Best airport for connections

Heathrow is always a nightmare. Such a bad airport.

As an example, I am flying to Helsinki through Heathrow from Canada and their own calculator says I need an hour and a half to make my connection. My flight departs 3 hours after the arriving leg but knowing Heathrow I feel like even that’s pushing it.

I haven’t connected through Dublin but I suspect that it would be a good choice.

I’ve had good luck on short connections in Zurich and Munich; I think both airports are efficient. Pre-pandemic, Amsterdam was an excellent choice; I am not sure how things are now so will defer to people who have connected in Amsterdam recently.

I have connected in Heathrow and Madrid. Didn't have a bad result in either.
Heathrow is huge and can be a pain if you have to transfer terminals.
Check what terminal you potential flight from Boston arrives and what terminal you flight to Barcelona departs, if it is the same terminal, no problem.

Not sure what airline you are using, but we routinely fly Delta and therefore connect with KLM in Amsterdam or CDG Paris for Air France. We have had no problems in either of those, but Amsterdam would be the best.

Delta and Iberia have nonstop service between Barcelona and Boston, you might take a look at them. Both offer a nice business class experience.

Iberia can be surprisingly cheap sometimes (though I haven't checked this route specifically). Schedules are seasonal (that is, they change from one season to another) so check your actual (or proposed) travel dates.

Looking at options for connecting flights and it seems that Heathrow, Dublin and Madrid

If you do end up with a connecting flight, I'd avoid Heathrow (not a fan) and would lean towards Madrid. Dublin would be OK, too.

I've been in and out of Heathrow more times than I can count. If you know what you have to do prior to arriving, it really isn't that difficult.

If you decide to transfer at Heathrow, plug your flights into this website and it will give you step by step directions:

http://www.heathrow.com/flight-connections

If you transfer at Dublin, give yourself extra time as you will go through U.S. immigration and customs in Dublin before you board your flight. Arriving in the U.S., it will be like a domestic flight.

BTW, if you feel it might be difficult for you to transfer between gates, tell your airline. They will arrange for transfer assistance. Usually a golf cart type vehicle that meets you at the arriving gate and drives you to the next gate.

Another option is to make your connection in the US after a direct flight from Barcelona to JFK, Philly, etc.

FrankIi, Great link. Says T3 to T5 takes 90 minutes. That's why my layover at Heathrow is 3 hours minimum.

Heathrow is an easy airport for transfers.

I could scarcely disagree more strongly. We'll go to some lengths to avoid LHR for changing planes. This summer we'll change in Helsinki flying back to LAX from Paris.

I agree with jph. Transfers at Heathrow are unpleasant, even with lots of time. And on both outbound and inbound flights from US to Kenya, our checked bags stayed behind at Heathrow. We spent 4 days in Kenya before our bags arrived, and 1 extra day without our bags at home. Both instances were caused by problems at Heathrow. British Air was the carrier, and I never even check them for flight options anymore, and have been able to avoid passing through Heathrow so far.

As someone who connected at LHT more times I can recall I don’t seem to have the same experience everyone else does. I actually cannot think of any horrible experiences. I usually make sure I have at least two hours, but I’ve never needed all that. Now if it’s a non-protected connection I need four hours.

That said, Heathrow has some of the highest taxes on business class tickets in the world so it might be more cost-effective to connect to another airport. Personally, I’d probably take Madrid just because you’re at least in the right country and you can get a train,

I think Delta’s nonstop from Boston to Barcelona, is a seasonal flight so that could be why the original poster didn’t see that option

Thanks to all for your replies and insight. I have re checked my options and find that the only nonstop option for Barcelona to Boston is Level (a subsidiary of Iberia) There are Iberia flights with a connection in Madrid. Is 2 hours adequate time for this connection?

I thing two hours would be enough in Madrid.
I only flew Iberia once and said never again, but they may have improved.
My favorite European airlines are Air France and KLM.

I'd also recommend that you avoid Heathrow. It's operating at more or less full capacity so small delays can easily become large delays. And you always have to go through security. But my favourite airport for connections of all the ones I've tried is Copenhagen.

Heathrow has some of the highest taxes on business class tickets in the world so it might be more cost-effective to connect to another airport...

Carol is correct about that, but in this case would probably not be much of an issue for the OP. Those fees at LHR can be astronomical, but generally they're only paid on outbound flights originating in London - if your route originated elsewhere and you're connecting through LHR, then I believe they don't nail you with all the fees (and they don't apply when arriving in London). This leads some folks departing from London to catch a short positioning flight (on a separate ticket) to somewhere else where the fees aren't so eye-watering (Dublin is a favorite choice) and then get on the long business class flight there, beating the worst of the taxes and fees.

Have you checked American Airlines? They have pretty good frequencies to/from Barcelona. Might have to make a domestic connection for Boston though.

Madrid is a horribly designed airport. It is linear, with no trains/trams to move people. You walk and walk and walk and walk. There are signs along the way telling you how long it will get to certain gates. It seems to go on forever.

If you think you will need assistance, definitely let the airline know in advance.

I frequent Ireland and thus am quite familiar with Dublin airport. It’s large enough to have all the usual amenities one looks for in an airport such as good duty free shopping, eateries, etc. But small enough to be reasonably manageable. Not hard to navigate. Far easier to get through than Heathrow, to say the least. And probably smaller than Madrid. One point that is quite nice is that traveling to the USA, you go through US passport control, immigration and customs there in Dublin. Thus when you arrive home in Boston, you deplane as if it were a domestic arrival. Just walk off the plane, and if needed, head to the baggage carousels. No formalities.

One piece of advice if you go through Dublin is that you do any shopping and dining you might want to do before you go through US customs and immigration. Not much beyond that and you cannot go back out. Just a very small inconvenience. But there is a lounge after the US customs and immigration where you can pay for entrance. I forget the fee, but it was quite reasonable. It’s at the far end of the concourse, which is exclusively for US bound flights.