23 minutes, a $20 taxi and no boarding pass: How I pulled off a seemingly impossible international connection

They say time is money, and last week, I learned that lesson firsthand.

On Dec. 15, I flew on Qatar Airways’ inaugural flight from Doha to San Francisco, leaving me about 2,500 miles away from my home in New York City when I landed in the Bay Area.

With a winter storm on its way to the Northeast, I wanted to get back before the snow started. I’d already been gone for five days and feared getting stuck in the airport with rolling delays and cancellations.

That’s when $20 saved the day.

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But first, let’s backtrack.

Due to pandemic-related schedules, I didn’t have many connecting options in SFO. My Qatar flight was scheduled to land at 12:55 p.m. local time, leaving me with two choices: a 2 p.m. Delta flight through Salt Lake City or a redeye back to New York.

With a redeye out of the cards — I’d just flown on two back-to-back overnight flights — the Delta connection was my only shot at making it home the same day.

I documented the story as it unfolded on my Instagram page (follow along there), and many followers thought I was crazy to even attempt the short connection.

I thought 65 minutes would be plenty of time for me to clear customs and transfer terminals. After all, I was only traveling with a backpack and a small rollaboard.

But my hour-plus transit time ultimately got shaved to just 38 minutes, as we ended up pulling into SFO’s Gate A8 about 30 minutes late at 1:22 p.m. local time.

Fortunately, as a Qsuite business-class passenger, I was the first person off the plane. Sweating under my N95 mask, I sprinted to the Global Entry kiosks and was through customs within minutes.

At this point, it was 1:28 p.m. — just 17 minutes before the Delta gate would close — and I was in the international terminal arrivals hall.

For a brief second, I contemplated taking the AirTrain to Terminal 2 but recognized that time wasn’t on my side. I’d have to sprint to and from the station — and hope that a train would be waiting for me.

SFO's terminals are loosely arranged in a horseshoe, making it a pain if you're connecting between terminals, especially from an international flight to a domestic one.

Aside from the AirTrain, walking between terminals can be inconvenient, and only two of the five terminals are connected airside for easy post-security connections.

I couldn’t let fate dictate whether I’d make the connection.

Despite needing to exit and re-enter the airport roadways, taking a taxi would certainly be the fastest way between terminals.

So, I hopped into the taxi stand and tried finding a driver who was willing to forgo a trip into the city for a three-minute sprint to another terminal. I thankfully found one that agreed — on the condition that I pay him a $20 flat fee.

Well worth it for my only shot at making it home the same day. ($20 was also much more palatable than 20,000 World of Hyatt points to stay overnight at the new Grand Hyatt at the airport.)

I arrived at an empty Delta terminal at 1:32 p.m., with plenty of time to clear PreCheck and make it to the gate by 1:45 p.m.

But at this point, I’d encountered what appeared to be a fatal issue: I didn’t have a boarding pass and the flight was already closed for check-in. (Qatar’s inflight Wi-Fi wasn’t strong enough to load Delta’s mobile app.)

Despite pleas to the counter staff, I was told I’d need to rebook for another day.

Before throwing in the towel, I tried one last thing. Could I clear security without my boarding pass?

In most cases, the answer is outright no. But I got very lucky since the checkpoint I used was trialing the TSA's credential authentication technology (CAT), which pulls your flight information directly from the passenger manifest, without requiring you to show your boarding pass.

More: What's the difference between connections and stopovers?

The CAT machine scans your photo identification to verify its authenticity and then cross-references your name and identifying information against a secure flight database to ensure you're booked on a flight from that airport on a given day.

None of my bags were pulled for secondary screening, and I was airside moments later. With my ID in hand, I sprinted to the gate and arrived drenched in sweat just two minutes before the doors were scheduled to close.

I quickly handed my ID to the gate agent, who happily printed my boarding passes, since she was still in control of the flight.

I was ultimately the final passenger to board Flight 1317 to Salt Lake City, and I ended up making it back home around midnight — a big win in my book.

As we departed SFO, I compiled a list of lessons I’d learned after successfully making the 23-minute dash from one boarding door to the other.

In no particular order:

• Global Entry continues to save the day. The automated immigration and customs process saved me at least 15 minutes of waiting in line for a border control agent.
• Take matters into your hands. Sure I could’ve waited for an AirTrain, but without time on my side, it was well worth the $20 for an attempt at making my connection.
• Always have your boarding passes ready. If I’d checked in online before my Delta flight, I wouldn’t have had the last-minute scare when the flight was closed for check-in.
• Avoid checking luggage. Whenever possible, and especially if you're playing with fire by booking short connections, stick to carry-ons.
• You can check-in at the gate. Gate agents have the power to print boarding passes and adjust your travel plans, when necessary.

More: Where do I clear customs on international flights with connections?

And of course, and perhaps most importantly, time is money. Getting home a day earlier saved me a night in a hotel and got me back to my fiancé one day earlier — well worth the $20 I forked over to improve my shot at making my connection.