freshman

Many thanks to the good people that offered advice in response to my first Italy trip post! Moving forward on trip planning, after having decided to change our dates to the last two weeks in September:

I am looking at Delta flights from ATL to Venice, with a strong preference to change planes in Amsterdam rather than CDG. The quickest pair of flights and the ones that get us to Venice earliest in the day show a 1 hour 10 minute stop in AMS. I will be checking a bag. Is that enough time for my bag to get transferred to our second flight? I have never changed planes in AMS, so I don't know how efficient they are.

Thanks in advance for your responses!

joannyc

I flew JFK > AMS > TLS last year. Had a one hour layover in AMS and a checked bag on KLM. Both my luggage and I arrived in TLS at the same time. ;-)

So, I think you are OK but I wasn't on Delta.

nytraveler

If this is all one ticket you have a good chance of making it - and hopefully there would be a later flight to Venice they could put you on (as in have empty seats).

If not a single ticket I would not touch it with a barge pole.

Andrew

There are several KLM (Delta partner) flights from Amsterdam to Venice during the day, so if you miss your connection you'd almost certainly get put on the next flight to Venice. But you can check the schedule yourself to see what time the next one after your flight would leave Amsterdam, just to keep it in mind. 1:10 should be plenty of time to make this connection, but delays happen. Best to be prepared.

FYI, security at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport was revamped last year. Now when you arrive in Amsterdam from the US to change planes, you'll only go through immigration - no extra security check anymore - then go right to the gate of your connecting flight. (It might be a decent walk, FYI.) So that might save you a little time.

I have connected at Schiphol numerous times including last month. It's a huge but very efficient airport; I really like it. Probably a wise idea to change there instead of in Paris. I connected to Venice last year at Schiphol but I had more time than you have.

Dukey1

I suspect your bag may very well make it onto the plane in AMS before you do.

freshman

Thanks for all the quick responses! I meant to ask also if we have to claim our bags to go through immigration in AMS--it sounds like the answer to that question is no?

Yes, the second flight is KLM, so I will check their other flight times just in case. Also, I would purchase tickets directly from Delta, so I assume that means both flights will be on one ticket.

Thanks all!

maxima

Check with Delta, as the flight from Atlanta may code share with KLM, and your bag gets check through without any hitches. If your bag is checked through there is no need to collect the bag for the next flight. It can be a tight connection, as you never know if your flight will leave on time but with tail winds you often make up the delay in the air. just be prepared to sprint over to the next flight. if you think its too tight a connection look for a later flight if that works for you.

greg

You have more than twice the time you need to do the transfer at AMS. You would probably be at the waiting area of your Venice flight in less than 20 minutes.

The bigger concern is your departure from ATL. It is still a hurricane season at ATL in September.

While Delta is responsible financially in paying your way to the final destination of the day stated on your ticket if you bought the ticket from Delta as one reservation, they would not compensate you for the consequential damages if the delay does not trigger the EU rule. Furthermore, if Delta knows before leaving ATL that your ATL-AMS gets delayed so much that there is no chance of making your AMS-VCE flight, rather than rebooking you to a later AMS-VCE flight, Delta can rebook you to gets you to VCE other way. ATL-CDG-VCE is certainly a possibility. This happens to me about 5% of the time. All the careful crafting of seat assignments go out of the door in an instant. While you can say no to a substitute proposal, they would likely to say is that is the only itinerary they can offer seats on the same day. I have no way of knowing if that was really the case or they just wanted me to go away.

Christina

I always try to get a little longer layover than that, even at AMS, say 2 or 2.5 hrs. But if your only choice is this flight or a layover of 4 hrs or more, I'd go with this one as it will probably be fine. Sure, they have to put you on a later flight but there is always a chance the next flight would be full, which is why I opt for a longer change-over time if feasible. But I won't hang around AMS for 4 hrs if I don't have to.

I also prefer changing at AMS to CDG.

Holly_uncasdewar

You may make the connection in 1:10, you may not. That's awfully tight. It really all depends on how long it takes you to get through passport control. That'll be at least :15, probably more like :30-45, and possibly longer. I've missed a connection in AMS before when I had 1:30 to change, and the passport control area was chock full and not moving very fast. I sometimes opt for a longer layover, and then just plan on it, rather than cutting it close and hoping for the best.

Andrew

1:10 is longer than the minimum connection time allowed for AMS, and it should be even easier to make that now that the security screening after immigration/passport control has been removed for connections like this one.

I guess if it's a very busy time - a holiday or something - and the flight after mine to Venice is likely to be very full/sold out (meaning my chances of getting on the next flight are smaller), maybe I'd opt for the longer layover. Otherwise, I'd rather chance the shorter connection with a good shot at getting to Venice a few hours earlier rather than guaranteeing I will sit at Schiphol for a few hours.

wesleymarsh

My sister and I recently connected with Delta/KLM at AMS for Italy. We had checked luggage with a 2-hr layover. AMS is a large airport with tons of shopping/eating options, but to us, the layout seemed more organized than any experience we encountered at CDG.

The walk between concourses was long, but each hall seemed to offer moving walkways. We took our time and looked around. By the time we got to our gate, our flight was boarding. We did not have to re-xray our carry-ons. Both flights, too and from, departed 10 minutes early, because everyone was present and accounted. Our flight from the U.S. to AMS was also early.

We were there on a Thursday. AMS was very busy. The passport control lines were quite long and moving slowly. We saw a lot of time-pressured passengers speak to the agents who were manning the lines. If their flights fell within a certain time frame, they were pushed to a specific line. Some line agents would ask each line if there were any passengers departing within the next 40 minutes.

AMS has many electric carts. If it's convenient to board one, it can get you to passport control quite quickly. If your arrival flight is on time and you walk briskly without stopping, and you get through passport control in a special line, you can definitely make the connection in under an hour with a little time to spare.

freshman

Thanks for your responses and all the helpful information! I will give Delta a call and look into later connecting KLM flights before booking the flights.

freshman

Last update: I called Delta and they assured me the bags would get to the connecting flight in AMS, but they advised me to allow more time to go through immigration. After considering all of the feedback here and from a couple of other seasoned travelers, layover options, arrival times, we decided to risk it. We reserved the most forward seats available in the plane, and we will be ready to sprint if necessary. We will also not hesitate to make our time pressure known if we encounter long lines.

I was trying to book flights a week ago yesterday and didn't get it done. The fare that day was $1,268, which was consistent with my fare searches for some time. When I did the search to book the next day, lo and behold, the fare was $760!! The savings, times two, was quite a pleasant surprise!

Thanks again for all of your feedback!