Trying to book flights for next May and my choices seen rather terrible. The first options is SD to Munich with a one hour and 5 minute layover before going on to Dubrovnik. 13 hours, 45 min total.
The second option is SD to Chicago, 2.5 hour layover, then to Frankfurt, 2 hour 15 min layover, then on to Dubrovnik. 19 hours.
Are we asking for trouble with the first flight? Do we have to go through customs in Munich?
Thanks everyone,
Gary
Yes, you will go through passport/immigration in Munich after the SD>MUC flight or in Frankfurt on the second option. So the short layover is Munich seems tight.
Customs is NOT Passport/immigration. You will go through immigration in the first Schengen country you come to, in Munich or Frankfurt. IF your travel is all on one ticket, your luggage should be checked through to your final destination, and you will go through customs there. Usually, customs is just a walk-through with an arrow to where you should go if you have anything to declare. I never have had anything to declare and in 14 trips to Europe, customs has always been just a walk through.
Customs should not take any time, but immigration can, particularly is you are the last ones off a big jet.
And, just because the schedule says you'll have an hour and 5 minutes doesn't mean you will. Three times I've been on a flight that was an hour late arriving in Europe.
Any problems if we carry on luggage? Are you saying it’s reasonable? If the flight is delayed and we miss it is it hard to catch one right after? I guess I normally would not do this but adding 6 hours to the travel day and going from one stop to 2 seems like a bad option. Thoughts?
I transmitted through Munich on Monday I wouldn’t do 1 hour. You most likely will have to change terminals. I was one of the first off my plane it was a long walk following terminal 2 connecting flights signs you had to go through security (no long lines) then wait for the bus they go every 20 mins or so . When you get to terminal 2 you have passport control and the need to get to your gate. There were numerous stairs to navigate. It took me 45 mins from getting off the plane to being inside the concourse. If I had a bus waiting for me I would have made it.
I had a transfer in Munich and was surprised at how big the airport is and how spread out the gates actually are. Not sure if a 65-minute layover is enough time for you to make your connection.
If the two legs of the journey are on one ticket with the same airline ( Lufthansa, I’m guessing) then the airline believes you can make the connection in Munich and has an obligation to get you to Dubrovnik. However, be sure to check if the airline has any flights from Munich to Dubrovnik later on the same day, so there actually is an alternative flight with them in the event you need one.
Finally, it may be a little early to get the best price on flights since this is 8 months out. From my experience, airlines will keep ticket prices high until 6 months before the flight’s departure. The logic is that anyone buying a ticket 8 months in advance must need to fly on the precise dates they’re booking and likely will pay a higher price to get the deal done.
Skyscanner and Google Flights both allow you to sign up for a fare alert for SAN to DBV flights. They will send you an e-Mail alert when fares drop.
Also check flights to Podgorica. It's a bit further but does present options for your trip.
My personal experience in Munich (one trip) and Frankfurt (three trips) is that 65 minutes is cutting it way too close especially inbound to Europe, and in particular Frankfurt where I've been bussed to/from my plane more than once. If you miss that Munich-Dubrovnik connection, the airline will put you on the next flight with available seats, not necessarily the very next flight. A quick Google flight search appears to show that there is only that one flight in the afternoon from Munich-Dubrovnik, so you'd potentially face an overnight stay (unless you can sweet talk them into putting you on another airline, YMMV). There are also other two stop options that are quicker than your second option, e.g., flying BA through Heathrow or Austrian through Dulles/Vienna.
We're going on the Adriatic trip next year so on return we will fly from Dubrovnik to Boston likely via Munich. I haven't researched it yet but I know the town of Freising is very close to MUC, reachable by frequent trains and according to people in this forum is suppose to be a nice place. Freising might be a good place to spend the night between flights.
On top of all the other good info from others in this thread, I will say:
don't get too worked up over the schedules you see now for 8 months
out. Chances are they will change before you get to the date of the flight,
maybe even multiple times.
obviously a flight schedule with two stops has more places things can go
wrong than a schedule with one stop. And Frankfurt is a much more convoluted
and confusing airport than Munich. Munich is a very efficient airport. The only
way it gets risky is if you have to go from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2, which I don't
see an itinerary for. Terminal 2 is all Star Alliance. Other factors may add risk,
but the airport itself is not really one of them.
if you provide your dates, that would help. All I see for SAN-MUC-DBV is a connection
with a 2 hour layover in Munich, which is plenty of time.
if you do book the Lufthansa itinerary and do end up being delayed more than 4 hours
for factors outside their control, you are eligible for EC261 compensation (600 EUR).
You most likely will have to change terminals.
@Eileen, from your description (bus), it sounds like you flew into Terminal 1 and had to change to Terminal 2.
That would not be the norm. If you fly in and out of Munich on Star Alliance airlines (United, Lufthansa, et al) you would only use Terminal 2. However, you might have one of your flights, most likely your arrival, using the Terminal 2 Satellite building (gates K/L) while your other flight would be from the main building (gates G/H), in which case you would have to use the underground shuttle train, but they run every few minutes, not every 20 minutes.
Gary, if you haven’t tried yet, check directly with the airline. When I was searching via the aggregator sites for Croatia, I found the availability to be just as awful. I was shocked to find that United, in my case, had a whole slough of options available that did not appear on the big sites. I paid a little more, but basically got the exact flights I was looking for. This was also like 7+ months out, but watching the prices it only went up after that. Good luck!
