Question about connecting through London Heathrow

[lackcreativity]

Sorry, I suspect this has been addressed here somewhere, but I have little patience for the search feature on Cruise Critic. We are traveling with British Airways from Baltimore (BWI) to Paris, with a connection in Heathrow. Flights are booked on the same ticket, both legs with British Airways.  Will I have to retrieve luggage in London, or does it just transfer through?  I have done this before, and I don't remember having to do that, but someone recently told me otherwise. 

[FlyerTalker]

It will transfer.

 

Your itinerary is merely an international connection at LHR, without customs or immigration, though you will have security screening and a passport check.  Look for the purple connection signs at LHR to get you to your next flight.

 

Not sure of the terminal situation for the dates of your flights, but you may have to switch terminals along the way.

[lackcreativity]

Flyer Talker, 

 

Thanks for your reply. On the flight to Paris, both arrival and departure are in Terminal 5, so that should (probably) be fine with our two hour layover. On our return from Marseilles to Baltimore, we will need to change terminals but we have a four hour layover. Since you have confirmed the luggage transfers and we don't have to go through customs or immigration, I can reduce the anxiety level a notch or two!

[Eli_6]

I flew through London Heathrow from IAH to Edinburgh on a business class British airways ticket last July and to retrieve my suitcase, re check, go through customs, and then go back through a nightmare of a security line.  I was told that there was no other option.  With that said, it may have been because I was staying in the same country (i.e. the UK) and England was my first stop.  I did not have to go through customs at Edinburgh.  It literally took about three hours to get my bag, go through customs, etc.  No way I would have made it with just a 2 hour layover. I plan to try to fly with carry on only next summer.

Edited February 1, 2023 by Eli_6

[FlyerTalker]

1 hour ago, Eli_6 said:

I flew through London Heathrow from IAH to Edinburgh on a business class British airways ticket last July and to retrieve my suitcase, re check, go through customs, and then go back through a nightmare of a security line.  I was told that there was no other option.  With that said, it may have been because I was staying in the same country (i.e. the UK) and England was my first stop.  I did not have to go through customs at Edinburgh.  It literally took about three hours to get my bag, go through customs, etc.  No way I would have made it with just a 2 hour layover. I plan to try to fly with carry on only next summer.

 

It was.  You were entering the UK, not transferring to a non-UK destination.  Big difference.

[fruitmachine]

7 hours ago, Eli_6 said:

I flew through London Heathrow from IAH to Edinburgh on a business class British airways ticket last July and to retrieve my suitcase, re check, go through customs, and then go back through a nightmare of a security line.  I was told that there was no other option.  With that said, it may have been because I was staying in the same country (i.e. the UK) and England was my first stop.  I did not have to go through customs at Edinburgh.  It literally took about three hours to get my bag, go through customs, etc.  No way I would have made it with just a 2 hour layover. I plan to try to fly with carry on only next summer.

Odd.

 

I live in Edinburgh and sometimes travel internationally via London.  In the past, I've never had to collect and clear bags there.  Perhaps this has changed?

Immigration, yes, because you're then on a domestic flight, but our bags were straight through to Edinburgh.  Domestic (and at the time EU) bags were tagged differently; you had to self-declare any customs items on arrival at your final destination, with (I assume) customs staff potentially picking you out for a spot-check based on your tags.

[Wayfarer50]

As previously stated, it is an international connection so you will next see your baggage and clear customs in Paris. I have traveled this route from Australia many times passing through terminal 5

[Globaliser]

 

On 2/1/2023 at 2:34 AM, FlyerTalker said:

On 2/1/2023 at 1:31 AM, Eli_6 said:

I flew through London Heathrow from IAH to Edinburgh on a business class British airways ticket last July and to retrieve my suitcase, re check, go through customs, and then go back through a nightmare of a security line.  I was told that there was no other option.  With that said, it may have been because I was staying in the same country (i.e. the UK) and England was my first stop.

 

It was.  You were entering the UK, not transferring to a non-UK destination.  Big difference.

 

No. On a through ticket on BA from Houston via Heathrow to Edinburgh, there's no need to claim bags at Heathrow. You clear immigration, and then you clear security. But you never go landside and the bags go straight through. Once upon a time, they were put on a special belt at Edinburgh so that they could clear customs there (although the passenger does not need to clear immigration at Edinburgh) - but from what fruitmachine says that may have changed.

 

The only reasons I can think of for why someone might be told they have to claim and re-check their bag are (a) they were flying on two separate tickets so the bag could not be through-checked; or (b) the agent at Houston didn't know what they were doing.