Anyone familiar with transiting LHR these days?

ScouseMouse

Hiya folks.

There are mixed messages on the usual sites, so thought I would ask here. A ticket has been booked and I expect it should be ok, but just checking.

One person with one checked in case, flying saturday morning, BA, (operated by EI) DUB-LHR into T2 I believe, arriving at 0915 and departing BA from T5 at 1050

Entire ticket bought direct from BA.COM, all legs on BA flight numbers.

Assuming one case checked through (allowed for the states?), does this look reasonable? She should be able to stay airside with both boarding cards issued in DUB, apparently there is an airside bus which should do the transfer, It was BA that ticketed it like that so I hope they would know.....

Anybody see any problems with this plan ?

Many thanks in advance.

Jamie2k9

ScouseMouse wrote: »

Hiya folks.

There are mixed messages on the usual sites, so thought I would ask here. A ticket has been booked and I expect it should be ok, but just checking.

One person with one checked in case, flying saturday morning, BA, (operated by EI) DUB-LHR into T2 I believe, arriving at 0915 and departing BA from T5 at 1050

Entire ticket bought direct from BA.COM, all legs on BA flight numbers.

Assuming one case checked through (allowed for the states?), does this look reasonable? She should be able to stay airside with both boarding cards issued in DUB, apparently there is an airside bus which should do the transfer, It was BA that ticketed it like that so I hope they would know.....

Anybody see any problems with this plan ?

Many thanks in advance.

Yes, it's very easy transfer. All of above should be fine.

paulhardman

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

Yes, it's very easy transfer. All of above should be fine.

Agreed, should be fine but the timeline is very tight - your flyer will have to go pretty quickly from the DUB flight to the transfer bus (might be worth asking to sit near the front of the plane) and go straight from T5 security to the gate...

(I speak from experience having done so many times, 0900 arrival into T2 and 1045 out of T5...)

KevR

Agree with paulhardman, it is definitely do-able but there won't be any time to waste!

Try to get a seat close to the front of the Aer Lingus flight over to London (ideally an aisle seat). This will speed up disembarking by a few minutes when compared to sitting towards the back of the plane in a window seat.

• Both boarding cards will be issued in DUB.
• Follow the purple signs for Flight Connections upon disembarking in LHR. In this case, it will involve getting an airside Connection Bus from T2 to T5.
• Even though you are technically staying airside, you will have to go through security again in LHR over at T5 after you get off the Connection Bus.
• They say you need to be at security no later than 35 minutes before your flight in LHR - you have to scan your boarding pass immediately before you go through the security check point; I presume this is their way of knowing you have made the necessary progress through the airport. (This is my guess at least) If you scan your boarding pass at security with less than 35 mins to go and they may not load your checked bag onto the flight and you could be denied boarding.

Obviously a late arrival into LHR from DUB has the potential to cause problems. Just remember though that it is fully ticketed by BA so they will need to rebook you on a later flight to the US if you miss your connection due to a late inbound flight.

artanevilla

Last time I had a tight connection through LHR (TLS-DUB) with BA, I got an "express connection" card off the gate agent when disembarking TLS-LHR, it was a bit of orange cardboard that you show at the various passport/screening queue and it bumps you to the front.

Might be worth asking for one when you arrive from Dublin.

January

Min connection time between different terminals is 90 mins so you should make it but it will be tight.

goingnowhere

If you have less than 1 hour to departure you should be able to use the fast track lane at the very right side of flight connections

Make sure you have selected a seat on the BA connecting flight and checked in, boarding card in hand will save time
Get Aer Lingus to check you in manually in Dublin, they can do the visa check if one is needed, again saves time in LHR
Advise is get an seat as far forward as possible
Carry the least amount of hand baggage possible, T5 security are the most picky and slow you are likely to find, don't give them any chance to have reason to pull your bag for special screening

Don't hang around get to the T5 bus ASAP and get to T5 flight connections, remember there are 3 queues
1. Enter UK
2. UK/IE flight connections
3. Flight connections

You want 3 so stick to the right when heading down the corridor


In the unlikely event of a missed connection, BA are liable to get you to destination at their cost and likely you could have a claim for several hundred euro under EC261. Aer Lingus is the most punctual airline at LHR.

My record from wheels tarmac to the boarding gate in T5 having landed in T2 is shade under 30 minutes so its far from tight, 45 minutes should have you safely from the seat on the Aer Lingus flight to past security in T5

KevR

goingnowhere wrote: »

My record from wheels tarmac to the boarding gate in T5 having landed in T2 is shade under 30 minutes so its far from tight, 45 minutes should have you safely from the seat on the Aer Lingus flight to past security in T5

It's definitely not far from tight. If you have to use the fast track then it is too tight.

Even on a good day at LHR, there are times during the day where they have aircraft holding in a stack for 10 - 15 mins and arriving slightly late. Airlines plan for this and tend to give themselves a bit of a buffer on their scheduled arrival time but they don't always get it right! That includes the most punctual airline - Aer Lingus.

If at all possible, I try to book a 2 hour connection in Heathrow. Even with a slightly late inbound or longer than average queue at security, 2 hours means I don't have to race through the airport and it's completely stress free. You're not waiting around too long either with a 2 hour connection time.

murphym7

Just regarding the posters above who say that since it is a BA ticket that BA are responsible to look after you after a missed connection, that was not my experience recently with BA. They made it clear to me that their position was that the incoming carrier is responsible for looking after you and rebooking your onward flight.
I found out this the hard way recently when my flight was delayed from Cork due to fog in London, missed my Philly connection. BA eventually looked after me but I was told in no uncertain terms that I should have gone back to the Aer Lingus desk at T2 even though it was a BA ticket.

Chris_5339762

I'd feck them out of it for that. You bought through BA, your contract is with them. Its their responsibility and its not your fault their codeshare 'put' you on another airline.

roundymac

Problem is there are no BA flights from Cork to LHR, so you have to use EI.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

Marcusm

murphym7 wrote: »

Just regarding the posters above who say that since it is a BA ticket that BA are responsible to look after you after a missed connection, that was not my experience recently with BA. They made it clear to me that their position was that the incoming carrier is responsible for looking after you and rebooking your onward flight.
I found out this the hard way recently when my flight was delayed from Cork due to fog in London, missed my Philly connection. BA eventually looked after me but I was told in no uncertain terms that I should have gone back to the Aer Lingus desk at T2 even though it was a BA ticket.

I think this is correct as I believe it is the operating carrier of the first flight who was s responsible for duty if care, is food, accommodation and rearranging flights. I guess this is sensible as the rule makers would probably assume that when the irrops occurred the passenger would be in the care of that first carrier and that it would be unfair to force them to hunt around for a representative of the ticketing carrier (who might gut not even have a representative at the particular airport). In the circumstances, however, idiotic of BA/IAG not to take a consolation dated approach.

jwcurtin

Just on a similar, but less time constricted note, flying in May from SNN into LHR, but have 9 hours to kill. I assume if we check through from Shannon to destination and have boarding cards and all, we can just exit through border control, and go through security later than evening after a look around the city of London?

Marcusm

jwcurtin wrote: »

Just on a similar, but less time constricted note, flying in May from SNN into LHR, but have 9 hours to kill. I assume if we check through from Shannon to destination and have boarding cards and all, we can just exit through border control, and go through security later than evening after a look around the city of London?

With the exception that you won't encounter any border control, you absolutely could do that. Watch out for public transport disruption in the U.K. However.

jwcurtin

Marcusm wrote: »

With the exception that you won't encounter any border control, you absolutely could do that. Watch out for public transport disruption in the U.K. However.

Even better. Ya, we depart at 18h40 so will be aiming to be leaving London by 15h15, of course strike dependent, but will check closer to the time.