Moderators: richierich, ua900, PanAm_DC10, hOMSaR
LTU932 wrote:What pissed me off about LHR is the fact that they only reveal the departure gate 60 minutes before departure. I'm told this is normal with all UK airports, to keep you shopping, but I still think it's wrong. Especially when going from T5A to T5C, knowing the departure gate that late is just wrong.
blrsea wrote:Once when transiting through LHR, I had landed in LHR T5, and next flight to BLR was also from the same terminal. When we came to departure area from arrivals, we were turned away to go to the central terminal, as they will allow passengers into T5 only 1.5-2hours before the flight! Had to take the internal train to go to main terminal and then come back to T5. Sounded stupid. Has anyone else faced such a situation?
JayBCNLON wrote:AMS is the worst when it comes to security check: 25 minutes queueing is common (they even have signs saying that it takes 25 minutes if the queue in front of security reaches a certain point, which it often does) and they are rude (if you don’t speak to them because you’re tired they will give you „special treatment“ shouting load at you and searching you thoroughly for 20 minutes). FRA is my choice.
LTCM wrote:Best connecting airport in Europe?
BER
I've heard there has never been an aircraft delayed there.
Chemist wrote:I didn't think Iceland was part of the EU?
blrsea wrote:None of the European countries are good options for India .
VSMUT wrote:Chemist wrote:I didn't think Iceland was part of the EU?
It is part of Schengen, which is the passport free zone of the EU.
EU membership itself doesn't give passport free travel, only Schengen membership does that. Schengen is an EU policy, but non EU members can join as well.
Chemist wrote:Definitely AMS. CDG and LHR are bad. Haven't been to FRA.
Off topic a bit - last summer we flew YYZ-KEF-AMS on Icelandair. In KEF we did the brief passport control. When we arrived in AMS (our final destination) we disembarked, went to bag claim and got our bags, and walked out with no passport control, which surprised us. I didn't think Iceland was part of the EU?
LTU932 wrote:What pissed me off about LHR is the fact that they only reveal the departure gate 60 minutes before departure. I'm told this is normal with all UK airports, to keep you shopping, but I still think it's wrong. Especially when going from T5A to T5C, knowing the departure gate that late is just wrong.
As for the question at hand, I can't judge CDG because I was never there. I have to say (based on my immediate experience) AMS first and FRA second. LHR definitely last.
stl07 wrote:How does Keflavik rank in all of this?
DAL763ER wrote:Because at least I know where to go. This isn't SJO or HAM, where it doesn't take more than 5 minutes from one gate to another, we're talking about T5 LHR. If I knew a gate and it would change for operational reasons, I'd understand (e.g. whenever I flew to EWR, where I had one boarding gate for my onward flight on my BP, but the FIDS showed a different ). But having to wait until 60 minutes before departure to know my gate or at least to know which concourse it departs (in the case of T5), when most international flights are almost ready to get boarding underway, is cutting it way too short for me, not just at T5, but also at T3. I was lucky that for LHR-HAM, I didn't have to go to T5B or T5C, and I just stayed at T5A, but that's no consolation.Why do you need to know your gate more than 60 minutes in advance? Gates are always subject to change, so being told far ahead your flight's at C-gates, only to then have it change to B-gates wouldn't be very convenient. Plus, it takes no more than 15 mins to get to C gates, so I don't see the issue.
PITingres wrote:stl07 wrote:How does Keflavik rank in all of this?
Not really comparable IMO, as it's only WOW and Icelandair, and KEF is a fraction of the size of the others. I've gone through KEF on WOW and it's very simple, if a bit crowded at times.
LTU932 wrote:DAL763ER wrote:Because at least I know where to go. This isn't SJO or HAM, where it doesn't take more than 5 minutes from one gate to another, we're talking about T5 LHR. If I knew a gate and it would change for operational reasons, I'd understand (e.g. whenever I flew to EWR, where I had one boarding gate for my onward flight on my BP, but the FIDS showed a different ). But having to wait until 60 minutes before departure to know my gate or at least to know which concourse it departs (in the case of T5), when most international flights are almost ready to get boarding underway, is cutting it way too short for me, not just at T5, but also at T3. I was lucky that for LHR-HAM, I didn't have to go to T5B or T5C, and I just stayed at T5A, but that's no consolation.Why do you need to know your gate more than 60 minutes in advance? Gates are always subject to change, so being told far ahead your flight's at C-gates, only to then have it change to B-gates wouldn't be very convenient. Plus, it takes no more than 15 mins to get to C gates, so I don't see the issue.
In EWR, I never had to change terminals because all flights left from Terminal C, at DFW there is the Skylink, and AMS was simply a delight because I was able to find my departure gate 2 hours before departure. LHR, as impressive as T5 is, was a total letdown.
StuckInCA wrote:I'm really surprised at the positive responses for FRA. I really don't care for that airport at all.
I connect at AMS whenever possible, but end up at CDG a fair amount and haven't had any particularly bad experiences.
I've had some of my worst experiences at FRA.
DAL763ER wrote:Still, it doesn't change my opinion about LHR. Nice airport, but not so nice execution.For truly international (i.e, non-EU) flights, the gate is shown 80 or so minutes before departure and boarding starts 40-50 mins before departure. For EU flights, the gate is shown 60 mins before departure and boarding starts around 40 minutes before departure. They give you at least 20 minutes to make it to the gate and boarding probably won't even have started. Just to clarify, when the gate is shown, boarding is far from ready to start.
Bhoy wrote:CDG 2G is the pits, but is only used by <100 seaters, so doesn't really affect most transfer pax. Other transfers within Terminal 2 (sic) between halls can be complicated.
FRA can be confusing, and (at the time) Security at each gate makes it slow.
AMS seemed clear enough, but again, Security at gate can make things run late if you're not anticipating queues at boarding.
DAL763ER wrote:What do people have against LHR? If the arriving and departing flight is at the same terminal, it should be pretty smooth - you go through security and then you're back airside for your outbound connection. Terminal to terminal connections are a bit more complicated but it's still pretty easy considering you don't have to walk as long as you might at, say, CDG.
DAL763ER wrote:Why do you need to know your gate more than 60 minutes in advance? Gates are always subject to change, so being told far ahead your flight's at C-gates, only to then have it change to B-gates wouldn't be very convenient. Plus, it takes no more than 15 mins to get to C gates, so I don't see the issue.
VSMUT wrote:If you're flying with DL out of AMS (and possibly for any other US bound flight), you may have to go through an additional screening before being allowed to the gate. It's not at the boarding gate itself though. Don't know if KL and other other US carrier has that, but DL definitely has that screening and I saw that while on the way to my gate to my flight to PTY (departure was from the same concourse).AMS no longer has security at the gate. They luckily opened a central security about 2 years ago.
VSMUT wrote:fair enough, like I said, it's 3 and a half years since I was there.Bhoy wrote:CDG 2G is the pits, but is only used by <100 seaters, so doesn't really affect most transfer pax. Other transfers within Terminal 2 (sic) between halls can be complicated.
FRA can be confusing, and (at the time) Security at each gate makes it slow.
AMS seemed clear enough, but again, Security at gate can make things run late if you're not anticipating queues at boarding.
AMS no longer has security at the gate. They luckily opened a central security about 2 years ago.
again, it's been even longer since I was at FRA,and I've only ever had bus gatees to remote stands, so maybe those Security at the gates are just clustered around the bus gates, rather than the full Piers.Haven't seen security at the gate in FRA at any of the times I connected there.
within the same Hall, I've no doubt it is straight forward. BUT...In my experience, CDG is easy and fast if you read up on it beforehand.
DAL763ER wrote:What do people have against LHR? If the arriving and departing flight is at the same terminal, it should be pretty smooth - you go through security and then you're back airside for your outbound connection. Terminal to terminal connections are a bit more complicated but it's still pretty easy considering you don't have to walk as long as you might at, say, CDG.
"If"
It never has been for me, and you should never have to leave the secure zone during a connection. This practice is nothing but a way for British airports to extort passengers into buying more overpriced drinks/water.
Bhoy wrote:November 2011 at CDG 2G, where I was transferring between two domestic French flights. 2G again has no transit zone, though bags can be checked through to the connecting flight without having to be rechecked. I realise that for transfers 2G to 2E (and presumably from there you can use the main Airside shuttle to the other Halls), there is an Airside shuttle Bus from 2G after Passport Control, but anyone connecting TO 2G needs to take the Landside Bus and clear Security at 2G, as there is no other secure entrance to the Departures level there.
ei146 wrote:blrsea wrote:None of the European countries are good options for India (and I assume for other South asian/African countries) if you are stuck in their airport for any reason (weather/aircraft gone mech etc). They will not let you out of the airport and treat you like crap. Europe connections are good only if things go well. Else, better for non-Western world folks to avoid it all together.
I am sorry about your experiences, but there is only so much the airport or the airline can do about it. At least at most European airports you have an "international area" that you can use for connections without a visa and without legally entering the country. In the USA you even need a visa for transfer.
If you have a visa you can of course leave the airport. For me as a German it is the same in India: I need a visa to be allowed in.
But even inside the international zone you usually have hotels and depending on the airline and the flight the airline may have to pay for it.At CDG, the airport itself is horribly designed, requiring you to land and go around in bus to different terminal,
agreedrefusing to understand/talk in English and hard to find anyone for assistance.
In my experience this is a field were cultural differences collide.
One thing: In most countries in Western Europe (except UK and Ireland) English is not an official language. Most people learn some English in school, but don't need it in their daily lifes. So I would not necessarily expect a French bus driver to understand a lot of English. Also Western Europeans are used to British and American English. Some English variants and the pronounciation used in India or other Asian countries is actually difficult for us to understand. So if someone pretends to not understand you this person may actually not understand you.
The other thing, and this is difficult for me to write as English is not my native language and I don't know if I will find the right tone: When people from India or some other Asian countries have a question or a request to an information desk or an airline employee it looks to me often very demanding, agressive and unpolite. They may talk in what they think is the normal way to do so, but the reception on the other side of the desk is completly different, because that guy or gal is not used to it. MIx that with a bad day and you may actually get a rude response. This is not professional but human.
Fiend wrote:At LHR, changing terminals (barring between the T5 concourses) always requires taking a bus. The transfer between T5A and T3 took like 5-10 minutes for me IIRC.I've transited through CDG, AMS and CDG ...... AMS was the best but both of my connections at LHR and CDG involved having to catch a bus between terminals.
Bhoy wrote:
AMS seemed clear enough, but again, Security at gate can make things run late if you're not anticipating queues at boarding.
DTWLAX wrote:Yes, they have. But for (at least DL-operated) flights into the US, they have additional security checks before you reach the gate.Bhoy wrote:
AMS seemed clear enough, but again, Security at gate can make things run late if you're not anticipating queues at boarding.
Didn't AMS move to a centralized security check? I thought the gate security check does not happen anymore.
LTU932 wrote:DTWLAX wrote:Yes, they have. But for (at least DL-operated) flights into the US, they have additional security checks before you reach the gate.Didn't AMS move to a centralized security check? I thought the gate security check does not happen anymore.
ei146 wrote:The only exception is when I connect to the USA, UK or Israel. These countries have special requirements which means a second security screening at the departure gate or when entering a certain gate area where these flights depart. In LHR I have to go through security every time.
VSMUT wrote:ei146 wrote:The only exception is when I connect to the USA, UK or Israel. These countries have special requirements which means a second security screening at the departure gate or when entering a certain gate area where these flights depart. In LHR I have to go through security every time.
Coming from where?
Coming from Schengen, I only experience a passport check before going to the UK, never any additional security checks. But the security in the UK is quite annoying.
ei146 wrote:Coming from Schengen connecting to UK in FRA or AMS I had to go throuh passport and additional security checks. I never connected to the UK in CDG.
ADrum23 wrote:Curious to know people's opinions on this subject. Of the "big four" airports in Western Europe (LHR, CDG, AMS, FRA), which is the best for connections to countries in Africa, the Middle East, India or even elsewhere in Europe? Which home airline (BA at LHR, AF at CDG, KL at AMS and LH at FRA) has the most connections to these places?