--- title: "Short layover: how not to miss your connecting flight" description: "An hour's layover can be plenty or nowhere near enough, and it depends on five things. What they are and what to do if you miss the connection anyway." url: https://getgigapass.com/en/blog/short-layover-missing-a-flight markdown: https://getgigapass.com/en/blog/short-layover-missing-a-flight.md lang: en site: Gigapass generated: 2026-10-24 languages: es: https://getgigapass.com/blog/no-perder-un-vuelo-por-una-escala-corta de: https://getgigapass.com/de/blog/kurzer-anschluss-flug-verpassen it: https://getgigapass.com/it/blog/scalo-breve-perdere-il-volo fr: https://getgigapass.com/fr/blog/escale-courte-rater-son-vol pt: https://getgigapass.com/pt/blog/escala-curta-perder-voo nl: https://getgigapass.com/nl/blog/korte-overstap-vlucht-missen ja: https://getgigapass.com/ja/blog/mijikai-noritsugi ko: https://getgigapass.com/ko/blog/jjalbeun-hwanseung zh-hans: https://getgigapass.com/zh-hans/blog/duan-zhongzhuan pl: https://getgigapass.com/pl/blog/krotka-przesiadka-stracic-lot sv: https://getgigapass.com/sv/blogg/kort-byte-missa-flyget no: https://getgigapass.com/no/blogg/kort-mellomlanding-miste-flyet da: https://getgigapass.com/da/blog/kort-mellemlanding-miste-flyet tr: https://getgigapass.com/tr/blog/kisa-aktarma-ucak-kacirmak ru: https://getgigapass.com/ru/blog/korotkaya-peresadka zh-hant: https://getgigapass.com/zh-hant/blog/duan-zhuanji ar: https://getgigapass.com/ar/mudawana/altawaqquf-alqasir he: https://getgigapass.com/he/blog/hachlafa-ktzara index: https://getgigapass.com/llms/en.txt --- # Short layovers: how not to miss the second flight > An hour's layover can be plenty or nowhere near enough, and it depends on five things. What they are and what to do if you miss the connection anyway. [Home](https://getgigapass.com/en) › [Blog](https://getgigapass.com/en/blog) › Short layovers: how not to miss the second flight On the road An hour's layover can be plenty or nowhere near enough, and it depends on five things. What they are and what to do if you miss the connection anyway. **Nerea Aguilar** 10 Aug 2026 6 min Photo by Tom Def on Unsplash In this article › The five that decide › The airport's minimum › If you miss it › What helps before flying En corto - If both flights are on the same ticket, the airline rebooks you at no cost. - If they are separate tickets, the problem is yours and there is nothing to claim. - Changing terminal or clearing immigration eats a whole hour. - And checked baggage only travels through on its own if the ticket is a single one. Whether a layover is enough has no general answer, because it depends on five things and only one of them is the clock. ## The five that decide 1. One ticket or two? That is by far the most important. 2. Do you have to clear immigration and check the bags in again? Count on a good hour. 3. Are you changing terminal? At some airports that is twenty minutes on a train. 4. Is it international to domestic or the other way round? That usually means a check. 5. What time of day? Early-morning checks have different queues. ## The airport's minimum Every airport publishes a minimum connecting time, and booking systems will not sell below it on a single ticket. It is a useful and optimistic reference: it is calculated with everything working. ## If you miss it - On a single ticket, go straight to the airline's transfer desk: they rebook you. - On two tickets, the second flight is lost and you have to buy another, unless the airline is generous. - Keep everything: boarding passes, delay notices and times, because that is what any claim rests on. - And tell whoever is waiting for you, and that is where the phone becomes indispensable again. > Two separate tickets are not a trip with a connection: they are two trips that happen to line up. ## What helps before flying Checking in online, travelling with hand luggage if the layover is tight, sitting near the front on the first flight and having the connection sorted so you can reorganise from the gate and not from a queue. And if you land in another country on the way, watch out for this: [what to do on landing, step by step](https://getgigapass.com/en/blog/roaming-when-you-land). If you buy separate tickets on purpose because they are cheaper, allow a night's margin between them. That is what makes the saving real. Know where you're going? Pick your destination, days and data. Install it before you leave and pay once. [See destinations](https://getgigapass.com/en#destinos) Nerea AguilarTravelling connected She has spent eight years writing about travelling without running out of data. What happens after you land interests her more than the spec sheet. ## Frequently asked questions **How much time do I need for a layover?** It depends on whether it is a single ticket, whether you have to clear immigration, whether you change terminal and on the time of day. The airport's published minimum is an optimistic reference. **What happens if I miss the connection?** On a single ticket the airline rebooks you at no cost. On separate tickets the second flight is lost. **Does my suitcase travel through on its own?** Only if the flights are on the same ticket. On separate tickets you have to collect it and check it in again. **How do I reduce the risk?** By checking in online, travelling with hand luggage if the layover is tight and sitting near the front on the first flight. ## Keep reading [On the road What to do if you lose your phone abroad 7 min](https://getgigapass.com/en/blog/lost-phone-abroad) - [On the road](https://getgigapass.com/en/blog/free-airport-wifi) | Free airport wifi: what it is good for and why it is not enough | 6 min - [On the road](https://getgigapass.com/en/blog/calling-from-abroad) | How to call from abroad without it costing a fortune | 6 min