Runner123

I booked a business class award flight JFK-Madrid-Lisbon in late September. My Lisbon flight time has changed, so I now have about an hour between my two flights where I had two hours before. However, I have a flight to Faro on TAP from Lisbon at 12pm. Am I going to be OK to make my flight? I booked it so I had about two hours, but that is not the case now. And if I miss it, will Iberia put me on another flight, even if it is not theirs so I don't miss my TAP flight? There is one Iberia flight that will still get me there in time to Lisbon to catch my Faro flight.

jackr27

I doubt Iberia will be accommodating in this situation because your flight from Lisbon is on a separate ticket. Generally I wouldn't advise booking such a short connection when you're dealing with separate tickets.

Do you have checked baggage? Lisbon is very easy to transit through if you're arriving from the Schengen zone, but if you need to check a bag in with TAP an hour is almost impossible.

If it's an award ticket, your best bet would be trying to change it to allow you to arrive earlier so you can make the onward flight with TAP.

craigthemif

I'm confused. If you had 2 hours in MAD and now you have 1, wouldn't you have even more time in LIS?

But as mentioned, IB have no obligation whatsoever to get you to FAO (or to LIS in time for your next flight). There is zero chance that IB will put you on another airline, unless all of their flights are completely full.

And TP will simply put you down as a no-show.

jeanie

I have a similar question. I booked a One World award using AA miles routing ORY/MAD/DUS all on one day in June. When it was booked, I had over a 2 hour layover in MAD. Both flights are on the same ticket number. Now there is a 1 hour 15 minute layover in MAD.

What are the chances of my checked bags making that 1hour 15 minute connection? If my bags don't make that flight, will Iberia deliver my bag to my hotel in Koln? The bags are needed for a business meeting the next day.

I am trying to decide whether or not to call AA and ask if the ticket can be cancelled and refunded, and then I could get a new ticket with a longer layover on BA through LHR. Thanks.


Edited to add: Well, since this is a One World award, AA was able to change the ticket from IB to BA at no charge. I didn't know that I could change carriers like that. So I learned something new today. So now I am flying CDG/LHR/DUS.

craigthemif

Sort of scratching my head as to why you wouldn't just pay cash to fly direct or take the train. Paris to Madrid / London to Germany is quite the detour.

But glad it worked out for you.

Runner123

I have 70 minutes to make my connecting flight in Madrid. I land in Madrid at 6:15am, and my flight to Lisbon takes off at 7:25 (both are on Iberia.) When I booked it, my Lisbon flight from Madrid left later.

Mwenenzi

off topic

Yes. Indeed. A short no hassle train ride (~250 miles) from city centre to city centre. Would guess point to point by train would be a lot quicker than flying. And no cost/hassle of getting to/from airports
Many people from USA do not seem to look at maps or consider trains

Great Circle Mapper

Mwenenzi

At MAD on 1 ticket IB should protect you to LIS. They will not care about the TP flight.
Coming from USA you will have immigration (MAD) & customs (LIS) to contend with.
The third TAP flight will close to check-in/bag drop before the 12:00 departure. At LIS to the TAP flight with separate tickets you do not have a connection. Just one flight ending at an airport and another starting from the same airport. All at your own risk

Blue Skye

I've booked BA IAD-LHR-MAD arriving at 11am. And on a separate ticket I am booked IB MAD-LHR-IAD, departing MAD at 1320. I have read a few threads in this forum about MCT, and am wondering if I will be okay to make this flight. I will have hand baggage only. Will I be arriving into the same terminal from where I will depart? Any add'l advice for this same day turn on separate tickets would be appreciated. Thank you in advance.

tobsw

Wow!

Well, it all depends who is operating your LHR-MAD-LHR sectors. According to the schedule I guess in your inbound it's BA operated, while outbound is IB operated. That means, you need to change terminals, from T4S to T4.

Your procedure will be as following: T4S BA arrival, clear immigration, take the automatic train to T4, security. You will be at the departure hall, where you can visit the IB Dali lounge. Your IB fight to LHR will depart from the lower H gates at the T4 terminal: there are a number of gates which are non-Shenghen, mainly for IB and IB Express services to EU-non-Shenguen destinations.

Anyway, you have enough time to do your itinerary.

craigthemif

Scratching my head as to how this became a mileage run. But here's where it might go wrong...

1. You miss the connection in LHR due to delays out of IAD
2. Your LHR-MAD is cancelled or substantially delayed
3. The immigration queues at MAD are ridiculously long and your passport isn't European

Because none of the above have anything to do with IB, you could end up stuck in MAD with IB unwilling to do anything about it. If it looks like it's going wrong, throw yourself at the mercy of BA in LHR and see if they'll let you skip the flights to/from MAD.

Blue Skye

Thank you for that info. That makes the process very clear.

It is a crazy idea to get the last two flights i need for BA status. That is how it became a mileage run ex-US for less than a regular roundtrip. I am not 100% sure I will actually do it. i have a few more hours to decide to cancel the IB leg under the 24hrs clause. I do appreciate your insight and info. All good points on how/where it could go wrong.

craigthemif

If you need flights instead of Tier Points, you can simply add 2 cheap domestic IB flights at your leisure after arriving to MAD, then take a direct flight home using miles or something the next morning...

IB flights count the same as BA flights for the 4-flight minimum for Silver or Gold.

Blue Skye

The pricing for these two sets of flights were less than the cost for a return flight today. Getting from the US to EU for mileage runs is not cheap right now, so I grabbed these without much thought. I'm going to chance it. Turns out most of the return flights are on BA albeit a separate ticket. I'm currently Gold with BA, so I'm hopeful it will all work out. Thank you for your suggestions, and advice. Next year I'll not wait until the end of my earning year to make sure I have my requisite BA flights.

BA6501

You won't need to change terminals - IB LHR and other non-Schengen narrowbody flights have gates in T4S to 'board' from. You can clear Security in T4S, use the T4S lounge, then go to an S gate and be bussed to the aircraft parked at the low H gates. This saves you from entering and leaving the Schengen zone.