This would be in September, I have a choice of: flight on Northwest from JFK, connecting in Amsterdam to a KLM flight to Prague (with 1 hr and 5 min. layover) or ... Air France flight from JFK to CDG(Paris) connecting to AF flight to Prague (with a 1 hr and 15 min. layover). Both flights leave JFK at 4:30 p.m. I%26#39;m concerned about the short connection times. Anyone have thoughts as to what would be better? Thx.
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At Schiphol there is only one terminal, but potentially a long walk. But from where the Northwest planes land and the Schengen European flights take off it would normally be 10 - 15 minutes walk maximum. Unless your flight is over 30 minutes late then you and your luggage have no worries.
Due to the different terminals at CDG you might need a bus connection but again, 1 hour 15 is plenty of time as long as the flight is close to schedule.
My personal preference would be Schiphol, it is generally just a nicer airport with better shopping, bars, restaurants, outlets etc.
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I%26#39;m not sure - I%26#39;ve had bad experiences at both Schipol and CDG with much longer connection times. In Amsterdam if you are going from one Schengen country to another it is easy, but otherwise you have to walk up one end and down the other to go through passport control or whatever and if your plane is late you will be waiting for the next flight as they will not get the luggage from one plane to the other in time.
I personally think CDG is Satan%26#39;s own work - whoever designed the place ought to have been shot (most of it fell down a few of years ago - two days after we had been delayed there for 7 hours). If I was in a hurry there I would give it a wide berth as the way it seems to work is that you have to go through endless security checks and then there is a bus that goes around in a circle to where your plane is berthed. If you miss that bus you have to wait 15 minutes for the next one - 1 hour is just not enough.
Have you thought about using a UK airport as a hub (I%26#39;m thinking Manchester, there are direct flights from JFK and Newark - forget about London) and then getting a budget flight from there? Of course the same applies, i.e. you need to find out what time arrivals and departures are and give plenty of time, but there are a couple of options you could do - even Czech Airlines if you book enough in advance are not that expensive and very good.
You have plenty of time to think about it, and it is just an idea.
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I agree at Amsterdam you need to go through the passport control to get to the Schengen area but I have never had any problems when I have had to do this. I did once notice a long queue to go through this control on when flying out of Schiphol - maybe I%26#39;ve just been lucky !
At CDG, I have noticed that passengers with tight connections often have Air France staff waiting for them as they get of the aircraft to whisk them to their gate, although I have never had this happen to me.
One other comments, AF, KLM, NWA and CSA are all in the same alliance so any flights with a combination of these airlines will have the luggage checked through to Prague. If you say fly to Manchester to connect to a low cost airline you would need to allow addition time to collect your luggage and check-in etc
And Schiphol would still my preference in this scenario.
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I think you were just lucky, or maybe I was unlucky :) When flying through CDG it was AF/AF and when flying through AMS it was KLM/KLM but that didn%26#39;t help a bit :)
The only reason I did such journeys was because it was %26#39;cheaper%26#39;, but now if a direct flight is at all possible I will take it as the amount of hassle and boredom that is potentially involved it just not worth it and I can bear the extra cost.
It is OK if you are going through an %26#39;interesting airport%26#39; like Istanbul or Hong Kong, but I have had more than my fair share of being delayed in really dull places - the worst was possibly Berlin Tegel in the old days when only three airlines were allowed there and the terminal building was small and poorly-lit with no seating. I was almost ready to make a run for it over the Wall after 6 hours%26#39; waiting...
But CDG comes a close second. Schiphol is really not that bad - you can spend that time waiting for the next connection practising how to say it - apparently it is a shibboleth (as is Scheveningen) :)
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OP - Is there a reason why you wouldn%26#39;t consider the Czech Airlines non-stop flight from JFK?
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Also, don%26#39;t that Delta starts non-stop JFK-Prague service in June. It will be only three days per week, though.
Delta also has non-stop Atlanta-Prague service. I would rather change in Atlanta than AMS or CDG.
Your short connection times in AMS or CDG (world%26#39;s worst!) scare me.
I%26#39;ve taken both CSA and Delta to Prague from the States and much prefer Delta. Although, CSA within Europe is very, very good. Their trans-Atlantic service is not up to snuff. Hopefully, after they get their new ownership issue solved they%26#39;ll concentrate on long-haul routes.
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I%26#39;m using Delta skymiles and looking to use the least amount of miles, but thanks for asking.
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Wonderlust, I always try to answer questions which are asked rather than speculate on options or suggestions. I hope GCEK and I helped you to make up your mind. And I think that both of us gave Schiphol the edge.
Good luck with your decision.
All the best, Penny
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Penny,
So kind of you. Thank very much. Yes, I think I will go with Amsterdam. And, I%26#39;ve researched and if the Northwest is delayed and I miss the connection, looks like there are 3 more KLM flights to Prague, so they would have to put me on one of these.
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Avoid CDG at any cost. By far the worst hub in Europe.
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