airline connections
 

we are in the process of booking our flight from new york to rome and from venice back to new york. the best rates i have found are with iberia, connecting in madrid. on both directions the time between flights is about an hour and a half....is that enough time?? will we need to clear customs again if we don't leave the airport, we just need to move to another terminal. this is all new to me so sorry if this is a stupid question.

Madrid to Rome is a "domestic" Schengen flight, so there is no customs and immigration after you have been cleared to enter Spain. However, one can assume that security clearance will take longer for the time being, due to the bombing at the airport yesterday.

Time should be enough but you'll have to pass through IMMIGRATION and security at Madrid. You'll pass through CUSTOMS at Venice

the trip isn't till june so i hope the airport will be back to normal. i was really unsure of what we would need to do in madrid and was scared we wouldn't have enough time. iberia made this connection in their proposed itinerary so i was figuring they knew what they were doing, however before we book i want to be sure as best i can.

I really don't know, but for me I never book airport changes in Europe without allowing 2-3 hours. That's just my comfort level. Another thing to realize, is just because an airline offers a connection, does not necessarily mean it is a guarantee you will successfully make it (unfortunately).

I have connected with very little time between flights in various airports in Europe. The problem is that often I make the flight connection but my luggage doesn't. This has happened several times. I try and allow for more time if possible but since I am using frequent flyer points...I don't always have a choice of a longer connection.

An hour and a half seems reasonable but a short delay can whittle that down considerably.

I prefer Lufthansa over Iberian airlines if the price is similar. The airports in Germany are quite efficient.

It ought to be enough but I would not dally getting off the incoming flight. MAD is a HUGE airport and some gates can involve serious hiking. Inter-terminal transportation is efficient; it's the walk from the train stations to the gates that can be long or short. If IB sells you the ticket, you'd be protected for the next flight if you can't connect because of delays inbound.

You'll likely be arriving at T4 South and departing from T4 (going to Rome, reverse returning.) Iberia's minimum connection time for T4S > T4 is 55 min; 65 min in the opposite direction. Having done that switch, I'd say 55 min. is about right, again, depending on precise location of your connecting gate.

thank you gardy lou....yes we will be purching direct from iberia and they are all the flights in both directions...i feel somewhat more secure with your info....

Got to add my 2 cents - don't change in Paris with so little time. Air France only scheduled us with 45 minutes one way and 1 hour 15 the other way and we missed our flights both times! I know you are not asking about Paris, but don't consider it.