Zurich airport connections
 

I am arriving on Delta from JFK to Zurich this summer. I will be meeting up with my granddaughter. The rest of her family is flying out of Zurich on Delta about 1 1/2 hours later. What is the best way for me to meet up with her? Is there enough time for her family to wait with her for me to clear customs before having to board their return flight? If not, is there a good place where she can wait for me. She is 16. Thanks.

Welcome to Fodors. The place to ask about Zurich is the Europe board, tagged Switzerland.

Please repost this in the Europe forum tagged for Switzerland. Zurich is not a huge airport, so I'm sure you can find here there, but it does have multiple terminals, and I can't recommend a specific meeting point.

the challenge will be that for a US bound flight they will need to be through security well in advance of the departure time. I'm not sure what the cut-off is.

I would recommend you do not try to have them wait for you outside of security - too much can go wrong if they wait for you "just a few more minutes" and you are a late arrival, or lost, or stuck in immigration, or pull-aside for contraband, or whatever.

If I were in this situation, I'd find a way to meet them closer to their gate, but not sure what creativity that might require. You may need to follow signs for connecting flights, and not fully exit the secure zone.

>>Is there enough time for her family to wait with her for me to clear customs before having to board their return flight? If not, is there a good place where she can wait for me. She is 16. Thanks.<<

Do re-post on Europe . . . but I don't think there is any way you can meet up. Arriving and departing passengers are not allowed to mix unless landside. There is no time for 1) you to get through immigration and collect your bags, and 2) them to clear security.

Thanks, I will repost as you suggest. Can I meet up with them while we are both still in security? Can I get to their gate without having to clear security?

@atespen When you repost please be clearer about what you want to do. You are flying into Zurich from JFK. That's clear. Where is your granddaughter flying from? Is she arriving in Zurich from another airport on a different flight? There's a lot of confusion about what you're really trying to do.

Given what little I know about the Zurich airport (I've connected there twice), it seems likely to me that you'll have plenty of time to meet up airside if you are connecting to other flights to other European destinations. If everyone is arriving on Delta from different US airports (and you are arriving 90 minutes apart), it seems unlikely to me that you will be able to meet up airside and would have to meet in the arrivals area, likely by baggage claim.

But please do repost and clarify what you want.

I suggest you forget about re-posting this on the Europe board unless you are

incredibly patient as the moderators attempt to clear out the Korean spam and since it appears in waves thoughout the day that patience had better be powerful.

What MORE do you need to know or have clarified? It will be answered HERE without problems since there are "monitors" here constantly making sure everybody obeys the rules.

She is arriving in Zurich via train, not another flight, which I understand to mean that I will have to meet up with her once I have cleared customs but after her family has already gone through security in order to make their flight. Zurich airport has suggested arrival 2 Helvetia bar. Thanks again. I appreciate your all taking the time to respond.

I answered in your other post - but just in case: Since she arrives by train, have her take the stairs up from the underground track on arrival, and go no further - look for the railway's ticket office/counters called SBB Reisezentrum, it's on that same level, with the big SBB/CFF logo.

You exit from passport control and green customs door, walk to the adjacent building following the "To The Trains" signs, and look for / ask for the SBB Reisezentrum. Could be that you have to go down one level, can't remember, but it's a slam dunk, anybody will point you there, lots of arriving travelers head straight for the trains..