To book a flight with a 45 minute connection?

[coffeeforone]

Looking at long haul flight options from London and one of them has a 45 minute connection in Warsaw. What do you think are the chances we will make this connection? Would the airline wait for us?

We are travelling with a toddler and a baby, so not sure if it's worth the risk of being stranded overnight. The next overnight flight is 24 hours later. The flight is much cheaper than some of the other options but not sure if it's worth the stress?

Travelling by yourself...maybe but it's cutting it very tight. Travelling with a toddler and a baby...I wouldn't.

I think that’s too tight.
And your connecting flight from Warsaw will not wait for you.

I do t have experience of Warsaw airport so can't comment specifically on connecting there, however 45 mins will be cutting it fine.

I have been stuck on he tarmac waiting to get off a plane for that long before, been delayed by more than that many times. Also factor in changing gates etc with children in tow which takes longer than just running there yourself.

It might be ok if everything runs smoothly, but would only take a slight hiccup to end up stuck.

Also, if travelling with children will you having old luggage? Very short connections increase the danger of your luggage not making it onto the 2nd plane.

I wouldn’t risk it with children. Can you book the connecting flight for 24hours later and stay in a hotel?

To where? Is.it a common connection? Have you been to Warsaw airport before? 45 minutes is quite tight when you're traveling with very young children, one unexpected necessary nappy change could scupper the whole thing

I think it is too tight a connection tbh. If your first flight is delayed for just 15 minutes that only gives you half an hour and you have to factor disembarkation into that and sometimes transit security procedures too, depending on the airport and route.
I booked one with an hour's connection once and missed the onward flight. Although the airline were very good and got us on the next flight and looked after us it was a big inconvenience. I now allow at least 1.45 hours at a minimum.

I wouldn’t risk it, personally. My only experience of these tight connections is with KLM, who routinely do this through Schiphol airport.
Our inbound flight was delayed, on an already tight one hour connection.
We were moved to the front of the aircraft, given our gate number and told by the cabin crew “As soon as we open the door, start running”.
We belted through the terminal and just made the connecting flight.
Our luggage didn’t.
I leave you to imagine that scenario with your toddler....

if the flight is on the same airline and is booked as 1 ticket then the airline wont sell you a ticket with a connection time shorter than the minimum for the airport, if you miss the flight it's their responsibility to get you on the next available flight (may not be they next actual flight though). If it's 2 separate tickets or different airlines then steer well clear. You may not be able to check luggage through so have to collect it, go back to departures are recheck baggage - will def miss flight. 45 mins is really short. It only takes you flight leaving a little late from London and you've missed it.

Look at skyscanner and see what options are available, only book on airline websites not third party sellers as then you have the protection of the airline.

Check out flight radar 24, it'll give you an idea if the flights are usually on time

Personally, not worth the stress, would be very tough on your own with the ability to sprint through the terminal, with a toddler and a baby you have no chance!

I wouldn't take it as it's very tight and if you made it your luggage may not. At many airports your hand luggage needs to be re-screened and that all takes time.

It’s technically do-able. However, you Rey upon everything going absolutely to plan. It won’t take much to be swayed off track and miss your flight.

_*rely

No - that sounds way too short. Your next flight will be doing final boarding as you touch down.
If you are looking at something like expedia or skyscanner they will show you all the options but it doesn't mean the airlines will honour the transfer.
Look directly at the airlines website, or call them up and they will tell you the minimum transfer time they recommend.
Most are minimum an hour and sometimes two hours if you are changing terminals.
If you book via a third party site and then miss the connnection the airline has no obligation to honour the second leg, so you could find yourself stranded and out of pocket. If however you can book your trip direct with one airline then they have an obligation to honour it - but I would be amazed if they allowed a 45 minute transfer time.
Dont give yourself the stress !

I take about 30 flights per year and always allow a minimum of 2 hours. flights from my local airport (not uk) are often delayed and I don't want to spend the whole flight stressed, knowing that I have already missed my connection.

Fuck no! Not with a toddler and a baby. If it was you on your own, you were young and fit (aka can run like Mo Farah) and willing to push and shove a lot AND if stuck in Warsaw for 24 hours at the last minute would make you go “oh what a pain! Oh well - always fun to have an adventure - where shall I have dinner” then I’d say “sod it” but not with 2 little ones.

Like a PP I've done it through Schiphol but the crew were telling people which gate they're flights were from before you got off the plane and you had to run. I wouldn't fancy it with kids in tow.

I make about 100 flights per year so please beleive me: don't book it. I give it less than 10% that you will make the next flight. Plus many flights close boarding 20 min before departure.

Interesting to see the KLM/schipol mentioned. My DP tried this and ended up stranded overnight and then couldn’t fly back to the UK airport he needed and ended up being taken to Heathrow and then having to get to Scotland.
He was by himself, children in the mix of that sounds a disaster

To be honest if you have checked bags it's unlikely they will make the connection even if you do and that's even with everything operating bang on time.

My only experience of these tight connections is with KLM, who routinely do this through Schiphol airport.

Mine too! I guess the Dutch are keen on ensuring lots of people get a daily workout

Second pp advice about through tickets or not as well. Sometimes planes will wait a bit, say if it is a massive connecting flight for dozens of passengers (more common in hubs in Middle/Far east for those onwards to Australia; and vv for coming into Heathrow).

I’d call the airline and check it’s not a mistake. My FIL did this as he was concerned about the short connection time and the airline must have fucked up because the next day they had changed it.

We've done the KLM/Schipol run too, it was chaotic to say the least. As previous posters have said, absolutely no way re 45 minutes connection time, it's not worth it.

Oh god I've run through Schipol before as well (we were delayed getting to the airport in the first place) and it was not a fun experience!

I would not leave myself 45 minutes even by myself to make a connection regardless of which airport it was through. If you're there in plenty of time then you can grab a sandwich/wine/toilet break!

Oh god, running through an airport with a toddler who needs a wee!!!!

Since you say it’s not worth the risk of being stranded overnight, I wouldn’t - there is a reasonable chance of that happening with 45 mins connection.

However I have booked flights that tight before, when I didn’t particularly need to arrive on a set day and would have been ok with being rebooked for a later one. I have always made them but have literally run through airports to do that. Like a previous poster, my luggage has not always been so lucky (got several new outfits courtesy of Emirates the last time). Had it’s upsides but probably not ideal with a toddler and a baby.

Presume the two flights are with the same airline? I’ve done this before (admittedly not with kids) and same airline and the second flight has waited for us and others off another flight as they could obviously see we are all booked.

Am doing it in a few weeks again (with kids in tow) so not sure how it will go!

It’s tight. I had that stopping in Helsinki for Hong Kong. Mine was a through journey with same airline (Finnair). We were over an hour late departing Heathrow.
We landed half hour after connecting plane should have departed but the cabin crew had been brilliant and planes for Hong Kong, Seoul, and Beijing were held at the airport for us. On arrival at Helsinki the eight passengers with connections were guided directly to the gates by ground crew who had stayed working late for us. It was stressful it ended up fine.
With little ones I’d think 3/4 hour in an airport you don’t know would be a challenge but ring ahead and ask for assistance. They can get you first off the plane and have a little cart waiting to get you to other plane. That might only work if it’s the same carrier who will do automatic luggage transfer etc.