How much time for a connecting flight?

An hour and half can be a little tight for a connection in Europe from the US.. I would prefer to connect in the US/Canada and then direct to Europe. When you connect in Europe you need to go through immigration at your first airport. That is a big variable depending on several factors you cannot control - your plane is on time, number of other flights, lines at immigration, security, etc. - and then you do customs at your final destination. The good part is that if you miss your connection then the airline is responsible for getting you to your final destination.

The common wisdom is that it is better to have your connection in Europe. The reasoning is that if there is a glitch, you'll be at a European hub, from which there will likely be more flights to your destination than from an American hub. Rest assured that if your connection is on the same ticket, they have to get you there. We've had some 1.5 hour connections and always made it; as did our bags. Not that I advise it; some white knuckle time!

Schipol is a great airport through which to connect.

The common wisdom is that it is better to have your connection in
Europe.

I think that depends on if you have a tight connection scheduled or not. I've had multiple connections in the US where I had plenty of time to make it - for instance two hours with United in Chicago. I could have done it in an hour.

The nice thing about connecting in the US is that you don't have to do anything except get to the gate, whereas in Europe you probably have immigration, and that can be a serious holdup.

I also would not relish having to find my way around an unfamiliar airport in Europe, with an unfamiliar language, after a sleepless night on an airplane.

Also, three out of the last ten flights to Europe, I've been an hour late arriving in Europe. Fortunately, I was going to my final airport and didn't have a connection to make.

I think it would depend on the specifics, like how long the different connection options were, how frequently there were other flight options if something went awry, etc. I would probably want to connect where I had plenty of time for the connection (depending on size of the airport, whether I had to clear immigration there, etc.) and where there were other flight options that day if I missed the connection due to a delayed flight, etc.

A heads' up on the Montreal and Toronto airports, though. I'm not sure about on the way over to Europe and you'd have to do some digging on the airport websites or with the airline for that, but on the way back from Europe, you would actually clear U.S. customs in Toronto or Montreal if you flew through those airports, and would have to budget time for that in your connection.

I always prefer to have the connection in Europe, i.e. Schiphol or CDG, so if we were delayed, there's more options & if a long delay, we could at least head into a European city overnight. I never book a flight that's less than 2 1/2 hour connection - just because I don't want to start our vacation stressed about making it to our final destination. I chose the longer connection time to sit longer when we went CDG to Venice; the 1 1/2 hour connection wouldn't have made it.

I've almost always connected in Europe, and much prefer that to connecting in the US. As another person mentioned, if you connect at a European hub and you miss the connection, there is a high likelihood of later flights or alternative routes. If you miss your US connection, there's a good chance that the next flight won't be until the next day. And if you have to stay overnight, would you prefer to be in Amsterdam, or Philadelphia/Chicago etc.?

I would say use caution if booking connection in Toronto. Last fall I had connection from Denver to Toronto (to Europe) with hour and half and barely made it. In Toronto, it was very long walk to checkpoints, and confusing with lack of signage. After my experience, I saw other comments on this forum about poor experiences in Toronto.

1.5 hours is the bare minimum for British Airways transfers at LHR, so I've always followed that rule. For peace of mind, give yourself more time. It's kind of nice to stretch out, brush your teeth/wash your face and meander through the duty free shops. My last layover was 3 hours and it was perfect. The time flies by faster than you'd think.

Rosalyn: The common wisdom is that it is better to have your connection in Europe.

I share Rosalyn's sentiment that its better to connect at a major European hub like AMS than a similar tight connection at a major North American hub. I should add that a 90 minute connection at AMS is normally not a challenge assuming your North American departure is not significantly delayed.

My logic is that a specific airline (e;g/ KLM/Delta) non-stop transatlantic flights are less frequent than the short flight from a major European hub like AMS. For example, if my flight to AMS is late and I miss my connection to Oslo, AMS has flights to Oslo about every two hours. If I miss my SEA to AMS flight, I loose a day.

Check the alternative flight availability from AMS to Barcelona. The depart AMS about every other hour between 2:15 pm and 9:45 pm. If you have a "legal connection" the booking airline is obligated to get you there.

The legal connection time for BA at Heathrow is 60 or 70 minutes when in the same terminal or 90 if you need to change in either direction. For peace of mind though you might want to allow extra, even if these connections will be served up by booking sites.