Is 75 minutes too short for an international connection?

[pb4uski]

No, it is the same airline, Iberia.

Call them and ask.

 

[audreyh1]

Call them and ask.

And hope the answer a person gives you over the phone is correct?

You can see which terminals are used by which airlines on the MAD website. I suspect Iberia uses multiple terminals.

You can also go on a site like flightaware.com and see what terminals your flights are typically using, but it might be variable.

Personally, even without the terminal change it's too short a time, because you still have to deal with passport control, retrieving your luggage and rechecking it within a very short window. Normally baggage is supposed to be checked for a flight 1 hour ahead.

 

[OldShooter]

Considerations:

1) Every airport has a designated "minimum connection time." In my experience these are quite optimistic but the airlines use them to build schedules. Caveat emptor.

2) The most significant issue is the possibility of a late arrival on the inbound leg. This depends on the length of the inbound flight and the winds aloft that day. Westbound flights generally have headwinds and seem to be more prone to delays. I don't worry too much about domestic/short flights of maybe three hours. It is the trans-oceanic flights that make me worry.

3) The cost of missing a connecting flight depends a lot on where it is going. From Madrid to Barcelona there are probably many options following a missed conection. From Madrid to Addis Ababa or to Mumbai, probably not so much.

4) Personally, I like to see a two-hour connection time in large airports but I will accept less, even much less, if missing the connection is not a big deal/I have lots of alternatives.

 

[cathy63]

I just found a $1,200 premium economy ticket on Delta for a Sunday to following Monday trip to Paris. I would have 83 minutes to make my connection in Detroit on the way over (coming from Chicago.) On the way home I'd have 2.5 hours in Atlanta to go through passport control and catch my plane to ORD. What does the group think about 83 minutes in Detroit?

Make sure all your flights are on the same ticket (i.e. same 6-char locator number for the entire trip, and not labeled as a "hacker fare" in Kayak). The airlines won't sell you a ticket with an illegal connection on it, and you will normally make a legal connection unless things go very wrong.

I've had connections in Detroit that were a lot shorter than 83 minutes and had no problem making them. I think the minimum legal time for Delta there is only about 45 minutes.

I'm not familiar with Madrid; but before you rule it out, take a look on Flight Aware at the past arrival times for that flight. Some of the trans-Atlantic flights are scheduled for the worst case and usually arrive much earlier. I was a bit worried about a short connection in Amsterdam last year, but the plane was super early and there was no immigration line, so we ended up with more than 2 hours to kill instead of racing for the gate.

 

[NoiseBoy]

OP here. The flights on Delta are better and $200 cheaper than what I was looking at on Iberia, so I have crossed the dodgy connection in Madrid off of my list. Thanks for all the helpful responses, they were very informative. Google Flights is showing that I can book the ticket directly with Delta, so I am just waiting for my GF to respond and approve of the Sunday to Monday schedule tweak.

 

[COcheesehead]

Passport control is Europe is nothing like that in the U.S. They do not ask you any questions and there is usually no line.

In Lisbon, they had TWO of them. So we got through one and thought we were right on time only to take a corner and stare at a line of 25 people for another passport control. In London they’ll make you go through security again as well and they make you take buses to a lot of the gates. There are always surprises with International travel. My wife was even randomly pulled out of line in Cork, Ireland for a full carryon inspection.

 

[kcowan]

Not in mine either.

Me neither. Quick for EU passports and slow for everything else.

 

[Freedom56]

This is what I do when I can't find reasonable business class fares from LAX to Geneva Switzerland which is always our final destination. You should be able to do the same for coach fares.

Look for direct flights from cities east and north east of you including two cities in Canada (Toronto and Montreal). Paris is a pretty popular destination so you should be able to find many flights from New York, Newark. Boston, Baltimore, Washington DC, Montreal, and Toronto. Since we are forced to take a connecting flight, we really don't care if the connection is in the US or Canada or at one of the major airports in Europe. Then find a flight to that city.

We have flown JetBlue Mint from LAX to JFK for $1200 return and then JFK to GVA on Swiss business class for $2460 return for a combined $3660 return ticket versus quoted fares of $5500-$6000 return.

This year we are flying LAX to LHR on Virgin Atlantic Business Class for $3740 return, spending a couple of nights in London and taking Easyjet to Geneva for $120 return versus the $6000+ quotes we were seeing when I booked.

Last year we flew LAX to Toronto (YYZ) on a nice Air Canada 787 Dreamliner with pod seating, bought my wife's prescription drugs from her OBGYN in Toronto, and flew on another Air Canada Dreamliner with the nice pod seats to Geneva all for $3670 return. That time the savings from the prescription drugs, almost covered the cost of the tickets.

Some years the stars line up, and we fly LAX to GVA on Swiss with the usual connection in Zurich or via Lufthansa with a connection in Frankfurt.

If you are flying economy or economy plus or whatever (it's all coach to me) you should be able to save especially if you find a city where Norwegian Airlines has direct flights to Paris.

 

[Scrapr]

OP here. The flights on Delta are better and $200 cheaper than what I was looking at on Iberia, so I have crossed the dodgy connection in Madrid off of my list. Thanks for all the helpful responses, they were very informative. Google Flights is showing that I can book the ticket directly with Delta, so I am just waiting for my GF to respond and approve of the Sunday to Monday schedule tweak.

pro tip. Before you go to the Delta site clear your cookies or use private browsing. Can make a difference

 

[samclem]

On connection timing/risk: In addition tot he amount of connection time, I also look at the "what if?" as a factor. I can accept a shorter/riskier connection if there's another flight on the same airline in 2 hours, and it is 1/2 full. Or if I could rent a car and drive. Or if the connecting city is nice and I don't mind staying an extra day there while I wait for the next flight. OTOH, if I absolutely have to be at my ultimate destination on time, then I don't want to take a chance with a short connection.

 

[OldShooter]

Something else I don't think has been mentioned. If you succeed in making a tight connection, your checked bag(s) may not. This is a particularly important consideration if you haven't had the foresight to have 24-48 hours worth of clothing, meds, etc. in your carry-on.

 

[NoiseBoy]

I booked a "premium economy" ticket on Delta, but with ample layover times going through Atlanta. There were quite a few flight options for the $1,200 price. The catch being that it's not really a PE ticket. The seats are in Delta Comfort +, so that is just economy plus with free drinks and one free checked bag. I've flown Delta Comfort + to Rome and I wasn't impressed. Still, the price is not that much more than I was seeing for non-basic economy flights to the continent in September so I think it's a reasonable deal. I got the last aisle seat on the outbound flight. And Delta is a major carrier so, unlike my unfortunate trip on LOT in May, if they have plane trouble in Atlanta, they just grab the keys to another jet and off you go (happened on the Rome trip.)

 

[JustCurious]

Not in mine either.

Not mine either.

 

[YVRRocketSurgery]

Wow - never seen or heard of such a thing!

I've flown ANA quite a bit and there always seems to be staff on the airway holding signs with connecting flights.

I actually experienced a similar situation in 2013 flying on Lufthansa where we only had a 70 min scheduled connection in Frankfurt which became even shorter due to the flight being slightly delayed.
They had staff just outside the plane identify people with tight connections and herded us into a special elevator and down into a bus that took us to our next terminal. And at the terminal, they also got us into the fast track lane for immigration. After all that, our connecting flight was delayed 3 hours because of a strike in VCE.

Personally, I think the key for short connections is to fly on the same airline for both legs because they'll try to ensure that you get on your next flight. And if you miss it, they'll get you on the next flight.
Where we always end up adding a bunch of buffer is when we fly to Europe on one carrier and then hop on an Easyjet or whatever to our final destination.

 

[Nemo2]

Personally, I think the key for short connections is to fly on the same airline for both legs because they'll try to ensure that you get on your next flight. And if you miss it, they'll get you on the next flight.
Where we always end up adding a bunch of buffer is when we fly to Europe on one carrier and then hop on an Easyjet or whatever to our final destination.

+1

 

[audreyh1]

Something else I don't think has been mentioned. If you succeed in making a tight connection, your checked bag(s) may not. This is a particularly important consideration if you haven't had the foresight to have 24-48 hours worth of clothing, meds, etc. in your carry-on.

Well, I mentioned a minimum time usually required for bags to be checked before a flight and that the connection time probably would not meet it.

Regardless, the OP already figured out it the short transfer involving entry to a foreign country was not a good idea.

 

[athena53]

I booked a "premium economy" ticket on Delta, but with ample layover times going through Atlanta. There were quite a few flight options for the $1,200 price.

I'm glad you were able to confirm the dates with your GF and book the flights before the fare disappeared. That happens, too!

 

[bmcgonig]

I've flown ANA quite a bit and there always seems to be staff on the airway holding signs with connecting flights.

I actually experienced a similar situation in 2013 flying on Lufthansa where we only had a 70 min scheduled connection in Frankfurt which became even shorter due to the flight being slightly delayed.
They had staff just outside the plane identify people with tight connections and herded us into a special elevator and down into a bus that took us to our next terminal. And at the terminal, they also got us into the fast track lane for immigration. After all that, our connecting flight was delayed 3 hours because of a strike in VCE. [emoji23]

Personally, I think the key for short connections is to fly on the same airline for both legs because they'll try to ensure that you get on your next flight. And if you miss it, they'll get you on the next flight.
Where we always end up adding a bunch of buffer is when we fly to Europe on one carrier and then hop on an Easyjet or whatever to our final destination.

I just did a round trip on Lufthansa two weeks ago connecting thru Frankfurt. On the first leg the flight was delayed 20 mins and when I landed in Frankfurt was immediately told that I had missed and was on the next flight. Only an hour wait so ok. On the return leg again delayed but this time I did an OJ thru Frankfurt airport and made it just in time... Bags didn't make it though.

Both flight connections were about an hour.

Also I was coming from outside Schengen and the line for passport control was massive. Huge. Luckily if your passport has a chip you can use the machines and there were 6 free machines. But that was the only good part of that connection.

 

[NoiseBoy]

I'm glad you were able to confirm the dates with your GF and book the flights before the fare disappeared. That happens, too!

I have a 3.5 hour layover in Atlanta on the way to Paris, so we need to add at least one $12 airport beer to the cost of the ticket , but we both should land in Paris within an hour of each other and, on the way home, our flights are less than an hour apart, so I will "suffer" in Delta Comfort + for the good of the relationship!!

Now the search for an Airbnb that meets with her approval begins. Perhaps I'll leave that for tomorrow morning's pot of coffee. Happy travels everyone.

 

[audreyh1]

I have a 3.5 hour layover in Atlanta on the way to Paris, so we need to add at least one $12 airport beer to the cost of the ticket , but we both should land in Paris within an hour of each other and, on the way home, our flights are less than an hour apart, so I will "suffer" in Delta Comfort + for the good of the relationship!!

Now the search for an Airbnb that meets with her approval begins. Perhaps I'll leave that for tomorrow morning's pot of coffee. Happy travels everyone.

Sure! I usually set up long layovers before the international flights outbound and take advantage of the club.

The direct flight to Amsterdam from Houston only occurs once a day and I really do not want to miss that!

 

[athena53]

Sure! I usually set up long layovers before the international flights outbound and take advantage of the club.

Same here- even when traveling Coach I'll spring for a day pass (now $60 on AA, which is worth more on the other side of the Atlantic where you get real food and unlimited drinks). I have 6-hour layovers both ways on next month's trip to Scotland and will be perfectly happy to hang out in United/Continental's airline lounges.

 

[pb4uski]

And hope the answer a person gives you over the phone is correct? ....

Let's put it this way... the likelihood of getting a good answer from the airline is better than from SGOTI.

 

[samclem]

Let's put it this way... the likelihood of getting a good answer from the airline is better than from SGOTI.

These are the airlines that don't see any problem with selling someone a ticket with a 30 minute connection in ATL? On a Friday afternoon. Arriving Terminal A, Departing Terminal C.

 

[Breedlove]

I don't know where you are flying from but I am seeing really good rates this fall from Houston and Dallas . Less than 500.00 for Europe on Escape Houston

 

[audreyh1]

Let's put it this way... the likelihood of getting a good answer from the airline is better than from SGOTI.

But I didn’t recommend they use SGOTI did I? I gave them some further suggestions of where to find factual information online.

My track record for getting reliable and complete information on general questions by calling an airline on the phone and speaking to whichever individual answers has not been good.