monkeys

I'm leaving on Saturday for a trip with the following itinerary:

3:05pm depart LAX --> 12:05pm Sunday arrive VIE (Austrian #82 )
1:10pm depart VIE --> 2:05pm arrive MUC (Lufthansa #2329 , operated by Austrian)
3:25pm depart MUC --> 5:55pm arrive MAD (Lufthansa #1804 )

This is all one itinerary (in business class, if it matters), booked with United using United miles.

I'm a little worried about the short connections and want to know what to expect, and also I'm not sure if I should check luggage.

Will I have to go through immigration in Vienna? What about in Munich?
If I check a bag, will I have to claim and re-check it in it Vienna (and/or Munich)?

In short, what should I do to minimize the risk of missing any of the connecting flights? I did post earlier (before I booked) and the consensus was that these are reasonable transfer times, and now that I'm leaving in a few days, I want to know exactly what I need to do and look for when I get off the plane.

Thank you!

oliver2002

Buy a pack of chill pills?
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/lufth...onnection.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/lufth...ad-merged.html

monkeys

Haha, thanks. I love flying but due to several "disasters" (including one missed wedding) I'm always nervous about making connections.

So from what I can tell, since Austria, Germany, and Spain are all Schengen countries, I will only go through immigration in Vienna - is that correct? And about baggage - if I check a bag in LAX, from what I can find, I won't see it again until my final stop in Madrid?

Unterwegs

Correct for both. I would not be worried too much. VIE and MUC are efficient airports. Worst case you will be rerouted and there are more possible flights later in the day. If your luggage does not make it you will get it one or two days later in Madrid.

monkeys

Got it, thanks. Only problem is I'm flying from Madrid to Ibiza the next morning (on another airline), so probably safest to try to just keep the bag with me.

mtimmer

I flew LAX-VIE-DBV on OS a couple of weeks ago with a 45-min connection in VIE and easily made it. (Although no passport control since it was a non-Schengen connection.) And the LAX-VIE flight took off 30 mins late. Like you, I was somewhat paranoid and my wife and I did the trip with just carry on luggage to be on the safe side.

monkeys

Back from my trip, and just wanted to add some data here - turns out it was not an issue for me because my LAX - VIE leg had to make an emergency medical landing shortly after takeoff so there was no chance of me making the VIE - MUC flight.

But had my first flight been on time, I would have made it, though it would have been close. Passport control in Vienna (immediately when exiting the plane) was very slow - multiple incoming flights (hundreds of people) where handled by ~8 officers, and I'd guess it was at least 30 seconds (and sometimes much more) per person, so you can do the math. I was in that line for 15-20 minutes.

Then a walk of a few minutes, and then security for a few more (and if I was not flying business class and wasn't allowed to cut the line it would have been at least 10 minutes).

Finally a long walk to the gate, which to make matters worse is through a huge shopping/duty-free area with large groups of people casually strolling around which made it difficult to move quickly.


Long story short, I would not feel comfortable at all with a connection of less than an hour here (assuming your final destination is Shengen). Maybe it was bad timing with passport control with multiple flights arriving, but I definitely would have been hard pressed to make it to the next gate within 40 minutes after exiting the plane.

afmiami

Well, it is always a risk having a short connection when you have to clear immigration. However, Vienna, Munich (and Zurich) are usually very efficient and easy to connect