What happens if i miss a connecting flight?

[notacooldad]

I am looking at flights but many need me to change at either Frankfurt
or Munich and showing that there is only 40 to 50 minutes between landing and the ongoing flight.

I know Frankfurt is huge and it would take longer than 40 minutes for the plane to land, disembark, get the bus to the terminal building, go through, security and find your gate. Many of the flights are only showing one flight a day. So, what happens if I can't travel faster than the speed of light to get to the gate and I miss the connection?

I got a text offering me a different flight, we got in with 5 mins to run from one side of the airport to the other... They waited for us to arrive at the plane.

Normally if you book them together the airline will be responsible for getting you on the next one. Do NOT attempt such a short layover if you are booking the flights seperately.

We got overbooked on a flight, they got us on the next one an hour later, but then we missed our connecting flight by minutes and had to get a hotel room in the airport and get the next flight at 5am. We were given 240€ but that obviously had to cover a night in the airport hotel. Was v pissed off but what could you do.

However, if we had booked flights independently we would have been responsible for booking new flights and no compensation for the hotel room.

In Frankfurt you can end up taxiing for 25 minutes to get to the gate. Are both flights Lufthansa? Is there no better later connection? As far as I know all Lufthansa flights go from terminal 1, but it’s still really tight and even if not delayed, you are unlikely to make it, but my understanding is if you book on one ticket with them and that’s the connection offered, then they would put you on the next flight anyway if you miss it.
Munich is pretty big also, I wouldn’t book with so little time for connection there either.

Well in the uk, when flying from London to Shetland if it’s the same carrier or a partner carrier (e.g. British airways & Logan Air) At the connecting airport I get looked after by being put on the next flight or overnighted and on the next flight. If it’s a different carrier and their not friends (no idea what the official term is) e.g. Ryan Air then Logan air, I’m totally up shit creek.

So are you booking with the same airline all the way?

Book complete flight means they have to book you on next available one. We missed a connection at Frankfurt (and, yes, the bus takes ages) but had to wait 8 hours for next flight and even that wasn't a direct one..

Depends on whether you have booked a through ticket (so one ticket covering flights) or multi tickets. The former means they have to get you on the next flight and sort out your luggage (assuming it was checked in on your first flight). The second option leaves you without any fall back because you are using multiple airlines without any alliance. Because I fly from a regional airport we have often used a through ticket and we have never had an issue to be honest. Even in large airports because we are not having to clear customs and move to the next flight directly we have made the onward flight in less than an hour.

Also bear in mind that even if you manage to move at the speed of light through the airport your luggage almost certainly will not. It may well end up on the next flight.

Are you looking at making 2 separate bookings yourself? If so don't! Those times don't sound like they meet minimum connection time requirements.

If you are booking through a single airline directly for the entire itinerary ie A to B via C then they will look after you if you are late. If they are with different airlines booked through one place such as an agent then make sure there is an INTERLINE agreement in place.

Sadly booking through 3rd parties online rarely offer this even if they sell you a ticket for the entire itinerary, they usually do it as 2 separates with no interline. It leaves you liable for sorting yourself out and all costs if you miss the connection. It's worth booking via the airline directly even if it costs more as you have more rights if it goes wrong.

Book a through ticket with the same airline (or codeshares) and you will be fine. As others have said it is then up to the airline to get you on the next flight. A friend's daughter is a travel agent and she says they have minimum transit times in different airports, they shouldn't sell you the ticket if you have no hope of making the connection, I never use different carriers with less than 24 hours between journeys but I may be just a bit paranoid 😊 To be fair most trips from Aus where I live are pretty big journeys so you just don't want things going wrong.

An actual connecting flight is where two flights have been sold together under one ticket. The airline keep bags for that flight seperate and whizz then directly through, and if there is a risk of time being tight they ask passengers to go with them on an escorted speedy shortcut to the next gate. If the flight is missed it is their responsibility to get you on the next flight.

Buying two point-to-Point tickets is just that, so you need to leave loads of contingency time, and will have no protection over a missed flight.

We have this next month when flying to Athens. On the way there we have several hours to do it all in. On the way back it's about 40 mins.
I'm not too worried as we won't be missing holiday time if we get delayed and we are not taking any hold luggage so can just take our own bags. It's Lufthansa.

Book the flights though the same operator and I think the airports have recommended connecting time on their websites. I am doing a connecting flight in the summer and Lufthansa had a flight with an hour layover. I played it safe anyway and went for the 2 hour connection. I think it's Frankfurt but we had to go through another X-ray scanner last summer which took time (from Lufthansa to Aegean).

We have been taken over from one flight to another on a bus at Frankfurt. Both Lufthansa.

If it is a "big" flight with multiple connecting passengers, for example Heathrow to Sydney connecting in Singapore, I have been on delayed flights where they expressly tell the LHR lot that the SIN-SYD leg is being held for them, and then give them the exact gates and sometimes even passenger buggies at SIN to get them there faster.

I've done a through ticket booked via AMS with only 55mins transit. That was not fun.

It’s happened me in the past a few times that Air France collected me at the base of the steps from 1 flight and brough t me in a mini bus around the airport on the tarmac to the steps of the 2nd flight. And I’ve seen it happen to others. But not in the recent past.

KLm and Lufthansa at your own effort to get through the massive airports. But at least usually within a terminal - BA in LHR is an absolute pain as ice often had to chem age terminal as well.

As all the others say, it really depends on how you buy the tickets. They will reschedule you if you catch your first flight, and dont make their connection that has been sold as a single journey.

Depending on your route, you may not need to re-clear security. But remember gates usually close before take of time - so this could take several minutes off your transfer time. Depending on my direction of travel, I seem to remember walking miles at Frankfurt when going to the UK, but it being really quick when I've landed from the UK. I wouldn't like to risk 40 mins, but I also have kids with me normally.

You say there is only one flight a day to your destination. But is there an earlier flight to Frankfurt/Munich? Ideally, I like 90 mins to transfer. But that's with kids, and one leg is intercontential.

I'd think if I could manage missing it (particularly if it meant spending the night) and forget about luggage. You might make it on the following plane, but your bags most likely won't.

Can you just fly to Frankfurt or Munich earlier. Normally loads of options to both, in particular to Frankfurt.

Thanks for all the advice.
It is with Lufthansa and my friends had a bad time trying to make the same flight we did a few months ago and just about made it by pushing to the front of the security control which they said was huge.

I may think about going somewhere else!!

I wouldn't unless there was no other option. If you do miss it you would be put on another flight and accommodated in the meantime but the stress of it all- even if it was ok in the end - would put me off.

My husband managed (with a bit of jogging) a 45 minute connection at Paris the other day despite the first flight being late which surprised me. But he booked it in the knowledge there was another flight home later that evening that he hopefully would have been put on if he'd missed it.

DO NOT do Frankfurt; I had a 50 minute turnaround there and 1st flight landed 5 minutes late, missed the connecting flight.

And that was with fast walking and no wrong turns.

Also had a very stressful experience at Frankfurt making a connection. We really had to walk a long way, go through huge queues for security and only just made the connection. We were surrounded by huge hordes of people having the same experience. It was hideous when we got to our destination - as expected our bags hadn't made it but we had to queue for an absolute age to log it because so many people on the same flight were in the same position. Wouldn't do it again!

If you’re on a through ticket it’s up to the airline to get you to your destination.

If you’re on separate ticket. You’re fucked