Short layover in Heathrow going to USA

JIdontknow

Hi all, I am wondering is 1 hour 45 long enough for a layover in Heathrow? Have searches forums here and get anything from 90 minutes to three hours needed.

Flying Dublin - Heathrow, 1.45 layover, Heathrow - Chicago (All with British Airways )
On a Tuesday if that makes a difference (Security may not be as busy?)
I think the flight into Heathrow arrives in Terminal 3, and the flight onwards departs from Terminal 5. (http://www.britishairways.com/travel/routedest/public/en_gb)

Whats the story with duty free with above flight? Do I get it at Dublin and haul it around Heathrow, or get it in Heathrow? I presume Heathrow as thats the international stage of the flight?

Secondly, if I book a return flight say Dublin - Chicago, then Chicago to lets say Indianapolis. On the return leg can I skip the first leg and fly from Chicago home, as opposed to Indiniapolis? Im fairly sure the answer is no, that once you miss a leg your flight is void / Cancelled.

Many thanks for all your help.

jhegarty

Are you sure it's no T5 -> T5 ?

Most BA flights are from T5 now.

JIdontknow

I am not sure to be honest, I am only going by the link in the original post.

ardmacha

JIdontknow wrote: »

Whats the story with duty free with above flight? Do I get it at Dublin and haul it around Heathrow, or get it in Heathrow? I presume Heathrow as thats the international stage of the flight?

Duty free is not compulsory, nor is saving €5 worth engaging in much planning for.
But if you buy Duty Free in Dublin and it is in a bottle it will likely be confiscated by security at Heathrow.

JIdontknow

ardmacha wrote: »

Duty free is not compulsory, nor is saving €5 worth engaging in much planning for.
But if you buy Duty Free in Dublin and it is in a bottle it will likely be confiscated by security at Heathrow.

Don't worry I'm not planning it around duty free at all, just if I need to pick up one or two gifts that's all, other than that I'm not bothered with the duty free.

Do ye good people of boards think 1 hr 45 is enough layover? The flights are both with BA so I presume it's a through ticket is it?? so their priority is to get the people onto the connecting flight?

zagmund

I can only advise based on my recent experience of transiting through T5 - our inbound flight was delayed by about an hour and this left us with something like a theoretical 15 minutes to make the connection. We arrived a couple of gates up from our departing plane but by the time we got to the transfer queue (to have our documents examined) we were told the gate had closed and were turned back. Assuming we made it through that queue we still had to walk a good couple of minutes to get to the next queue (x-ray) and get through that. Once through that, there was another 5-10 minutes to get to our plane. We might have made it with some luck, but were stopped at the first hurdle.

In a perfect world, we could probably have made it from the door of one plane to the other (through 2 queues) in about 15 minutes I would say. If the planes had been further apart that could be 20 or more.

*However* we were going through the UK/Ireland transfer queue which had maybe 10 people in it at a time. You would be going through the main international transfer queue. It looked huge - maybe 100-150 or more. I don't know how fast it moved, but I'm sure it could take a long time.

In short(ish) - your 1h45 should be OK as long as your flight isn't delayed and you don't mind queueing for a reasonable portion of that time. You shouldn't have to change terminals - BA flights from Dublin to Heathrow arrive at T5. At least ours departed from there.

z

JIdontknow

Here is the option I am enquiring about, if anyone can comment.


BritishAirways BA5952 | Operated by Aer Lingus
06:40 DUBDublin
08:05 LHRLondon Heathrow

Connectin airport, Connection 1 hour 50 Mins
BritishAirways BA1542 | Operated by American Airlines
09:55 LHRLondon Heathrow
13:45 ORDChicago O’Hare Int. Airport

Thanks for everyone's help, its appreciated. I am hoping to be in Chicago before 2pm to try catch further transport, the direct flight is €100 more expensive and arrives at 3.30pm

zagmund

Well, there's a problem right there. Your US flight departs from T3 as it's an American Airlines flight. From what I gather, transfers between terminals are faster now than they used to be, but it will still add more time to your transfer.

If it was just down to the €100 I would opt for the direct flight and save myself a whole lot of worry and the risk of being stuck in Heathrow (and missing your onward connection that you hope to catch), but you have the time constraint as well. If you don't make the later connection in the US what are your options?

z

Downtime

Heathrow has a recommended transfer time of 75 minutes between terminal 2 and 3. it looks like your flight is Aer Lingus so that arrives at T2. You can check the transfer here:

http://www.heathrowairport.com/heathrow-airport-guide/flight-connections/terminal-2-republic-of-ireland-connecting-to-terminal-3-international

As a frequent traveller I would like more than 1hr 45min to transfer in Heathrow.

Galadriel

I would definitely pay the extra €100 to go direct.

endofrainbow

I too , would pay the extra E100 to fly direct as you clear Immigration and Customs here in Dublin and arrive as a domestic passenger in ORD.

With regard to missing a leg on one ticket, all subsequent legs will be cancelled.

JIdontknow

Hi all, thanks for all your help. Originally I thought it was all BA, but then realised the flights were with A.E and AA, So transfers between terminals etc would be chaos. I am definitely looking at the direct option now, just need the arrangements when I get there sorted, but yeah, direct flight means less can go wrong and less stress and hassle. Thanks again all.

Fratton Fred

JIdontknow wrote: »

Hi all, thanks for all your help. Originally I thought it was all BA, but then realised the flights were with A.E and AA, So transfers between terminals etc would be chaos. I am definitely looking at the direct option now, just need the arrangements when I get there sorted, but yeah, direct flight means less can go wrong and less stress and hassle. Thanks again all.

BA and AA code share, so it may be a BA flight. Your itinerary will give you the full detail.

therecklessone

Hi OP,

Its always worth bearing in mind the number of flights from London to Chicago that depart after your intended one if you are worried about a short layover, that way if you are delayed arriving and miss your connection there is still the possibility of you being put on a later flight. I'm travelling back from San Francisco through Paris in July with a one hour layover but there is another Paris-Dublin flight 2 hours after that so I'm not that worried.

Obviously in this case you making another connection at Chicago is important.

anne burnell

go direct and save the hassle and on the up side you will clear immigration and customs in dublin instead of in Chicago... happy landings

JIdontknow

Hi all, went the direct route in the end. Not worth the panic of worrying about connecting flights, rushing etc. Thanks for all your help.

househero

JIdontknow wrote: »

Hi all, went the direct route in the end. Not worth the panic of worrying about connecting flights, rushing etc. Thanks for all your help.

Just for info in the future. If your travel plans don't require you to be somewhere at a certain time and the indirect route is a lot cheaper. If you are ticketed with an alliance on one ticket. If they make you miss a connection (delay/bad schedule) its their fault and they have to look after you and get you in the next available flight.