When most consumers go to book airline tickets, there are several factors they may consider, from price, to the time of day a flight departs, to the total travel time. In this post I wanted to talk a bit about minimum connection times on connecting itineraries, as this is something that many travelers don’t put enough thought into, in my opinion.
In this post:
The basics of airline minimum connection times
When you go to book an airline ticket, you might notice that some itineraries have really short connections, while other itineraries have really long connections. The decision of whether or not an itinerary allows sufficient time to connect is based on the published minimum connection time (MCT) for a particular airport.
There’s not just one minimum connection time across the board for an airport or airline, but rather, there are several things that factor into this:
- Minimum connection times vary based on the airport you’re connecting at
- Minimum connection times vary based on whether you’re connecting from a domestic to domestic flight, domestic to international flight, international to domestic flight, or international to international flight (after all, clearing immigration can take a long time)
- Minimum connection times vary based on the airlines that you’re connecting between, and on top of that, specific flights sometimes have different connection times, depending on the terminal they depart from
Personally, I look up minimum connection times through ExpertFlyer, which is a paid subscription service. You can expect that if an airline will sell you a connection, then it’s “legal” (meaning it meets the minimum connection time requirement). If you don’t have ExpertFlyer, you can just search online for “[airport name] minimum connection time,” and hopefully the results will come up.
To look at some extreme examples, Helsinki Airport (HEL) is one of the most efficient in Europe, and has minimum connection times ranging from 20 to 40 minutes.
The other extreme is Manila Airport (MNL), which has minimum connection times ranging from 45 minutes to 120 minutes.
Minimum connection times are unrealistically short
It’s important to emphasize that minimum connection times aren’t designed to maximize the odds of a passenger making their connection, but rather are designed to maximize airline profitability:
- Airlines used banked hubs to maximize connections, whereby a lot of planes arrive around the same time, and then depart 45-90 minutes later, in some cases making for very short connections
- Airlines create these short connections because planes don’t make money sitting on the ground, and also because itineraries with the shortest travel time look appealing to many travelers when they go to book
However, for the most part, airlines aren’t terribly invested as to whether or not you make your connection, so you really have to advocate for yourself. Why don’t they really care? Well, because they already have your money, and their only obligation is to get you to your destination on the next available flight.
Many people operate under the assumption that if you book an itinerary that meets the minimum connection time, then you’ll definitely make your connection if your flight is on-time. That’s simply not the case, though.
For example, American has an absurdly short 25-minute minimum connection time at Phoenix Airport (PHX). Even assuming your flights are on-time:
- If you’re seated in the back of the plane, it can take 5-10 minutes to get off
- If you’re connecting between concourses, it can easily take 15 minutes to get to your connecting gate, and that’s even the case if you’re walking at a fast pace
- American Airlines states that boarding ends 15 minutes before departure
Often people are of the belief that if you’re just a few minutes late, the airline will hold the plane for you. While that will happen sometimes, it’s the exception rather than the norm. At least at American, gate agents are incentivized to get the door closed early, rather than to ensure that as many passengers as possible are onboard.
My approach to airport minimum connection times
Personally I don’t trust airlines when it comes to their minimum connection times, so I won’t book a ticket just because the airline claims there’s enough time to connect. Here’s my general approach:
- While it varies by airport, I typically prefer a connection in the range of 90 minutes to three hours, which minimizes the odds of misconnecting
- There are various factors that determine how long of a connection I’m comfortable with, like how important it is for me to get to my destination on-time, what time of day I’m traveling (airlines are more reliable in the mornings), the odds are of a weather delay (I expect delays if flying out of Florida on a summer afternoon)
- If I’m checking bags, I’ll particularly avoid a short connection, since I don’t want to be in a situation where I make my connection, but my bag doesn’t (fortunately AirTags put me a bit more at ease than in the past)
- If I’m connecting between separate tickets, I’ll leave way more time than needed, especially if it’s in a region where airlines have a “use it or lose it” situation if you arrive at the airport too late
Conversely, let me also say that there are some situations where “gambling” with a short connection isn’t necessarily a bad idea. For example, Europe has generous government mandated compensation for passengers who arrive at their destination late. So if you have a very short connection and are just a little bit late, you could potentially be looking at up to €600 in compensation, given how much later the next available flight may get you to your destination.
Bottom line
Airlines publish minimum connection times, which are the minimum amount of time needed to connect at an airport “legally.” However, you shouldn’t assume that just because an itinerary is “legal” means that you’re likely to make your connection. Lots of airports have unrealistically short minimum connection times, especially if it’s a long walk between gates, if you’re flying later in the day, if you’re seated in the back of the plane, etc.
Personally I’d almost always prefer to plan a longer layover, where I don’t have to run to make my connection. I understand that airlines create these kinds of connections to make travel duration seem short and to maximize revenue, but it seems to me like there are some markets where these times are just unrealistically short, and are a disservice to passengers.
What’s your approach to minimum connection times, and what kind of a connection are you comfortable with?
AA at CLT minimum connect time (30 minutes) is absurd. In the US, I have never seen more people running for flights. Built in chaos on AA's part and their customers pay the price.
Another great article, thanks. I suggest another consideration should be, what airline are you flying on. I know all airlines game/lie about their on time performance, but from my experience, (being stranded in more cities and counties by AA than I have fingers and toes to count, even with a 3 hour connect time), that by switching to Delta, has basically eliminated this problem for me.
I think this also has to do with what airline are you flying and what airport. And what country.
If in Asia and flying SQ or JL, NH, they will do everything they can to get you to the next flight. They will drive you by waiting golf cart, they will rebook you and give you meal and drink vouchers, sometimes lounge vouchers, sometimes upgrade you to business, and heavily apologize. And when they...
I think this also has to do with what airline are you flying and what airport. And what country.
If in Asia and flying SQ or JL, NH, they will do everything they can to get you to the next flight. They will drive you by waiting golf cart, they will rebook you and give you meal and drink vouchers, sometimes lounge vouchers, sometimes upgrade you to business, and heavily apologize. And when they know many connections are missed they have a table set up right at the end of the ramp with name placards and your rebooked new tickets. No waiting on some hellish ticketing line.
If you are talking the US. As expected, it's always bad. I agree with Ben. 1.5 hours is my minimum on a connection at most airports. I allow for 1hour at DEN because its so easy to get between gates. But I often see routings with IAH at 30-45 min. That's dumb. I've missed a connection at IAH that was 40 min that was ON time. This was because I was in the back of plane. And the connecting flight was in another terminal and needed to find the train, take the train and missed it. Everyone on my flight missed that connection and I even ran. No matter what the system shows you never risk a connection under 1 hour in the US, and under 1.5 hours at bigger spread out airports like IAH or IAD or ORD. I missed under 1 hr connection at IAD because I had to take one of those sci-fi movie Mars people mover things to the other part of the terminal.
Long time ago I naively believed the same, that the airlines selling short connection flights must know what they are doing. To my surprise, sometimes they actually did care (a rare plus to Lufthansa here), but mostly one has to calculate the risk depending of the airport or/and airline.
But yeah, the travel class and whatever status may also help here a bit.
Another story is arriving from abroad and transferring to a local...
Long time ago I naively believed the same, that the airlines selling short connection flights must know what they are doing. To my surprise, sometimes they actually did care (a rare plus to Lufthansa here), but mostly one has to calculate the risk depending of the airport or/and airline.
But yeah, the travel class and whatever status may also help here a bit.
Another story is arriving from abroad and transferring to a local flight in US. Clearing immigration from my experience can last from 10 mins (empty) to up to three hours (crowded), so relying on a short connection time does not apply here.
I’ve had some good luck booking itineraries with short layovers (that are cheaper) then calling and getting moved to a direct or better itinerary (that are more expensive) for no additional cost just by expressing concern. I think my status helped though
United is INSANE and seems to apply their minimum connection time for people manually transferring between EWR and JFK. United regularly shows me absolutely impossible connection times requiring an airport change.
I think it's safe to say that nobody's made a United connection between EWR and JFK in years.
They sell tickets on partner airlines that require JFK-EWR connections.
I never trust MCT. Internationally, I never book a transfer time of less than 90 minutes - its just not worth the stress.
The most egregious MCT to my knowledge is 25 minutes for US to Europe flights that transit in VIE (Vienna, Austria).
25 minutes is already way too short for purely domestic connections, and you're adding on a passport check in Vienna.
I read somewhere MCT has nothing to do with the flyer making the connection but everything to do with the amount of time it takes to transfer luggage from one flight to another!
The worst I experienced was flying with ITA and transiting in Rome Fiumicino last week - which apparently has a minimum connection time of 40mins. Given the e-gates we were entitled to use were so buggy kept rejecting passports constantly and the massive snaking queue for the manual desks of which only less than half were open, there is now way that connection time is achievable in anyway.
Like you, I always try to book a longer connection time than the minimum. I have a DL itinerary coming up SFO-LAX-DCA, where the connection time in LAX is 47 minutes. There was no earlier DL flight to get me to LA, so I'm stuck with the connection, but at least, if I make the connection, it'll be to a Delta One flight. Otherwise, I'll just have to roll with it.
I have done similar cx at LAX in the past and there are a couple of plusses going for you, namely California doesn't have the weather delays that other parts of the country have and traffic up and down the west coast flows pretty smoothly. DL also has a great team at LAX (for the most part).
Thank you, BradStPete, for the encouraging info.!
While there is a risk, 35 min connections at ATL are my favorite. The occasional albeit very rare missed connection is still worth the hours I’ve saved not sitting in that airport by booking the tight connections
Booking the MCT at any large airport is a bad idea. You can land early and still arrive late to the gate. Rarely time to stop for a bathroom break of food and drink. (If you're in premium cabins may not be as important).