55 min for connection flights at MAD from t4 to t4S
 

Hi
We are flying from FLR via MAD to MEX after two weeks in J
after serval cancellations and schedule changed our flights became
ib 3335 flr-mad 20:30-23:00
ib 6409 mad-mex 23:55-04:20
with a 55 min only transit time from t4 to t4s
I ve checked that the last five ib3335 flights arrived at MAD in delay between 13m to 2h6m
in case we miss the connection we will be protected to the next days flight
but the 2 of 3 flights from mad to mex on the next day in J are already sold out. The only one available in the morning has only 4 seats remained (we re in 2)
Ive already called ib to discuss the solution cause it seemed we will miss the original connection in any way. But I’ve been told by the agent that the minimum time for the connection from T4 to T4S is 20-30 min.so we could make it technically.and if we missed it we will be protected to the next available flights .
id like to ask if anyone has any idea what will happen if all three flights on the next day are all sold out?
or we d better call ib to change our flights now to get the last available seats for the next morning flight?
but in this case we won’t be arranged the overnight accommodation .
any other suggestions?

You've got the major issues covered.

If the next day's flights are all full in J, you should be offered the option of flying in PE. This should result in a 75% refund under EC261 rules (that you may have to fight hard for). IB will probably be quite difficult about re-routing you on a different airline in J and might also be difficult about you waiting in MAD for another day or two (for the next J seats).

You will also have your overnight accomodation at MAD covered and you should receive EC261 compensation for arriving much later than scheduled.

However, if you want a more relaxing life, you can pro-actively move your MAD-MEX flight to the next day (if IB will let you) and you can pay your own accomodation near MAD (which isn't typically all that expensive). Especially since arriving to MEX at 4am is hardly a thrill either - and you may have to pay for the prior night in order to have your hotel room ready...

The MCT for T4-T4S is 55 mins, so the agent was talking nonsense. If you call IB to change your MAD-MEX flight now, they will probably ask for a fare difference, and you will have to pay for your own overnight accommodation, so my advice would be to deal with it on the day. You are protected in case of misconnect, and they can reroute you on other OW partners if the IB flights are all sold out.

If you can get a US ESTA, might be a good idea to have one ready and approved as backup in case you have to get rerouted via MIA or DFW.

This is probably too tight a connection and there's a very high probability that even if you make the MAD-MEX flight your luggage won't.

I suggest that you ask IB to be rerouted on IB 3237 out of FCO, which lands at MAD at 10:10 PM. There are frequent high-speed trains from Florence that take about 1.5 hours to Roma Termini, then it's another 35 mins from Termini to FCO by airport train. IMO the transfer to FCO is a minor inconvenience compared to the risk of being stuck in MAD overnight and, worse yet, of being downgraded to PE.

Transferring t$ to t4S is usually a breeze. If your first flight is not delayed, you should be able to make it given that it's late night when the passport control line should be short. However, I agree that it's a risky proposition that your first flight can't be late. Whetehr you want to act now or take a chance depends on how important it is for you to make it to MEX on time. If you have an important event to attend, I'd adjust the flight now. If you're not in a hurry, I'd take the chance and even pray that my first flight gets delayed so that I can have compensation. :)

There's actually a fairly large bank of flights around midnight so passport control can be rather full around then. Granted if it's an EU passport then the automated gates take 30 seconds.

Automated gates not always working. Sometimes only some of them are shut down, sometimes all. OP, also to consider, your FLR to MAD flight is at the end of the day, meaning that any delay on any of the plane's earlier flights will be carried over to yours.

Hi
thanks for all your advices
ive just been called back from IB+.the agent continued to tell me that 55 min is ok for transit .and I checked on ib website for them the min time to make a transit from T4 to T4S is 30min.
and she told me that the long haul flight may wait for the transit passengers if there are many.if all the direct flights mad-mex operated by ib are sold out they will reroute us to mex via lhr (the ba flight has still 20+ unsold seats).and she said they blocked some seats on these direct flights.and near the departure they will set them free.so we won't stuck at mad for more than one day.and if we want we can move the mad-mex flight to the next in any time before departure without any fee.

Err.. FLR and MAD are both in the Schengen area, so there is no passport control upon arrival from FLR.

But there's passport control to exit Schengen for the flight to MEX.

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