More than enough time, no worries

Thanks for your help. Flight booked. From the looks of my message I may not speak English that well either.

Provided your flight arrives anywhere near on time, no problem at all.

Isn't that the answer to every "will I have enough time to connect" question? :)

Touché.

I just find it silly whenever someone ask a "will I have time to make a connection" comes up.

If OP already purchased a ticket, it's usually too late to change without a fee.
Any answer we give is generally meaningless if the OPs flight is delayed.

I wouldn't worry about it, it's a great airport for connecting. I had a 75 minute connection there back in March...i was off the plane at 6:15 and at the lounge after going through passport control at 6:25.

Hello, everyone. I've been browsing the thread and found it quite helpful for many so I'm going to pose a question of my own despite being a fairly seasoned traveler.

I am traveling ATL-DUS on DL in a couple of weeks, connecting to LH from DUS to TXL. We have a 3h20m layover in DUS, which I know is more than enough from reading previous posts.

My question, though, lies in options my wife and I are pondering for our bags. We are on separate tickets for the outbound journey, though I know DL and LH interline. If we chose to check our bag in ATL, will DL check it through to TXL? Alternatively, if they elect to not do so, am I safe to assume that 3h20m is enough to get to baggage claim, re-check with LH, and get back to Pier A for departure to TXL? Assuming inbound is on time of course.

Thanks in advance for any tips.

3h20min are more than enough to clear Immigration, collect bags, check in and get to pier A. You will even have time to get bored;)

P.S. Why don`t you e-mail DL if they can check your bags through? Would be the best way. Have two seperate tickets (CX) soon and after an email they are connected:)

Airberlin transit in DUS
 

We're thinking of using AA miles to get Airberlin flights: JFK-DUS-NCE. Layover in DUS is 75 minutes. Been reading nightmare stories about Airberlin luggage issues in the past but not necessarily in DUS. Will our bags be checked in at JFK all the way to NCE? No need to collect and re-check in DUS? Will our checked-in luggage make it to the DUS-NCE plane in 75 mins? What do we need to undergo in DUS? We have US passports.

This is my first post here so I hope I don't have too many questions. DUS seems to be a manageable and efficient airport but Airberlin scares me. We already booked a flight JFK-DUS-NAP with 1hr and 45mins layover in DUS. Five days later, the DUS-NAP leg was changed without notice and layover was increased to 6hrs and 5mins! AA allowed us to cancel everything with no penalty and waived fee for miles reinstatement. Booking this replacement trip JFK-DUS-NCE is making us do more research.

On a separate but related topic, we're flying end of June. Is it too soon to book award flights now?

Thanks!

Normally no problem. I only use Air Berlinon short haul flights but never had an issue with lagguage. Same with DUS. So I woudn`t be worry with 75 minutes.

IMO 75 minutes in DUS is more than enough, even if you have a slight delay and if lots of people queue at immigrations. You'll clear immigrations at DUS and the flight to NCE is handled as if its a domestic flight.

Also luggage should be no problem at all. This is not a complicated routing and there is not much opportunity for DUS handlers or AB to lose your bags... ;-) .

I do find AB to be quite a decent airline, btw.

Would you be so kind to report back here after your trip and share your experience connecting DUS and using AB?

Most commonly, the routings you mention only require a passport control check at DUS. The bags will be thru-checked and only need to be claimed at your final EU destination. Usually, I'm no longer encountering any security rescreening at DUS, as the Germans -- don't ask me why -- trust the US DHS/TSA screening and don't generally re-screen US-originating flight passengers on arrival there from the US flights. The slowest thing there for me tends to be the walk from where I deplane to where I board.

If you find the AB award space using AA miles, I would book as soon as you find it for the travel dates that work for you. The sooner the better, generally, at least for the long-haul sector on AB.

I do a lot of last-minute AA and BA award travel bookings for AB flights from the US-DUS/TXL-northern Europe and back. If it weren't for AB award availability, I would have ditched adding to my AA and (especially) my BA frequent flyer program accounts due to the otherwise horrible TATL Oneworld award availability that trades off with paying ridiculously expensive "fuel/carrier surcharges".

Airberlin transit in DUS
 

Thanks for all the info!

We're considering just taking carry on bags. Will Airberlin allow us to take 1 backpack AND 1 duffel bag in the cabin? Will JFK check-in personnel be sympathetic if we say we have a connection in DUS and don't wanna risk losing our luggage? Hmmmmm.....

In business two pieces should be OK but in eco probably not - you could try though and if they gate-check one piece of luggage you'll get it back shortly after arrival at the airbridge.