Time allowance for plane change at Heathrow

Our flight from Los Angeles lands at Heathrow at 11:15 a.m. at Terminal 2. We have a flight to Barcelona leaving from Terminal 3 at 14:30. Is this too close? Should I change our Barcelona flight to later?

I would think you could do it in 3 hrs just do not dilly dally going between terminals ;)

 

Just depends on security lines

 

The recommend 75 mins

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

Edited November 27, 2014 by LHT28

Certainly not a problem if your flight is on time and your bags are checked all the way through.

 

Also no real problem if you have to collect your bags, other than the hassle of lugging them between terminals.

 

Just to put your 3 hour changeover into context, I live around 1hour 30mins driving time from Heathrow to which I must add around 30 minutes to drop of my car at the long term parking, and I typically leave home 5 hours before the flight departs and have plenty of time at the airport.

It took me 50 minutes, without hurry, to change terminals and get through security. (I did it twice because I went from 3 to 5 and back again.)

 

As long as you've got the flight on one booking, it's fine, because if you're late you'll get another flight FOC. If the flight is on two bookings, you might want to think about it.

Our flight from Los Angeles lands at Heathrow at 11:15 a.m. at Terminal 2. We have a flight to Barcelona leaving from Terminal 3 at 14:30. Is this too close? Should I change our Barcelona flight to later?

The recommend 75 mins

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

That's not a very good tool, because the official Minimum Connection Time for this connection is actually 90 minutes, and it would not be legal at 75 minutes.

 

But if the OP has one ticket covering this connection, then 195 minutes is more than enough.

That's not a very good tool, because the official Minimum Connection Time for this connection is actually 90 minutes, and it would not be legal at 75 minutes.

 

But if the OP has one ticket covering this connection, then 195 minutes is more than enough.

 

I would advise the webmaster that does the LHR site then :rolleyes:

Thanks for the replies. You raise good points in that I realize I did not provide enough details. We are flying Air New Zealand into Heathrow and then taking British Airways from Heathrow to Barcelona. So checking our bags through will not be an option. If it means a mad dash to catch the British Airways flight then I may be inclined to change our flight and pay the change fee now. But I believe the next flight is 2 hours later so I was trying to minimize excessive waiting time in an airport after such a long flight.

I am not qualified to judge the timing necessary for this particular switch, but whereas I completely understand where you are coming from as regards trying to minimize excessive time at the airport, I would also consider the stress element if eg your plane is late, baggage is late coming through, immigration and security queues are long and also that you have a very long trek to the gate.

 

I guess it also depends what kind of traveller you are. I get stressed out with tight connections, so I would rather have a long wait and chill out a bit during my waiting time and maybe a walk around so I wasn't panicking. But that's just me.

Edited November 28, 2014 by Scriv

I would advise the webmaster that does the LHR site then :rolleyes:

Sadly, they would just say that they offer generalisations.

 

And generalisations are, as we all know, often wrong.

We are flying Air New Zealand into Heathrow and then taking British Airways from Heathrow to Barcelona. So checking our bags through will not be an option.

One bit of information which I think is still missing: Are you doing this on two separate tickets, or is there one ticket covering both sectors?

 

If you have one ticket, then your bags will get through-checked.

Sadly, they would just say that they offer generalisations.

 

And generalisations are, as we all know, often wrong.

 

As it happens, in this case they claim to be very specifically offering the official MTC :)

 

* Minimum connection times

The connection time shown is the standard minimum connection time between terminals published by IATA (the International Air Transport Association). Heathrow Airport Limited is not responsible for the accuracy of this information, nor for any disruption to your journey which this information may cause.

As it happens, in this case they claim to be very specifically offering the official MCT

Except that it isn't the MCT!

 

The default MCT for an offline international-to-international connection at LHR is 90 minutes - bolded below

 

And for a LHR T2-T3 NZ-BA international-to-international connection, there is a more specific MCT, which is the same: 90 minutes. This can be found by the standard way of reading these lists, which is to go down them until you find the first one that applies to your journey - bolded here.

Minimum Connect Times:
Connecting at LHR
Incoming airline NZ
Outgoing airline BA
Flight type International to International

STANDARD.D/D...D/I...I/D...[b]I/I[/b].
ONLINE    .45  1.15  1.15  1.30
[b]OFFLINE[/b]   .45  1.15  1.15  [b]1.30[/b]
** OR * ARE ALL
**-BA II  1.15 ALL  - FLT 5900 - 5979 TRM 2  - 2  
**-BA II  1.30 ALL  - FLT 5900 - 5979 TRM 3  - 2  
**-BA II  1.10 ALL  - FLT 6000 - 6099 TRM 3  - 3  
**-BA II  1.30 TRM 3  - 1  ALL - IRELAND  
**-BA II  1.30 TRM 4  - 1  ALL - IRELAND  
**-BA II  1.00 TRM 1  - 1  
**-BA II  1.30 TRM 3  - 1  
**-BA II  1.15 TRM 4  - 1  
**-BA II  1.30 TRM 5  - 1  
[b]**-BA II  1.30 TRM 2  - 3 [/b] 
**-BA II  1.00 TRM 3  - 3  
**-BA II  1.30 TRM 5  - 3  
**-BA II  1.15 TRM 1  - 4  
**-BA II  1.30 TRM 3  - 4  
**-BA II  1.00 TRM 4  - 4  
**-BA II  1.45 TRM 5  - 4  
**-BA II  1.30 TRM 1  - 5  
**-BA II  1.30 TRM 2  - 5  
**-BA II  1.30 TRM 3  - 5  
**-BA II  1.45 TRM 4  - 5  
**-BA II  1.00 TRM 5  - 5  
**-** II  1.15 ACI - ALL TRM 1  - 4  
**-** II  1.15 GCI - ALL TRM 1  - 4  
**-** II  1.15 JER - ALL TRM 1  - 4  
**-** II  1.00 TRM 1  - 1  
**-** II  1.00 TRM 2  - 1  
**-** II  1.15 TRM 3  - 1  
**-** II  1.30 TRM 4  - 1  
**-** II  1.30 TRM 5  - 1  
**-** II  1.30 TRM TN - 1  
**-** II  1.00 TRM 1  - 2  
**-** II  1.00 TRM 2  - 2  
**-** II  1.15 TRM 3  - 2  
**-** II  1.30 TRM 4  - 2  
**-** II  1.30 TRM 5  - 2  
**-** II  1.15 TRM 1  - 3  
**-** II  1.15 TRM 2  - 3  
**-** II  1.10 TRM 3  - 3  
**-** II  1.30 TRM 4  - 3  
**-** II  1.30 TRM 5  - 3  
**-** II  1.30 TRM TN - 3  
**-** II  1.30 TRM 1  - 4  
**-** II  1.30 TRM 2  - 4  
**-** II  1.30 TRM 3  - 4  
**-** II  1.00 TRM 4  - 4  
**-** II  1.45 TRM 5  - 4  
**-** II  1.30 TRM TN - 4  
**-** II  1.30 TRM 1  - 5  
**-** II  1.30 TRM 2  - 5  
**-** II  1.30 TRM 3  - 5  
**-** II  1.45 TRM 4  - 5  
**-** II  1.00 TRM 5  - 5  
**-** II  1.30 TRM 1  - TN 
**-** II  1.30 TRM 3  - TN 
**-** II  1.30 TRM 4  - TN

I was very careful to use the word "claim" ;)