We are looking to do a trip to Bali or Vietnam this year. For years we were spoiled flying out of IAH having the asian airlines at our disposal to avoid the nightmare of United and AA.

We now live in Colorado with our airport being Grand Junction. Not many choices and the trip takes almost twice as long as out of IAH un very less desired airlines. Denver is an option, but I would really only consider ANA or Japan Airlines from there.

Was thinking of taking a flight from Hayden on SWA to IAH after work, then get on the 1:00am flight on EVA to TPE then on to wherever we go. Then on return flight we would land in IAH around midnight, stay overnight and take SWA back home.

Would this be too much hassle?

Nah I don't think so. Seems pretty normal IMO. Just make sure your connection on the front end isn't too tight cause you'll lose an hour coming from CO.

I've used SW to do connecting flights on several trips - Hawaii (connecting with Hawaiian Airlines), and The Azores (connecting with Azores Air).

I'm doing something similar to get home from Sicily, except it's with a EU airline.

My general advice when trying to do this: get the first flight out for the day. Ideally there will be 1-2 others departing later in the day that can still get you to the airport to make your flight on time, just in case the original booking gets cancelled or is delayed. If this means you have to spend the better part of the day at the airport, so be it. Don't check any bags on the SW flight.

I know your post says you want to take a flight after work to catch a 1 am flight, but what if there is an issue with that flight or it is cancelled? For a a trip like this, I'd be out of Colorado by noon.

You shouldn't have any issues getting home since you're staying overnight in Houston before taking SWA home.

Totally get the cancellation part on front of trip. I work next to the Hayden airport and there are quite a few flights a day from there, but anything is possible. Most the international flights I would take in IAH are after 10pm departure so I could potentially work half a day and then get on the SWA flight to IAH.

Thanks for all the feedback. Gonna start playing with itineraries and see where we land.

I also assumed your flight from Hayden to IAH is direct. If it's not, give yourself even more wiggle room. You don't want to be stranded somewhere in between.

So your solution for reliability concerns is SWA? This isn't 2010...

Fly to the west coast out of Hayden, Eagle, Denver, wherever, stay the night and you will have your choice of Asian carriers out of LAX or SFO with much better fares. We flew Cathay to Bali before Covid and it was a great experience however they seem to be limping coming out of Covid thanks to the shutdowns in Hong Kong.

What time of the year? Hayden does not not have direct flights to Houston year round- it's usually just a winter deal. There is almost always a layover in Denver. I live in Steamboat and I despise driving to Denver to fly out of DIA. I will almost always fly out of Hayden although the spring/fall can be tricky with vastly reduced flight schedules.

I have more faith in SWA than United or AA. I got royally fooked over last week on a Mexico trip. losing 2 of my 5 nights at the resort cause of United and thier incompetence and lack of customer servic. I used to fly United weekly for work for around 7 years before I moved here and it was constant problems. Company mandated we use them or I would have gone elsewhere in a minute.

I will always fly SWA. I was caught up in the Christmas debacle but they made me whole and I actually made money on the trip on top of the 25k points they gave and reimbursing my expenses. That goes a long way with me. On the other hand, United hasnt done **** to help me with last weeks failure of a trip.

Trip will be in fall I imagine, Thinking over 3rd rifle season or so. Nothing locked in yet.

Got it, I would still fly to the west coast though instead of Texas; much more competition on those routes and lower fares as a result. You will probably have to fly out of Denver or connect through Love but SWA should be able to get you there.

I'd look to fly out of SFO or SEA. EVA flies out of both of those. I'm on EVA to Bangkok on Friday night out of IAH.