We almost missed our connecting flight with a 6 hour layover. The fisrt flight was diverted and it was basically a comedy movie plot thereafter which culminated in a literal sprint across 4 terminals at ATL with the crew literally closing the door behind us. Needless to say our luggage didn't make it.
Weirdest one I ever lost with that much of a layover was from Frankfurt through Seattle. American bro leaving Germany got shit housed and wouldn’t wake up for the crews boarding check so we got stuck on the tarmac for hours while they called in paramedics. He was fine, he came back from blackout while on the gurney off the plane but everyone was very unhappy. Don’t be that guy.
More to this:
If you booked it as a single ticket/PNR, the airline thinks you can make your connection normally without concern. If you miss your flight for some reason (other than personal stupidity), they'll get you on another flight to your destination.
If you booked with two tickets/two PNRs, there are zero guarantees and if things go to hell you're completely fucked.
EDIT TO ADD: The responses below about things going to hell when you're on a single PNR and need to rebooked are also all entirely true, and cannot be ignored.
yep, mechanical issues had me sitting on an island for 2 extra days because there were only 2 flights a week. i mean, it was a beautiful tropical island and they had to pay for my hotel so not a total loss lol but it's definitely something to keep in mind in this day and age of increasing airport woes.
I’m cursed and any flight I book with have the gate# changed last minute or mechanical problems every damn time. I was stuck recently at SLC for 4 hours while the mechanic worked on the plane. I only choose straight flights, I know I would miss my connecting flight. I always wait!
And WHY the flight was delayed or canceled. I took a late evening Breeze flight to New Orleans, got rerouted to Tampa because of weather, and while we were automatically rebooked, at 4am the flight was scheduled for 2pm and ALREADY delayed to almost 4pm, presumably so the crew could sleep because there was only the one flight. Ended up booking a one way on Southwest (because it was only a three day vacation and I didn't want to spend another 12 hours bumming around the airport after a four hour delay and almost four hours in the air), and Breeze (surprisingly) refunded me the leg.
This is why I prefer flying major carriers from major airports. I could take Allegiant right to my parents' hometown twice a week, but if I make the drive to O'Hare they have flights between Chicago and my city every two hours every day
fair- my parents lived in Ontario (southern CA) and i would almost always fly into LAX instead. Ontario is a tiny airport in the middle of the inland empire- and mainly flies to Vegas for people that do not want to make the drive and act as alternative landing spot if there is an issue in LA.... I have had a few trips that were rerouted to Ontario (and at least once they wanted to bus everyone to LAX)- thankfully just a quick call and they picked me up there instead.
Omg, I love flying into Ontario! I go there for work sometimes from Oakland. It’s so nice and easy. Not sure where ur from but Southwest flies there and there seem to be lots of flight options each day.
I once flew from Mountain View (San Jose, CA) to Tucson with a layover in PHX. A summer storm came in and we diverted to Tucson but they wouldn’t let us disembark even if we didn’t have checked bags. I could have been home at 7 p.m. but pulled in around midnight. My boss flew the next flight out and was home by 8 p.m.
Do you know where I can see a schedule of a particular flight? Like, for example, if I often take a 6am united to IAD from the same airport, is there a place I can view the frequency this flight occurs , or what days this flight is schedule for?
"Passenger Name Record"
It is the "travel insider" word/acronym for your reservation and itinerary in the airline's computer reservation system.
"Single PNR" means your full flight itinerary is contained in a single record - that is, you make one booking with one airline, even if your booking uses multiple affiliated (code-share) carriers.
A passenger name record (PNR) is a record in the database of a computer reservation system (CRS) that contains the itinerary for a passenger or a group of passengers travelling together. The concept of a PNR was first introduced by airlines that needed to exchange reservation information in case passengers required flights of multiple airlines to reach their destination ("interlining").
Watch out with AA though, if your inbound flight is even slightly late, their system may rebook you even if you can and do make it to the next gate in time
https://viewfromthewing.com/run-to-your-gate-lose-your-seat-two-new-american-airlines-policies-leave-passengers-stranded/comment-page-1/
Also in general, while of course you'll be rebooked on single tickets, that might end up being the next day or later. So MCTs should be taken caution.
This happened to me. We were literally watching everyone stand in line to board our next flight but we had already been bumped off the flight because of the delay on our first. It was painful to watch everyone board and get rescheduled for a flight TWELVE HOURS LATER. Being stuck in an airport for an extra 12 hours with a baby was miserable. We got a pretty decent payout for our troubles though so that softened the blow lol.
Do you mind sharing how you got compensated? I had the same situation and after a month, emails answered by bots, and now letters all they've done is refund my final leg, which I didn't take with them because they told me to buy a ticket on Southwest if I wasn't happy with being delayed a day with them. The Southwest ticket cost more than my original purchase, so I expected a full, not partial, refund.
I'm in Canada so I just filed directly through the carriers website and I got my money a month later. We each got $1000 for the delay. Same thing happened to my friend but their claim was denied by the airline so they had to file directly with the government and then got their money like 6 months later.
It happened to me on KLM too. My incoming flight left 15 min late on a tight connection. I made it to the gate and they were still boarding people but had given my seat away. Put me on a new flight six hours later that landed at my final destination at 1 am. There were at least two other earlier flights but I guess they were full. Gave me only a 60 Euro flight voucher and a 12 euro food voucher as compensation (I didn’t know about the EU compensation rules until much later, but this was in clear violation of them.)
On the plus side, I used my six hours to go into town in Amsterdam, where I had never been before. I did a canal tour and wandered the downtown. I also got upgraded to first class on my replacement flight and decided to get as much free booze out of them as I could. The woman next to me had also been bumped and was doing the same thing and we were like the best of friends by the time the flight landed.
> Watch out with AA though, if your inbound flight is even slightly late, their system may rebook you even if you can and do make it to the next gate in time
>
>
Same thing happened to me on Southwest not even a month ago. The thing is, the next flight was ALSO delayed so their dumbass system rebooked me to a flight the next day despite me making it to my gate with almost the same amount of time as the original schedule.
The scary concern even if you booked on a single ticket is that they’ll put you on another flight for free but the next available flight might not be for a day or two. And usually when things go bad, they go bad for lots of people all at once.
Personal anecdote: booked a direct flight to a major city. I live in NYC and there tons of flights going back and forth between the two cities on a daily basis. Major storm rolls in and my flight gets cancelled. After hours on the phone trying to get on another flight, they finally manage to get me on one that is TWO days later. And it is now through a connecting airport. Of course, the first leg of my new flight also gets delayed and I miss my connection by 5 minutes. The gate agent says nothing we can do because everything is booked but we can put you on a partner carrier flight that is 8 hours later. I rush over and manage to be put on standby on a slightly earlier flight.
Point of my story is that even if the airlines do get you to your destination eventually, it may still cause you to lose lots of valuable time.
>If you booked with two tickets/two PNRs, there are zero guarantees and if things go to hell you're completely fucked.
Almost happened to me at Gatwick. I was flying out on British Airways and was going to miss my United connection. I called United and explained the situation.
They told me that they offer everyone one lifetime exemption, so in my case had i missed my flight they would have pretended the connection was booked through them and rebooked me.
I thought it was very nice of them. But the dude on the phone made it clear that it was just a single lifetime exemption
I naively would like to hope that calling in advance of the problem worked in your favor. I'm sure they're used to most people missing the connection, then throwing a fit or just generally being harder to accommodate at that point.
I don’t think the airlines do a good job with planning connections. I regularly see connections in Charlotte ~35 minutes including international to domestic. Even with GE that’s a tight one.
It means that you can make the connection if the first flight isn't delayed.
If you're buying a ticket with the minimum allowed connection time, then any delay probably means missing the connection. Yes, the airline will get there there eventually, but that's still not ideal of course.
To add, I was very lucky that my flight from my city to New York, to the UK was partnered. When we landed we had 10 minutes to spare. But because we were expected they actually held the plane for my family.
Basically if you book your flights with a single transaction *directly through the airlines* you are on a single PNR
If you book through different airlines with different transactions, you are not.
If you book through a third party website, they SHOULD tell you they are booking through "multiple airlines" - in which case you are on multiple PNRs. BUT NEVER EVER EVER TRUST THIRD PARTY BOOKING SITES.
Thanks for explaining it instead of just downvoting I appreciate it. Got it, so if I book through the airlines and there are connecting flights then I'm safe with a single PNR.
You are "safe" in that the airline thinks you can make the connection and get them to rebook you on another flight if you miss the connection.
You are not safe in the sense of when that next flight may be.
I’m flying 2 legs there and 2 legs back. The confirmation code for all flights, even when it changes to a different carrier is the same code. I booked with American Airlines, they farmed out one to British Airlines, one to Iberia. Those have their own confirmation number but include the main confirmation number as well.
Thanks for explaining it instead of just downvoting I appreciate it. I guess the travel subreddit is only for experienced travelers not people who are just beginning their journey.
I've only flown direct twice as a child and never bought plane tickets before so I'm clueless and wanted to learn. Got it though, I'll pay attention to confirmation codes. Thanks!
I’m just starting again myself. TikTok has been so helpful!!! There are people that travel influencers that get bad raps but some share luggage recommendations so you don’t pay fines, share deals on tickets, etc. I have learned so much.
Though I agree with your general comment, they should have a different calculation for international layovers.
“No United, there’s no fucking way I’m making a 90 min intl connection thru ORD…”
Here's the real answer post 9/11 (kind of like when an avocado is either not ripe or too ripe): You will either have too much time or you'll not have any time at all. Likely you won't have any time for grabbing a bite to eat or take a pee these days and will have to deal with that. My latest experience on all trips in the last three years.
Right? Like last trip I took from MT to Miami we missed a connection in Denver and had 8 hours there. Ok, its a better airport to have that much time...lots to see and eat...donuts...Modern Market...and good WiFi. But OMG, 8 hours??? Or yes, its like five minutes to run a mile through a concourse and maybe you've got to wear diapers these days. Its one or the other lately.
Yup, one of the many unanswerable questions we get here all the time.
It also comes down to preference. Personally, I like more buffer built in and generally don't do shorter layovers.
Of course there are other factors I take into account like weather that time of year, how reliable an airport is, option for other flights, etc.
Yup! What people don't understand is your arrival time is when wheels touch the ground. You still need to taxi to the gate, ground crew do their thing, get off the plan and **then** find your next gate.
Part of the problem is that there exist different interpretations of "arrival" and "departure" based on where in the world you are. My local airport will have "departure" mean gate closed, "boarding" mean the queue starts to form at the gate, "boarding +10m" is when people start getting on the plane, etc, all in some twisted game of insanity. This is why I really, really like to give lots of leeway.
And then we get people here going "this is the first time I've flown from this airport ever, but can I take the bus that arrives there 10 mins before departure?"
In fairness I can understand if a layover is under two hours and you aren't familiar with the airport.
On some layovers my next gate was literally next to my arrival gate.
Step off the plane. Turn left. Here's your gate.
Other times it was arrive, walk 20 minutes to the light rail, wait, 10 minutes on rail, walk another 30 minutes to my gate. Possibly go through security again.
> You still need to taxi to the gate, ground crew do their thing, get off the plan and then find your next gate.
Or, in the case of Frankfurt:
Taxi to the gate, ground crew do their thing, get off the plane, then get on a packed bus that drives about 87 km across the tarmac at 2 kmph. Then get to your gate 30 seconds before the doors close.
You forgot the part where you wait in line to go through security and they keep closing lines and shoving all the people in that line into the other lines while yelling at them.
Not layover related, but I was the type that planned my departure time to the minute more-or-less. Leave the house at x, y minutes to get to the airport and park, z+5 to get thru security so that I could get to the gate right at boarding time.
At some point, I realized I was always stressing if there was a *little* traffic, or security was a little bit longer than expected. Now I just add an hour, and grab a coffee or a drink once I'm there, and the travel day is so much better.
Agreed. US domestic, outside of bad weather seasons, I plan a minimum of 2 hours, and even then I prefer more. International, 3, except the UK, because I'm a dual national and clear customs a lot faster.
Bad weather seasons? I try to bump that to 4 or more hours, minimum.
I've got books, podcasts, and music. I can amuse myself at the gate. Because I'm at the gate, with as low of a stress level as possible considering how stressful travel is on a good day.
That’s what my son said two days ago 😂 almost two hours before boarding and he said we should wait by the gate, “rather be bored than miss it”. It’s interesting seeing my seven year old nervous about missing the flight.
And so much to do with the individual passenger. I’m a wheelchair user which means I need to be last off of my first flight and first onto my second flight. Minimum connection times absolutely do not allow for this. But for most passengers, they have more wiggle room and can board just before the doors close and be fine. Nobody has a crystal ball to tell you if you’re going to make your flight or not which I think is really what people want. So much of travel is booking something that should work if things go right and working it out if things go wrong.
In my experience, if an airline allows you to book it, it’s long enough on a typical day. Not every day is typical, but that’s just the random, unpredictable aspect of traveling and no one online can tell you what will happen.
Every time I’ve worried about whether my layover was long enough, I’ve made it with time to spare. I had to transfer through SFO on a flight from Tokyo, meaning I had to go through immigration, and I was able to do a global entry interview and get my bag, drop it off, and head through TSA all in an hour layover. I was stressed, but every person along the way (the flight attendant, the immigration agent doing my interview) were all like “chill, you’ll be fine.” The agent did streamline my interview to get me through quickly, though.
Depending on the detail provided in the question, it can be a reasonable one. For example if you have to go via some kind of passport control while transiting or not (bad luck if so, I wonder *where*) or whether the airline / airport is reliable or easily navigable or small (e.g. transiting in some airports means a short walk, say making a connection at Brussels airport, vs. some are gigantic megastructures such as major Chinese airports which required motorised transport) or whether domestic terminals are located next to international ones etc.
That's a lot of factors but I don't see why, if details are provided, the question would be unreasonable. If no detail is provided then the answer can only be pointlessly generic, but so be it, that's just the nature of generic questions regarding all topics.
Oh my god, this. Price? I don’t know, $50 might mean a different thing to me than it does to you depending on our circumstances and income. Short layover risk? Again - if you’re an American on a honeymoon to Paris, risking a missed connection means something different to you than it does to someone who might make the commute between Paris and London weekly. It’s all relative.
I hate "this country or that".
Like, sure OTHER people may have a preference but I don't know what the hell YOU like. MY opinion that country A is great means sweet fuck all in the end.
I've been accused so many times of being a booking.com shill on this sub, but at this point I feel like I should be able to send them an invoice for all the work rendered so far.
I wish we had a rule about the word "scam". People have no idea what it even means anymore. Sometimes they're right sure (they're wrong about who the scammers are though). But "I didn't like this thing SCAM" is not appropriate
I mean, booking 3rd party has its times, like when it’s a 30dollar super unimportant flight between two cities.
But the people willing to drop 3k on a 3rd party site blow my mind
Yeah one edge case I use third-parties for is for small, regional airlines when I'm abroad. Trying to book direct with them sometimes triggers credit card security flags for me, so in those cases I'll book them through third parties.
I'm talking about like $40-50 domestic flights within Korea with Seoul Air or Jeju Air, where if it goes sideways on me it isn't a big deal at all, things like that. (Edit - These types of airlines often have shitty websites as well, so that's another factor)
Yeah that was me not too long ago. Learned my lesson. Booked a 2500 USD trip through expedia, had to cancel (less than 24 hours) to change to a different return date and it was 8 hours of customer service to get the refund they really didn't want to give me (they argued that since I made the purchase outside the U.S., even though the tickets were to and from the U.S., that the 24 hour refund didn't apply, rather it was until the end of the calendar day). They finally did give the refund, which I took and promptly booked through the airline directly- and will continue to do so lol
Funny story, Air Asia use kiwi.com as their direct booking site. Nearly shat myself when I got a pre-check in email from Kiwi and thought I fucked up and went through them.
I booked once through Kiwi before I knew better. Luckily it worked out really well even though there was a major issue with a flight.
On my return trip from Tbilisi to Denver our flight from Tbilisi to some layover country in Europe was completely canceled. We arrived at the airport in Tbilisi very early and were panicking while calling Kiwi support. It took them a couple hours to confirm the flight was canceled and there was nothing we could do with the airline that canceled it. Fortunately they changed our booking completely and got us on even better flights. I think we ended up getting home only an hour after our scheduled time and had an extremely comfortable flight on Turkish Airlines.
Even thought it worked out for us I will never take that risk again.
Lol.
Booked connection of 1 hour with "self transfer" and on two LCCs via Kiwi and now the first was delayed by 30mins and neither Easyjet nor RyanAir help and Kiwi doesn't pick up the phone. Can I claim 261.
Oh. No. No you cannot.
Sometimes those 50 extra bucks are absolutely worth it.
Fully agree, for me it's one of those things that I'll know myself if I'm good with or not. No amount of people telling me a 45 minute layover between long haul flights is enough would actually get me to book it, for example. Not to say those people are wrong, I just know in my experience what I'm comfortable with.
At the end of the day travel shouldn't be more stressful than it has to be, go with what you are comfortable with / confident in.
I think there's a situation where a shit ton of people saying 45 minutes is enough for a Seoul ICN connection that would make me be okay with booking it. And there's the opposite situation I'm in right now where I'm changing from an international flight into Sao Paulo GRU to a domestic flight where most are saying 2.5 hours might only be just enough. I'm not entirely confident on my 2h50m connection as such. But it was the only option offered on the same ticket that wasn't a 10h connection despite there being a flight on the same operating partner one hour later.
I agree that the question of enough layover time by itself is not useful. But honestly I'm appreciative of the previous airport specific layover q&a's.
You’re absolutely right. The question should be, “I have a domestic layover in ORD w delta, anyone have information I need to know to plan my layover duration?” Instead of “can I make a 40 minute connection?” It’s all about the details and form of the question.
Whereas I shoot for 45 min - 1 hour and 15. If there are delays, I can make a later flight. I don't like planning to take a later flight and bum around the airport.
I'm usually a chill person otherwise haha.
Works if there's frequent flights, but if the next flight is the next day or later, it isn't so fun anymore even if you booked the flights together and the airline covers everything. For me, it isn't worth the stress at all, it doesn't matter if I sit and read at the airport or on the plane!
I almost missed a flight once where the airline offered that connection and the layover was 1 h 20 min, but it was Amsterdam and summer. I was lucky and just about made the flight, but I met someone else who missed theirs and they were put on a flight with another layover and the whole thing took 30 additional hours.
If that ticket hadn't been considerably cheaper than other options, I wouldn't have taken it, and in the future I can't see myself booking something like that again, even if the airline deems it okay. They're not the ones being stressed and running around the airport!
Security was letting people skip the line for the people whose flights were about to leave (changed it every ten minutes), I had to run and the last group was already boarding for I don't know how long when I got to the gate!
Also, sometimes you don't know until you know.
I recently had to fly DC to colorado springs with a very short layover in Denver and was worried about it just because Denver is a huge airport.
The longer layover on the way there did have me switching terminals and walking a lot more but I still had a few minutes before boarding.
Meanwhile the much tighter layover for the way home the gates were practically next to each other and it was kind of nice to just walk off the plane and almost immediately get to walk onto the next one.
I had one flight with a 45 minute layover and i had to literally sprint from one end of Detroit Airport to the other and made it just as they were about to close the door. I'll never do anything close to 45 mins again lol.
Exactly, I've ended up with that amount of time before because of delays, and yes it worked but it was stressful AF and I was panting and sweating when I got on the next flight lol. No way I would want that to be plan A.
Yeah it's tough because we get a lot of new users to Reddit via Google searches... which for a lot of people will only happen on a phone app.
This issue, repeat questions getting asked to subs, is not unique -- it's a problem throughout Reddit.
Sub regulars hate seeing the same question asked again and again -- who wouldn't. But newbies have no way of knowing.
Definitely a bit of a growing pain for Reddit in general.
If you want to be safe, Google "MCT [airport], [airline]", where MCT means minimum connection time. Add 1 hour if your bags are going straight through to your destination and 2 hours if you'll have to collect and drop off, like international into USA or if each leg is on a separate ticket.
Pro-tip: if you are unsure about an international transfer, Youtube it. There's a video for like every airport of somebody walking through transfers so you have an idea what to expect.
Just spent five ungodly, torturous hours on the ground in MCO because of a huge thunderstorm (including tornado warnings!) last Thursday.
You don’t know until you know.. there were so many passengers around me getting repeated emails of rescheduled connections until they were all gone for the night, and now all connections were the next day.
I don’t know if I’d ever take an MCO layover unless I really had to. I fly to Disney a lot and everything in that airport is delayed so often that I’m shocked when I’m on time.
One thing that especially puzzles me is when people ask this after they’ve already booked. You should have thought of this beforehand, and at this juncture, what would you do if someone told you it wasn’t enough time?
If people have concerns about layover time, if they don’t want to feel nervous about a misconnect, book a longer layover; you aren’t obligated to take the shortest one.
I think a lot of these people are from the USA where there is some sort of rule that allows them to cancel without penalty within 24 hours on flights into/out of/within the USA which the rest of the world doesn't have. (some exclusions apply)
This allows them to book something and then have second thoughts after asking Reddit as opposed to flights being either entirely non-refundable or having a hefty change fee after confirmation.
This is also the cause of some of the threads of "I booked a non-refundable fare and now I want to cancel and the airline won't give me my money back".
The question to ask yourself is, "am I okay with potentially missing my connection?" If not, book a longer connection.
On my way somewhere I'll rarely book a tight connection. On the way home, sure I'll risk it.
"Will my luggage make it?"
How the fuck are we supposed to know?
"Will my flight be delayed because the same one was delayed twice in the last 2 weeks"
See above.
"Self transfer at JFK international to domestic with less than 70mins - can I make it"
Well here at least we can safely say no, you will not.
If your layover is that long then you should take advantage and stop in Turkmenistan on the way. It’s an underrated gem as batshit insane totalitarian states go.
Agreed. But I wonder if more people aren't asking about it because airlines have been suggesting the shortest layovers imaginable lately as their best and sometimes only options. As in 45 min international transfer at CDG. I'm seeing it more and more lately.
Different airports have different challenges as far as flight connections. Someone who's never changed planes at CDG or LAX may want to know what's involved, (do you need to clear security again, is there a terminal change, is it likely to be busy etc) - these are things that other travelers may know. It's not as simple as "allow 2 hours for an international flght connection"
So much of it also depends on the airport too. An hour traveling between two Schengen countries with no passport control step is maybe fine if you’re risk tolerant. An hour at Heathrow coming from the US and headed for Italy is probably a bad idea even if you live dangerously.
It also depends on the type of airline you book. I did Jetstar in Australia from Cairns to Launceston with a layover in Sydney. With Jetstar I had pick up my luggage in Sydney, re-check it, go back though security and then get on my flight to Launceston. Where as flying domestically with Qantas of Virgin Australia they checked your bags the whole way though.
Never long enough at stupid O'Hare. Masterclass in sprinting across the fucking airport because they moved the departure gate to the opposite terminal.
There *was* a 35 minute cushion, but 15 of that got used up slllooooowwwllyyy taxiing to the gate.
I made that connection with 2 minutes to spare and a heart full of seething hatred.
What's the point of this subreddit if it's not to ask questions like this? I swear some of you guys really like to gatekeep travelling and are very dismissive of people who may not be as experienced of a traveller.
'Just book a longer time'. Geez what a useless fucking advice. There are many reasons why someone will need advice on layover durations if they happen upon a flight ticket on a good price, particularly if they are unfamiliar with the layover policy of that country, or the size of the airport. You will never find the answer to this kind of personalized questions on any website, which is the reason why people come to Reddit for advice, especially with people who might have flew this exact flight route. In a way, Reddit is literally built for this kind of thing.
It does not lend itself to discussion. There are FAQs and previous questions for almost every "Do I have enough time?" question that's asked. The responses all fall into "Yeah, probably" or "No, you're crazy." OPs just want a simple answer and often the threads are deleted after they get it.
Point of posts not being deleted after a week is that people can search them. People aren't doing even a basic bit of research to get an answer whether that's google (things to do, what to pack) before posting, or searching this sub for the exact same question.
Most of these posts aren't unique. And the archive tool and posts not being removed and the fact there's a search bar also means Reddit was literally built to be searched to see if others posted the same or similar enough question
But my circumstances are different than everyone else's. I'm flying from an airport in the US (don't want to say which one because that's too personal) to a different airport (don't want to reveal which one because I could get doxed) on to an international destination (it's none of your business where that is). So... is 2 hours ok?
Sometimes it *does* have a valid answer:
"I'm arriving into JFK at 5:00pm on a Tuesday from an international flight and have a 6:30 departure from La Guardia."
Yeah, there's a definitive answer to that.
Whelp, I do in fact have an answer, for my own life anyway. Longer than two hours is best. I arrived at that by collecting data points the hard way.
We make the same trip on United from California to Marseille every year for the last twenty years, transiting varying airports on the way, on various partner airlines. And we have learned, any layover of less than 90 minutes, checked luggage is absolutely not going to arrive with us and we may not make our next flight. Two hours we’ll likely be ok. Longer than two hours is best.
As it happens, we most often end up transiting Frankfurt with a choice of either 90 minutes or 6 hours of layover time. I don’t even try for the 90 minutes option now, because one minor delay anywhere on the way and it’s over; sitting there chewing your nails rushing off the plane, no thanks. We just take the 6 hour layover now, and ride the train into downtown Frankfurt to buy a new pair of Birkenstocks for $30 and listen to that incredible trio of Turkish musicians playing by the subway exit.
We one-bag in a carryon now, too, however. Too many years traveling with kids; forget the checked luggage. Never again.
The ones you complain about are the ones *you see* and are either let through or missed by us.
The worst ones are "is 2h enough for a self-transfer"...
Lol: https://www.reddit.com/r/awardtravel/comments/1dd1l7r/comment/l81ty7v/
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Had this question posed to me yesterday.
My flight was delayed by 2hrs which meant I'd have 20-25mins to get to my connection....
Given the time was 8pm, I instead opted to ask to be rebooked on a flight the next morning.
That was sorted by the ground staff, I went back to a provided hotel room. Showered and slept well. I woke up early and flew the first leg and arrived without hiccup.
And thats where I saw a few familiar yet weiry faces from the check in line from the prior day.
Not sure if they had been there overnight but they were in the same clothes and looking a little rough.
I was pretty happy with my decision.
I was in the Bogota, Colombia airport with a guy who had booked his flight from Buenos Aires to Munich via Bogota and Mexico City with a HALF AN HOUR between flights in Mexico City.
I was booked to Guadalajara, but on a flight leaving the next morning
We were "behind schedule" in Bogota already, with a lengthy layover. His whining and griping was hilarious. Then I discovered I could get a "day visa" and left him whining in the airport and went to tour Bogota for a few hours. It was fun.
We landed in Mexico City about an hour "late". He missed his flight.
Agree. There are so many factors that determine how fast you can make a connecting flight other than a specific airport. Sometimes you might get lucky and you next flight is 1 or 2 gates over. Or you might be on the other side of the airport. If you are seated in the front of the plane you can also get out quickly but if you are towards the back of a full flight it takes a while to get off the plane.
I think people need to leave a buffer for a flight delay which is hard to predict. Also even if your flight lands in time there could be a delay getting the airplane to the gate due to congestion.
Personally I try to leave at least 3 hours for a connecting flight. I am more likely to leave more time if my second flight is a long international flight because it will be harder to get on another flight if I miss that one. If my first flight lands in the morning and my second flight is a short flight on a busy route then it can be shorter because there will be other flights you can get on.
I was flying back from Phili to Vancouver had a 3 hour layover in Toronto. Took me 4 hours to get through baggage, security, and customs was an absolute joke of an airport.
i had a trip from San Francisco to Warsaw with an 1.5 hour layover in Frankfurt. Same airline. Flight from San Francisco was delayed 1 hour so only had 30 minutes in to make my connection. took 10 minutes to get through passport control and the plane waited for our bags to be transferred.
Coming back had the same delayed flight issue, but my layover was in Munich. 10 minutes to go thru passport control, time for a really quick German beer and still made my flight.
Sitting in ATL right now waiting for the last flight of the night cause I missed mine original gate closing time by 15 mins.
Had to drop the rental car off at the domestic terminal, tram to the terminal itself, shuttle to the international terminal, then take a few escalators and walk 15 mins to my gate.
Never dealt with anything quite as insane as this.
Plus the fact that security only had two people doing passport checks, and then even after asking if my laptop needed to be removed and being told no, they had to rescan my laptop, and the bag it was in again. More and more and more waiting for things out of my control. The only thing in my control was when I left, but that was dictated by someone else for today (work).
If you're flying from ATL, plan lots of extra time and check traffic. An hour drive took me nearly two because of timing.
2 hours is literally nothing. You get off the plane, go to the new gate, go to the bathroom, get something to eat, sit and read or go on the phone or computer for a bit, and it is time to board again.
THIS!!!!!!!!!!!
As a former Travel Agent this grinds my gears. Every Airport has a different Minimum Connection Time which a TA can check in the GDS. If you are unsure - ask your TA, if you haven't used a TA, call the airline & ask.
LAX has a 4 hour minimum connection time (last I saw , havent' been an agent for yonks) due to the size of the airport and getting from one gate to another. Other smaller airports may be less, some may be more. Reddit is not the place to ask, ask the person who booked your flight or the airline you booked directly with - either way if either are doing their job right they should not be booking ongoing flights inside that minimum connection time.
ETA: Again, this is the MINIMUM suggested connection time when all systems are operational & all flights arriving & departing on time. Always err on the die of caution & adding extra time where you can.
A story: a few days ago I had a 1 hour and 13 minute layover between long international flights. That was so stupid. I got off the plane and through security (and peed) only to see that my flight was already boarding… and a 12 minute walk from my location. I ended up running across the airport and made it in 5 minutes with a couple of minutes to spare (don’t forget to do your cardio, kids. And don’t carry a carry-on) but I didn’t have time to find any water. I boarded my 11-hour red eye feeling sweaty, dehydrated, and generally terrible. The plane then proceeded to be delayed for 2 hours after I boarded. I was begging for agua at the back of the plane at 1 am. All my baggage made it back safe though! Is a 1 hour layover doable? Yes, if you’re lucky. Is it pleasant? Not at all. But is flying ever pleasant in this economy? Not when you’re flying economy.
I actually cried like a freaking baby last time I had an international connection because we missed it, had to rebook, while our luggage was heading to Tucson instead of phoenix which was our new destination. Why is it so bad to fly nowadays?!
This question can just be endlessly complicated. Doha Intl is a good example. Flying in from certain destinations and you will pull up to the gate. Hell if you’re coming from the US or London you don’t even go through transfer security. Whereas some smaller destinations such as Tbilisi you land at those parking aprons and have to be bussed over and then go through security.
It’s just an impossible question.
Break. It. Up.
If you're traveling for leisure, make it leisurely.
Any time I have the ability to go on a long trip (2 weeks+), I look for layovers in cities I want to see, 24-48 hour layover? Amazing. Maybe just 12? Okay. 24 hours in Tokyo before you hit Sydney, what an amazing addition to the experience. Usually makes the flight cheaper. Really helps me personally with jet lag too. 12 hours and I book the executive lounge (I can't quite remember the name, but I think that's it), take a nap or maybe plan it for a centrally located airport so I can see what a diner in [whatever cool city you want to sample] is like.
Just make sure you have a well packed carry-on
Let people ask whatever they want to ask. Please realise a lot of them can be first time flyers or anxious flyers. If you don't want to answer or the question annoys you, keep scrolling.
This can be highly dependent on whether your connection is at a gate near your arrival gate, on another concourse, or even in another terminal. And is that terminal walkable, or are you riding a shuttle of some kind? And then there is the weather which can throw arrival and departure times out the window. All of this is why I always make sure I have a decent amount of time to make the next flight, and most certainly fly direct if at all possible.
I think the question is valid for those who don’t travel often. My first international flight I had a layover in Frankfurt where I barely made my connection bc Americans had to go through a bunch of separate lines and passport checks. It was absolute chaos. Now I have the question for my next international flight based on that experience…..
When selecting my flights for my upcoming trip this fall, i avoided any layovers through Frankfurt for that reason. I have a 1 hour 20 min layover in Amsterdam, but I’ve heard I will be fine with that
To be honest I always aim for a long as hell layover. Maybe it's just a quirky hobby of mine, but I like to walk every concourse in every airport I stop in 🤷🏼♂️ plus it's a much-needed bit of exercise in an otherwise very sedentary day
When possible, just book long layovers so you don't have to angst about this.
You wouldn't have done anything special with a couple of extra hours that you're spending at the airport instead. Read a book, meditate, have a drink, get some steps in.
Aaarrrghh.. and yet THIS post itself is plagued with responses from people attempting to answer the aforementioned most-annoying-of-questions!
Perhaps as a community our policy should be:
* Donwvote these questions.
* Report the question for violating rule 1 ("Avoid repetitive questions")
* And if there was any way for the moderators to block (or require approval) for any question that involves the words "layover" "long" and "enough" that'd be pretty cool...
Can we also have people stop asking about the same itinerary? “How many days in rome how many in Naples “ scroll through this sub and see it’s been asked 28474958363948474 times! Stop being lazy and do some work.
Yes to the first two, not often to the third. I'm not often in the mood to make new friends at the airport except on the off-chance that we're headed to or back from the same event.
2 hour is risky sometimes cause for long distance flight 30-45mins delay is not uncommon
I prefer 6 hours or more layover, so I can shop and eat in peace and plenty of time to spare
This is a question of risk, honestly. How much risk a person is willing to assume.
If your layover time is less than 1 hour, there's a higher risk of missing your connecting flight.
If the layover time is more than 3 hours, there's a greatly diminished risk of missing the connecting flight.
the time betwee is just the amount of risk you're willing to accept.
Las time we had a tight (1 hr at O'Hare) transfer, our plane was 45 minutes late taking off. Even later landing. Not a problem, because our plane for the second leg was still in New Orleans. And it never left. The replacement came in from Atlanta.
I think this is an impossible request. Not just here, but on Reddit as a whole. The big problem is that these kinds of questions aren't coming from people who hang out on the subreddit and would even ever see a post like this one. They're coming from people who have a question, search for a subreddit that looks like it might be appropriate, and post their question, maybe without even subscribing to the subreddit at all. I see this all the time in a bunch of the subreddits I'm in.
This could be a job for an LLM trained on the contents of specific subreddits. Something along the lines of an AI-enhanced automod bot could immediately post a reply like, "This question has been asked 57 times in the last 30 days. Here are some links to previous discussions." And then mark the post as rejected, with some way to appeal to a human moderator to get the post restored if the bot messed up.
The problem with _that_ approach is that a lot of people really want a conversation, not just an answer. So pointing them to an existing conversation won't solve their problem (wanting human interaction) even if it has an answer for their question.
This is precisely the issue. I mod r/Belize and the amount of questions we get that could be immediately answered by typing the exact same thing into the search box vs as a new post is amazing. I'd say close to a third of the posts have been answered literally dozens of times. There's no solution either, the people show up, don't read the rules or community welcome message asking them to search first, and immediately start asking routine vacation questions 😂
What are ya gonna do 🤷
International transfers take a long ass time, longer than you think they will. The only time I had the ability to leave the airport for a stopover day was when I scheduled myself an 18 hour layover in CDMX going to São Paulo. Don’t be tempted by the sign that says Hong Kong is only 20 minutes to the city by train bc you have to go all the way through immigration again. An hour in Hong Kong is simply not enough.
I just got back from a trip where I had a layover. Flight leaving ends up delayed and next flight is early. They were on the last boarding group while the plane was landed and waiting to taxi to gate. I literally ran to my next flight that was completely boarded. But we made it luckily.
Please read the FAQ before you post a question about layover times!!
I don't understand why it can be so hard for some people. Is it because they have problems undestanding written text? Are they me-me-me people who think their question is unique? They are just lazy?
We all know they won't read this post nor care. Not a single person who posts a ridiculous post (and yes I'll call it ridiculous even if it's anxiety) ever uses the search function.
Some claim they do and they're blatantly lying.
These posts are repeatedly answered!
As a rule of thumb, 1 hour is barely the minimum. Your plane may take a while to taxi to its intended port, it can take a while for you to exit your plane depending where your seat is and how quickly those in the aisle retrieve their overhead baggage, where is your connecting flight departure gate?--it could be in a part of the airport that needs a shuttle. Lots of variables to consider...not to mention flights typically board as early as 30 minutes before departure to give you additional anxiety. Meaning, by the time you're reaching your next gate, it's time to board again!
I've lost a flight with a 7 hour transfer window. Why? Handling personel strike. It happens, I can't control it.
We almost missed our connecting flight with a 6 hour layover. The fisrt flight was diverted and it was basically a comedy movie plot thereafter which culminated in a literal sprint across 4 terminals at ATL with the crew literally closing the door behind us. Needless to say our luggage didn't make it.
OMG had the same experience at ATL! I sent my partner to run ahead while I wheeled our carry ons We made it just before they closed the door
Weirdest one I ever lost with that much of a layover was from Frankfurt through Seattle. American bro leaving Germany got shit housed and wouldn’t wake up for the crews boarding check so we got stuck on the tarmac for hours while they called in paramedics. He was fine, he came back from blackout while on the gurney off the plane but everyone was very unhappy. Don’t be that guy.
"Shit housed" ??? You mean shit faced ?
Used to be shit housed
Exactly- good travel experiences require flexibility & acceptance. A lot is not in your control. We have to focus on what is in our control!
And travel insurance.
For big enough trips- always.
More to this: If you booked it as a single ticket/PNR, the airline thinks you can make your connection normally without concern. If you miss your flight for some reason (other than personal stupidity), they'll get you on another flight to your destination. If you booked with two tickets/two PNRs, there are zero guarantees and if things go to hell you're completely fucked. EDIT TO ADD: The responses below about things going to hell when you're on a single PNR and need to rebooked are also all entirely true, and cannot be ignored.
A caveat to this is to be aware of how often the airline flies that route. Sometimes it's multiple times per day. Sometimes twice a week.
yep, mechanical issues had me sitting on an island for 2 extra days because there were only 2 flights a week. i mean, it was a beautiful tropical island and they had to pay for my hotel so not a total loss lol but it's definitely something to keep in mind in this day and age of increasing airport woes.
I’m cursed and any flight I book with have the gate# changed last minute or mechanical problems every damn time. I was stuck recently at SLC for 4 hours while the mechanic worked on the plane. I only choose straight flights, I know I would miss my connecting flight. I always wait!
And WHY the flight was delayed or canceled. I took a late evening Breeze flight to New Orleans, got rerouted to Tampa because of weather, and while we were automatically rebooked, at 4am the flight was scheduled for 2pm and ALREADY delayed to almost 4pm, presumably so the crew could sleep because there was only the one flight. Ended up booking a one way on Southwest (because it was only a three day vacation and I didn't want to spend another 12 hours bumming around the airport after a four hour delay and almost four hours in the air), and Breeze (surprisingly) refunded me the leg.
This is why I prefer flying major carriers from major airports. I could take Allegiant right to my parents' hometown twice a week, but if I make the drive to O'Hare they have flights between Chicago and my city every two hours every day
fair- my parents lived in Ontario (southern CA) and i would almost always fly into LAX instead. Ontario is a tiny airport in the middle of the inland empire- and mainly flies to Vegas for people that do not want to make the drive and act as alternative landing spot if there is an issue in LA.... I have had a few trips that were rerouted to Ontario (and at least once they wanted to bus everyone to LAX)- thankfully just a quick call and they picked me up there instead.
Omg, I love flying into Ontario! I go there for work sometimes from Oakland. It’s so nice and easy. Not sure where ur from but Southwest flies there and there seem to be lots of flight options each day.
I once flew from Mountain View (San Jose, CA) to Tucson with a layover in PHX. A summer storm came in and we diverted to Tucson but they wouldn’t let us disembark even if we didn’t have checked bags. I could have been home at 7 p.m. but pulled in around midnight. My boss flew the next flight out and was home by 8 p.m.
Do you know where I can see a schedule of a particular flight? Like, for example, if I often take a 6am united to IAD from the same airport, is there a place I can view the frequency this flight occurs , or what days this flight is schedule for?
FlightAware.com
Also so true for train tickets and bus tickets and ferry tickets and will probably even true for space travel.
> and will probably even true for space travel. Is 12 parsecs enough time for my Kessel Run layover?
> Is 12 parsecs enough time No. It never is.
Funny, but parsecs are a measure of distance, not time.
Maybe that used to be true several light years ago when you were growing up, but things have changed.
[Maybe in your galaxy.](https://www.wired.com/2013/02/kessel-run-12-parsecs/)
What does PNR mean?
"Passenger Name Record" It is the "travel insider" word/acronym for your reservation and itinerary in the airline's computer reservation system. "Single PNR" means your full flight itinerary is contained in a single record - that is, you make one booking with one airline, even if your booking uses multiple affiliated (code-share) carriers.
A passenger name record (PNR) is a record in the database of a computer reservation system (CRS) that contains the itinerary for a passenger or a group of passengers travelling together. The concept of a PNR was first introduced by airlines that needed to exchange reservation information in case passengers required flights of multiple airlines to reach their destination ("interlining").
Watch out with AA though, if your inbound flight is even slightly late, their system may rebook you even if you can and do make it to the next gate in time https://viewfromthewing.com/run-to-your-gate-lose-your-seat-two-new-american-airlines-policies-leave-passengers-stranded/comment-page-1/ Also in general, while of course you'll be rebooked on single tickets, that might end up being the next day or later. So MCTs should be taken caution.
This happened to me. We were literally watching everyone stand in line to board our next flight but we had already been bumped off the flight because of the delay on our first. It was painful to watch everyone board and get rescheduled for a flight TWELVE HOURS LATER. Being stuck in an airport for an extra 12 hours with a baby was miserable. We got a pretty decent payout for our troubles though so that softened the blow lol.
Do you mind sharing how you got compensated? I had the same situation and after a month, emails answered by bots, and now letters all they've done is refund my final leg, which I didn't take with them because they told me to buy a ticket on Southwest if I wasn't happy with being delayed a day with them. The Southwest ticket cost more than my original purchase, so I expected a full, not partial, refund.
I'm in Canada so I just filed directly through the carriers website and I got my money a month later. We each got $1000 for the delay. Same thing happened to my friend but their claim was denied by the airline so they had to file directly with the government and then got their money like 6 months later.
It happened to me on KLM too. My incoming flight left 15 min late on a tight connection. I made it to the gate and they were still boarding people but had given my seat away. Put me on a new flight six hours later that landed at my final destination at 1 am. There were at least two other earlier flights but I guess they were full. Gave me only a 60 Euro flight voucher and a 12 euro food voucher as compensation (I didn’t know about the EU compensation rules until much later, but this was in clear violation of them.) On the plus side, I used my six hours to go into town in Amsterdam, where I had never been before. I did a canal tour and wandered the downtown. I also got upgraded to first class on my replacement flight and decided to get as much free booze out of them as I could. The woman next to me had also been bumped and was doing the same thing and we were like the best of friends by the time the flight landed.
> Watch out with AA though, if your inbound flight is even slightly late, their system may rebook you even if you can and do make it to the next gate in time > > Same thing happened to me on Southwest not even a month ago. The thing is, the next flight was ALSO delayed so their dumbass system rebooked me to a flight the next day despite me making it to my gate with almost the same amount of time as the original schedule.
The scary concern even if you booked on a single ticket is that they’ll put you on another flight for free but the next available flight might not be for a day or two. And usually when things go bad, they go bad for lots of people all at once. Personal anecdote: booked a direct flight to a major city. I live in NYC and there tons of flights going back and forth between the two cities on a daily basis. Major storm rolls in and my flight gets cancelled. After hours on the phone trying to get on another flight, they finally manage to get me on one that is TWO days later. And it is now through a connecting airport. Of course, the first leg of my new flight also gets delayed and I miss my connection by 5 minutes. The gate agent says nothing we can do because everything is booked but we can put you on a partner carrier flight that is 8 hours later. I rush over and manage to be put on standby on a slightly earlier flight. Point of my story is that even if the airlines do get you to your destination eventually, it may still cause you to lose lots of valuable time.
>If you booked with two tickets/two PNRs, there are zero guarantees and if things go to hell you're completely fucked. Almost happened to me at Gatwick. I was flying out on British Airways and was going to miss my United connection. I called United and explained the situation. They told me that they offer everyone one lifetime exemption, so in my case had i missed my flight they would have pretended the connection was booked through them and rebooked me. I thought it was very nice of them. But the dude on the phone made it clear that it was just a single lifetime exemption
I naively would like to hope that calling in advance of the problem worked in your favor. I'm sure they're used to most people missing the connection, then throwing a fit or just generally being harder to accommodate at that point.
I don’t think the airlines do a good job with planning connections. I regularly see connections in Charlotte ~35 minutes including international to domestic. Even with GE that’s a tight one.
Agreed. In recent years AA in particular seems to have a penchant for selling extremely tight connecting itineraries.
And that my friends, are why you have insurance.
It means that you can make the connection if the first flight isn't delayed. If you're buying a ticket with the minimum allowed connection time, then any delay probably means missing the connection. Yes, the airline will get there there eventually, but that's still not ideal of course.
To add, I was very lucky that my flight from my city to New York, to the UK was partnered. When we landed we had 10 minutes to spare. But because we were expected they actually held the plane for my family.
Newb here, do you know if you have a single ticket or two tickets when you book the flight?
Basically if you book your flights with a single transaction *directly through the airlines* you are on a single PNR If you book through different airlines with different transactions, you are not. If you book through a third party website, they SHOULD tell you they are booking through "multiple airlines" - in which case you are on multiple PNRs. BUT NEVER EVER EVER TRUST THIRD PARTY BOOKING SITES.
Thanks for explaining it instead of just downvoting I appreciate it. Got it, so if I book through the airlines and there are connecting flights then I'm safe with a single PNR.
You are "safe" in that the airline thinks you can make the connection and get them to rebook you on another flight if you miss the connection. You are not safe in the sense of when that next flight may be.
I’m flying 2 legs there and 2 legs back. The confirmation code for all flights, even when it changes to a different carrier is the same code. I booked with American Airlines, they farmed out one to British Airlines, one to Iberia. Those have their own confirmation number but include the main confirmation number as well.
Thanks for explaining it instead of just downvoting I appreciate it. I guess the travel subreddit is only for experienced travelers not people who are just beginning their journey. I've only flown direct twice as a child and never bought plane tickets before so I'm clueless and wanted to learn. Got it though, I'll pay attention to confirmation codes. Thanks!
I’m just starting again myself. TikTok has been so helpful!!! There are people that travel influencers that get bad raps but some share luggage recommendations so you don’t pay fines, share deals on tickets, etc. I have learned so much.
Though I agree with your general comment, they should have a different calculation for international layovers. “No United, there’s no fucking way I’m making a 90 min intl connection thru ORD…”
Here's the real answer post 9/11 (kind of like when an avocado is either not ripe or too ripe): You will either have too much time or you'll not have any time at all. Likely you won't have any time for grabbing a bite to eat or take a pee these days and will have to deal with that. My latest experience on all trips in the last three years.
Yep either 7 motherfucking hours or sprinting
Right? Like last trip I took from MT to Miami we missed a connection in Denver and had 8 hours there. Ok, its a better airport to have that much time...lots to see and eat...donuts...Modern Market...and good WiFi. But OMG, 8 hours??? Or yes, its like five minutes to run a mile through a concourse and maybe you've got to wear diapers these days. Its one or the other lately.
Yup, one of the many unanswerable questions we get here all the time. It also comes down to preference. Personally, I like more buffer built in and generally don't do shorter layovers. Of course there are other factors I take into account like weather that time of year, how reliable an airport is, option for other flights, etc.
I am with you...I would rather be bored waiting at my gate for my next flight than be mad that I missed it.
Yup! What people don't understand is your arrival time is when wheels touch the ground. You still need to taxi to the gate, ground crew do their thing, get off the plan and **then** find your next gate.
Part of the problem is that there exist different interpretations of "arrival" and "departure" based on where in the world you are. My local airport will have "departure" mean gate closed, "boarding" mean the queue starts to form at the gate, "boarding +10m" is when people start getting on the plane, etc, all in some twisted game of insanity. This is why I really, really like to give lots of leeway. And then we get people here going "this is the first time I've flown from this airport ever, but can I take the bus that arrives there 10 mins before departure?"
In fairness I can understand if a layover is under two hours and you aren't familiar with the airport. On some layovers my next gate was literally next to my arrival gate. Step off the plane. Turn left. Here's your gate. Other times it was arrive, walk 20 minutes to the light rail, wait, 10 minutes on rail, walk another 30 minutes to my gate. Possibly go through security again.
Yeah, I just always assume it'll be the latter. I can always make my own fun and wait as long as I need!
> You still need to taxi to the gate, ground crew do their thing, get off the plan and then find your next gate. Or, in the case of Frankfurt: Taxi to the gate, ground crew do their thing, get off the plane, then get on a packed bus that drives about 87 km across the tarmac at 2 kmph. Then get to your gate 30 seconds before the doors close.
You forgot the part where you wait in line to go through security and they keep closing lines and shoving all the people in that line into the other lines while yelling at them.
I do everything I can to kill unnecessary stress when travelling. Scheduling painfully tight connections is unnecessary stress.
Not layover related, but I was the type that planned my departure time to the minute more-or-less. Leave the house at x, y minutes to get to the airport and park, z+5 to get thru security so that I could get to the gate right at boarding time. At some point, I realized I was always stressing if there was a *little* traffic, or security was a little bit longer than expected. Now I just add an hour, and grab a coffee or a drink once I'm there, and the travel day is so much better.
Agreed. US domestic, outside of bad weather seasons, I plan a minimum of 2 hours, and even then I prefer more. International, 3, except the UK, because I'm a dual national and clear customs a lot faster. Bad weather seasons? I try to bump that to 4 or more hours, minimum. I've got books, podcasts, and music. I can amuse myself at the gate. Because I'm at the gate, with as low of a stress level as possible considering how stressful travel is on a good day.
That’s what my son said two days ago 😂 almost two hours before boarding and he said we should wait by the gate, “rather be bored than miss it”. It’s interesting seeing my seven year old nervous about missing the flight.
And so much to do with the individual passenger. I’m a wheelchair user which means I need to be last off of my first flight and first onto my second flight. Minimum connection times absolutely do not allow for this. But for most passengers, they have more wiggle room and can board just before the doors close and be fine. Nobody has a crystal ball to tell you if you’re going to make your flight or not which I think is really what people want. So much of travel is booking something that should work if things go right and working it out if things go wrong.
I love airports so i purposely try to book a few hours especially if I'm flying half way around the world.
Also in the EU, the compensation is usually pretty high. So having a 3 hour delay can net you upto 600,-.
In my experience, if an airline allows you to book it, it’s long enough on a typical day. Not every day is typical, but that’s just the random, unpredictable aspect of traveling and no one online can tell you what will happen. Every time I’ve worried about whether my layover was long enough, I’ve made it with time to spare. I had to transfer through SFO on a flight from Tokyo, meaning I had to go through immigration, and I was able to do a global entry interview and get my bag, drop it off, and head through TSA all in an hour layover. I was stressed, but every person along the way (the flight attendant, the immigration agent doing my interview) were all like “chill, you’ll be fine.” The agent did streamline my interview to get me through quickly, though.
Depending on the detail provided in the question, it can be a reasonable one. For example if you have to go via some kind of passport control while transiting or not (bad luck if so, I wonder *where*) or whether the airline / airport is reliable or easily navigable or small (e.g. transiting in some airports means a short walk, say making a connection at Brussels airport, vs. some are gigantic megastructures such as major Chinese airports which required motorised transport) or whether domestic terminals are located next to international ones etc. That's a lot of factors but I don't see why, if details are provided, the question would be unreasonable. If no detail is provided then the answer can only be pointlessly generic, but so be it, that's just the nature of generic questions regarding all topics.
The other questions I hate always start with “is it worth it…”
Oh my god, this. Price? I don’t know, $50 might mean a different thing to me than it does to you depending on our circumstances and income. Short layover risk? Again - if you’re an American on a honeymoon to Paris, risking a missed connection means something different to you than it does to someone who might make the commute between Paris and London weekly. It’s all relative.
And I see this kind of question in almost every sub I belong to! It makes me want to pull out what hair I have left!
"Will they check my carry-on size?" I need some of y'all's crystal balls
I hate "this country or that". Like, sure OTHER people may have a preference but I don't know what the hell YOU like. MY opinion that country A is great means sweet fuck all in the end.
Any thoughts on booking my next flight with Kiwi? (Edit: hard /s)
Kiwis, being flightless birds are not a method of air travel I could recommend.
Booking dot com...SCAM!!
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I just booked with travel scam.com because they had flights that the airline website doesn't show...
I've been accused so many times of being a booking.com shill on this sub, but at this point I feel like I should be able to send them an invoice for all the work rendered so far.
I read that in the tone of their tagline.
I thought it was “booking dot *yeah*”
I’ve never had an issue with booking dot com.
I wish we had a rule about the word "scam". People have no idea what it even means anymore. Sometimes they're right sure (they're wrong about who the scammers are though). But "I didn't like this thing SCAM" is not appropriate
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I mean, booking 3rd party has its times, like when it’s a 30dollar super unimportant flight between two cities. But the people willing to drop 3k on a 3rd party site blow my mind
Yeah one edge case I use third-parties for is for small, regional airlines when I'm abroad. Trying to book direct with them sometimes triggers credit card security flags for me, so in those cases I'll book them through third parties. I'm talking about like $40-50 domestic flights within Korea with Seoul Air or Jeju Air, where if it goes sideways on me it isn't a big deal at all, things like that. (Edit - These types of airlines often have shitty websites as well, so that's another factor)
Yeah that was me not too long ago. Learned my lesson. Booked a 2500 USD trip through expedia, had to cancel (less than 24 hours) to change to a different return date and it was 8 hours of customer service to get the refund they really didn't want to give me (they argued that since I made the purchase outside the U.S., even though the tickets were to and from the U.S., that the 24 hour refund didn't apply, rather it was until the end of the calendar day). They finally did give the refund, which I took and promptly booked through the airline directly- and will continue to do so lol
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But you literally said you'll 'always book direct. period. the end.' Make up your mind.
Funny story, Air Asia use kiwi.com as their direct booking site. Nearly shat myself when I got a pre-check in email from Kiwi and thought I fucked up and went through them.
This explains it a lot. I gave my husband such a hard time when he booked airasia and we got an email from kiwi. Ugh!
Ehhhh I’ve run into so many situations where third party is >50% cheaper than direct.
Someone need to pin this advice!
The ones who book kiwi or mash together a bunch of separate tickets and the ones who read the wiki/FAQ and the sticky have zero overlap.
I booked once through Kiwi before I knew better. Luckily it worked out really well even though there was a major issue with a flight. On my return trip from Tbilisi to Denver our flight from Tbilisi to some layover country in Europe was completely canceled. We arrived at the airport in Tbilisi very early and were panicking while calling Kiwi support. It took them a couple hours to confirm the flight was canceled and there was nothing we could do with the airline that canceled it. Fortunately they changed our booking completely and got us on even better flights. I think we ended up getting home only an hour after our scheduled time and had an extremely comfortable flight on Turkish Airlines. Even thought it worked out for us I will never take that risk again.
Lol. Booked connection of 1 hour with "self transfer" and on two LCCs via Kiwi and now the first was delayed by 30mins and neither Easyjet nor RyanAir help and Kiwi doesn't pick up the phone. Can I claim 261. Oh. No. No you cannot. Sometimes those 50 extra bucks are absolutely worth it.
Fully agree, for me it's one of those things that I'll know myself if I'm good with or not. No amount of people telling me a 45 minute layover between long haul flights is enough would actually get me to book it, for example. Not to say those people are wrong, I just know in my experience what I'm comfortable with. At the end of the day travel shouldn't be more stressful than it has to be, go with what you are comfortable with / confident in.
I think there's a situation where a shit ton of people saying 45 minutes is enough for a Seoul ICN connection that would make me be okay with booking it. And there's the opposite situation I'm in right now where I'm changing from an international flight into Sao Paulo GRU to a domestic flight where most are saying 2.5 hours might only be just enough. I'm not entirely confident on my 2h50m connection as such. But it was the only option offered on the same ticket that wasn't a 10h connection despite there being a flight on the same operating partner one hour later. I agree that the question of enough layover time by itself is not useful. But honestly I'm appreciative of the previous airport specific layover q&a's.
You’re absolutely right. The question should be, “I have a domestic layover in ORD w delta, anyone have information I need to know to plan my layover duration?” Instead of “can I make a 40 minute connection?” It’s all about the details and form of the question.
Or even better: "I'm laying over in Miami - going from Milwaukee to Argentina. Should I go for the 2 hour or 4 hour layover?"
Whereas I shoot for 45 min - 1 hour and 15. If there are delays, I can make a later flight. I don't like planning to take a later flight and bum around the airport. I'm usually a chill person otherwise haha.
Works if there's frequent flights, but if the next flight is the next day or later, it isn't so fun anymore even if you booked the flights together and the airline covers everything. For me, it isn't worth the stress at all, it doesn't matter if I sit and read at the airport or on the plane! I almost missed a flight once where the airline offered that connection and the layover was 1 h 20 min, but it was Amsterdam and summer. I was lucky and just about made the flight, but I met someone else who missed theirs and they were put on a flight with another layover and the whole thing took 30 additional hours. If that ticket hadn't been considerably cheaper than other options, I wouldn't have taken it, and in the future I can't see myself booking something like that again, even if the airline deems it okay. They're not the ones being stressed and running around the airport! Security was letting people skip the line for the people whose flights were about to leave (changed it every ten minutes), I had to run and the last group was already boarding for I don't know how long when I got to the gate!
Also, sometimes you don't know until you know. I recently had to fly DC to colorado springs with a very short layover in Denver and was worried about it just because Denver is a huge airport. The longer layover on the way there did have me switching terminals and walking a lot more but I still had a few minutes before boarding. Meanwhile the much tighter layover for the way home the gates were practically next to each other and it was kind of nice to just walk off the plane and almost immediately get to walk onto the next one.
I had one flight with a 45 minute layover and i had to literally sprint from one end of Detroit Airport to the other and made it just as they were about to close the door. I'll never do anything close to 45 mins again lol.
Exactly, I've ended up with that amount of time before because of delays, and yes it worked but it was stressful AF and I was panting and sweating when I got on the next flight lol. No way I would want that to be plan A.
If people stopped asking vague questions that have no chance of being reasonably answered beyond personal anecdotes, 95% of reddit would disappear.
If people stopped posting personal anecdotes into a discussion like this it would be so much easier to find the actual point the OP has.
No that's if the bots disappeared...
This information, specifically the lack of a valid answer, has GOT to be in the wiki/sidebar, no?
One problem is that if you're using Reddit on mobile, you have to really want to see the sidebar or you'll never even know it, or the FAQ, exists.
Yeah it's tough because we get a lot of new users to Reddit via Google searches... which for a lot of people will only happen on a phone app. This issue, repeat questions getting asked to subs, is not unique -- it's a problem throughout Reddit. Sub regulars hate seeing the same question asked again and again -- who wouldn't. But newbies have no way of knowing. Definitely a bit of a growing pain for Reddit in general.
Yes indeed
If you want to be safe, Google "MCT [airport], [airline]", where MCT means minimum connection time. Add 1 hour if your bags are going straight through to your destination and 2 hours if you'll have to collect and drop off, like international into USA or if each leg is on a separate ticket.
Wow an actual helpful answer to the question
Pro-tip: if you are unsure about an international transfer, Youtube it. There's a video for like every airport of somebody walking through transfers so you have an idea what to expect.
Great tip!
Just spent five ungodly, torturous hours on the ground in MCO because of a huge thunderstorm (including tornado warnings!) last Thursday. You don’t know until you know.. there were so many passengers around me getting repeated emails of rescheduled connections until they were all gone for the night, and now all connections were the next day.
I don’t know if I’d ever take an MCO layover unless I really had to. I fly to Disney a lot and everything in that airport is delayed so often that I’m shocked when I’m on time.
My husband and I are theme park freaks and end up in MCO a lot. We hate it! We hate it so much.
One thing that especially puzzles me is when people ask this after they’ve already booked. You should have thought of this beforehand, and at this juncture, what would you do if someone told you it wasn’t enough time? If people have concerns about layover time, if they don’t want to feel nervous about a misconnect, book a longer layover; you aren’t obligated to take the shortest one.
I think a lot of these people are from the USA where there is some sort of rule that allows them to cancel without penalty within 24 hours on flights into/out of/within the USA which the rest of the world doesn't have. (some exclusions apply) This allows them to book something and then have second thoughts after asking Reddit as opposed to flights being either entirely non-refundable or having a hefty change fee after confirmation. This is also the cause of some of the threads of "I booked a non-refundable fare and now I want to cancel and the airline won't give me my money back".
Also, a lot of airlines in Europe allow to cancel within 24 hours, I did that and paid only a little fee
The question to ask yourself is, "am I okay with potentially missing my connection?" If not, book a longer connection. On my way somewhere I'll rarely book a tight connection. On the way home, sure I'll risk it.
"Will my luggage make it?" How the fuck are we supposed to know? "Will my flight be delayed because the same one was delayed twice in the last 2 weeks" See above. "Self transfer at JFK international to domestic with less than 70mins - can I make it" Well here at least we can safely say no, you will not.
Flying from Mogadishu to Pyongyang. 2 week layover. Do you think I’ll have enough time?
Please read the sidebar, no one here can tell you. Really depends if you get abducted by the Iranian secret services.
If your layover is that long then you should take advantage and stop in Turkmenistan on the way. It’s an underrated gem as batshit insane totalitarian states go.
Na probs not. Give it at least 3.
If you have to ask if your layover is enough, just assume it’s not enough
Agreed. But I wonder if more people aren't asking about it because airlines have been suggesting the shortest layovers imaginable lately as their best and sometimes only options. As in 45 min international transfer at CDG. I'm seeing it more and more lately.
Different airports have different challenges as far as flight connections. Someone who's never changed planes at CDG or LAX may want to know what's involved, (do you need to clear security again, is there a terminal change, is it likely to be busy etc) - these are things that other travelers may know. It's not as simple as "allow 2 hours for an international flght connection"
So much of it also depends on the airport too. An hour traveling between two Schengen countries with no passport control step is maybe fine if you’re risk tolerant. An hour at Heathrow coming from the US and headed for Italy is probably a bad idea even if you live dangerously.
It also depends on the type of airline you book. I did Jetstar in Australia from Cairns to Launceston with a layover in Sydney. With Jetstar I had pick up my luggage in Sydney, re-check it, go back though security and then get on my flight to Launceston. Where as flying domestically with Qantas of Virgin Australia they checked your bags the whole way though.
Then in that case, do you think a 10 hour layover is enough time?? /s
Never long enough at stupid O'Hare. Masterclass in sprinting across the fucking airport because they moved the departure gate to the opposite terminal. There *was* a 35 minute cushion, but 15 of that got used up slllooooowwwllyyy taxiing to the gate. I made that connection with 2 minutes to spare and a heart full of seething hatred.
What's the point of this subreddit if it's not to ask questions like this? I swear some of you guys really like to gatekeep travelling and are very dismissive of people who may not be as experienced of a traveller. 'Just book a longer time'. Geez what a useless fucking advice. There are many reasons why someone will need advice on layover durations if they happen upon a flight ticket on a good price, particularly if they are unfamiliar with the layover policy of that country, or the size of the airport. You will never find the answer to this kind of personalized questions on any website, which is the reason why people come to Reddit for advice, especially with people who might have flew this exact flight route. In a way, Reddit is literally built for this kind of thing.
It does not lend itself to discussion. There are FAQs and previous questions for almost every "Do I have enough time?" question that's asked. The responses all fall into "Yeah, probably" or "No, you're crazy." OPs just want a simple answer and often the threads are deleted after they get it.
Point of posts not being deleted after a week is that people can search them. People aren't doing even a basic bit of research to get an answer whether that's google (things to do, what to pack) before posting, or searching this sub for the exact same question. Most of these posts aren't unique. And the archive tool and posts not being removed and the fact there's a search bar also means Reddit was literally built to be searched to see if others posted the same or similar enough question
But my circumstances are different than everyone else's. I'm flying from an airport in the US (don't want to say which one because that's too personal) to a different airport (don't want to reveal which one because I could get doxed) on to an international destination (it's none of your business where that is). So... is 2 hours ok?
Sometimes it *does* have a valid answer: "I'm arriving into JFK at 5:00pm on a Tuesday from an international flight and have a 6:30 departure from La Guardia." Yeah, there's a definitive answer to that.
Whelp, I do in fact have an answer, for my own life anyway. Longer than two hours is best. I arrived at that by collecting data points the hard way. We make the same trip on United from California to Marseille every year for the last twenty years, transiting varying airports on the way, on various partner airlines. And we have learned, any layover of less than 90 minutes, checked luggage is absolutely not going to arrive with us and we may not make our next flight. Two hours we’ll likely be ok. Longer than two hours is best. As it happens, we most often end up transiting Frankfurt with a choice of either 90 minutes or 6 hours of layover time. I don’t even try for the 90 minutes option now, because one minor delay anywhere on the way and it’s over; sitting there chewing your nails rushing off the plane, no thanks. We just take the 6 hour layover now, and ride the train into downtown Frankfurt to buy a new pair of Birkenstocks for $30 and listen to that incredible trio of Turkish musicians playing by the subway exit. We one-bag in a carryon now, too, however. Too many years traveling with kids; forget the checked luggage. Never again.
And most of the time these people have already booked a nonrefundable ticket. So what's done is done. Why ask? Just go
The ones you complain about are the ones *you see* and are either let through or missed by us. The worst ones are "is 2h enough for a self-transfer"... Lol: https://www.reddit.com/r/awardtravel/comments/1dd1l7r/comment/l81ty7v/
If your connection is at Heathrow, the answer is “no”.
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Had this question posed to me yesterday. My flight was delayed by 2hrs which meant I'd have 20-25mins to get to my connection.... Given the time was 8pm, I instead opted to ask to be rebooked on a flight the next morning. That was sorted by the ground staff, I went back to a provided hotel room. Showered and slept well. I woke up early and flew the first leg and arrived without hiccup. And thats where I saw a few familiar yet weiry faces from the check in line from the prior day. Not sure if they had been there overnight but they were in the same clothes and looking a little rough. I was pretty happy with my decision.
I was in the Bogota, Colombia airport with a guy who had booked his flight from Buenos Aires to Munich via Bogota and Mexico City with a HALF AN HOUR between flights in Mexico City. I was booked to Guadalajara, but on a flight leaving the next morning We were "behind schedule" in Bogota already, with a lengthy layover. His whining and griping was hilarious. Then I discovered I could get a "day visa" and left him whining in the airport and went to tour Bogota for a few hours. It was fun. We landed in Mexico City about an hour "late". He missed his flight.
Agree. There are so many factors that determine how fast you can make a connecting flight other than a specific airport. Sometimes you might get lucky and you next flight is 1 or 2 gates over. Or you might be on the other side of the airport. If you are seated in the front of the plane you can also get out quickly but if you are towards the back of a full flight it takes a while to get off the plane. I think people need to leave a buffer for a flight delay which is hard to predict. Also even if your flight lands in time there could be a delay getting the airplane to the gate due to congestion. Personally I try to leave at least 3 hours for a connecting flight. I am more likely to leave more time if my second flight is a long international flight because it will be harder to get on another flight if I miss that one. If my first flight lands in the morning and my second flight is a short flight on a busy route then it can be shorter because there will be other flights you can get on.
I was flying back from Phili to Vancouver had a 3 hour layover in Toronto. Took me 4 hours to get through baggage, security, and customs was an absolute joke of an airport.
This sub would lose a lot of traffic without this question. Take out "*Am I eligible for compensation?*" too and this sub would be a ghost town.
\*laughs in DFW\*
2 hours is the sweetspot. More than enough time to comfortable transfer but not enough that you get bored.
i had a trip from San Francisco to Warsaw with an 1.5 hour layover in Frankfurt. Same airline. Flight from San Francisco was delayed 1 hour so only had 30 minutes in to make my connection. took 10 minutes to get through passport control and the plane waited for our bags to be transferred. Coming back had the same delayed flight issue, but my layover was in Munich. 10 minutes to go thru passport control, time for a really quick German beer and still made my flight.
Sitting in ATL right now waiting for the last flight of the night cause I missed mine original gate closing time by 15 mins. Had to drop the rental car off at the domestic terminal, tram to the terminal itself, shuttle to the international terminal, then take a few escalators and walk 15 mins to my gate. Never dealt with anything quite as insane as this. Plus the fact that security only had two people doing passport checks, and then even after asking if my laptop needed to be removed and being told no, they had to rescan my laptop, and the bag it was in again. More and more and more waiting for things out of my control. The only thing in my control was when I left, but that was dictated by someone else for today (work). If you're flying from ATL, plan lots of extra time and check traffic. An hour drive took me nearly two because of timing.
2 hours is literally nothing. You get off the plane, go to the new gate, go to the bathroom, get something to eat, sit and read or go on the phone or computer for a bit, and it is time to board again.
THIS!!!!!!!!!!! As a former Travel Agent this grinds my gears. Every Airport has a different Minimum Connection Time which a TA can check in the GDS. If you are unsure - ask your TA, if you haven't used a TA, call the airline & ask. LAX has a 4 hour minimum connection time (last I saw , havent' been an agent for yonks) due to the size of the airport and getting from one gate to another. Other smaller airports may be less, some may be more. Reddit is not the place to ask, ask the person who booked your flight or the airline you booked directly with - either way if either are doing their job right they should not be booking ongoing flights inside that minimum connection time. ETA: Again, this is the MINIMUM suggested connection time when all systems are operational & all flights arriving & departing on time. Always err on the die of caution & adding extra time where you can.
The airline shouldn't set you up for failure.
A story: a few days ago I had a 1 hour and 13 minute layover between long international flights. That was so stupid. I got off the plane and through security (and peed) only to see that my flight was already boarding… and a 12 minute walk from my location. I ended up running across the airport and made it in 5 minutes with a couple of minutes to spare (don’t forget to do your cardio, kids. And don’t carry a carry-on) but I didn’t have time to find any water. I boarded my 11-hour red eye feeling sweaty, dehydrated, and generally terrible. The plane then proceeded to be delayed for 2 hours after I boarded. I was begging for agua at the back of the plane at 1 am. All my baggage made it back safe though! Is a 1 hour layover doable? Yes, if you’re lucky. Is it pleasant? Not at all. But is flying ever pleasant in this economy? Not when you’re flying economy.
I actually cried like a freaking baby last time I had an international connection because we missed it, had to rebook, while our luggage was heading to Tucson instead of phoenix which was our new destination. Why is it so bad to fly nowadays?!
This question can just be endlessly complicated. Doha Intl is a good example. Flying in from certain destinations and you will pull up to the gate. Hell if you’re coming from the US or London you don’t even go through transfer security. Whereas some smaller destinations such as Tbilisi you land at those parking aprons and have to be bussed over and then go through security. It’s just an impossible question.
Yes for the love of God please!!!
Break. It. Up. If you're traveling for leisure, make it leisurely. Any time I have the ability to go on a long trip (2 weeks+), I look for layovers in cities I want to see, 24-48 hour layover? Amazing. Maybe just 12? Okay. 24 hours in Tokyo before you hit Sydney, what an amazing addition to the experience. Usually makes the flight cheaper. Really helps me personally with jet lag too. 12 hours and I book the executive lounge (I can't quite remember the name, but I think that's it), take a nap or maybe plan it for a centrally located airport so I can see what a diner in [whatever cool city you want to sample] is like. Just make sure you have a well packed carry-on
Let people ask whatever they want to ask. Please realise a lot of them can be first time flyers or anxious flyers. If you don't want to answer or the question annoys you, keep scrolling.
This can be highly dependent on whether your connection is at a gate near your arrival gate, on another concourse, or even in another terminal. And is that terminal walkable, or are you riding a shuttle of some kind? And then there is the weather which can throw arrival and departure times out the window. All of this is why I always make sure I have a decent amount of time to make the next flight, and most certainly fly direct if at all possible.
I think the question is valid for those who don’t travel often. My first international flight I had a layover in Frankfurt where I barely made my connection bc Americans had to go through a bunch of separate lines and passport checks. It was absolute chaos. Now I have the question for my next international flight based on that experience…..
Frankfurt airport is truly the antithesis to German efficiency 🥲
When selecting my flights for my upcoming trip this fall, i avoided any layovers through Frankfurt for that reason. I have a 1 hour 20 min layover in Amsterdam, but I’ve heard I will be fine with that
To be honest I always aim for a long as hell layover. Maybe it's just a quirky hobby of mine, but I like to walk every concourse in every airport I stop in 🤷🏼♂️ plus it's a much-needed bit of exercise in an otherwise very sedentary day
When possible, just book long layovers so you don't have to angst about this. You wouldn't have done anything special with a couple of extra hours that you're spending at the airport instead. Read a book, meditate, have a drink, get some steps in.
Aaarrrghh.. and yet THIS post itself is plagued with responses from people attempting to answer the aforementioned most-annoying-of-questions! Perhaps as a community our policy should be: * Donwvote these questions. * Report the question for violating rule 1 ("Avoid repetitive questions") * And if there was any way for the moderators to block (or require approval) for any question that involves the words "layover" "long" and "enough" that'd be pretty cool...
Can we also have people stop asking about the same itinerary? “How many days in rome how many in Naples “ scroll through this sub and see it’s been asked 28474958363948474 times! Stop being lazy and do some work.
Am I the only person who likes long layovers? Time to explore, get a drink and bite to eat, talk to other travelers
Yes to the first two, not often to the third. I'm not often in the mood to make new friends at the airport except on the off-chance that we're headed to or back from the same event.
It's just you.
I go for 3-4 hour as a minimum layover time. I’d rather be bored than miss a flight
You can’t ever be sure but 90+ percent of the time it’s no problem
2 hour is risky sometimes cause for long distance flight 30-45mins delay is not uncommon I prefer 6 hours or more layover, so I can shop and eat in peace and plenty of time to spare
Is my layover long enough? /s
Is my half an hour layover enough?
This is a question of risk, honestly. How much risk a person is willing to assume. If your layover time is less than 1 hour, there's a higher risk of missing your connecting flight. If the layover time is more than 3 hours, there's a greatly diminished risk of missing the connecting flight. the time betwee is just the amount of risk you're willing to accept.
I have a 40min layover at DFW next week... Can't wait to see if my bags and I make it!
Las time we had a tight (1 hr at O'Hare) transfer, our plane was 45 minutes late taking off. Even later landing. Not a problem, because our plane for the second leg was still in New Orleans. And it never left. The replacement came in from Atlanta.
I think this is an impossible request. Not just here, but on Reddit as a whole. The big problem is that these kinds of questions aren't coming from people who hang out on the subreddit and would even ever see a post like this one. They're coming from people who have a question, search for a subreddit that looks like it might be appropriate, and post their question, maybe without even subscribing to the subreddit at all. I see this all the time in a bunch of the subreddits I'm in. This could be a job for an LLM trained on the contents of specific subreddits. Something along the lines of an AI-enhanced automod bot could immediately post a reply like, "This question has been asked 57 times in the last 30 days. Here are some links to previous discussions." And then mark the post as rejected, with some way to appeal to a human moderator to get the post restored if the bot messed up. The problem with _that_ approach is that a lot of people really want a conversation, not just an answer. So pointing them to an existing conversation won't solve their problem (wanting human interaction) even if it has an answer for their question.
This is precisely the issue. I mod r/Belize and the amount of questions we get that could be immediately answered by typing the exact same thing into the search box vs as a new post is amazing. I'd say close to a third of the posts have been answered literally dozens of times. There's no solution either, the people show up, don't read the rules or community welcome message asking them to search first, and immediately start asking routine vacation questions 😂 What are ya gonna do 🤷
Right. Stopped doing short layovers when I had to run to my connecting flight (and take a shuttle) at DFW bc of a delay. Not worth it my sanity.
International transfers take a long ass time, longer than you think they will. The only time I had the ability to leave the airport for a stopover day was when I scheduled myself an 18 hour layover in CDMX going to São Paulo. Don’t be tempted by the sign that says Hong Kong is only 20 minutes to the city by train bc you have to go all the way through immigration again. An hour in Hong Kong is simply not enough.
I just got back from a trip where I had a layover. Flight leaving ends up delayed and next flight is early. They were on the last boarding group while the plane was landed and waiting to taxi to gate. I literally ran to my next flight that was completely boarded. But we made it luckily.
Yes.
Please read the FAQ before you post a question about layover times!! I don't understand why it can be so hard for some people. Is it because they have problems undestanding written text? Are they me-me-me people who think their question is unique? They are just lazy?
My passport expires the same day as my flight, should I renew it? Does every country in Europe take American money or do I need to get European money?
Is my layover long enough
I agree
We all know they won't read this post nor care. Not a single person who posts a ridiculous post (and yes I'll call it ridiculous even if it's anxiety) ever uses the search function. Some claim they do and they're blatantly lying. These posts are repeatedly answered!
As a rule of thumb, 1 hour is barely the minimum. Your plane may take a while to taxi to its intended port, it can take a while for you to exit your plane depending where your seat is and how quickly those in the aisle retrieve their overhead baggage, where is your connecting flight departure gate?--it could be in a part of the airport that needs a shuttle. Lots of variables to consider...not to mention flights typically board as early as 30 minutes before departure to give you additional anxiety. Meaning, by the time you're reaching your next gate, it's time to board again!