Layovers, connections and what can go wrong

A missed connection is the most common way a journey goes seriously wrong, and whether it is a problem depends largely on decisions made at booking.

The critical distinction

A single ticket covering the whole journey, even across multiple airlines, means the carrier is responsible for getting you to the final destination.

If you miss a connection because the first flight was late, they rebook you at no cost.

Separate tickets mean each flight is a separate contract.

If the first is late and you miss the second, the second airline owes you nothing. The ticket is simply lost, and a new one must be bought.

This is the single most consequential thing to understand about booking connections, and self-connecting on separate tickets to save money is a gamble whose downside is the full cost of the onward flight.

Minimum connection times

Airports publish minimum connection times, which airlines use when constructing itineraries.

These are minimums under ideal conditions and assume nothing goes wrong.

The factors that lengthen a realistic connection: changing terminals, changing between airlines without a baggage agreement, clearing immigration and customs, re-clearing security, and the size and layout of the airport.

Arriving into a country and connecting onward frequently requires clearing immigration and collecting and rechecking baggage even for a connection, which some airports require and others do not.

Worth checking the specific airport's procedure rather than assuming.

How long to allow

Practical guidance from people who fly frequently.

Domestic to domestic within one airline at a familiar airport: an hour is generally workable, ninety minutes comfortable.

International connections: two hours minimum, three if changing terminals or airlines.

Anything involving a change of airport in a city: allow a great deal more, and treat it as a separate journey.

Add margin for the last flight of the day, since a missed connection then means an overnight.

Add margin in winter at airports subject to weather delays, and during periods of known disruption.

What you are entitled to

Varies substantially by jurisdiction.

Regulations in the European Union and the United Kingdom provide for compensation for delays and cancellations within airline control, above defined thresholds, along with duty of care — meals, accommodation and communication — during long delays.

These apply to flights departing from covered airports and to flights arriving on carriers based there, which is worth checking against a specific itinerary.

Rules elsewhere are generally weaker, with several countries having introduced passenger rights regimes of varying strength.

In the United States, refund rules were strengthened by regulation requiring automatic refunds for cancelled and significantly delayed flights, with compensation beyond refunds remaining limited.

Airline conditions of carriage set out what they will do beyond regulatory requirements, and they vary.

What to do when it goes wrong

The practical sequence.

Get in the queue at the transfer desk and simultaneously call the airline, since whichever answers first is the one that helps.

Airline applications frequently offer rebooking before the queue moves.

Know what alternatives exist before speaking to an agent — the next flights on that carrier and its partners — since a specific request is answered faster than an open one.

Keep receipts for anything you spend, since reimbursement generally requires them.

Get any commitment in writing or by message.

And take a photograph of the departure board showing the delay, which is useful evidence for a later claim.

Insurance and cards

Worth checking before travelling.

Travel insurance policies frequently cover missed connections and delay expenses, with conditions.

Several credit cards provide travel delay and baggage cover when the ticket was purchased with the card, which many holders are unaware of.

The conditions generally specify a minimum delay and a documentation requirement.

The strategies that reduce risk

Book the earliest flight of the day, which has the lowest delay probability and the most rebooking options if it goes wrong.

Prefer a single ticket even at slightly higher cost.

Prefer fewer connections.

Prefer connecting at airports with frequent service on the onward route, so alternatives exist.

And avoid the last connection of the day where possible.