Long vs. Short Layover Options

No matter what I would not go for a 1h 8m layover for a flight like that. I've not transited thru Newark but I've spent a 9 hour layover in SLC and 5 hours in MSP. You can have a meal, read a book, get some walking in in the terminal before you get on that long overnight flight. I, too, would be anxious about leaving the airport especially with all the traffic in that area. I would also try to purchase admission to the United frequent flyer lounge if you can. For Delta it's about $50 but probably worth it.

I took a quick look at Delta since they are an MSP hub and they route you thru CDG in Paris with many options just having a 1h40m transit time and that is NOT enough. You'll have to clear immigration in Paris as that is your entry to the Schengen Zone. I'd want 3 hours minimum there.

What about taking the afternoon flight on the day before your international flight. Get a hotel at the airport and spend the rest of the day in NYC. If you feel comfortable return the next day for a while, or sleep late, relax and head into the terminal 3 hours before your flight. I like to make the entire trip enjoyable so sometimes that means breaking up the flights.

Otherwise, I'd choose the morning flight with the long layover. I wouldn't expect to make a flight in Newark in an hour. Also, Newark is the most foreign airport through which I've ever traveled. I try to avoid it.

Thanks Pam! I agree about the short connection at CDG! We looked at Delta as a possibility but have ruled it out based on the fact that the longest possible connection is 1hr 50 minutes. We did that connection 3 years ago in that amount of time. I have no idea how the stars aligned for us, but they did and we made our flight to Venice. We're not going to try that again! We've never used a lounge. What exactly do you receive when purchasing a day pass?

I have flown through EWR innumerable times. Lots of delays landing and taking off there. I would not accept such a tight connection at EWR. Would you consider flying to EWR, staying overnight and flying out the next day? We often do that. We take trian into NYC for lunch.
Or with a long delay, buy a day pass to a club where you can relax, have snacks and drinks. Being in an airport club is much less stressful and tiring.

LOVE your idea Wray! Unfortunately my husband can't take any more days off work. Our vacation is 19 days and he can't take any more at this time. I will keep that idea in mind for future trips though! Thanks for suggesting it!

Thanks Suki for the info about EWR! We've never connected there before. After reading your comments, and the comments from others, we'll have to select the option with the long layover. Sounds like a pass for the lounge might be a good suggestion.

If you're not flying business or first class, I would pay for access to a United Club lounge to make the long layover more bearable.

I would check on the United lounge status in Newark. We flew out of Newark in May and the United lounge was in a temporary location due to construction/refurbishment of the lounge. I do not think the temporary lounge would be worth $50.

I would look at the Delta flight going through Amsterdam,if the flight is direct from MSP. We flew from PDX to Inverness, Scotland this year through AMS with 1 hour layover time. I was concerned about it, but we have always arrived in AMS at least 1/2 hour early. AMS and Delta now have a new area at AMS (at least our flight did) where you do not have to go through passport control. The arriving gate and departure gate were very close. The agents at the gate checked our passport. We actually ended up having to wait about 1/2 hour before the gate even opened.

Couple things...

First, you would be insane to take that tight connection in EWR. Looks like you figured that out, good.

Second, with the time you have, that's not a good bet to try and dash into NYC and back. If you knew your way around there, maybe, but as someone who's unfamiliar with the place, no way. Stay in/around the airport.

About the lounge option...

Good news and bad news time. The good news: United has recently put in one of their new "Polaris" lounges at EWR. These lounges are VERY nice - I mean wonderful nice. I haven't been to the one in EWR yet, but have been to their Polaris lounges in ORD and SFO. These are surprisingly good. Lovely showers, a sit down restaurant with very good food that you order off a menu. A great bar stocked with the good stuff. Comfy seating, maybe even a "day room" where you can catch a short nap in privacy and security. I mean, these are really nice. Oh, and all free. The bad news: only available if you're flying International Business or First on United or one of their partners. You can't buy a day pass.

So if you're flying business class, you will certainly enjoy any number of hours there. If you're not...

You should check to see what lounge options you might have paid access to. Lounge quality varies tremendously, from "meh" to "OMG." I'm not familiar with the current scene at EWR to offer specific advice (other than, if you have a business class ticket on United, you're going to like their fancy new lounge).

Thank you traylaparks, Bob, and David for the information about the lounges. Unfortunately, we are not flying first or business class. We will look into the lounge options/availability.
Chale, we would love to fly Delta (we usually do since MSP is a Delta hub). But on our date of departure, June 19, all the Delta flight options to NAP route through CDG--most with very short layovers. There are a couple options to fly from MSP to another domestic city first and then to CDG with a 3hr 30 min layover at CDG, but we'd probably rather spend 7 hours at the Newark airport than have an extra connection unnecessarily. I'd also rather not deal with CDG again if we can help it. Thanks!

A always prefer to take the longest leg of my trips first, which would put me into one of the large gateway airports in Europe for connecting flights. I try to avoid any of the three NYC area airports whenever possible.
In your case, Minneapolis has direct flights to Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Paris Charles deGaulle. Aer Lingus is also going to start flying Minneapolis to Dublin on 7/9/2019.

These cities are good for connections to just about every city in Europe. But Amsterdam has EasyJet and Vueling flying down to Naples, and the airfares on both are extremely inexpensive.

We've never used a lounge. What exactly do you receive when purchasing a day pass?

American airport lounges are poor in comparison to those elsewhere and I certainly would never pay to spend time in any of the ones I've been in. The only exception is the American Airlines Flagship lounge in Miami, that was very good but it's only available for first and business class passengers, you can't purchase entry and this appears to be the theme, if you can't buy a pass then you can almost guarantee that it's going to be a very good lounge, if you can then expect mediocrity.

I suspect with some time enjoying a leisurely meal, a bit of reading, walking around etc you'll find those seven hours passing quite quickly.

I've had to spend large blocks of time in American airports. While it's not fun, I would just read, possibly have something to eat, take shopping strolls, etc. It's slow, but the time passes. Just like it does on the flight.
Whenever possible, I avoid having my layover at a US airport. If you miss the connection, there may not be any available flights later that day. However, if you fly to airports like Amsterdam or CDG, if you miss your connection there are likely to be other flights later in the day. For example, when we flew to Lyon from Boston through Munich this Spring, the connection in Munich was shorter than I would have chosen, but I wasn't worried because there was another flight on the same airline a few hours later (but we made the connection easily). So if you haven't done so, I would check the various Delta options and see what flights there would be if you missed your connection.

sibdaisy, 68 minutes is not enough time because delays can happen. 6 hrs, 50 minutes at EWR is doable but unpleasant. How about considering Door #3?

Since UA is your airline, have you considered other UA hubs to connect to NAP like IAD or ORD? Check itineraries with connections at these 2 hubs to see if there is a connecting flight to NAP 2-3 hours later as opposed to 1 hour or 7 hours later.

We had a nine hour layover at Newark this past March, arrived around 8 am to connect to a 5 pm flight to Berlin. I dreaded it, but was surprised at how quickly the time passed. We strolled from our arrival gate to the departure gate. Read a while, walked the concourse, found a surprisingly decent place for lunch (Liberty Diner), took turns napping, read some more and it was time to board. While not my first choice of places to spend a day, it's doable. (And I would do ANYTHING to keep from connecting through CDG after spending a day there due to a missed connection).

Here is another option:

Since flights to Naples from the US are rare, have you considered flying to Rome instead?

You could stay over in Rome, or proceed to Naples by train on the day you arrive.

Thank you all for your replies! You've given us a lot to think about. We have looked into flying into Rome and taking the train to Naples. We've also looked at other airlines and other flight options. We'll give everything another look, keeping in mind all the suggestions from these helpful replies. Thanks again!