ridiculous layovers

[luv2cook]

I was booking some tickets to Germany and I was going through various websites. What shocked me was that a ton of the flights had HUGE layovers - 9, 10, 12 hours! I couldn't believe it. I mean, seriously? Who would willingly take that flight with that horrid connection time? Some of the other flight choices may have been a little more but not prohibitively expensive....just curious.

And I am not debating that some flights are just that way, I am talking about regular, normal flights to normal places....

[jellyben]

When I flew to Russia in high school we had such a long layover in London that we were able to take a sightseeing tour around town! I agree it isn't ideal under normal circumstances but high schoolers will do anything!

[vbak]

We had a Loooong 12 hour layover in Frankfurt when we we were returning from Spain. Not long enough to visit the DD#1 , son-in- law,and grandsons in Germany. Now, not so much, and we hope we make our connections. I agree, that is a horribly long layover when traveling in Germany. What airline are you traveling on? We use Lufthansa. Excellent.

Where are you going in Germany?

[luv2cook]

Oh, I didn't choose that option. Lufthansa had the horrible connections. I chose United. It's only a 2-hour layover coming back and an hour between planes in Chicago....

Well, first, I am going over early to spend time with my second exchange student and her mom. I am also hoping to see my first one too. She's doing her year of service in India and they haven't given her final travel plans yet so I don't even know ifI will see her

second week, my DH will join us and we will travel either to France, Italy or Belgium. Not sure. That part is not 100% planned. Not ever having been to any place, it makes it harder to decide, ya know? We are flying in to Munich.

[Canice]

On a related note, I was trying to help a colleague get a flight to Austin during South by Southwest (he was a late addition to a panel) and I had to laugh at some of the options where there weren't non-stop flights available. My favorite was the return trip:
Austin-Fort Lauderdale-San Francisco.
How badly would you have to be needed to do that?
(And it definitely shut me up about the fact that I have a one hour layover in Long Beach, CA).

[tbb113]

Canice - a couple of years ago when Alex was looking at colleges, I think a flight was SFO - somewhere on the East Coast - St. Louis. That one made no sense either.

If I had my choice between a long layover or a possiblity that I might miss my connection due to a very close time, I might pick the long layover. At least I know I would get home and not miss a flight.

[Canice]

I agree - I *hate* tight layovers. Maybe your flight arrives on time, but huge airports can be tough to navigate. Tooo stressful.

(And on the awful itineraries, ex-DBF had to fly from LA to Saskatoon, via...Toronto. That's like flying from LA to Montana by way of New York. Good times.)

[Natasha]

I've seen a lot of those crazy layovers but have never done one that long myself. My longest was 6 hours. DH did a 14-hour layover just this past year, though. It worked out well because we flew separately from Barcelona to Amsterdam, met in Amsterdam and had an evening together there before he flew home on his connecting flight. I was staying on in Amsterdam so the hotel was taken care of. Good way for him to get a taste of the city for free!

Enjoy your trip, Denyce! Let us know where you decide to go. France, Italy and Belgium all sound wonderful. I was just in France for the first time in quite a long time and adored it.

[MaryMac]

Oh, I didn't choose that option. Lufthansa had the horrible connections.

I've been checking on a trip for the fall and I also found that Lufthansa has really bad layovers. The first one is a 10 hour layover in DC, before I even get to the Continent. Heck, I can probably drive in less than that. The second was a 9 hour in Frankfort on a middle of the trip switch between Portugal and Florence. Not sure what I'm going to do myself. Funny you should have posted this as I was just thinking the other day about how bad the connections were.

[Robyn1007]

I agree - I *hate* tight layovers. Maybe your flight arrives on time, but huge airports can be tough to navigate. Tooo stressful.

(And on the awful itineraries, ex-DBF had to fly from LA to Saskatoon, via...Toronto. That's like flying from LA to Montana by way of New York. Good times.)

Especially if the short layover is also your first stop in country so you'll have to go through customs.