Lhr connect time

[mina]

I have found business classff tickets on ba from rome to lhr next sept with a connection tome of one hour for flight from Lhr to JFK, in first class. Can we make the connection in Lhr? Do we have to go thr immigration check in Lhr if coming from rome? Sure would love to do these flights, otherwise it is economy all the way!

[fbgd]

Who is your LHR-JFK flight with? I'm guessing BA if you're being given the option of a 1hr connection. Can you not schedule FCO-LHR for earlier in the day or are you on the first flight? Business class availability on shorthaul flights is usually very good.

 

There is no immigration as you'll remain in transit but you will need to go through security again.

[Zach1213]

As long as it's all on BA itself (not an AA flight with a BA codeshare number), you should be fine. It will be tight, and it's a shame you won't get to experience the Concorde Room, but you should make it unless something is delayed. And if it is, there are many LHR-JFK flights on BA each day.

 

As mentioned, no immigration but definitely security re-clearance. The line for that can be long in the "normal" line, but the priority line moves a bit quicker. That being said, it could still be slow.

 

So basically, it'll be quite tight...very tight, even. But if that's your only chance to do F across the ocean, I would definitely take the risk.

[Globaliser]

I have found business classff tickets on ba from rome to lhr next sept with a connection tome of one hour for flight from Lhr to JFK, in first class.

You don't say exactly which flights you're looking at or on which day, but on the assumption that you're thinking of Saturday 26 September 2015, there are two or more first class award seats on BA's LHR-JFK flights at 1805, 1900 and 2005. Might one of the later flights give you a longer connection time?

 

In addition, my advice would be not to tie yourself to having a business class seat from Rome to London. It's a short flight, and it might well be worth it to take economy class seats on an earlier flight to give yourself a more comfortable (in every respect) connection at LHR - including use of the Concorde Room and the spa.

[iancal]

We connected in LHR in late Sept. We changed terminals....from one to three. Thirty minutes was all that it took. We also noticed that there were far fewer employees standing around doing nothing than in previous trips.

 

We were very pleasantly surprised. It went quickly, certainly not the time consuming mess of the past. We used to avoid LHR but we just booked a return BA flight with a LHR connect. Hope it will be as easy as our Sept. connection was.

Edited October 9, 2014 by iancal

[Zach1213]

We connected in LHR in late Sept. We changed terminals....from one to three. Thirty minutes was all that it took. We also noticed that there were far fewer employees standing around doing nothing than in previous trips.

 

We were very pleasantly surprised. It went quickly, certainly not the time consuming mess of the past. We used to avoid LHR but we just booked a return BA flight with a LHR connect. Hope it will be as easy as our Sept. connection was.

 

Is it all within T5? If so, should be very easy. People bitch and moan constantly about LHR, but as someone who transits through there regularly, T5 is really quite easy and pleasant in the scheme of things. It's not Munich, no, but...it's not Kinshasa ;)

[mina]

Ty all for the input. These are frequent flyer seats on BA all directions. I don't have an option to take earlier flights on the frequent flyer ticket as these are the only ones that have two ff seats open. The flight is from fco to Lhr to JFK all on BA. I would be using usair miles to get the seats if that matters. The flight day is Tuesday. If it is quite impossible to do then I will look at buying one way economy tickets from fco to Lhr on an earlier flight, but I would prefer not to do that considering the flight/fuel charges for first class on a frequent flyer BA flight. Would like to experience BA first class transatlantic, but don't want to get trapped in London.

[fbgd]

Is it all within T5? If so, should be very easy. People bitch and moan constantly about LHR, but as someone who transits through there regularly, T5 is really quite easy and pleasant in the scheme of things. It's not Munich, no, but...it's not Kinshasa ;)

 

Agreed, people who bitch and moan about LHR haven't experienced a T5-T5 connection, or probably T5 at all.

[Globaliser]

The flight day is Tuesday. If it is quite impossible to do then I will look at buying one way economy tickets from fco to Lhr on an earlier flight, but I would prefer not to do that considering the flight/fuel charges for first class on a frequent flyer BA flight. Would like to experience BA first class transatlantic, but don't want to get trapped in London.

If you buy a separate economy class ticket FCO-LHR and then an award flight LHR-JFK, the taxes, fees and charges for the LHR-JFK sector should be the same as for an award ticket FCO-LHR-JFK, other than the addition of the UK government's departure tax of (IIRC) £142 (subject to any vagaries in the way that US Airways calculates and charges these items). So it's not a big price difference if you have to do that.

 

If you were to misconnect at LHR, you won't be "trapped" in London. If you have a through ticket from FCO to JFK, you'll simply be put on the next flight that has space, and given the number of flights from LHR to JFK, the worst that's likely to happen is an overnight stay (which could easily happen for other reasons anyway) which would be paid for by BA. The same would apply if you had two separate tickets and misconnected, except that in this case BA would be less likely to be happy to pay for the hotel.

 

If you mean Tuesday 29 September, I can see business class seats on BA553 FCO-LHR at 1145-1325, with an almost 2½ hour connection to BA113 LHR-JFK at 1555-1845, which would be better than the one that you have been looking at (BA115 at 1435?). Could you try to get the later flight, BA113?

 

Anyway, if these are the flights you've been looking at, there are still a lot more flights to JFK that afternoon/evening so I think your chances of having to stay overnight in London would be pretty slim.

 

But without you saying which day you're looking at, it isn't possible to give any better advice.

[mina]

Thank you for the great input.

[k&gcruisers]

First time flying to Europe. We end our cruise in Lisbon, staying for 2 nites, fly out at 7:20am (yuck!)on BA to LHR with a 4 hr. layover (come in at Term. 3 and out at Term. 5 at LHR).

 

Where do we go thru Customs/Immig. and do we pick up baggage or what?

 

This is Oceania's included air on British Airlines.

 

Thank you for any info from a new flyer. :eek:

 

Kathy

[Talisker92]

The caveat I have is that some of the security people in the transit area of T5 are extremely full of themselves. We had a one hour connection, and there were 3 people in front of me, and I politely asked to be "fast tracked" not only did they not do it, but insisted in taking everything out of my carry on and back pack.

We barely made our connection.

[Globaliser]

First time flying to Europe. We end our cruise in Lisbon, staying for 2 nites, fly out at 7:20am (yuck!)on BA to LHR with a 4 hr. layover (come in at Term. 3 and out at Term. 5 at LHR).

 

Where do we go thru Customs/Immig. and do we pick up baggage or what?

When you check in at LIS, you will get boarding passes for both flights and your bags will be through-checked to PHX.

 

When you arrive at LHR Terminal 3, follow the purple Flight Connections signs, specifically those for Terminal 5. These will take you to a bus stop, from where the bus will take you to the main building of Terminal 5 (also known as T5A).

 

After you enter the building, go upstairs one level to the main immigration and flights connections area in T5A. Head towards the connections side which is on the right hand side (with your back to the aircraft).

 

Here you will pass through a conformance checkpoint where your onward boarding pass (ie for LHR-LIS) will be scanned. When this has been done, you will go up more level to the security screening area. As soon as you have cleared that, you will be free to roam the shops and restaurants until you need to go to your gate.

 

Typically the gate number will be posted at something like 1¼ hours before departure time. The gate will close 20 minutes before departure. From any point in T5A to the furthest gate in the furthest satellite should take you no more than about 20 minutes - so there is plenty of time even after you see your gate number, and there is no prize for being the first to arrive at the gate.

 

You do not need to clear immigration at LHR and you do not need to do anything about your bags there. You will clear US immigration at PHX, and then collect your bags and clear them through customs there.