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Layover time & process from US to Italy through AMS & Italy to US through CDG

Hello recent travelers. Please share your knowledge on my questions below.

1) We fly next week on Delta from SeaTac to Venice with a 1 1/2 hour layover transfer at Schiphol airport AMS to KLM going into Venice. Is this enough time to get through the transfer process? What is the process so that we can know step by step if there is customs etc. ?

2) On the return trip we fly on Delta operated by AirFrance from Naples with a 2 hour layover transfer at Charles De Gaulle to continue on a Delta flight to SeaTac. We have the same question as above. Is this enough time and is this where we got through customs or?

Thank you for you assistance & guidance.

Posted by
1056 posts

Your connection time at Schipol is tight. Try to get to the immigration and passport control area as fast as you can. This area is usually quite congested. Know that there will be agents patrolling the area who can help you by putting you in a faster line when the time gets short til your departure. There are lines restricted for this purpose but accessible only if they let you in.

As for CDG, that is also a tight connection, as you will probably have to take a bus from the plane to the terminal and then maybe also a bus to get to your departure gate. Two hours should be sufficient but don’t dawdle.

Posted by
23178 posts

Patricia is correct.

  1. You will go through immigration/passport control at Schiphol. There are special lines for short connections. (On the far left for us). Show your boarding pass. Good possibility that you will to go through security again and again special lines. You will go through customs in Venice when you pick up any bag checked through to Venice.

  2. At CDG you will go through exit immigration and most likely security. No customs till you hit the US. All times are adequate unless, of course, you are late, etc. But the airline is responsible since it is a single ticket.

Posted by
1231 posts

I don't remember Schiphol, it was a long time ago. I do remember CDG being such a nightmare and took so long to get to our plane, had to take a shuttle, but no one told us which shuttle, but so many others had trouble finding their way that they had to delay our flight until we all arrived.

Posted by
6386 posts

Another one in agreement that the connections are tight. I try to have about 3 hours layovers between flights. They allow time to get through passport control, and also a little time if your flight arrives late.

Posted by
11037 posts

It appears you bought your travel as a multi city booking ( thru Delta, presumably) { DL 142, DL9376 & DL 8703,DL35?}

As they sold it that way there should be time to make the connections. No leisurely stroll through he airport, but can be done. I cannot believe an airline would put a booking together that has a low success rate as, it gives them the problem of putting you on some other flight.

Lace up your walking shoes and KEEP MOVING! :-)

Passport control/immigration happens at your 1st entry point ( AMS) and customs occurs at the final destination (VCE)
On return NAP-CDG is a 'domestic' flight. You will need to do exit processing at CDG, which apart from getting to the gate itself, is the biggest time consuming activity. And when you arrive at SEA, you go through both for entry back into US.

(Have an aperitivo for me, while in Venice)

Posted by
9 posts

It's been a while since I've had a transfer in Amsterdam, so I cannot reliably comment on that leg. However, I fly through CDG fairly often connecting from cities in France to LAX and also from other cities in the EU connecting in CDG to LAX. When booking I allow 2 hours at the minimum, and even at 2 hours it is a tight connection. Sometimes you are bussed into the terminal, sometimes not. If you are lucky, your aircraft will pull right up to the gate.

The good news is the signage at CDG is excellent and there are many airline/airport staff to help you navigate if you run into trouble. As another reader said, don't dawdle. A few years ago, when flying Air France through CDG with a connection to Amsterdam I had a option of a 90 min layover or a 3 1/2 hour layover. My girlfriend thought 90 min was plenty, but she had never connected through CDG before. I said, we have to take the 3 1/2 hour if we have any hope of making our flight. So we did. I actually looked at my watch when we were at the 90 min mark on the ground at CDG and we were still in line at immigration. We were exhausted, having flown in from LAX but that beats being stressed.

Posted by
4025 posts

What can add unpredictable time to traversing CdG is the centralized security check for hand bags etc before boarding the second plane. Sometimes the lines are long, sometimes just annoying. I suggest familiarizing yourself with CdG layout at a site such as http://easycdg.com/
And when you get off the leg from Naples, double check the information boards in case your departure gate has changed.