Sorry if this has been asked a million times, my Google skills just aren't giving me the answer clearly.
Looking to fly United from Newark to Frankfurt, but most of the layovers are only 1.25 hours and involve a plane change. Since it's all one ticket can I assume I have enough time to go thru immigration? Can you confirm that I won't go thru customs until I reach my destination?
Thank you anyone for your help.
Where are your layovers?
Kinda difficult to give an answer without knowing that.
Edith, The rule is as follows: You are flying from Newark USA to xxx and from xxx to Frankfurt-am-Main.
If xxx is in the Schengen Area, then you will go through immigration when you land in xxx; and if necessary have your passport stamped. You will not go through passport control when you land in Frankfurt, as you are already in the Schengen Area
If xxx is not in the Schengen Area, then you will stay "airside" in xxx. You will not legally enter xxx-land. You will go through immigration when you land in Frankfurt; and if necessary have your passport stamped there.
In both cases, because you have one ticket, your luggage will be labelled through to Frankfurt, you will not see it until then. In Frankfurt, after immigration (if any), you will pick up your bags and carry them through customs. Customs is a random check only. You have to be very unlucky to be stopped.
There is a map of which countries are in the Schengen Area here: https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--jIBKY6VdsY/VtisrS9x6tI/AAAAAAAAA4I/_leAxgJTLkY/s1600/schengen-countries-map-2016-03.png
Looked at the UAL site and surprisingly it seems the 'connection' happens at a US or Canadian airport, for the 4-6 flights I looked at.
Is this what you are looking at?
As they are selling it as a single itinerary it should work barring some unusual circumstance delaying the 1st flight
Is there a reason you aren’t taking a nonstop flight to Frankfurt? Or do you mean that you are traveling to somewhere else in Europe and will only have 1.25 hours in Frankfurt?
ohhh I know those short layovers aghh I like 2 hours for everything...or 3!
If you can do carry on only it will be much easier and faster for you. You will have no problem. If you dont make it then a bunch of others arent going to make it either and the airline dosnt want that mess.
I've had short and also have another short lay over like that coming up here...but I've never had a problem.
I always feel like I am hearded very well without even knowing what im doing but heading towards a gate.
Remember the airline knows you and whole bunch of other people only have that short amount of time... so with what i've experienced as long as you don't dilly dally they have it set up for you to make your flight so they dont have to rebook you.
Just find your gate first then go to the bathroom and get snacks.
I dont remember having to do customs unless I leave the airport, maybe semi quick passport stamp, maybe someone else knows more about it...
But dont worry :)
Ohh if you feel comfortable. Let us know what airport your layover is at?
Or even let us know the flight numbers and days of flight?
Sorry I didn't add these details in my original post. My choices would be:
Charles de Gaulle for 1 hr 35 min
London Heathrow 1 hr 10 min
Milan Malpensa 40 min
Manchester 1 hr 40 min
Geneva 1 hr 25 min
Dublin 2 hr 5 min
Washington Dullas 1 hr 10 min
I am using reward miles and the direct flight "costs" too much, otherwise it would be great.
Thank you again!
Avoid London Heathrow or Paris Charles de Gaulle (or any other airport where you have multiple terminals a long distance apart). LHR and CDG are famous for being huge and unmanageable.
Milan and Geneva are in the Schengen Area, so you would need to go through immigration, which is extra time.
Don't know anything about Washington.
I would pick Manchester or Dublin, purely because they have the longest time.
Third choice Geneva, as the Swiss are efficient.
There is nothing wrong with two segment flights, especially when they are free or discounted with miles. If you arrive at 7AM, not only is your hotel room unavailable, but nothing is open to visit yet, either. This is not a horrible plan at all.
Although the statements about LHR and CDG are true, you have other factors you can look at. An important one, although it takes effort, is to know which airports are "hubs" for the airlines/partners you are flying. You care, because if flights are disrupted, your carrier has more options to get you "there" or "home" the same day if there are later flights. It is easier to look up "average on-time arrivals" for any given airport, which may be a measure of "efficiency." I do despise Heathrow, and have been in some awful immigration lines there. This will get worse with Brexit, presumably.
I would observe that being a Swiss company does not protect an airline or airport from a volcano eruption, a snap strike by airline employees in another country that disrupts flights through Switzerland, or an incident of some kind in a nearby major airport.
Another factor is that if you are upgrading with those miles, some airlines (like Lufthansa) have better Business Class than others (like United, for example.) Do you know already if you can sleep well on a plane? Air time total might be important to you.
BTW, have you considered open-jaw flights for your vacation? You might save time and ground transportation money. United doesn't care - it may actually increase your options. I'm surprised they have two segment flights to Frankfurt - a massive airport. When I have booked (necessarily) two-segment flights to places like Cologne or Leipzig, we are often routed through Frankfurt with United and partners.
"Heathrow, and have been in some awful immigration lines there. This will get worse with Brexit, presumably."
I wish I knew the answer to that question. Currently 50% of the immigration desks are for EU citizens, and they handle over 50% of the passengers as EU citizens don't need passports stamping, no visas and no checks. Just verify the passport and check it is the same person. Will they make the desks 20% UK citizens, 80% others (including EU) and stamp EU passports? No decision has been made.
More important to me, what rules will UK citizens be under when travelling in the EU? Will we have to go through the non-EU section, have passports stamped and be limited to 90 days in 180? Nobody knows yet, and there is only 9 months to go.
It seems for 2 years now I have been watching this train hurtling towards a bridge which has been deliberately demolished, and they are still arguing about what sort of temporary or permanent structure to build in its place. With the repair crew standing around waiting for instructions what to do, and the passengers on the train screaming.
{END RANT}
As for Geneva - I meant it is a small efficient single-terminal airport and Swiss immigration is a lot faster than many other countries.
All of those seem short. But all are "legal" connection times. Provided everything runs exactly on time!
Although I would be happier making the connection in Europe, I would choose Washington Dulles from the options you provide. No immigration there on the way to Europe (assuming you are coming from another US airport). You simply go from your arriving flight to your departing flight. They will verify your passport when getting on the plane in Dulles.
How many terminals an airport has is (mostly) irrelevant, as long as your flights arrive and depart from the same terminal - which flights on the same airline very often do, but you should check to make sure.
Many airport websites have information about the minimum legal connection times for particular pairs of connecting flights. (I know Heathrow does, not sure about the others.) That will give you an idea of how much time you have to spare. For example, if you have 90 minutes between flights and the minimum connection time is 80 minutes, then you need to count on everything going just right. But if the minimum legal time is 60 minutes, then you have a bit more breathing room.
All else being equal, I like to choose a connecting city that's as close as possible to my destination city. My reasoning is that if I do miss my connection, there will likely be more options for alternative transport (including trains, buses, and other flights) to get me where I'm going.
Passport control to enter the Schengen zone is rarely an onerous process. A quick stamp, maybe a couple of questions, and you're through. The time spent waiting in line can vary from airport to airport and from day to day, but it's not usually terribly long, and it's built into the airport's minimum connection time.
You didn't ask about this, but if you're facing a similar choice on your return trip, be aware that it's a whole different ball game. If you're connecting from Frankfurt to Dulles to Newark, for example, you need to have enough time to go through passport control in Dulles (which can involve a long wait), claim your checked luggage, carry it through customs, recheck it for your connecting flight, and then go back through security (often the most tedious part, because most people have forgotten that they have to do it, so they're all rummaging through their carry-ons to get rid of their water bottles and the like). That can take hours.
As someone whose transferred in Heathrow and the US, I'd pick Dulles. Transatlantic flights always give me jet lag and I'd rather arrive at my destination after crossing the ocean rather than wait in another airport.
I don't kmow that Dilles is a great place to change from a domestic flight to an international one, but I can't say for sure since it's my departure airport. I'd choose Dublin because it's a fairly small airport and I have read no negative comments about it on this forum. I've studiously avoided changing at Heathrow or De Gaulle on the advice of other posters, and I've been happy with Frankfurt, Amsterdam andd Munich.
My second choice would be Manchester as long as the airport's minimum connection time is about an hour or less. I like to have about an hour longer than the minimum time. I do not like having to worry, rush or make decisions after an overnight flight.
I would choose Dulles.
If there is a problem with the EWR-IAD flight being on time, they may put you on a direct EWR-FRA flight, to simplify their having to re accomodate due to a missed connection at IAD.
No need to worry about 'border control' at IAD and you have one long flight to FRA, which improves your odds of being able to sleep.
That's my $0.02 .... happy travels!
I'd choose Dublin, having gone through there a couple of times on the way to France and Switzerland. CDG and LHR are awful places to transfer. And I don't like transferring in the US for a number of reasons, including the lack of options if you miss your flight. You can't take a train, for example.
A word of caution regarding alternate transportation from a connecting airport. If you miss a flight segment it is highly likely that the airline will cancel the rest of your flight itinerary.
So let’s say I’m flying San Francisco to Florence round trip and I’m connecting in Rome. All on one ticket. When I get to Rome there’s an issue with the flight to Florence. So I’ll just hop on the train right? Well when I check in for the return flight at Florence I’ll find that my reservation has been canceled because I missed the flight from Rome.
So be very careful if you pursue this strategy.
I would absolutely NOT choose Dulles (and Dulles is my home airport). Choose a European airport. If you miss a connection at Dulles, you will probably have to fly out the next day. If you miss a connection in Europe you can probably get to your destination on the same day. My first choice would be Geneva.
Whichever airport you choose, look to see if there are later flights to Frankfurt on the same day.
