Hi All!
We will be flying from Chicago to Madrid to Lisbon in just under two months on Iberia Airlines. We have an hour layover in Madrid. Will we have to go through Passport Control in Madrid, or will we do that when we land in Lisbon? I'm concerned with the amount of time we will have in Madrid. It's all booked on one ticket. We will have to transfer from Terminal 4S to Terminal 4. Thanks!
Since Madrid is your first stop in the EU/Schengen zone, you would have to go through Passport Control after landing. You won't have to bother about Customs until Lisbon. But since they are on the same ticket, if you are late and miss your onward flight, the airline will get you on another flight.
We connected through Madrid last year and 1 hour was definitely not enough. Our connection time was scheduled for 95 minutes (55 minutes is the minimum); unfortunately we were 20 minutes late in arriving in Madrid. It was quite a long walk to passport control, then a 45 minute wait to clear passport control. From there is a subway ride to terminal 4 where we had to go through security. Needless to say we missed our connection. The FA on our NY to Madrid flight told us we had a tight connection and would be met in the terminal upon arrival and expedited through passport control. Unfortunately there was no one in the terminal for assistance as we and several other passengers had been told. Our flights were all on one ticket so we were able to take a later flight but had to wait over 1 hour for the customer service desk then another 9 hours for the next flight. I would certainly never accept that short a connection again.
First of all, I'd contact the airline and explain that the connection is too short and that they need to change you (no charge) to a later flight. It looks like Iberia has 5 lights a day, at 3-4 hour intervals, so any later flight would be okay. That way, you aren't risking a much longer wait if the next flight is fully booked. The computer parameters never seem to take into account the actual logistics. Even if your ORD-MAD flight lands on time, you don't get off the plane immediately (even if the crew make arrangments for you to be the first off the plane), and you will need to board the next flight at least 15 minutes before takeoff. That leaves you down to about 1/2 hour. Ridiculous.
If the agent doesn't understand, be patient and explain that you have to go through immigration and change terminals, etc, etc. It's very likely that s/he has never been on a similar route - maybe never been to Europe. If all else fails, ask for a supervisor. Don't give up easily and don't wait til you get to Madrid.
I agree that an hour is not enough time in Madrid. Madrid is large and the short haul flights (like Madrid to Lisbon) always seem to be at the very end of the terminal - taking even more time.
Call the airline as Chani suggested.
