Amsterdam to Rome layover of 85 minutes, will I make it to the gate? (Delta)

[Owen Lucas]

Which in the current airline environment may be completely full.
No seat for you!

My wife gets 1st class and I'm in row 52, I'd slow her down a lot. Hopefully I can upgrade at the gate to 1st class. Our travel agent said sometimes the upgrade is $300 which sounds too good to be true, but for that much I'll splurge so we get off the plane faster.

I guess it would depend on whether or not it's on one ticket or two tickets. If it's not considered the same ticket, then the baggage transfers won't be automatic and you'll probably need to collect and then go back through security. But if it's a through ticket then it should be automatic.

I believe it is one ticket as our reference number is the same for both flights.

My worry would be if the first flight arrives late.

We'll have the Jetstream on our back so hopefully we arrive early.

 

[y_p_w]

I believe it is one ticket as our reference number is the same for both flights.


We'll have the Jetstream on our back so hopefully we arrive early.

It can get tricky with some online travel agencies where they do book two flights that aren't "interlined".

I'm thinking there are more potential issues than how fast a plane is flying. You know - maintenance or the off chance that something requires a diversion or delay at departure.

 

[Owen Lucas]

Twenty years ago, I was flying from Ankara Turkey to Newark NJ with a plane change in Zurich. I actually had a negative connection time of 10 minutes. I made it. They held the Zurich to Newark flight a few minutes. I was the last one to board that aircraft.

Excellent customer service, not sure if this kind of exception can be made today, I sure hope so.

It can get tricky with some online travel agencies where they do book two flights that aren't "interlined".

My wife worked with a local agent, we went to their office and reviewed all of out options, except for the layover lol. They gave us much better prices than we could find online which was surprising because I thought travel agents were a thing of a past due to Priceline, Expedia etc.

I'm thinking there are more potential issues than how fast a plane is flying. You know - maintenance or the off chance that something requires a diversion or delay at departure.

Flying in a Airbus A330, I sure hope they are reliable!

 

[c502cid]

The bottom line is only so many things are in your control, many are not. If you miss your flight, don't stress, it just becomes part of the adventure and a memory for your trip. Control what you can, and do your best to adapt to what you can't! Safe travels to you and your wife!

 

[Carmudgeon]

From Amsterdam to Brussels or to Paris, sure as there's high-speed line. Pretty sure there's not one to Rome. Multiple trains, yeah.

I've taken the Eurostar from London to Amsterdam, and segments of it seem excruciatingly slow. But the tracks do pass right next to the Audi factory in Brussels.

By contrast, Paris to London spends much more time at full speed (186 mph, which feels like nothing).

But either way, it is nicer than spending time on a flying bus plane, the food I had was better than airplane food (a low bar, to be sure), and getting deposited in the city center is much more convenient than having to find a way into the city from an airport.

 

[Hall]

By contrast, Paris to London spends much more time at full speed (186 mph, which feels like nothing).

I've only taken the TGV between Paris (Gare du Nord) or CDG and Brussels (Midi) and it's non-stop (180+ mph). I know the train(s) actually start in Amsterdam and just go back and forth (it seems like most people on it are Dutch, especially when it's families). Delta/Air France has non-stops from Cincinnati to Paris and either France or Belgium (or both) literally banned short flights and you have to take the train (or drive) to Brussels. That said, I don't mind at all. Avoiding connections through Atlanta, New York, etc are worth it plus I actually enjoy the train. I just can't face backwards or I get motion sickness !

 

[Owen Lucas]

I called Delta and asked if they could put me on a later connecting flight, they cannot. Apparently the 2 flights are "married" so they can't be split. The Delta rep also said we would go on the next flight if we miss it but that these flights wouldn't be scheduled so tight if they wouldn't connect.

Thank you everyone for your advice, I feel pretty good about the situation now and think we'll be fine.

 

[Dave Hess]

Hopefully you catch your second flight.

I really don’t like running from gate to gate with only a few minutes to spare.

 

[Owen Lucas]

Hopefully you catch your second flight.

I really don’t like running from gate to gate with only a few minutes to spare.

Not the type of exercise I am looking forward to, but we shall see.

 

[Hall]

I really don’t like running from gate to gate with only a few minutes to spare.

On my last trip, I had 45 minutes from the train arrival at CDG to flight departure. As soon as the train started slowing down, I did an online check-in through the Delta app. Luckily, it was a Delta/Air France partner flight so Air France's operations at CDG are quite extensive. Within 15 minutes, I had my luggage checked which again helps make sure I wouldn't miss the flight. I even got held up at security for "additional search". There were no other direct flights to Cincinnati either, it's a 1x day flight. Sure, I could have possibly gotten something else but who knows where I'd get sent.

 

[Jimmy_Russells]

I called Delta and asked if they could put me on a later connecting flight, they cannot. Apparently the 2 flights are "married" so they can't be split. The Delta rep also said we would go on the next flight if we miss it but that these flights wouldn't be scheduled so tight if they wouldn't connect.

Thank you everyone for your advice, I feel pretty good about the situation now and think we'll be fine.

It doesn't make sense to change to a later flight. If you miss it, they'll just put you on the next one anyway, so why book the later flight. When I know there are more later flights, I book like this all the time.

In 2016 I was flying an A380 on British Airways to London, with a transfer to Rome. Our layover was four hours, and there was another flight an hour after that as well. On the way to London someone had a heart-attack and we had to land in Goose Bay, NFLD, which added two hours of flying time as well as two hours on the ground, so we got to London around four hours late. It took a bit of running but we ended up making the later flight to Rome. The hilarious part was we were rushing like crazy and the plane was probably less than 10% full when we got on.

Another time at LAX I was sweating bullets because the flight was late and I had like 20 minutes to connect after the pilot had to do a go-around. After worrying, being super annoyed when the flight attendant asked to people to stay seated for people with tight connections and everyone just stood up anyway, and eventually running out into the gate... Turns out the plane I was trying to catch was the same plane I was just sitting on.

Anyway, point is, even with a longer layover, stuff can happen too. Don't sweat it.

 

[Owen Lucas]

After worrying, being super annoyed when the flight attendant asked to people to stay seated for people with tight connections and everyone just stood up anyway, and eventually running out into the gate... Turns out the plane I was trying to catch was the same plane I was just sitting on.

 

[Carmudgeon]

That said, I don't mind at all. Avoiding connections through Atlanta, New York, etc are worth it plus I actually enjoy the train. I just can't face backwards or I get motion sickness !

Funny you say that. My most vivid memory of riding on the Shinkansen was not the train itself, but the smell of vomit.

 

[Hall]

Funny you say that. My most vivid memory of riding on the Shinkansen was not the train itself, but the smell of vomit.

I didn't get sick or throw up but it was an uneasy feeling. All I had to do was not look out the window, actually.

 

[Astro14]

@Owen Lucas - did you make it?

 

[JHZR2]

I know this is an old thread. But it’s interesting OP had to deal with this.

I took Delta, which was really KLM, through AMS on my way to Norway back in 2022. No big deal. My bag made it and I walked one place to the next. Passport control wasn’t a big deal, even though the plane was completely full. I had about 90 minutes, and it was enough to get off the overnight flight, get some coffee, and move around a bit. I’m a fairly fast walker though.

That said, it was probably the worst, most squeezed, tight, noisy, uncomfortable overseas flight I’ve ever taken.

 

[Tharber]

You have have plenty of time. Its a nice airport and ran efficiently.

 

[Owen Lucas]

@Owen Lucas - did you make it?

Yes, it went very smoothly and we arrived 15 minutes at terminal C before boarding started.

We were a little concerned when we saw a long snaking line at passport control but amazingly that took only about 15 minutes.

Customs at AMS is a very smooth operation with at least 12 border officers working and multiple attendants keeping the lines consolidated.

For anyone else in this predicament you should be fine as there is even a priority line for short transfers with a board showing eligible flights. Basically anyone with less than 30 minutes before takeoff goes to the front.

Piazza Navona from Museo di Roma. The museum had very few visitors, we had multiple rooms to our selves for many minutes:

 

[Jimmy_Russells]

Enjoy the trip!

 

[Owen Lucas]

That said, it was probably the worst, most squeezed, tight, noisy, uncomfortable overseas flight I’ve ever taken.

If it weren’t for the Sony MX5 noise cancelling headphones I bought for this trip, then it would have been much more uncomfortable.

Everyone around me was well mannered but there is no way around being uncomfortable in steerage class unless you have an entire 4 seat row to yourself to lay down in.