I have not read all of the above posts, so it may already have been mentioned, but what I do, if the save point is close to the airport and A/P is disengaged, I put the airplane into slew mode and let it sit. The countdown clock ticks down (as long is the game is not paused) and the plane does not move. Once the clock gets to zero and everything is up and running, just hit the slew key (Y is the default one) again and take her down.

Fwiw, I always save my flights around 15nm before TD and never have a problem reloading the flight from initial fsx load splash screen. It gives you enough time for yourself to get into approach mode, verify all your settings, rwy changes if required and to try different approaches.

 

I do this as well. Many days my simming time is limited, and having the 'save' feature allows me to squeeze in a descent and landing before the day passes. Once the SP1c came out, the save feature worked great, and I hope PMDG continues that feature in future products.