Hi, looking at flight from Chicago to Madrid connecting on to Venice, both on Iberia. From what I can tell, flights arrive and depart terminal 4 in Madrid. One hour connection time.
Do I have to collect luggage and go through immigration at Madrid airport, or just passport control? Is one hour sufficient for the transfer?
If you are on one ticket -- as you imply. Then you will not see your luggage until Venice when you go through customs. In Madrid you will do passport control (immigration is the same) and one hour could be tight BUT if you miss the connection Iberia will be responsible for getting you to Venice. Try to choose a seat near the exit of the plane. That will provide a few extra minutes.
Iberia would be responsible for getting you to Venice on the next available flight, which may or may not be the same day or even the next day.
The last time I transferred in Madrid, it wasn’t particularly quick, although this was pre Covid. What’s your alternative?
Thanks for the information. Jennifer, alternative is a later flight which gives more connection time. Will look at that.
If you are buying the ticket from Iberia then you should be fine.
If you are looking at some other 3rd party site, you could be stuck ( financially) if something goes wrong.
Are you looking at one ticket or two tickets?
One hour might be a "legal connection" for Iberia, but it will be tight, at best. Madrid's Terminal 4 is massive—one of the biggest terminals in the world. You'll pull into a gate at the flanks of the non-Schengen satellite, walk towards the center to passport control, down three (or four) flights to the train, take the train to T4's main section, go up 3 (or 4) flights, through a full security process, and then walk out to your departure gate somewhere in the main terminal. And remember that gates close 10-15 minutes prior to scheduled departure.
Yes, if you missed the connection the airline would rebook you to the next flights that have space available, which may not be the next flight. To each their own, but I always prefer to make plans that don't have that level of stress built-in right off the bat.
We have flown into Madrid, via Iberia, and connect to other Iberia flights to interior Spain destinations while traveling only with carry on luggage. The one hour connecting time is a minimum and have twice missed the connection. Fortunately our connection was Seville where hourly flights are available so we took the next flight.
If you have a reasonable choice then strongly recommend taking a connecting flight providing a minimum of 90 minutes to traverse between the gates. Madrid is a huge, and wonderful airport, but avoiding the stress of trying to make the connection is worth the added delay.
