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ceba
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I have a Lufthansa flight in Nov from DEN to ATH with a stop in FRA.

Will I have to collect my bags in FRA and go through immigration? Or will my bags be checked through to ATH? Also if I do have to collect my bags in FRA my stop is 1hr 15mins. Will there be enough time to get this done? This is on one ticket. Thanks for your help.

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I have a Lufthansa flight in Nov from DEN to ATH with a stop in FRA.

Will I have to collect my bags in FRA and go through immigration? Or will my bags be checked through to ATH? Also if I do have to collect my bags in FRA my stop is 1hr 15mins. Will there be enough time to get this done? This is on one ticket. Thanks for your help.

 

As long as your on a single ticket your bags will be tagged to ATH and you bags will be automatically transferred in FRA.

 

You will go through immigration in FRA, however that is usually a quick look at your passport and a stamp. I think 1hr and 15 min is tight but not unreasonable. If you do miss the connection they will move you to the next available flight.

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When arriving in the majority of European countries the process is this, (assuming you are traveling on one ticket and/or your bags are being checked through to your final destination):

1. At your first point of arrival, go through immigration, which is usually a quick passport check.

 

2. At your final destination, collect bags and go through customs, which is usually a non-event. It's an honor system of "go through the door with the green light if you have nothing to declare, go through the one with the red light if you do." At the green light door, you won't even talk to anyone; you just keep going til you're outside and get a cab.

 

 

 

 

When arriving in the US, (unless coming from one of the few countries in the world where there is pre-clearance for US immigration and customs at the departure point):

1. and 2. Both immigration and customs are done at the first point of arrival in the US, regardless of whether you are connecting onward or the first point of arrival is also your final destination.

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When arriving in the majority of European countries the process is this, (assuming you are traveling on one ticket and/or your bags are being checked through to your final destination):

1. At your first point of arrival, go through immigration, which is usually a quick passport check.

 

2. At your final destination, collect bags and go through customs, which is usually a non-event. It's an honor system of "go through the door with the green light if you have nothing to declare, go through the one with the red light if you do." At the green light door, you won't even talk to anyone; you just keep going til you're outside and get a cab.

 

 

 

 

When arriving in the US, (unless coming from one of the few countries in the world where there is pre-clearance for US immigration and customs at the departure point):

1. and 2. Both immigration and customs are done at the first point of arrival in the US, regardless of whether you are connecting onward or the first point of arrival is also your final destination.

 

Thank you. This is good info for me to file.

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Thank you. This is good info for me to file.

 

You're welcome. As I mentioned, the Euro rules are for "most" of Europe. It all has to do with whether countries are in the Schengen area or not. You might connect at one that is, but head to a final destination that isn't. For most people heading to Europe for a cruise, their travels will be within the Schengen area so that won't be an area. The main exception is if you connect in the UK or Ireland which are not Schengen countries. Most of the other countries one would fly to/through/from are all Schengen, including Netherlands (AMS), France (CDG), Italy (FCO & VCE), Spain (MAD & BCN), Germany (FRA) and Greece (ATH).

 

https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/schengen-visa-countries-list/

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  • 2 weeks later...

What if you fly into a Schengen country (Netherlands) and connect to a flight that goes to a non-Schengen country (U.K.)? And vice versa on the way back? Would there be significant delays or additional screenings? I ask because I am looking at a KLM flight to Southampton for a cruise and it connects both ways at AMS. The layover going is over 4 hours so plenty of time, but the layover coming home is only 1 hour 20 minutes. I don't know if that would even be feasible or not, especially with the Schengen/non-Schengen. Any info is appreciated!

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What if you fly into a Schengen country (Netherlands) and connect to a flight that goes to a non-Schengen country (U.K.)? And vice versa on the way back? Would there be significant delays or additional screenings? I ask because I am looking at a KLM flight to Southampton for a cruise and it connects both ways at AMS. The layover going is over 4 hours so plenty of time, but the layover coming home is only 1 hour 20 minutes. I don't know if that would even be feasible or not, especially with the Schengen/non-Schengen. Any info is appreciated!

Assuming you're traveling on a US passport you'll do what's called a "sterile transit" at places like AMS. Your bags will go through to your final destination, and all that will happen at the connecting airport is a security check (and they may want to see your passport and boarding pass as part of that, but no border controls per se.)

 

Even if your ultimate stop is a secondary airport in the non-Schengen country (for example, you fly from Amsterdam to London, and connect through to Edinburgh) you'll go through passport control at the port of entry, but bags will be claimed at the ultimate destination and you'd walk through the customs exit there.

 

Same deal on the way back.

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Thank you Gardyloo! Yes we are US passports and the tickets would be booked through KLM. I mainly wonder if a 1 hour 20 minute connection at AMS is enough for transfer between SOU (non-Schengen) and then home to SFO. It looks like the smaller plane (an E-175) from SOU lands at AMS out at a farther terminal and passengers are bussed in, then would have to get to the connecting flight on a Dreamliner to SFO. With security checks that could take some time. Also I'm not quite sure what "sterile transit" means? Pardon my ignorance but could you please explain?

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I mainly wonder if a 1 hour 20 minute connection at AMS is enough for transfer between SOU (non-Schengen) and then home to SFO. It looks like the smaller plane (an E-175) from SOU lands at AMS out at a farther terminal and passengers are bussed in, then would have to get to the connecting flight on a Dreamliner to SFO. With security checks that could take some time.
Although I am at AMS quite often, my practical experience of much of the airport is limited. But I do know some of the theory behind the way that AMS is set up, because I depend on it for my visits there.

 

Arrivals from the UK do not, as a matter of generality, have to be security screened again at AMS before going on to their next flight, providing they stay airside and don't get anywhere near checked baggage. This applies to flights from a number of other countries too. That means that passengers who have arrived from those countries are treated as having been security screened and can mix with passengers who are starting their journeys at AMS or have otherwise been security screened there.

 

This, combined with the information in this FlyerTalk post about arriving from the UK and being taken to the terminal by bus, makes me pretty confident that you would simply go upstairs into the D concourse and mix with departing passengers without needing security screening. In effect, it would be the same as if you had arrived from the UK on a larger aircraft which had a contact stand and you walked up the jetty into the terminal building. Conceptually, you are in the same place, so that you are dealt with like other non-Schengen but security screened arrivals. There would be no passport control, either, because you are a non-Schengen to non-Schengen transfer. You would simply go to your onward gate (probably on E or F concourse). There may be additional security screening at the gate, but that would simply be because you are on a US-bound flight.

 

The aircraft from SOU wouldn't arrive at a farther terminal. It would probably simply park on an open apron away from the terminal, along with lots of other smaller KLM and Air France aircraft, from where a bus collects you and takes you to the terminal.

 

On this basis, 1:20 would be plenty of time if your inbound flight is on time. Obviously, if your inbound flight is late, then like any shorter connection you could be at risk. But there is nothing inherently unreasonable about 1:20. In looking for information about those bus gate arrivals at AMS, I saw reassurance from others that a 0:50 connection would usually be no problem.

 

The caveat in all of this is that it is constructed from what I know of the theory. If there are others who have actually done a CItyhopper arrival from the UK who can confirm it, that would be better.

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Thank you Gardyloo! Yes we are US passports and the tickets would be booked through KLM. I mainly wonder if a 1 hour 20 minute connection at AMS is enough for transfer between SOU (non-Schengen) and then home to SFO. It looks like the smaller plane (an E-175) from SOU lands at AMS out at a farther terminal and passengers are bussed in, then would have to get to the connecting flight on a Dreamliner to SFO. With security checks that could take some time. Also I'm not quite sure what "sterile transit" means? Pardon my ignorance but could you please explain?

"Sterile transit" just means that you never (legally) enter the country you're passing through.

 

It seems that every time I've landed at Schiphol we've been closer to Belgium than Amsterdam ;), but it's a very efficient airport and I'd say 1h20m is plenty of time. Since both flights are on one ticket, they have to meet "minimum connection time" standards or else they won't sell you the ticket in the first place. At AMS for KLM, an international - to - international MCT is 50 minutes, so don't sweat it.

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It seems that every time I've landed at Schiphol we've been closer to Belgium than Amsterdam ;) ...
If rocklinmom isn't aware of it, this is a long-standing AMS joke that comes from one of the runways being a long way from the terminals. It's called the Polderbaan, and if you land there it takes about 15 minutes to taxi to the terminal. But this is nothing to sweat about if it happens, because schedules to/from AMS take account of this. My usual trips to AMS involve me flying there and flying straight back to London, and more often than not the flight to AMS lands on the Polderbaan from which we have to do that long taxi to the terminal. But that has never been the cause of a delay.
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This week I flew Geneva to AMS to BOS. I had a 2 hour 15 minute connection. I had no problem making it, but had 3 security checks! One was going through regular security, one was going to a certain gate mentioned on my boarding pass, with time listed as 80 minutes before departure, and being asked the usual security questions , i.e. has your luggage been with you at all times, etc. Then I was directed to my actual departure gate where I had to remove my iPad from its case, remove shoes, unzip all zippers on my purse and my backpack, get myself and said backpack and purse checked for gun residue. Everything went pretty quickly, and I was on my Delta flight pretty quickly but there were a lot of people on line behind me being thoroughly checked also.

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This week I flew Geneva to AMS to BOS. I had a 2 hour 15 minute connection. I had no problem making it, but had 3 security checks! One was going through regular security ...
There is a significant difference between connecting GVA-AMS-BOS and connecting SOU-AMS-BOS (or SOU-AMS-SFO), so this experience is not a particularly reliable guide to what is involved for rocklinmom.

 

GVA is within Schengenland, so you must cross the immigration border at AMS when doing this connection. That means that you have to clear Schengen outbound immigration at AMS. I don't know why that should have caused a "regular security check" as well but it's possible that this is because of the way that AMS is set up for Schengen --> non-Schengen connections and that there is a physical limitation that requires this.

 

SOU is not in Schengenland, so in contrast there is no immigration border to cross. SOU-AMS-BOS (or SOU-AMS-SFO) is a non-Schengen --> non-Schengen connection. And SOU is a trusted origin, so that a "regular security check" is not necessary before flying on to your next destination unless your specific connection route encounters a physical limitation that means that you must clear security. For example, I know that I could fly SOU-AMS-EDI without clearing either immigration or security at EDI. It would just be a question of going from the arrival gate to a (usually) very nearby gate.

 

The second and third security checks mentioned by Barrheadlass are simply the additional security screening for US-bound flights, as I mentioned above.

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