curious as to the Manchester airport ? We are looking at connecting through there on a flight on the way home.

Another question... what about Oslo ? Where does it fall vs. FRA, LHR, MUC.

great thoughts here!

Easiest for us, both navigation-wise and security-wise, would be:

MUC>OSL>LHR>FRA

but we really haven't had any problems with any of the above airports, even though there were a few instances where we had a short time frame between flights.

<i>Thanks, Suze. But I think for travel to Venice the trip is too long through Heathrow (like 33 hours) from the West Coast.</i>

Right, I forgot earlier - BA doesn't have any LHR-VCE service that connects from arriving flights from the western US. They're still trying to keep Gatwick airport on life support, so they have more flights from LGW to VCE than from Heathrow. The result is either (a) a cross-London bus ride, or (b) a forced overnight at LHR.

From LAX or SFO I think either Lufthansa/United via Frankfurt or Swiss via Zurich offers the best one-stop routings. Air France via CDG is another alternative, as is Delta via JFK, but I'd imagine the European carriers' prices will be better as Delta really sticks it to pax on their (only) nonstop to Venice.

A direct flight from the US is your best bet,and you are least likely to miss your connection assuming your flight from the west coast to the east/midwest is early enough. Even if you should miss the US connection, it is easier/cheaper/less stressful to be stuck in the US than trying to find out your options in Europe.I'm sure someone will disagree - but having had it happen several times on both sides of the Atlantic I'd prefer to be stuck here.
If you land in Europe and have a connecting flight you will follow the signs for "Connections" and you will need to clear security again:laptops out, liquids out, coats off etc. It has also been my experience that the security systems are more senstive and the beeper goes off for me, even if it didn't do so back in the US. Sometimes it's my shoes, so now I take them off and put them on the xray conveyer even if it is not required. But even though I have no bionic parts the beeper goes off and the local security wands me. Everywhere in Europe Security is professional but if you are in a rush to make a connection the process will slow you down. In FRA they carefully control the lines to the conveyors, passengers are not allowed to bunch up and throw their belongs on the conveyor - and there is no switching lines.
No matter where you enter the EU, you need to clear immigration at your first point of entry - meaning you present your passport (and visa if you needed one) at that point. Then you enter the terminal and can proceed to the gate for your next flight.
On Friday I came back from a trip to Europe where I connected to a US Air flight in FRA. It has improved from when I last went through there about 2 years ago - there are more signs and more moving sidewalks, but it is still a very long walk between terminals. There are limited food options outside the main areas and nothing near the gates.
Amsterdam is very well organized, food prices are posted in multiple currencies, but it is a very big airport and the walk between terminals can be long.
Copenhagen is an easy airport to connect from. I went through CPH last Christmas returning from Rome. The thing with Copenhagen and with the others is the connection on the return. You need to make sure that your flight from Venice gets you to your gateway city in enough time to make the international fight. Considering snow and bad weather and to be on the safe side, we left Rome the afternoon before, used points for an airport hotel in CPH.
When you get back let us know what you decided and how it worked out.

<i>No matter where you enter the EU, you need to clear immigration at your first point of entry - meaning you present your passport (and visa if you needed one) at that point. </i>

Not true, only if you land in a country that's in the Schengen common entry group. The UK is an EU member but not a Schengen participant, so at the UK airports you do a "sterile transit" to your next (international) flight.

I had considered flying Delta because it goes directly from JFK to Venice. However, their ontime record into JFK is not very good. (I've never been to JFK). Somehow, I thought it best to just get to the European continent for the first stop.
Really appreciate all this discussion. Thanks.

By the way, a friend recently flew out of SFO to Italy but got rerouted and then held-over somewhere TWICE in the midwest, missing a day and a night+ of their hotel and tour plans in Rome. I guess anything could happen.

OK, if there's no decent connections Heathrow to Venice. I was transfering on to Geneva most trips (then Venice by train).

Still just saying that doesn't make Heathrow a "miserable" airport to transfer, for other people reading or other itineraries coming from west coast US.

I've connected in CDG, FRA, AMS, and JFK. I have used Zurich as a destination, but I do not think I have connected there. I prefer smaller airports myself, so I would vote for Zurich.

CDG, FRA, and AMS are all huge, so plan for long walk + passport control and security screen time. My flight last week landed at terminal G in AMS and my next flight departed from B (DL/KLM). I was seated in the first economy section of the Airbus with 1.75 hr connection time. I walked fast from one to the other, went through passport control and security (take those plastic bags and computers out again) and had time just to visit the restroom before boarding the bus out to our plane. My bag did not make the connection. Returning my transfer was from D to E, I think, with 1.75 hrs. Again, I walked briskly, long passport control line, and arrived at my gate with the US screening already underway. I had about 15-20 minutes of wait time before boarding when I was not in a line, being screened, etc. No time for food or shopping.

I have had similar experiences at both CDG and FRA with sometimes long, sometimes short passport control lines. Long walks.

At any of these, staying with the same airline increases the chances of gates close to each other, but intercontinental versus intra-European flights even on the same airline may use different terminals.

I have also used JFK several times to connect to Europe. Personally, I prefer to get to Europe and deal with the delays there with more chances of getting on a later short flight rather than being stuck in a US gateway waiting for the next day's departure. Would the DL flight land/depart same terminal at JFK? I have had to change terminals there as well and prefer changing terminals in the European airports mentioned.

If going soon, I wouldn't use CDG because of the labor problems.

Although you can't count on it changing, you can check which terminal a flight currently lands/departs at by looking at recent history. Sometimes there is a definite pattern of terminal use.

Thanks, kay2. Perhaps I'm not quite as saavy as I think; how do you find "recent history" regarding terminals??

I'm back to my original thought of trying Air France or Lufthansa so we can do a nonstop right to Europe and have our layover there. Good to know about your recent experiences with transfer times. Last time the 4.5-hr layover was a bit long, but I see 95 minutes is just wishful thinking and likely to be too stressful. We really enjoyed Air France last time (food and service), although it sure was cramped and the seats reclined only about an inch. I'm assuming it's the same in economy class with Lufthansa and any other airline? (Once you fly business class, it sure does spoil you)!!

<i>I had about 15-20 minutes of wait time before boarding when I was not in a line, being screened, etc. No time for food or shopping.</i>

No offense, but this tells me that you are a bit more nervous about this sort of stuff than I am. First off, 15 to 20 minutes is a long time. I could both grab some food, get a drink in the lounge, and hit duty-free in that amount of time.

<i>Last time the 4.5-hr layover was a bit long, but I see 95 minutes is just wishful thinking and likely to be too stressful.</i>

On multiple occasions, I have done sub-95 minute connections at both AMS and CDG and found it plenty of time. Perhaps not enough time to get a massage, but certainly enough to grab a bite to eat, hit the facilities, and duck into the lounge. I would book anything over 75 minutes at either airport, particularly for the flight to Europe, if there are later flights.

<i>I'm assuming it's the same in economy class with Lufthansa and any other airline? </i>

Personally, I find coach on Lufthansa to be as bad as it gets. Not that the other airlines win any prizes, but Lufthansa is poor, IMO.

Good to know, travelgourmet. Someone told me Lufthansa was great, but I'm thinking that had to be business class. Trying to sleep in a coach seat is so miserable; I doubt there's a good one anywhere these days. Hmmm. If a 95-min transfer at CDG can work, I'll go for it. I'll take an early arrival at my destination over an airport massage any day.

How bad is Delta?

<i>Hmmm. If a 95-min transfer at CDG can work, I'll go for it.</i>

I should clarify. 95-minutes will only work if the entire itinerary is on Air France (or Air France and Delta). Also, some of the walks can be long, but they are doable, assuming no mobility issues. For SFO-CDG-VCE, though, it is a 2E to 2F connection, which really isn't that bad, IMO.

<i>Someone told me Lufthansa was great, but I'm thinking that had to be business class.</i>

Lufthansa has gotten better, now that they have started installing in-seat entertainment in coach but, in general, I find their long-haul planes to feel very cramped in the back.

One issue with Air France and KLM - be careful if you are flying a 777. They have some 777s that are 10-abreast in coach (9-abreast is standard). Check the seat map and, if there are 10 seats in a row on a 777, then be ready for the squeeze (or book elsewhere).

I fly internationally a lot and I always budget for at least a 2 hour (and preferably a 2.5 or 3 hour connection) on the outbound journey and also on the inbound trip if I have to be at work the next day. I just don't like to be stressed out about connections.

If I had not been Elite status at AMS the other day, I would not have had the 15-20 minutes (during which I did visit the facilities). Otherwise, it would have taken me longer to get off the first plane (I was in row 4) and I would have had to get in the 30-person line for the US screening instead of 0-person line. No way to know how long those lines are going to be before you find the connecting gate, so I don't dally getting food or buying dutyfree in the main area with less than an hour left to find my gate on a concourse and go through the US screening.

I book 1 hr domestic connections, but 2 hr international usually. The 1.75 worked for me, but not my bag. I arrived at 1:30pm and it arrived at 10:00pm, so no early bedtime to adjust to jetlag and get up early for my meeting with properly pressed clothes.

<i>I would have had to get in the 30-person line for the US screening instead of 0-person line.</i>

Why get in either line until they are down to last handful of people? They aren't, IME, in the habit of leaving behind those that are in the secondary screening line.

To that end, I simply look at the line, and if it is still dozens deep, I head off to the loo or grab a magazine, or mill about and come back later. I do this, even though I can access the elite line, as well. Remember that you don't board immediately after clearing screening, you have to sit in the holding pen. Being first in line simply means that you spend more time in tight confines with 150+ of your closest friends. Not pleasant.

Travelgourmet,

I totally agree. Last month in Dubai, the US departure gate was close to concessions and facilities. I saw the lines, the holding pen, about how quickly it was moving, and headed off to do some work on the computer in a quiet spot until 45 minutes before departure. Boarding began at 30 minutes before departure time.

In AMS, my gate it was at the far end of the concourse from the central/concessions area and when I arrived it was within the time posted for boarding to begin, so we well may have boarded immediately after I went through screening. Those 30 people in line may have been the last as far as I knew when I arrived.

It's all situational and no one can guarantee what is enough/too much time between flights. I prefer smaller to larger airports, but I rarely get that choice. I locate where my gate is immediately after arrival if I have less than 2 hours on an international connection. Passport control, security screenings, etc. add to the transfer time. Gate assignments do change and sometimes the gate agents are making announcements about delays, etc. that are not posted. So I usually check out the situation before I start my exercise of walking all the concourses end to end or hitting the stores or a restaurant. I'm no fan of joining a few hundred strangers in a small area until I have to.

I think we'll go with Air France. It's direct SFO to CDG (and gives us an excuse to spend a couple of days in Paris on the way home).
But, would you pick the 95 minute layover
or the 4.5 hour layover to transfer planes to Venice?? It sounds like 95 minutes could work for us, but not our luggage. All of our flights would be Air France. It is Terminal 2E to 2F.

Book for the shorter layover, but pack so you can enjoy your first day in Venice without your checked bags in case they don't make the same flight you do. If your flight is late into CDG, the airline will put you on the later Venice flight.