Q -We are leaving on an Avalon River Cruise on the Rhine. Given what we are reading about the airline situation in Europe, we are confused about how to arrange our air. Our agent has come up with an hour connection through Toronto or an hour-and-a-half connecting time in Zurich. Do we go with the Canadians? Zurich is one of several “secret” airports that have unusually high “connections made” statistics. The others include Vienna and Munich.
A – No. One hour is just cutting it too close and you might not have clean clothes until the fourth day of your cruise. Toronto’s airport is understaffed. In this scenario, Zurich is the safer bet. In fact, Swiss nonstops from the States into Zurich with onward connections is a secret used by many air pros. And even if you miss your connection – you will be in Switzerland. We trust that your agent has built in at least one hotel night on arrival prior to your joining the Avalon riverboat. It is not widely known that the major Canadian airports have been encountering serious operational problems that have resulted in delay issues that are among the worst of major airports worldwide. Staffing shortages are the primary reason for the chaos that is particularly bad in Toronto and Montreal
