller 2 row cabin, with one forward facing seat and a rear facing seat across the aisle. DW does not want to be looking at a "stranger" for 9 hours, although she may get tired of looking at me, too.

 

Thank you to all who offered suggestions and information. Hopefully, it will all work out well for us and I will report back after the trip is over.

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