Flying home to USA from Bergen

[cruisewiththekids]

The only option for flights home from Bergen after our Viking cruise next year are flights with 2 stops.    Here are my options for the stopover within Europe:

 

50 min in Oslo

1 hour 5 min in Copenhagen

1 hour 40 min in Oslo

2 hour 5 min in Oslo

 

All four flights then connect in Newark or Chicago with 2 - 3 hrs layover.   They are on SAS.

 

Can someone please explain what will happen in either Oslo or Copenhagen?    Will we go through passport control, have to re-check our luggage?    Trying to decide how much time we will need.

 

Thank you.

[Globaliser]

5 minutes ago, cruisewiththekids said:

Will we go through passport control, have to re-check our luggage?

 

Yes, outbound passport control.

 

This can sometimes be pretty fast. For what it's worth, about six months ago I "connected" at Oslo. I had to disembark the aircraft, clear inbound passport control, clear security, clear outbound passport control, and then walk back to the same gate. It took me 9 minutes.

 

If you're on one ticket for the entire trip, which is what this sounds like, then I would expect your bags to be checked through.

[hallasm]

3 hours ago, cruisewiththekids said:

Can someone please explain what will happen in either Oslo or Copenhagen? 

Just choose the most convenient connection - 50 minutes in OSL or 1h 5 m in CPH is fine.

You luggage will be checked through to your final destination, however you need to pick up the luggage at EWR and go through customs before handing it to the US carrier just after customs.

You'll not handle your luggage in OSL or CPH.

In CHP oe OSL you'll go through Schengen passport control - will not take long and since you luggage is transferred to the EWR flight they will not leave you behind.

 

Edited June 14, 2019 by hallasm

[Globaliser]

15 hours ago, hallasm said:

In CHP oe OSL you'll go through Schengen passport control - will not take long and since you luggage is transferred to the EWR flight they will not leave you behind.

 

Don't 100% count on this. If you get stuck at passport control and fail to show up at the gate, there will come a point when they will leave you behind, probably together with your luggage.

[waterbug123]

16 hours ago, hallasm said:

and since you luggage is transferred to the EWR flight they will not leave you behind.

 

 

No.  If a plane is ready to leave and a passenger whose luggage is onboard is a no show, they will offload the passenger's luggage.  I've been on flights where we had to wait for this to happen.

[Globaliser]

1 minute ago, waterbug123 said:

I've been on flights where we had to wait for this to happen.

 

And these days, it doesn't take long - which is why they are much more ready to do it.

[hallasm]

35 minutes ago, Globaliser said:

 

Don't 100% count on this. If you get stuck at passport control and fail to show up at the gate, there will come a point when they will leave you behind, probably together with your luggage.

In CPH and probably also OSL the airline will get you through passport check in case of long queues - they will call passengers for specific flights and give you priority.

In case of delay of connecting flight arriving from Bergen they will escort you through passport control.

I have once made a transfer in 5 minutes due to late incoming flight - surprisingly enough the luggage also made the short connection.

I would not be nervous for a short time for transfer in CPH or OSL

20 minutes ago, waterbug123 said:

No.  If a plane is ready to leave and a passenger whose luggage is onboard is a no show, they will offload the passenger's luggage.  I've been on flights where we had to wait for this to happen.

So have I - but not if you make your way to the gate as soon as possible - the airline know how long time you need for transfer and they know when to expect you. If you decide NOT to go directly to the gate you might be in troubles.

And my reply is only for CPH and OSL when you have an transfer - I have been traveling with SAS for 35 years for business and pleasure and have alway made my connections despite of delays.

Edited June 15, 2019 by hallasm

[Globaliser]

On 6/15/2019 at 1:14 PM, hallasm said:

So have I - but not if you make your way to the gate as soon as possible - the airline know how long time you need for transfer and they know when to expect you. If you decide NOT to go directly to the gate you might be in troubles.

 

That much is common sense.

 

But if you say something like "since you luggage is transferred to the EWR flight they will not leave you behind", that's almost encouraging people to think that even if they dawdle in the shops the flight will wait for them and they will not be left behind. That is simply not true.

[hallasm]

4 hours ago, Globaliser said:

that's almost encouraging people to think that even if they dawdle in the shops the flight will wait for them and they will not be left behind.

Yes, I do see your point - not exactly what I meant - I do assume that people does go straight to the gate if late - however I sometimes wonder why those last calls.

Edited June 17, 2019 by hallasm

[Globaliser]

1 hour ago, hallasm said:

I do assume that people does go straight to the gate if late - however I sometimes wonder why those last calls.

 

People do sometimes get held up in immigration - what if your visa turns out not to be valid, or you've tripped a flag? - and don't get to the aircraft in time.

 

People are sometimes taken ill, for example suddenly having to go to the toilet and spend a long time there.

 

Sometimes people just get lost in the airport; for example, they might take a wrong turn, end up landside and have to do the whole circuit and come back through standard security.

 

And sometimes people do dawdle in the shops in the mistaken belief that as their bags are on their next aircraft, the aircraft will wait for them even if they're late. Never underestimate the extent to which people think that because their flight is important to them, they themselves are important to their flight (and the flight will therefore wait for them). One of the great things about air travel is that it is really good at putting you in your place by showing you that you are one tiny and insignificant number in a world that can manage perfectly well without you. It's good for the soul to be reminded of that from time to time.

[FionaMG]

On 6/15/2019 at 1:06 PM, waterbug123 said:

 

No.  If a plane is ready to leave and a passenger whose luggage is onboard is a no show, they will offload the passenger's luggage.  I've been on flights where we had to wait for this to happen.

I have too.

[clo]

Did you mention your destination?  We flew Norwegian in the spring from OAK/LGW/BGO.  We had a hideous layover in Gatwick but that's not always the case.