flamingpanties

I'm trying to put together a long haul reward flight itinerary that doesn't take a full 26 hours. Eight hours or so can be cut from the travel time if I transfer twice. I have a selection on various dates, and the transfers take place mostly in TXL, DUS and LHR.

Problem is, there's about an hour in between one of the landings and the next one's takeoff.

I may have to go through immigration and get myself to a different terminal. Some international gates close 40 minutes before takeoff. All the flights that shave 8 hours off the travel time have a similar 1 hour transfer between flights.

I'm not that experienced, and wondering if it's safe to book this. What does FlyerTalk say?

Gamecock

More details please. Like airlines taken and airports transited.

DFWsakp

We cannot advise you without any details. Every airport and the airline which flies into the airport is going to need a different connecting window.

flamingpanties

Okay, details below. I thought you were all so experienced you would advise me with some "common accepted wisdom."

This is an AA itinerary, the return from JFK-AYT (Antalya, Turkey).

Airberlin Seat information not available Meal: Snack
Aircraft: 738 Booking Code: X
Cabin: Economy

BA 983

2:05 PM
TXL

3:00 PM
LHR
British Airways Seat information not available Meal: Snack
Aircraft: 321 Booking Code: X
Cabin: Economy
107

5:05 PM
LHR

8:15 PM
JFK
American Airlines View Available Seats Meal: Dinner Snack
Aircraft: 77W Booking Code: T
Total Travel Time: 16hr 20min Cabin: Economy

abmj-jr

My rule of thumb - subject to change for tough international situations - is that an hour transfer is tight but perhaps doable IF both flights are on the same airline and same itinerary. Same terminal also enters into the equation. In some cases, a change from one airline to another in the same alliance might also be ok if in the same terminal.

For changes that involve different, unrelated airlines, different terminals or separate tickets/itineraries and international connections, an hour is just not enough time.

Gamecock

Nope. We can't. I would do a 45 minute transit at DFW any day of the week. JFK I would feel better with two, if it involves a terminal change.

flamingpanties

I'm not sure what you mean in your post by "two." Two hours, two airports, two transfers?

I had a wonderful alternative idea for my return home. Instead of spending 25+ hours on planes and sleeping on airport benches, I could book an itinerary that's much longer and stay overnight in a foreign city. I have a friend in the Zurich area, and maybe we can hook up.

abmj-jr

If the fare rules of your itinerary allow for a stop-over, that is MUCH better than what you were looking at before.

obscure2k

As the OP stated that this is an AA itinerary,it seems reasonable to continue this discussion in the AA Forum
Obscure2k
TravelBuzz Moderator

flamingpanties

<redacted> I was looking for feedback on transfer times as a general thing.

wrp96

Well if you want to be general, it depends on airports, airlines, whether its on one ticket or two, international vs domestic etc.

There's a reason there are entire threads in this forum about connecting at DFW, MIA, ORD, etc. and that there's actually different threads for connecting on different airlines at those same airports in other forums.

I can tell you yes an hour connection is fine, but if I don't tell you that's for a domestic domestic connection at DFW and you are trying to book an international domestic connection at MIA you are going to be in a load of trouble.

BStrauss3

Sure. Check the MCT (Minimum Connection Time) published for each transfer. You will find it per airline, per city, sometimes for specific flights or city pairs.

That gives you the MINIMUM. Remember that you are required to be at the gate a specific amount of time before the flight (again per airline).

If you are close to those minimums, well, do you feel LUCKY?

flamingpanties

I never heard of a MCT, so this is new. Thanks for the tip.

BTW, this is also not an AA question because the itineraries offer flights on BA, AirBerlin and several other airlines. AA is only the ticket issuer, and part (or none) of the journey takes places on AA.

JPG3392

I may have missed something, but I'm not clear about your schedule. Are you starting in Berlin, or is your first flight from Turkey to Berlin?

It appears to me that your only connection is in LHR. If so, I wouldn't hesitate to book the flight. If you miss the connection, you will be accomodated on a later flight. (On a more general point: It's more important to worry about time between flights when the last flight you book is the last flight that day.)

Slightly off-topic: AA award travel using BA is very expensive, because of BA's surcharges. Have you checked for award availability on AB (TXL-JFK or TXL-DUS-JFK) or on IB (via MAD)? AB's fees are notably lower than IB's, but both are better than BA. AB award availability can be checked at the AA website, but you would need to call to find out about IB.

iplaybass

I don't see your connection in TXL. However, 2:05 in LHR *should* be plenty, even assuming that you have to go from T5->T3. If you're delayed coming into LHR,. I'd say you have about 20 minutes of leeway. Any more than that and you'll be hustling. The best I've ever been able to do from T5 to T3 is 1:10, but the worst was 2:15 (spent mostly in the onward ticketing section at T3 on a Saturday morning because my upgrade was apparently causing some problems.) Things may have changed since I last flew. If you can get your LHR-JFK boarding pass before you hit LHR, by all means do so.