I am flying from Los Angeles to Bangalore. I have a flight option from LAX to Minneapolis and from there to Paris. I have only 45 minutes at Minneapolis before my next flight. Is this too risky a schedule? I am not an American, so I guess I would need to cross emigration too?
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1Is it on the same airlines? one ticket?– Nean Der ThalAug 2, 2013 at 8:52
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it is the same airlines, and done on one booking– bobbyAug 2, 2013 at 9:42
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You will have to be at the next gate at least 30 minutes prior to the next flights departure. Assume 10 minutes of travel time between domestic and international terminals. It is not risky if you can manage to get off the first plane and be on the way in the first 5 minutes of its landing. They may accommodate you in another flight, but being an international flight, I assume you will waste at least a day– happybuddhaAug 2, 2013 at 15:54
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@happybuddha MSP doesn't have an international terminal per se, only the first few gates of Concourse G serve international arrivals. An international flight could depart from any gate at a US airport, though for a variety of reasons this isn't common. Most likely the airline would help you make the connection if at all possible, e.g. by driving you across the airport in a cart and possibly holding the flight a minute or two. The schedule referenced in the question no longer exists; now the layover on LAX-MSP-CDG on Delta and/or its subsidiaries and partners would be at least two hours.– Michael HamptonDec 14, 2015 at 6:12
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2 Answers
You do not need to pass through emigration when leaving the US. Unlike in most countries, US airports do not have dedicated international areas. The airline staff will check your passport and collect any documents you are required to hand in when you leave the country. Thus, this will not affect your connection in MSP.
If the itinerary is being offered as a single ticket, the airline clearly believes that most passengers will be able to make that connection. This seems quite feasible if both flights are from the same terminal at MSP (very probable if it is the same airline). You'll probably be checked into both flights at LAX and only have to get between gates at MSP. This can be accomplished in 15-20 minutes for any gate combination within the same terminal (less if you are really in a hurry!).
If you need to switch terminals (information about airlines and terminals at MSP), this becomes much trickier. You'll need to take a train (runs every 10 minutes) and than you will need to go through security again at the other end. I suspect that you will not need to change terminals.
Note however, that if there is any delay in the inbound flight, even if you are able to race to the departure gate, the odds of your checked-in luggage making the transfer is not good.
Also, keep in mind that any non-trivial delay will cause you to miss your connection. They will try rerouting you if you miss your connection because of a delay in the first flight. However, there is no way of knowing how long or convoluted that rerouting will be. You may easily lose a whole day. Consider how important not being delayed is to you. If it is critical, this may not be a chance you're willing to take.
Don't do it.
Firstly, I doubt it's on the same airline. I can't think of any airlines that fly LAX-MSP, and MSP-CDG. I'm guessing you're on Delta for the first leg, and Air France for the second - very possibly with one of those flights being a code-share so it appears to be on the same airline - but it's not.
Delta and Air France do use the same terminal, although it can still be a bit of a hike between gates depending on which concourse the Delta flight lands in. Even if everything is on time, the Air France flight will be boarding 5 minutes before you're due to land. Add in the 10-15 minutes it might take them to get the plane to the gate and for you to get off and you're already cutting it fine - and that's if everything is on time.
But the most important thing to consider here isn't really how likely you are to make the connection, it's what the impact is if you miss it. MSP-CDG is a once a day flight. If you miss it, you're probably waiting 24 hours until the next one - presuming it has seats available. To me, that's far to big a risk to even consider such a tight connection.
