In these tricky times of flying...

[jonthomas]

right now looking to book...flying on the 16th....to make  it into Bar for Nov 19.....stop at  Zurich...Air Canada....very short stop ....but if we dont make it, there is another flight 2 hours later...

 

thank you for all the advice...

 

then will look at how to get home from MIA to TO....on the day we arrive into port, which is a sunday...more expensive to fly on Sunday...

[FlyerTalker]

Well, the most important thing is that the OP needs to clearly prioritize what are the most important factors for their flights.  Is it cost?  Is it flight time?  Is it overall travel time?  Is it ease of connection?  Is it onboard quality of the flight?  Or something else.  And have an overall order of what is important.

 

Once that is clearly established, THEN quality advice can be given.  Until then, it's just throwing darts at the board.  While blindfolded.

 

And FWIW, any connection in the USA would require the OP to clear USA customs and immigration at YYZ, adding an additional step to the process.

 

 

[jonthomas]

the opinions here have cleared things up for us....

 

we are right now trying to book AC to Zurich...short layover...but another flight 2 hours later, should we miss the first one...going in 2 days ahead, gives us plenty of opportunity to get into Barcelona for the cruise on time...have the hotel booked for 2 nights...

 

booking MIA to TO should not be a problem....going home has a very different level of stress than making sure you get on a cruise ship...

 

thank you again for all the advice...

 

 

[jonthomas]

ok...all set...Air Canada from Toronto to Zurich...

 

yes Paris, closer to BAR...but maybe a more problematic airport....Zurich a much smaller airport...

 

we are for the first time in 52 cruises flying with just a knapsack and carry on...so no luggage to impede us...will feel very freeing...but also very little choice of what to wear on board...

 

these days there is no point having an extensive wardrobe...

 

at least I will know that I dont have to be in a track suit till I get to a port to buy something...so many reported their luggage was lost and they had to go shopping...

[jonthomas]

nope..same distance from paris to bar as zurich to bar....

[Robjame]

After many flights from TO we realized it is about seven hours to Europe - Paris, Barcelona, Heathrow, and about 1.5 hours to our destination in France. So it is wherever you find the best connections, cheapest flight, best carrier. We always stay with same carrier for both legs.

[andrcan]

6 hours ago, jonthomas said:

 flying from Toronto to Barcelona,  nothing direct, where would you chose to have a stop over? and of course at least 3 hours....

 

Newark, Frankfurt, Heathrow, Lisbon

 

the first two were voted as the worst for delays and cancellations....

 

would you fly Air Lingus and have a stop over in Dublin?

 

would you fly TAP airlines?

 

we have usually done Air Canada but it and our airport have become the worst in the world....

 

all opinions welcome....

We took Air Transat in late May via Montreal, less than 2 hrs connection but summer seasonal only:(

 

My experience of flying TAP was always positive, and personally I love Lisbon airport - Star Alliance lounge is one of the best in Europe.

[Aloha 1]

13 hours ago, andrcan said:

We took Air Transat in late May via Montreal, less than 2 hrs connection but summer seasonal only:(

 

My experience of flying TAP was always positive, and personally I love Lisbon airport - Star Alliance lounge is one of the best in Europe.

You wouldn't love LIS this summer. Flew out to LHR in August and it was total chaos.

[jonthomas]

34 minutes ago, Aloha 1 said:

You wouldn't love LIS this summer. Flew out to LHR in August and it was total chaos.

 

thank you for your advice....

 

we booked Air Canada to Zurich.....then a short stop....im sure we will miss it, only 1hr 20min...but another flight 2 hrs later....and no rush...have a hotel booked for 2 nights...so I think we will be ok...

 

love how others here have given support and advice....glad I reached out, after ringing my hands for quite a while about what to do....

[Robjame]

25 minutes ago, jonthomas said:

im sure we will miss it, only 1hr 20min...but another flight 2 hrs later

I think you said you were going with carry on only - your bigger problem would be your luggage not making the connecting flight 

 

When we travelled BA to Paris our luggage often missed the connection in Heathrow but that was our plan …… the airlines would deliver the luggage later that day to our hotel. This allowed us to take the train into Paris and walk around without being concerned about the luggage. . . Don’t think we would do that today!

[DENIE]

British Airways left one of our two bags behind on our connection to Rome in June.  LHR was total chaos.  Sure glad we booked 2 days in Rome as our bag didn't make it to the hotel until 10:30 p.m. the night before we embarked on our cruise.  Yes, this summer was crazy!

[piedpiper99]

Frankfurt is a mess. I would avoid at all costs.  Heathrow is understaffed, but probably the best option.  Clearing immigration/customs in the US is a bit of pain, but not too bad from Pearson.  I can't speak about Lisbon recently.

 

I avoid AerLingus.   TAP is fine - they are star alliance if   that is  your thing.  I think they are good, but a bit cramped.  I have not done Air Canada lately, but pre-pandemic I found them quite nice.  All the airlines and airports are bad right now.  My guess is Air Canada has such a large part of the market in Canada, they are going to get the most headlines and the worst press.

 

The trick to flying now is trying to find the flight that is unlikely to be affected.  In the US a large number of the regional carriers are cancelling flights. I believe it is the same in Canada.  I would just stay off those.  That would be Air Canada Express operated by Jazz for you.

 

Good luck.  Safe flight.

[pinotlover]

1 hour ago, jonthomas said:

 

thank you for your advice....

 

we booked Air Canada to Zurich.....then a short stop....im sure we will miss it, only 1hr 20min...but another flight 2 hrs later....and no rush...have a hotel booked for 2 nights...so I think we will be ok...

 

love how others here have given support and advice....glad I reached out, after ringing my hands for quite a while about what to do....

My only comment is about the surety you  express on getting onto that flight two hours later. Flights have been flying totally full over there ( much like here in the US). We had friends this summer that  would had to wait three days to get on another flight. They took a long train ride to make it to the ship.

 

Had I been concerned about a close connection, in today’s world, I would have just booked the later flight for safety sake.

[jonthomas]

I better start to look at trains from Zurich to Barcelona...

 

yes travelling with just knapsack and carry on....

[PhD-iva]

36 minutes ago, piedpiper99 said:

Frankfurt is a mess. I would avoid at all costs.  
 

 

All the airlines and airports are bad right now.  

Agree with both of these statements. I would go on to add that Frankfurt was terrible pre-Covid. Completely lacking in infrastructure, things like elevators and gates so that you can deplane right at the terminal instead of at the far end of the longest airplane parking lot you’ve ever seen.
If you can’t deplane at the gate, then you are carrying your carry-on luggage down narrow stairs. After the bus transported us to the terminal, I couldn’t even find an elevator and I had to carry my luggage up (what seemed like) two flights of stairs.

[jonthomas]

yes I would avoid Frankfurt...

 

 hoping that by Nov 16, things will ease a bit...

 

Air Canada now has new govt rules to abide by...so hopefully that will help us as well....although I must admit, I read the rules carefully and really dont understand how they will be implemented or help any passenger if the flight is delayed and they miss their connection...

 

due to cancelled/delayed flights at the Toronto airport, they were handing out yoga mats to sleep on ...some slept on them for several days....outrageous....

 

 

[Robjame]

50 minutes ago, piedpiper99 said:

Frankfurt is a mess. I would avoid at all costs.  Heathrow is understaffed, but probably the best option

You do not have to fly into a major hub in Europe which is why I suggested earlier Montreal to Toulouse or Bordeaux or Nantes or Marseille or Nice . Direct flights connect there or train. Rail travel in France and Spain is a joy —- forget all you know about North American trains.

drive to Montreal and pay for parking

 

Orly is a sister airport to CDG - smaller and friendly 

[Robjame]

Heathrow is a terrible airport even before the pandemic - avoid it at all costs. BA cancelled 10,000 flights - yes ten thousand.

 

BTW remember that these flights are overnight. If you can do it fly business or premium economy!

[jonthomas]

our flight is booked ....AC from TO to Zurich, 1. 5 hour stop over...with no luggage....if we miss the connection, we hope to be able to get onto any other flight to BAR....

 

hoping for much improved situation for mid November...

 

that is all I can do...

 

we are not savvy enough to do the kind of acrobatics you are suggesting...driving to Montreal, flying to small centres in France ...jumping on trains...we need it as simple as possible...

[susiesan]

In August I connected in Geneva on the way to Stockholm for a cruise. I flew UA IAD-GVA. I had 2.5 hours Iin Geneva to connect, the checked luggage made it with us. I was originally connecting through Munich but switched to Geneva at the last minute due to problems at all German airports related to Lufthansa employees constantly going on strike and shutting down Frankfurt and Munich. Avoid connecting in Germany if you can.

 

 

 

[AC2]

Just my 2c, did you look at YYZ to JFK, and JFK to BCN non-stop? It would be on AA.

[FlyerTalker]

3 hours ago, Robjame said:

Heathrow is a terrible airport even before the pandemic - avoid it at all costs. BA cancelled 10,000 flights - yes ten thousand.

 

Of course, you fail to mention the time frame.  That is over a five month period, which means about 2000 flights per month or less than 70 a day.

 

That's about 7-8% of their total flights, and is primarily short hauls from LHR.  Further, this is more of a schedule reduction than day-of-flight cancellations.

 

But hey, 10,000 is a much scarier number.

Edited September 10, 2022 by FlyerTalker

[Robjame]

31 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

Of course, you fail to mention the time frame. 

Lol I did mention a time frame “ I said Heathrow is a terrible airport even before the pandemic.’ - have never heard anyone dispute that, even a Brit. Yes the cancellation of 70 (seventy!) flights a day is much less scarier number. … 70 a day! Much less scarier unless your flight is one of those 70.

 

 

https://www.augustman.com/my/travel/travel-guides/worst-airports-in-the-world-to-avoid-due-to-delays/

40.5% delay in flights

 

Edited September 10, 2022 by Robjame

[FlyerTalker]

The LHR flight changes are being made well before the actual flight date.  And BA is moving passengers to other itineraries.

 

Please don't conflate a schedule change made months before travel with a cancellation made on the day of departure.  And if you have never had a schedule change, you haven't flown enough.

 

And here's your entire post again....still looking for when you mention a time frame over which those TEN THOUSAND flight cancellations will happen:

 

4 hours ago, Robjame said:

Heathrow is a terrible airport even before the pandemic - avoid it at all costs. BA cancelled 10,000 flights - yes ten thousand.

 

BTW remember that these flights are overnight. If you can do it fly business or premium economy!

 

Because that it the critical time frame...not "before pandemic" or "after pandemic" or any other generalized indefinite whatever.

 

[Robjame]

Back to basics - Heathrow is a terrible airport - do you deny it.

 

BTW Pearson (My Country)  is a more terrible airport. There is no shame in being accurate and truthful.

 

There are many alternatives to avoiding Heathrow. My point avoid it!!!

Edited September 10, 2022 by Robjame