Travel: Layovers, buffers, and realistic day plans

You book two cheap tickets with a 45-minute connection abroad and learn why minimum connect times exist: immigration, terminal changes, and delayed inbound flights eat margins fast. Good itinerary design treats buffers as part of the trip, not wasted time, especially when luggage is not interlined or when visas add queues.

Practical use: multi-city holidays, conference travel, and rail-to-plane stacks. Edge case: overnight gaps need lodging policy checks; same-day turns need energy realism. IATA publishes industry coordination context for schedules and disruptions [1]; EU passenger rights summaries help when delays cascade [2].