Connecting flight anxiety

[StressedEric]

I am flying on my own with my kids for half term to cyprus via vienna as it was the most convenient flight times. The flights are london to vienna, then an hour or so wait, then flight to Cyprus. On the return flight there is only half an hour between the two flights.
I am anxious about this as have never done a stop/ presume plane change in another city en route, I have always flown direct before. My kids love flying so I am not worried about anything apart from the logistics of connecting flights.
Can anyone tell me how it works ?
Do I have to collect bags at Vienna and go through passport/check in again.

What happens if one bit of the flight is delayed which means I miss the next one ?
How is a 30 minute gap between flights going to work ? Surely it will take me that long to get us all off one flight, let alone board another one at presumably a different gate/part of airport.
Will our bags actually make it with us ? We all have cabin bags so will pack those to the gunnels I think and only put stuff in the hold suitcase that we could manage without just about.

Thanks !

And you won't spend the night in the airport. If you miss the flight they will provide you with a hotel.

And you will get compensation of 220 euros per person.

Just recently done this on connecting trains in Europe but can't imagine how much more stressful that would be by plane 😬

If it's been sold to you as a flight from Larnaca to London then it will be fine. My advice will be to ask the steward on the plane where to go in the airport and what to do. They will find out for you if they don't know themselves. And then run. You won't have to go through immigration and customs again and your bags will be checked all the way through.

I was once sold a long haul flight which involved arriving at Gatwick and then departing from Heathrow an hour and a half later on a Friday afternoon. I hadn't noticed the disparity in the airports. I rang them and said it's not possible to get round the M25 on a Friday afternoon in that space of time but they insisted it was and wouldn't change it. Funnily enough I didn't make it but it wasn't my problem so the airline put me up in a lovely hotel and gave me a voucher for a 3 course meal and drinks and I got the flight the next morning.

When do you travel to Cyprus?.

Agree ds has just done a flight with an hour between connecting flights but the initial flight was delayed. He did make the next flight but his bag didn’t

I remember sprinting at brakeneck speed for a connecting flight in Amsterdam back to London. I just made it, lots of people glaring at me on the flight as I was last to board and they held the gate for me but it was in no way my fault.

Are your kids old enough to run whilst pulling a suitcase on wheels?

Just a thought - three bulky pieces of hand luggage might make it very hard for you to dash across the airport. Maybe you’d be better putting two pieces of luggage in the hold - then it’s up to the airport staff to get your luggage onto your plane.

@AnellaA

Just a thought - three bulky pieces of hand luggage might make it very hard for you to dash across the airport. Maybe you’d be better putting two pieces of luggage in the hold - then it’s up to the airport staff to get your luggage onto your plane.……

….which they may not be able to do on a really tight connection if the holds on the second flight are closed up and it is (maybe) just waiting for “runners”.

There’s no guarantee hold bags will make the connection, it’s IMO always a good idea to have some essentials, maybe plus a bit more in carry on (on any flight, not just one with a connection)

@StressedEric Thess timings don’t work! Change the flights! Why on earth don’t you fly direct? You have given yourself a shed load of stress. This is Cypress, not New Zealand. Flight timings are varied from various airports.

30 mins is impossible. No one can help you on a plane or in the airport to get onto another plane in 30 mins! A family member missed a flight with 1 hour recently. Why? First flight was late. It was delayed. Ticket was sold as connecting but you cannot connect if you are late and the only flight has gone. Just getting off a plane can take 20 minutes!

Yes you should get another flight because the stress and worry is not worth it. Neither will work and a delay of just 20 minutes means they won’t. It’s irresponsible for anyone to sell these flights without 2 hours between arrival and departure.

@TizerorFizz

Thess timings don’t work

They are extremely tight but they are above the required MCT (in the second case just above). There are financial and other consequences to the airline /airport if connections are being missed in large numbers so the MCT must work a lot of the time.

That said personally I wouldn’t be comfortable with the plan and always prefer direct, better still non stop but at least you have some protection with a connected booking, and maybe non direct was all that was available to the OP, depends on airports.

Thanks for all your replies. I have spoken to Austrian who confirmed that if the original flight is on time then we, plus our bags, will make the connecting flight. I got the impression the Vienna to London flight will be held by a few mins, plus it shows on Flightaware as "often delayed 30mins". If we do miss it, we will be put into a hotel and get the next available flight from Vienna to London which will be the next morning, as many of you have said, as it is one booking. I have bought Air Tags in case the bags don't make it, and will have all valuables/overnight stuff etc in our hand luggage. Austrian cargo handling can have my dirty washing !

. The lady I spoke to on the phone at Austrian said " if the connection did not work most of the time we would not sell it as a through flight and it is more than the MCT for Vienna". Which sounded very Austrain/practical for " what is the fuss about". As a precaution I have booked the next day off work.
For many logistical reasons involving other family members on the same holiday arriving at the same airport from other flights and leaving at the same time to return to their country, I am happy with the flights, just never done a connection, least of all in such a short space of time.

Good luck then. My blood pressure would be sky high! If you are an hour late, what then? This is Heathrow we are talking about I assume.

It could well be a decision you regret making.

I would think they sell those flights to Austrian or other EU citizens who can use the eu gates on departure and arrival. It should not have been sold to you if you are a British citizen given the lack of time.

Remember also that the boarding gate closes 15-20 minutes before departure. That equally applies at your destination and they will
not let you board if you arrive late.

If your departure flight is from Heathrow then it is more than likely going to be late departing.

The connection in question is Vienna which advertises (and often seems to achieve) an MCT of 25 minutes.

Not sure if Heathrow is involved at all but since it has been mentioned LHR T5 is an example of what happens if airlines consistently fail to consistently achieve the MCT.

There they had to move T5-T5 MCT out from 45min to 60 min for most if not all connections because too many people were missing flights and it was costing the airlines money.

Vienna seems to have been using an MCT of 30 min for quite a few years now so that must work for them, but of course everyday things run differently, no guarantees.

BTW as an aside over the years I certainly departed Heathrow on time or early reasonably frequently..

Its been a good few years now (6 or 7?) But I've done a Vienna-Larnaca flight and it was very organised (not with a leg to London though, flying into Vienna for skiing)

As long as your are chilled about the chance of things not working out - and it really sounds like you are - then it’s fine. Yes, your luggage may go on a detour but it’s on the journey home so hopefully won’t matter much with savvy packing (and IME they will deliver the luggage to you when it shows up). I’ve done many connecting flights over the years, they are not my favourite but airlines are usually super helpful and with the right attitude anything can be a funny story or an adventure to look back on.

Hope you make it and I hope you update!!!

My bet is that you will make it.

Thanks and yes I’ll update . If the flight from Cyprus to Vienna is on time then I think I will , if not , now I know it’s the airlines problem to get us a hotel and back to London , am relaxed about it .

Hope it all works out and they get you on your connection! From London you'd have plenty of choice to fly direct next time? I'd avoid connecting flights where at all possible.

TBF I’m not sure it’s been established that that OP’s journey starts in London (and obviously we don’t need to know)….if they are in the UK regions or nowhere near one of the major European airports then a connection somewhere to get onto a flight terminating at Pafos might almost be inevitable.

@StressedEric

Good luck, sounds like you’ve got the options under control so hope it works out.

@notimagain the flights are London to Vienna then on to Cyprus as stated in the op. I was just commenting that a direct flight will be less hassle/worry which would be easy to get surely from London. I live near a small regional airport and will always travel to a bigger one to just get the one flight. From London there will be loads of options for direct flights

A tip if your bag does go on a trip of its own.

Write your flight number, date of departure and contact details on a piece of paper and put this in your suitcase. In the event your bag is lost and or otherwise opened, this information will get your bag returned to you faster.

Apologies about the London bit I was being really darned dull…

Agree with you that directs are generally better/more convenient/less risky and that’s certainly what I try to do.

I have to say though that some of the directs I’ve looked at recently between London and where I live in Europe have been *** expensive verses going non-direct.

It’s usually time vs money isn’t it?! Planning 11months ahead is best and an understanding that cheap travel isn’t sustainable. If you are just going for a short break, not direct is a total pain.

The overall time of transfer in an airport is no guarantee whatsoever. We allow 3 hours plus everywhere now. Regardless of what anyone says. Grab a coffee, know where we need to go and read a book. Stress free!

Sounds like a load of extra hassle, stress and time when you're only flying to Cyprus.

I don’t think connections are all bad TBH..sometimes you’ve no choice.

If you’re aware that a booking actually involves a connection, aware of the timings, have a plan if it doesn’t work out and are relaxed about it all they can work fine (sounds like that is the situation the OP is in).

OTOH I know that sometimes people who have some really bizarre plans that would suggest that either they have been badly advised (sometimes by a TA) or haven’t looked hard at what they’ve actually accepted from an internet source.