ekscrunchy

We are thinking of booking with Iberia for flights from Naples to JFK which require a connection in Madrid. Connection time is 70 minutes. The flight from Naples is on Air Nostrum, and arrives at Terminal 4 and the JFK-bound Iberia flight departs from Terminal 4S. This flight appears to be Iberia's last flight of the day to JFK.

What do you all think? Can we make the flight to JFK?
If we do not, what happens? Thanks!

Gardyloo

You shouldn't have any problem. Your bags will be checked through to JFK; you'll go through security and ride the train from T4 to T4S (10 min.) and locate your connecting gate. T4S is very large, so you might have a bit of a walk, but easily doable in the time allowed.

If you misconnect, Iberia will be responsible for putting you on the next available plane to JFK. They may or may not provide you with overnight accommodation.

This assumes that your flights are all on one ticket issued by a travel agent or Iberia themselves (Air Nostrum is a subsidiary.) If you buy two separate tickets, all bets are off.

ekscrunchy

Thanks Gardyloo! I plan to buy one ticket. But if there is no flight to JFK later that day on Iberia (there is none that I can see) would they not be responsible for the overnight at a hotel? Would Iberia book me on another flight to JFK with a non-partner airline?

I will check my bags through in Naples and bring things for a possible overnight...

Gardyloo

I don't know if Iberia provides accommodation for misconnections caused by their operations. I would seriously doubt if it will be an issue, however - they'd probably just hold the JFK flight for a little while to allow for arriving pax. A very high percentage of passengers they handle there are connecting from some other place in Europe to long-haul flights at MAD.

They might route you via a different carrier, but unlikely that any would be available by the time you arrived.

This really shouldn't be a source of great concern however. They won't sell the ticket in the first place if there's a strong chance of misconnecting.

ekscrunchy

Thanks very much, Gardyloo! I think I will book the flights....price is about $940 for late April..

Jeff801

We connected through Madrid Barajas to and from Majorca the past two Fridays. Because of a late flight from MIA, we had to, and did, make the connection from international to domestic in 27 minutes. On the return, we had an hour and 35 minutes.

You will be in Terminal S/T/U for both your flights, they are all in one building, and will likely not have to leave the secured area. It should be possible for you to make a connection within a half an hour if you need to.

The terminal is very comfortable and has many shops and restaurants in the secured area. There are moving walkways which make it easy to make connections from one end to the other, probably a distance of more than a kilometer.

Air Nostrum is a subsidiary of Iberia and, if you are on a small plane, it will be at the north end of the terminal without a jet bridge connection. Nearly all the flights to the US leave from that end of the building as well, and you should have no problem making your connection. Be prepared for a document check only as you approach the gate.

ekscrunchy

Thanks, Jeff..that reinforces it for me...there does not seem to be any real downside. From the comments here so far, it appears that the worst that could happen is that we have to overnight in or near Madrid and I can live with that!

ekscrunchy

Reading this again, I do wonder about something. I thought the airlines had to put you up overnight if you cannot make a connecting flight, as long as both are on the same airline or, as in my case, related airlines...

Is this not true these days??

WillTravel

It depends whose "fault" it is. If it's a weather problem, somehow or somewhere anywhere in the known universe practically, then there is no obligation to provide a hotel. The reasoning is that suppose bad weather in Los Angeles, for example, caused a string of problems resulting in your Madrid flight being late - the original cause is still the weather.

If it's a mechanical problem, then the airline should put you up in a hotel.

Rest assured the airline will have a reason that the delay is not its fault.

FLJudi

If you do miss your connection and have to find a hotel on your own, we suggest the Clement Barajas. New, clean, restaurant in lobby, a shuttle to airport and walking distance to a subway station. Look at staying overnight as an opportunity - you can go into Madrid and enjoy yourself. Sightsee for the rest of the day, have a late dinner like the locals.

ekscruncy - I can tell from your previous posts that you are an experienced traveler. Thank you for all of your help in planning our trip to Spain this summer.

sborder

We just returned from Malaga through Madrid to JFK on Iberian. They seemed to be right on time in both directions, but on the way down, they posted the gate number on the big board only about 30 minutes before boarding. We went to the gate, and found that they had changed the gate to the opposite side of the terminal, and it is a long walk. We were in a group of several, so we were in a hurry and walked pretty fast on the walking sidewalks, and at the end of one, someone missed the step and fell, and caused quite a pile up. No one got hurt, and when we got to the gate, they had the plane almost loaded, so we felt lucky that we made it. One of our tour guides said that they do have a habit of changing gates once in a while. I noticed that they post the walking time to the gates on the direction signs. Coming back we had about an hour, and had no problem, but waited a few minutes after the flight was posted be for going to the gate, and checked the monitors on the way to the gate just in case. We liked the plane, an A340, as it had 2-4-2 seating, so didn't have someone wanting to get out, and also had better food service than our own airlines.