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European Layover Question

Posted by (Columbus, Ohio, United States) on

My husband and I are going to Prague in May and I had a few questions about flights.

  1. In the past, when flying to Europe we’ve always had a direct flight from the US to our European destination, so I’m just curious what the process is when you are coming from the US and have a layover in Europe. Do you have to collect your bags and go through customs, etc. or is it just like a normal layover?

  2. We are flying from Columbus using points and these are the flights I'm currently looking at:
    Option A: a 5.5-hour layover in Newark and a 2.5-hour layover in Rome.

    Option B: a 2.5-hour layover in Newark and a 5.5-hour layover in Rome.
    Option C: 4.5 hr layover in Toronto and then a 2 hr 5 min layover in Dublin. This one is a lot fewer points, but the CMH-YYZ portion would be through a different airline, so we'd have to collect our bags and check in again in Toronto.

Any feedback on which of these sounds like our best option?

Thanks!

Posted by
14723 posts

I'll answer #1. There are several answers here depending on where your final destination is.

  • If you are landing in a Schengen treaty country and your final destination is a Shengen country then you go thru passport control at the first location but don't collect your bags until you get to your final destination where you will walk thru the green door that is "customs, nothing to declare". For instance Columbus via Amsterdam (where you go thru passport control) and on to Prague (where you collect your luggage and go thru Customs)

  • If you are landing in a Schengen country and your destination is not a Schengen country then you may not have to pass thru Passport control (may depend on the airport and I've only got experience in Amsterdam). You do not collect luggage. For instance: Spokane WA via Seattle to Amsterdam with final destination of Aberdeen Scotland (UK is not a Schengen country). I stayed within the International area and did not have to do passport control to enter or leave the Schengen area since I was not leaving the airport nor was my destination another European Schengen country.

And saying that assumes you know what a Schengen country is....https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Area

Posted by
647 posts

Someone may have more info, but not 100% clear to me that you need to collect and
recheck in Toronto. If everything is on one ticket, the bags should be checked through
in Columbus to final destination. If two different tickets, one for CMH-YYZ and one for
YYZ-DUB-PRG, then there is some chance they will check your bags through at CMH
if you show them the second itinerary, but they have the option to refuse.

Of course, with 4.5 hours, you should have no issues either way.

If you have lounge access in one airport but not the other, that might be a factor, but
none of the options looks particularly concerning. Avoiding Newark would be a plus
in some people's eyes.

Posted by
2723 posts

If I understand #2(C) you are booking two separate tickets, one using points and a second ticket with a completely different airline? If that's the case, don't do that. I understand the desire to use points, but the options are all kind of horrible, plus two stops adds drama potential for delays, and will make for a very, very long travel day. Newark has a direct Prague flight (I've taken it). Can you finesse the point scheme to make that happen? Or maybe fly out of Detroit or Chicago? By the time you use your points, you may find it is cheaper (in terms of your time) to buy a less stressful flight situation and save the points for something else. My two cents.

Posted by
4071 posts

I suggest you have just one connection and not two especially if you have checked bags because you will have a greater chance of checked bags being lost, flights being canceled, etc. I know in the US, Delta flies nonstop between JFK and Prague and you can fly from Columbus to JFK. You won’t have to go through security at JFK because you will be landing at terminal 4 from Columbus and taking off from terminal 4.

Posted by
1261 posts

Hi Jennifer. We have used United miles several times for trips to Europe using a variety of connection points. We have connected outbound or inbound in Chicago, Newark, Washington Dulles, Toronto, and Montreal, and all have worked fine. If one of your flight options uses significantly fewer miles, that for me would far outweigh any differences in connection cities. For outbound thru Canada, our bags were tagged to the final destination, but we did have to recheck them at our Canada stop. But this is not like checking in for a flight; it's a simple, quick process. Just pick up your bag (already tagged to final destination) and re-drop it maybe 30 feet away from where you picked it up. Also, assuming these are United miles... United is very liberal on changes, and flight availability with miles often changes over time. So you can book something when ready, and if any time before your trip, something better comes up, you can easily go online and change to the new flights; any difference in miles or fees will be adjusted. If I haven't explained this clearly, feel free to message me. Have a great trip!

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