marthag

I have never been through Amsterdam's airport, but have heard that it is very user friendly. Therefore, I am considering a shorter connection time here than I would normally consider anywhere else.

If I do not select this flight option, I will need to spend the night at the airport hotel and fly out the next morning.

My British Airways flight originates in the U.S. and flies to Heathrow. From there, the soonest connection I can make to Amsterdam arrives there at 6:05 PM, on a Friday evening. I would then connect to a KLM flight to Florence at 7:20 PM.

Are the BA and KLM gates near each other in the airport? Is it unwise to book myself on such a short connection?

I can think of many reasons why this connection may be a mistake. But, never the less, I am very interested in hearing the thoughts of travelers familiar with this airport, in hopes that a case can be made for booking this connection.

zeppole

What happens if you miss the flight?

marthag

Zeppole....it is not good at all if I miss the flight. I will have to hope there is a vacant room at the airport hotel, and that I can get a flight out the next morning. No question, missing that flight will cause a lot of stress and probably extra expense.

flanneruk

You arrive in a part of the airport at Amsterdam that handles international flights (both KLM and other airlines: it's origin and destination that matters here, not thge airline). You then go through immigration and MIGHT, if BA are being uncooperative, have to collect your bags as if you were arriving in Amsterdam.

You then go to the other side of a medium-sized, single-terminal airport which handles domestic flights . I've managed all this in less than an hour - but you've got queues both at immigration and security, and you can't be sure when your BA flight will arrive at the terminal. Only you know whether KLM will rebook you on a later flight if you miss this one.

Your real problem is that there are no flights from Heathrow to Tuscany or Emilia Romagna. You're likely to have a similar problem with any other flight connecting at Frankfurt or Zurich

You'd be better off catching as connection to Rome from Heathrow, then getting a train to Tuscany. Or fly from the US to a European airport that still offers reasonable connections to second-division European cities.

marthag

Thank you, flanneruk. You always give me such helpful information. I see now that the connection I proposed is fraught with too much danger. So, I'm either going to spend the night at the Amsterdam airport or try another route.

I've found a flight from LHR to Geneva, where I then have a two hour layover for a Fly Baboo flight to Florence.It is a turbo prop plane which gives me pause. Do you know anything about Fly Baboo? I can't find any reviews of that airline.

Should i initiate a new post asking about Fly Baboo?

suze

My thought from reading your post, is I don't understand why you're in Amsterdam at all, if you are coming from the U.S. thru Heathrow, and want to get to Italy.

I'm no expert but seems unnecessarily convoluted.

If you go Heathrow/Geneva (which I've done and is very easy, frequnt flights as those are busy business destinations) maybe you then catch a train Geneva on to Florence?

nytraveler

If you're going to Italy - why not fly directly to Italy?

You can easily get a train (which runs almost every hour) from Rome or Milan to Florence - and be there before you would even be in Amsterdam with your plan.

suze

<<I'm either going to spend the night at the Amsterdam airport or try another route>>

Try another route

Is there some reason you aren't flying from the U.S. directly to Italy?

marthag

Hello Everyone......Thanks so much for your replies. I think there's a "method to my madness". I'm flying from the US to Heathrow because I live in Phoenix and there is non-stop service on BA to Heathrow. I particularly like BA on the flight home, because I clear customs in my home town, and don't have to waste time doing that in another point of entry. Also, I'll be flying home from Rome, which will be a clean, two flight trip, with no convoluted itinerary.

So, that leaves me arriving at Heathrow at 1:15PM. There are no flights from LHR to Florence. Therefore, I need to get to an airport on the continent that will have flights to Florence. I'd like to do all the flights without an overnight, but in most cases the flights to Florence have ended for the day by the time I arrive.

I've done further research, and it looks like I can accomplish my goal by flying from Heathrow to Geneva to Florence. The last leg will be on FlyBaboo, a turbo prop. But I think I'll go for it.

Does anyone have insights regarding FlyBaboo Airlines?

Again, thank to you all for taking the time to read and comment on my long-winded post. I truly appreciate your help.

chevre

I don't Fly Baboo but another poster suggested flying into Rome and I second that. You should be able to connect easily from LHR to Rome. From there it is only a 2 hour train ride to Florence to a train station that will drop you directly into town. You'll get to Florence faster and I suspect more cheaply. You're going to be tired but any way you look at it your route will be tiring. I understand wanting to fly non-stop into Europe and then connecting, although an even more timely option may be to fly to the east coast and connect to Italy from there. There's a train station right in the Rome airport to the main Rome terminal (which is quite manageable then you can get on a high speed train straight to Florence.

annhig

hi marthag,

i agree with all the above. the best way must be the simplest - a flight to Rome from LHR some time in the late pm, giving your flight from the US plenty of time to be delayed, ditto luggage/passport control.

it's supposed to be a holiday!

regards, ann

zeppole

marthag,

Fly to Italy from Heathrow and take a train to Florence. Your options are Pisa, Bologna, Rome (two airports), Milano (two airports). Rather than spend the night in Amsterdam, spend the night in Venice or Genova or Bergamo or Torino if you must and get on a train to Firenze the next morning. Just about anyplace in Italy is going to be cheaper, faster and less polluting than flying to the continent just to get to Firenze.

suze

Again, there's no reason to be in Amsterdam! I'm afraid I see no "method"... only madness -haha.

Fly from Heathrow to Rome and take the train to Florence.

flanneruk

Just to stop you chasing after wild geese.

There are no flights from Heathrow to Bologna, Turin, Genoa, Pisa, or Bergamo. And only bmi fies from there to Venice, which means BA are likely to refuse to through-book your bags from Phoenix, leaving you to go through UK immigration, retrieve your bags, get the train across to T1 and check in all over again with bmi.

Only Rome Fiumicino (the only Rome airport with a connection to Heathrow) gives you a painless connection to Tuscany, with a simple change of trains at the city's main railway station

zeppole

Sorry not to have known prospects were that bleak from LHR

but

British Air does fly to both aiports in Milan -- Malpensa and Linate -- and a simple bus trip from either gets you to Milano Centrale, where you can catch the high speed train to Firenze (3 hours).

marthag

Thank you all for the good advice. I'm back to the drawing board on this leg of the trip. You sure have given me good options. I guess I was making this trip too complicated.