JFK/Milan Malpensa/Bari connecting flight questions

FYI — EasyJet is not an Italian airline; it is a British discount airline.

When you have two separate itineraries, you really should build in a cushion of more than 2 hours at the layover airport. I have at least a 4 hour window.

For long-haul flights, JFK is my home airport and the delays just from taxiing can be 1 to 2 hours depending upon wind conditions and the fact that there is at least one runway closed. In addition, there can be delays from unforeseen head winds over the Atlantic or bad weather.

Under perfect conditions two hours isn’t enough.

Make sure your completely packed carry-on bags do not exceed EasyJet’s strict carry-on bag dimensions and weight. Gate agents often put each bag in a template and then weigh it. If your bags exceed their requirements, they will force you to check them in and charge you a huge fine for not doing so. Thus, if you realize your carry-on bags will be too large, you will have to make the time to check in those bags making a 2 hour window an impossibility. Emirates is more generous than EasyJet with carry ons.

Most importantly, two hours will not be enough. You are taking a big risk and if you miss that flight, you will have to buy a new ticket on the spot including a new return ticket if your Easyjet itinerary is round-trip.

I don’t know about changing terminals in Milan. If the change is not Airside, you will have to go through security again. You may have to go through security anyway but it is worse when the security lines are landside.

Please rethink this plan.

We have flown into and out of Milan a couple of times - while it is not a huge airport - it is strung out in one lloonngg corridor. Generally international at one end and internal at the other. Not certain the shuttle would save you any time. AND - since it is your first landing in the EU you will have to collect your luggage (or carry) and go through immigration/customs and re enter through security to catch your next flight.

If the travel gods are smiling - you might make it in 2 hours (actually 1 1/2 - since they close the gates 1/2 hr before flight time). But I agree with the response above - do yourself a favor and take a flight that allows you more time and reduces the stress. Better to have time at the terminal for a snack than to do the old "Avis Dash" and still miss the flight. It's just not worth the few dollars saved.

Emirates uses Terminal 1 (the new terminal built in the late 1990s) on the west side of the airport grounds while Easyjet uses Terminal 2 (the “old” original Malpensa airport) north of the airport grounds at least 2.5 miles from T1.

The distance between the two is obviously not walkable and you must use the shuttle bus (or also the train but the bus is probably faster because the train station is farther to walk to).

Malpensa is not a busy airport (the terminals are basically a desert since Alitalia moved away their hub from Malpensa to Rome) therefore immigration procedures are generally very fast, but T1 is big and the walk to the bus or train may be very long, in addition the transfer time to T2 via bus or train will take additional time.

Since you are traveling on two separate tickets, you should have a much longer cushion to allow for possible delays.

Doing something similar with Bari over the summer but I paid a higher price to have it all on 1 ticket as I booked directly with Lufthansa. With 2 seperate tickets you run the risk of 1 airline being late affecting your other ticket flight. Incase you have trouble getting rebooked.

Luftansa services the Bari airport via Frankfurt so it's still only 1 Connection from the USA. The only crazy thing is the connection times. Going there have 1 hr 45 minutes in frankfurt to connect, but coming back it's only 55 minutes. Yep Crazy especially most flights in Frankfurt deplane in a area via the stairs and bus to the terminal. United is who I fly mostly and have status on, they wouldn't even sell me the ticket due to the small time. Luftansa did sell the ticket all in 1. When I was in Frankfurt in October I asked a couple of Luftansa employees about that routing which eased my nerves. We'll see how it goes. Worse case they'll get me home the next day.

Since you haven't booked, look into flying to Linate in Milan instead. Emirates does not use that airport but many others do. And everything is pretty much in a single terminal. If you are looking to save on costs, why are you flying Emirates? No doubt, they are a great airline, but I think if cost is the issue you could easily save over $100/ticket by flying someone else to Linate.

Linate does not handle extra European flights, therefore flying to Linate directly from North America is impossible.

Linate is a city airport that, much like Reagan National in DC, caters to business travelers. Alitalia has a quasi monopoly on that airport. There are a few flights a day from Linate to Bari, all operated by Alitalia. They primarily serve business travelers flying to Milan for business and returning to Bari at the end of the working day.

Have you given up the idea of Turkish Air via Istanbul? ( Going to Istanbul and back to Italy has you in the air another 5+ hrs plus the waiting/transfer time so do not see this a s a viable alternative)

I just booked a similar string of flights: Minneapolis to JFK to Rome
The day after I booked the two separate flights, Delta (that's doing the 1st leg) sent an email notifying me of a one hour shift in their flight time -> that was OK because I have a giant layover in JFK - but I'm glad I had that buffer.

Evan's point (the airline can change or cancel flights, and you have to figure out what to do) is very important, as are all the other ones above. When you are on two separate tickets, YOU assume all the risk. If, for any reason, you can't or don't make the connection, YOU are on the hook, both logistically (you have to figure out what to do, on the fly, yourself) or financially (you have to buy tickets at last minute prices, or pay any necessary change fees).

From JFK, you should be able to fly all on one ticket to Puglia, via Rome or another airport. For me, it wouldn't be worth savings to get it as separate tickets - but I'm risk averse in this area.

Interesting, as I have flown to Linate from the US several times. I've changed planes in Heathrow and CDG, but that is not unusual. I still recommend Linate over Malpensa for several reasons: 1 - Cost is often lower. 2 - Cheaper to get to city center. 3 - Closer to city center.

Easyjet does not fly from Linate to Bari, only from Malpensa. From there it only has 2 flights a day, an early morning flight and, depending on he day of the week, a flight at 14:20 or 19:40. Since the Emirates flight from JFK lands at 12:15, I assume the OP is on a day with a 14:20 flight. This is not enough time. Easyjet also requires you to be at the gate some time before departure, maybe as much as 1 hour. There are no other Easyjet flights that day, so if you miss it, you will have to spend the night until the next morning and buy a full fare ticket.

So flying through Linate is not a viable option. That makes it a 2 change flight from New York, when flying through Rome, (or Munich, Frankfurt, Paris) is a 1 change flight on a protected ticket.

You can fly Alitalia out of Linate and they have several flights a day. Fares are pretty low as well.