International Travel Question

[teddy]

Other than when I was in the military, I’ve never flown internationally. 
 

On our trip to Italy in October 2023, we have a layover in Lisbon, Portugal.  From there we fly to Venice. 

Will we go through immigration in both Lisbon and Venice?  

I’m trying to plan what time train to take from from Venice to Ravenna and have no idea of what to expect when we arrive in Venice.  
 

Thanks. 

[KristiZ]

3 hours ago, teddy said:

Will we go through immigration in both Lisbon and Venice?

You will definitely go through in Venice. Lisbon, I'm guessing not since you'll be a transit passenger. Depends on how long your layover is I suppose.

[teddy]

1 hour ago, KristiZ said:

You will definitely go through in Venice. Lisbon, I'm guessing not since you'll be a transit passenger. Depends on how long your layover is I suppose.

Thank you.  That makes sense now that I think about it.  

[James K]

Immigration will be in Lisbon as it is the first entry into the EU. Lisbon to Venice is essentially a Domestic flight as it is wholly inside the Schengen region of the EU.

[FionaMG]

@teddy Yes, immigration is definitely in Lisbon as @James K said.

Note, however, that all the Schengen countries have the right to require border checks even within the area, if there are special circumstances (e.g. if the Pope or a world leader is going to be in town, or if there is a terrorist alert) so, although extremely unlikely, you can't entirely rule out an immigration check at Venice too.

Another heads up, since it's not something you would expect (and, in fact, I really don't know why they do this), is that at Lisbon, as well as immigration, transit passengers also have to go through a security check to get into the departure area and this can cut into your transfer time quite significantly. There are ground staff working the line to get people with tight connections through faster, so if this is you watch out for them and let them know which flight you're connecting to. They're usually very visible as they go up and down the line calling out things like "Anyone for Munich, anyone for Geneva?"

Also, if you are bringing an open bottle of water that you don't want to bin you can ask the security staff manning the scanners to put it through separately and you'll be allowed to keep it.

Apart from this, Lisbon is a very easy airport to connect in as it is small for a capital city airport. There's plenty of good shopping and decent food to keep you entertained while you wait for your connecting flight. Tasty snacks you might like to try are bifanas (a pork fillet sandwich) and pastel de nata (traditional Portuguese custard tarts).

[teddy]

@FionaMG Great info, thank you!!

We have a short connection time (1 hour 10 minutes), and while it concerns us, we are ready to go for it  

We are booked through TAP Air all the way to Venice.  I contacted them yesterday about the short connection time and was told we’ll be fine.  In addition, we used Air2Sea, so we’ll have their help if anything goes wrong.  We are leaving four days before the ship sails, so we have time to deal with any delays.  Lastly, we picked upgraded seats as close to the front of the plane as we could (just short of first class) so we can deplane relatively quickly.

Thank you again for sharing your knowledge.  

 

 

[FionaMG]

1 hour ago, teddy said:

@FionaMG Great info, thank you!!

We have a short connection time (1 hour 10 minutes), and while it concerns us, we are ready to go for it  

We are booked through TAP Air all the way to Venice.  I contacted them yesterday about the short connection time and was told we’ll be fine.  In addition, we used Air2Sea, so we’ll have their help if anything goes wrong.  We are leaving four days before the ship sails, so we have time to deal with any delays.  Lastly, we picked upgraded seats as close to the front of the plane as we could (just short of first class) so we can deplane relatively quickly.

Thank you again for sharing your knowledge.  

 

 

My pleasure.

I'm not going to lie, I'd be a bit nervous about that connection time. However, the inbound trans-Atlantic flights usually arrive a bit ahead of time and TAP's punctuality record on their European flights is somewhat south of stellar, so the chances are your Venice flight will be delayed anyway, giving you a bit of breathing space. Definitely a good move on your part to get seats near the front though and be sure to speak to one of the ground staff working the line if you see you're running short on time. They are very efficient.

The only downside is that, if everything goes smoothly, as it almost certainly will, you won't have time to sit down and enjoy those custard tarts, but you'll probably still be able to grab a couple to go!

[teddy]

The connection time makes us a bit nervous too. Whoever emailed me back when I asked said 55 minutes is their minimum between flights.   I guess we’ll see. 

[FloatyBoaty]

19 minutes ago, teddy said:

The connection time makes us a bit nervous too. Whoever emailed me back when I asked said 55 minutes is their minimum between flights.   I guess we’ll see. 

I was given that same information by KLM through Amsterdam and was also concerned. The next flight option was loads more expensive. I purchased seats closer to the exit...and now they've consolidated their flights and it's changed anyway.

[teddy]

Thankfully we’ve built time into our travel itinerary, although we’d hate to lose a day’s worth of being a tourist in Ravenna by being stuck in an airport. 
 

 

[Pattycruise]

On 12/8/2022 at 7:06 AM, teddy said:

 

In addition, we used Air2Sea, so we’ll have their help if anything goes wrong.  

 

 

When I was booking my return flights home to the US,via Air2Sea,   for my cruise that ended in Ravenna I called them back because I was traveling through Paris and did some digging and read about how horrible the  customs was.  There was no way I was going to make my connecting flight with the wait time for  customs.  When I told this to the customoer service rep at Air2Sea  he said "if the first flight is delayed causing you to miss your flight we will take care of it-no cost.  If you miss your plane due to the line, that will be on you".  I was super pissed to have discovered this on my own, no warning from the Air2Sea people.   So yes, flight times can be tight, but it does not mean you will make a connection and as stated to me, "lines are on me".  Needless to say I changed my flight to give me time.   I think it comes down to asking different questions.  The reps are just trained to see flights that are offered on the computer....they are not trained to know about the workings of each airport.
Side note: Ravenna is a few hours away from Venice.

[teddy]

Well, our connection time in Lisbon has now changed to 8 hours, which is great for any immigration delays.   However, our arrival time in Venice is now 1810, which is not so great for getting to Ravenna and checking into our B&B by 1830.  We're still thinking over our options and are leaning toward just staying the night in Venice and taking an early train to Ravenna.  Either way, we still arrive three day before our cruise departs.

[FionaMG]

On 1/9/2023 at 2:05 PM, teddy said:

Well, our connection time in Lisbon has now changed to 8 hours, which is great for any immigration delays.   However, our arrival time in Venice is now 1810, which is not so great for getting to Ravenna and checking into our B&B by 1830.  We're still thinking over our options and are leaning toward just staying the night in Venice and taking an early train to Ravenna.  Either way, we still arrive three day before our cruise departs.

Hm, that might give you enough time to leave the airport for a bit. There is a luggage storage facility and lockers at the airport. I haven't used either so can't say how good they are (or aren't). https://www.aeroportolisboa.pt/en/lis/services-shopping/essential-services/baggage-services

You'll probably be arriving pretty early in the morning before anything much is open so if you don't have lounge access and fancy getting a decent breakfast (definitely better than anything you'll get in the airport), there is the Star Inn hotel just a 5-minute walk from the terminal, where you can do that: https://www.hotelstarinn.com/lisboa/

This is where we stay when we overnight at the airport prior to an early flight. I don't know what their current price is but the last time we stayed there, just before the pandemic started, I think it was €10 per person and it's a pretty decent buffet. There is another hotel right opposite (I think it's a Tryp) which potentially would also offer this service but I think it's likely to be more expensive.

You wouldn't be able to do much in the way of sight-seeing but you could potentially get the underground (metro) to Oriente Station (direct from the airport, just 3 stops), where there is a mall https://www.centrovascodagama.pt/en/ (handy if the weather is being unfriendly) and also the Parque das Nações (Nations Park) https://www.portaldasnacoes.pt/http:/www.portaldasnacoes.pt/index.php. This was the site of the 1998 World Fair and you could go for a wander along the waterfront, take a cable car ride and have a tasty lunch at one of the restaurants before heading back to the airport.

It's difficult to be sure just how much of this is feasible without knowing your exact flight times but if it works (allow 30 minutes each way for travel on the metro between the airport and Parque da Nações) it might be worth considering rather than spending all those hours in the airport.

 

 

[teddy]

Thank you @FionaMG !!!

As of right now, we have time to leave the airport and really want to actually see something other than the inside of it.   Thank you for sharing some good places we can easily get to.   Sitting in the airport for all that time would be quite a drag.

[jbrinkm]

This is not related to your flight or cities, but rather just European Air travel. We had a connection from Zurich through Frankfurt this summer back to home. We booked everything through Lufthansa, and they only gave us an hour (automated, we couldn't choose) to connect. Well, our connecting flight was late and Frankfurt is huge with shuttles to terminal from the plane, had to get through customs, etc, etc., end of story - we missed our flight back to the USA and they couldn't get us out for two days. If this happens to you, please look into reimbursement through EU261. There are stricter laws in Europe about getting you to your location late and airlines are required to reimburse you, amount depending on distance, airline, where to/where from and how late. So if everything involved applies to you and you miss your connection, you can file for reimbursement from the airline. 

Because we met all the criteria, and were in the furthest distance and furthest time part of the grid, my family of 4 each received reimbursement of 600 Euros, which was a little over $600pp at the time. And we only paid $700 for the flights in the first place. It took a while and some work, but that money paid for my flights to Galveston this upcoming April for our next cruise.

Just document everything if you miss the flight - why you missed it, what times you took off & landed, etc...

[teddy]

Thank you very much!!!!

[4ensic]

On 1/23/2023 at 9:13 PM, jbrinkm said:

 

Because we met all the criteria, and were in the furthest distance and furthest time part of the grid, my family of 4 each received reimbursement of 600 Euros, which was a little over $600pp at the time. And we only paid $700 for the flights in the first place. It took a while and some work, but that money paid for my flights to Galveston this upcoming April for our next cruise.

Just document everything if you miss the flight - why you missed it, what times you took off & landed, etc...

 

Had a United flight in Barcelona delayed by a day (after getting as far as testing the engines at the departure gate) and filed for mandatory EU Compensation on an online form at UA.  They actually offered $1,000 in travel credit or $700 cash.  Pretty seamless process.  Best of luck with Lufthansa.

[jbrinkm]

20 minutes ago, 4ensic said:

Best of luck with Lufthansa.

We got it already. Flight problems in early August, filed for reimbursement in late August, got our money in January. They didn't offer us a travel credit but we did get our 600 euros per person deposited to our bank account. Plus an additional $150 for food reimbursement. 

The bonus on our end is that they also put us up in a hotel with a voucher for 2 nights, and it was right on the train system, so we got to unexpectedly spend a whole day in Frankfurt exploring and enjoying the city - we'd never been there before. We were supposed to fly out on a Friday when we had problems so that day was terrible, getting up early and then spending the whole entire day waiting in different lines at the airport to figure out what to do next. But once we resigned ourselves to the 2 day delay, we were able to enjoy and have fun in a new part of the world. And then we just had to get on our direct flight on Sunday which wasn't too early. My husband didn't even miss any work because the delay was over a weekend.