trying to choose flights...questions about connections (times!)

The efficiency of airport operations will determine whether or not you bags make each connection. I had a two and one half hour layover this weekend for a domestic to domestic itinerary. My bag did not make the connection. On a ninety minute connection domestic to international my bag arrived as scheduled.

Unfortunately I’m not able to provide incite regarding the airports you’ve mentioned because I don’t fly connections through any of them. I’ve used Heathrow a number of times as an arrival or departure point only.

Thanks for suggestions. I generally try not to give too much location info away. We're in the middle of the county and driving to DFW would be 6+ hours. Driving to ORD would be 10+ hours. So from our small regional airport, or even the other 2 regional airports nearby, options are limited.

It just doesn't seem worth it to rent a car, drive 6 hours, and almost certainly spend the night in DFW on both ends of the trip to eliminate one connection.

I am shopping multi-city and choosing the equivalent of AA's Main Cabin (the step up from basic economy that includes one checked bag and allows refunds for travel credit).

For the route I asked about, I can take an earlier flight from our home that then connects CLT to PHL earlier and gives a longer connection at PHL for onward to ZRH. Increases the connection to about 2.5 hours in both CLT and PHL.

Still shopping, but looking like around $1250 per adult. Fun.

For LHR, I would not risk a connection of less than 3 hours. The airport is massive, you will go through immigration AND security before your connecting flight.

For connections in the US, I would be more comfortable with minimum 2 hour connections.

I've considered driving to DFW but between driving/parking for 2 weeks/etc., there wasn't enough price difference to justify.

I don't know about the Dallas area but in CA some airport area hotels offer a drive/fly package where parking is free if you spend the nite before your flight at the hotel. Two weeks free parking might be pushing it though.

Our preference is not to connect in the states on a flight to Europe. Weather, plane mechanical issue, etc. can result in missing the connecting flight. There are many more flights within Europe than there are flights across the Atlantic. And if worst comes to worst and you're in Europe, there's always the train. It's true that if you purchase your itinerary on a single ticket they have an obligation to get you there, but that may mean eventually and not a few hours after your scheduled arrival.

Have you priced multi-city trips where you fly to DFW or ATL or some other direct airport, spend the nite, and then go to Zurich the next day? I'd be much more comfortable with that.

I'm still shopping around. I have a Delta option. It's still 2 stops.

Home -> ATL
1:51 layover
ATL -> AMS
1:35 layover
AMS -> ZRH

But based on other comments, is the 1:35 in AMS also too short? Since that would be our Schengen arrival, we would have to do immigration there, right?

Sorry I'm asking so much. None of us have traveled internationally in over 15 years.

For LHR, I would not risk a connection of less than 3 hours. The airport is massive, you will go through immigration AND security before your connecting flight.

If you are connecting at Heathrow from the US to a flight to Zurich, you will NOT got through immigration but you will go through security.

The more connections you make, the more chance of flight delays, baggage not making connections, etc.

If you took the flight that first lands in Amsterdam, you would go through Schengen immigration there.

My suggestion is to get to Europe as quickly as possible and with the least amount of connections. Not necessarily Zurich but your options for London or Amsterdam sound good.

If this is all on one ticket, then if you miss a connection, the airline has to put you on the next available flight at no charge. If they are giving these connection times, then they believe it can be done. (Don't use third party booking sites that put together numerous different airlines that are not in the same alliance. You won't be protected.)

There are more flights between European cities than there are flights from the US to Europe.

thank you all! I think (hope?) I have a better understanding of things.

Given our location, we just have to deal with an extra connection. Nothing to be done about it. And the extra cost for 4 people to drive 6 hours or fly to a hub city and stay the night before just gets prohibitive.

So I will do what I can...paying attention to layover times...trying to get to Europe on as few connections as possible even if it means AMS or CDG or other before ZRH.

Thanks!

...based on other comments, is the 1:35 in AMS also too short? Since that would be our Schengen arrival, we would have to do immigration there, right?

It should be OK as long as your flight from Atlanta is not horribly delayed. You will have to go through immigration upon arrival. If the line is very long, they have a separate short connection line for those who risk missing their next flight. They have staff working the line and make efforts to get people through in time. But on a single ticket, Delta will be responsible to get you to Zurich.

Note that AMS is massive and there may be a lot of walking involved to get to your departure gate.

I was through there recently - if the immigration line isn't terribly long - if you enter the maze with it not completely full, you can get to your departure gate in 30 - 40 minutes from the time you deplane.

So the Delta itinerary seems like a good choice.

I vote for the Delta flight. I would be comfortable booking that ATL>AMS>Zurich flight for myself.

You can fly DFW to Philadelphia and then non-stop to Zurich on American Airlines. The best part of flying American Airlines is that your return flight from FCO is non-stop into DFW.

The alternative would be DFW to Atlanta and non-stop to Zurich on Delta (after 5/31/2024). The return flight would be FCO t0 ATL and connecting to DFW.

I just want to mention that any of these flight times potentially could change, possibly significantly. I have continued to book flights 6+ months ahead of the journeys and can't think of a time there hasn't been a change, often several hours, sometimes more, including the domestic flights.
There's the option to change the ticket given all ng with the notification, but that can set off a cascade of other factors.
For example, my Delta- USA connection from within Europe this June is now a 7+ hours layover in AMS, also with a 6 am departure rather than 10 am from Lyon... I ended up just keeping it.
Hopefully this won't happen for your group but just a caveat to prepare for.

Hi, randomnightowl:

It sounds like you may be our neighbors! We live in NE Oklahoma, and have exactly the same connections available to us that you mention. You're just going to have to resign yourself to that extra leg, from your regional airport to one of the hubs.

Tulsa is an international airport, but just for freight. However... evidently they are planning to start international passenger flights soon. Not to Europe yet, just Mexico, but it's a start! We are hopeful that the experiment goes well, and that European destinations be added soon, before we age out of international travel.

I agree with John and Frank II, get across the Atlantic as soon as you can. You'll have to fly (or drive, which seems excessive) to an international hub in the US, but don't take another flight within the US, take one that gets you to a European airport where you can get one to Zurich. And try to do it on the same airline, or airlines that code-share, on one ticket, so you'll be protected if one of the flights is delayed.

I'd personally be nervous about a 1.5-hour AMS connection, but not so much a 3-hour LHR connection (though LHR can be a pain). Your level of concern suggests that you might look for itineraries with longer layovers, especially after long international flights. It's not much fun sitting around a big airport for 4-6 hours, especially after an overnight flight, but it may be worth it for the peace of mind.

I've considered driving to DFW but between driving/parking for 2 weeks/etc., there wasn't enough price difference to justify.

Have you checked ”park, sleep, and fly” options? Some hotels close to airports will include free parking while you are away if you spend one night there either before or after your trip. This can be a lot less than airport parking.

Of your two choices, I would probably choose the otion via LHR for the simple reason that there are multiple daily flights between LHR and ZRH. If you miss the connection at PHL, you would probably need to spend the night there before you could get another flight. At LHR, there is a chance you could get on another flight the same day.

Find an itinerary with only one connection. Not 2.

Next, give yourself a cushion of at least 2 1/2 hours at that connecting airport just in case. If that connecting airport is in Europe (like Heathrow), give yourself 3 to 4 hours of cushion. Anything can happen to delay your flight to that connecting airport; don’t take any chances.

Last, make sure you are on ONE itinerary. Don’t arrange your travel as separate itineraries.

Thanks everyone for the additional responses!

Yes Jane, we are neighbors. We are in NW Arkansas so flying out of XNA. Guess I should have just put that in from the beginning.

We just can't seem to bring ourselves to justify driving to DFW. The time to do it and the cost of renting a car and potentially staying a night in a hotel both ways just isn't offset by a lower price. We'll just have to live with an extra connection in most cases.

It seems a little crazy to me that some of the airline sites will recommend an itinerary with only a 45 minute connection in ATL. If a flight is delayed at all you're screwed. Especially with checked bags. I'd love to do carry-on only...but I'm not prepared to be that person that has a carry-on roller, personal item bag/backpack, and a medical bag (CPAP). Plus Mom doesn't need to be trying to keep up with carry-on roller and a personal item between gates/changing planes. So even though we are planning on carry on size suitcases, we plan to check.

We are also trying to decide if it is worth it to move our trip up by 2 weeks. We might have incrementally better chances of good weather in Switzerland but I'm not sure how much difference there really would be around Sept. 18th vs. Oct. 2nd.

United appears to fly to Zurich from your home airport with only one stop in Chicago. Coming back from Rome is another matter.

Yes, United is pretty much the only 1 stop option. But availability varies wildly by day. Or should I say price. I'm definitely watching that route and trying to balance air and hotel options.

UPDATE!

Thanks everyone, we are booked. We are taking the one stop option through ORD. The ORD-ZRH leg is operated by Swiss Air so we had to pay separately for our seat selections but overall wasn't too painful.

We have a 3 hour layover in Chicago on the XNA-ORD-ZRH flight to Europe. And we have a 2:20 layover in Chicago on the FCO-ORD-XNA coming home.

Sounds like an ideal flight schedule, randomnightowl. Enjoy your trip!