Dtw to Berlin, so many options

For a variety of reasons, all stemming from the post-war division of Germany, Berlin has very little direct service from North America. You'll have many more options connecting in Europe. I'd just plan a comfortable/generous length layover to get through immigration.

Quite a few folks on the forum have suggested in the past that Heathrow and Charles de Gaulle are best avoided for connections, and I've followed that advice. I've transferred in Amsterdam, Munich and Frankfurt without incident. I'd have no qualms about Brussels, Geneva or Zurich if I found a good fare and schedule through one of those cities.

On two recent trips I flew back from Europe to Newark and changed planes there. That worked OK, too.

I opt for generous layovers when I can. My rule is a minimum of one hour longer that the shortest connection I see on Google Flights for my transfer airport. I like a bit more time than that if possible.

With all the schedule changes and flight cancellations folks have been dealing with, I think it's worth trying to choose an airline whose alliance has a lot of service to your chosen destination. If you end up with an untenable itinerary due to a schedule change and have to be rebooked, it's better to have some decent options to choose from.

Here's another vote for Schiphol over CDG. Last year I had a connecting flight at CDG, going from MSP to BER, and the connection on the way was a nightmare. Coming back was fine, but I sometimes think that CDG goes out of its way to make things as inconvenient and confusing as possible. Schiphol is much easier and more streamlined, in my opinion. I'm traveling through AMS in a week and am very happy it's not CDG.

ETA: TSA Precheck will not help you in Europe - it's only good at US airports.

Douglas, I just did a quick dummy ticket from DTW to BER in mid-September and it looks like your options are either JFK, AMS or CDG. One advantage of JFK is that there's no passport control until you get to BER, which would save time. I would always much rather land directly at one airport in Europe rather than two.

JFK is a lot nicer now than it used to be, especially the Delta terminal, which I'm assuming you'll be flying. https://thepointsguy.com/news/delta-air-lines-jfk-terminal-4-upgrades/

You could go United making a non-stop connection to Berlin in Newark or Dulles.

Delta will be flying to BER thru JFK late May.

Lufthansa flies out of Detroit to Berlin and to Frankfurt. Connecting flights into Berlin are available.

We flew KLM into Amsterdam and then made a connecting flight into BER a year ago. The flight over had the worst food and service we've ever experienced.

So you have many travel options.

Another vote for Schipol (AMS) or JFK. Schipol is big, so allow plenty of time - but it's also clean, bright, lots of amenities if you have to hang out, and efficient. Also, everyone speaks English, so easy to get information, directions and assistance. JFK is a good choice for all of the reasons stated above. Avoid DeGaulle at all costs.

If you connected via Heathrow you would avoid immigration until you arrived in Berlin.

If you connected at CDG, AMS, BRU or anywhere else within the Schengen zone you would do immigration at that airport and not Berlin.

Thanks for the advise so far.

I have never seen direct flights to Berlin from DTW. Even Lufthansa flies through Frankfurt or some other location. The Frankfurt flight is nice on a 787 which is supposedly nicer then anything Delta flys as it keeps the presser set to a lower altitude/higher pressure so that supposedly helps.
But they nor thier partners have a direct flight home to Detroit.

Delta has a direct flight home from London but has two options to get to Berlin
A long layover in JFK (almost 5 hours). Or a short layover in Amsterdam (2h)
The JFK layover is so long you almost want to go see New York, meanwhile the Amsterdam layover makes you wonder if you will get through passport control and get back on the plane with your luggage.

The JFK flight is Delta. A319 and B767
The Amsterdam flight is Delta A330 and then a KLM B737

I have looked at several online air ticket sites and they all seam to suck, worse routes worse prices etc. compared to just booking with the airlines direct.
But then you get issues. On Lufthansa you get good options to Berlin but not all options for its partners show up on the London to DTW
Meanwhile going to United gives you the Lufthansa flight to Berline but not the same seating options and actually cost more.
Frankly this game that the airlines plays is nuts.
And I am beginning to remember what I don’t like about flying.

BTW I know that Precheck does not work for Europe but I have in the past had to go through security during a layover that bounced me from one terminal to another. (JFK about 10 years ago for example)

I have done a lot of research on flights to Berlin. If you don't want to fly the new budget carrier, Norse Atlantic, the only non-stop to Berlin from the US is from Newark on United.
Delta will be flying a seasonal non-stop from JFK starting in May and ending in late September.
Otherwise, connections are inevitable. I am not familiar with the Star Alliance connection cities - I would assume Frankfurt would be the main one. If you're on a SkyTeam carrier, that would likely be AMS or CDG - I too would choose AMS over CDG every time.

And yes, it's possible you may have to change terminals at some point in your flight, so be sure to build in a generous connection time. AMS is much easier to navigate than CDG, but you could potentially have a lot of ground to cover to catch your next flight.

And lastly, always book direct with the airline.

I'll be taking the JFK flight this summer. Fortunately (for now) I have just under 2 hours to connect.

A plus with many Delta flights (including this flight JFK to BER) is the pairs of seats on the sides in coach. AFAIK no 787 offers this seating arrangement, best for 2 people especially on an overnight flight. Note that you will get free seat selection (and free movies) on the Delta flight to JFK, but neither on any KLM, AF, or Lufthansa flight you might pick up in CDG, AMS, or FRA to carry you to BER. I really don't know how fast the immigration will be in BER or if there are a lot of flights from non-Schengen airports landing there.

There's a great Indian restaurant in Queens I can recommend if you want to leave JFK.

We had a tight connection in Schiphol last week. ATL-AMS-CTA with a 55 minute layover, and on top of that we landed eleven minutes late. We made it from touchdown to boarding our next flight, including clearing customs, in 28 minutes. AMS is so efficient! The only downside was that our luggage didn’t make it with us, and it took three days to get to Catania.

TSA precheck will only help you when you leave DTW. That’s it.

Delta flies nonstop between JFK and BER. DTW is a hub since Delta bought Northwest which means there will be a few flights between DTW and JFK. So you could consider flying DTW to Berlin via JFK. JFK’s wheelchair service is good as they have always met me at the jetway when flying into JFK. You will arrive at JFK and takeoff for Berlin at the same JFK terminal which is terminal 4. Since you are traveling with an elderly lady, allow time at JFK so I recommend allowing at least 2.5 hours.

So you can buy an open jaw ticket on Delta:
DTW — BER (via JFK)
LHR — DTW Nonstop