Flight Logistics for Croatia Trip

The conventional wisdom on this forum seems to be that AMS is a much better place to make a connection than CDG. I have no idea how much time you should allow for a separately ticketed flight at either airport.

It sounds as if you're thinking about a separate ticket from your European gateway to Zagreb. If so, I suspect that the flights you propose don't provide an adequate buffer on the way to Europe. You'll have to go through immigration. Will you be checking liggage? How far in advance does the second airline require you to check in?

I was lucky when I traveled to Croatia: I had United miles and was able to fly from Zagreb to Washington-Dulles with just one connection (in either AMS or FRA, I don't remember).

Jean, I have done similar flight scenarios flying Delta direct (with Alaska award points) from/to Amsterdam and Paris on various trips. Amsterdam's Schiphol airport is definitely easier to deal with than CDG in Paris (partly because Schiphol is close to the center of Amsterdam), but if you want to visit Paris anyway at the end, nothing wrong with staging there for a few days. You could in fact do an open jaw into Amsterdam out of Paris if you want (in case flight connections are better via Amsterdam). Amsterdam has its appeal too - there are some nice towns easy to get to by train from Amsterdam (e.g. Delft), so it really depends what you'd want to see at the end.

Within Europe, I'd use whichever airline has the most convenient, affordable flights to/from Croatia. Croatia Airlines is likely to pop up as they have direct flights to/from many European cities.

Flying into Zagreb instead of Split makes some sense especially if you want to add a stop in Plitvice Lakes National Park, a few hours south of Zagreb and highly recommended. You'd have both KLM flights and Croatia Airlines flights from Amsterdam to/from Zagreb (I'd prefer KLM, and as a Delta partner might give you more options for checking bags through etc.).

Thank you, Acraven & Andrew, for your quick replies!

Acraven, we won't be checking luggage - just lightweight carry-on. I was wondering, too, if the 2.5 hours would be enough since it will be a different airline ticket.

Andrew, thanks for mentioning Delft! I haven't been to that charming town since 1975. If we're stuck staying overnight on the way there, I'll definitely look into that option. Originally we were looking at flying to Ljubliana to spend 5 days touring that area and then head down through Croatia, stopping overnight to see the Plitvice National Park before heading further south. But, we had so many 2-night stops, and we'd rather see less locations and enjoy them more. I compromised with going to Krka National Park, instead. The flight logistics now have added extra days, so I'm attempting to turn that into a positive with the short stay at Paris, so all of the connections will work and our last days of the trip are still pleasant.

Sorry, but 2.5 hours on a nonconnected flight is far too risky. It will take at least half an hour to get off the plane and allow an hour total if you have to go through passport control. The advice is that you are at the check in desk 2 hours before departure. You may get away with 90 minutes, but this doesn't leave any wriggle room for your inward flight being delayed.

The EU is cracking down on security and passport control, which has led to much press coverage in the last 2 weeks, so this is likely to take longer.

Early September is a good time for Croatia, but places start closing down for the winter at the end of September, so go earlier in the month. Local schools are on their summer holidays from the middle of June, when places get busier.

Jean would have 3.5 hours to connect in Paris, not 2.5 hours. And it's never taken me a half hour to get off the plane landing in Europe.

I've done connections of 2.5 hours in Amsterdam flying in from the US, out to another city, and been OK, but never tried in Paris. I did it the other way once (Berlin to Paris, then Paris home a few hours later) but because I was flying from a Schengen country, arrival in Paris was quick.