FabulousFrance

Please help me decide.
I am traveling Tuesday from LAX to Paris with a 2 hour connection time at Heathrow.
I will have a 21" carryon size suitcase and a tote bag.
Should I check my bag?
I will be arriving at T3 (AA) and departing from T5 (BA).
If it makes any difference this will be my first time connecting in Heathrow-I did a little reading on the connection and now am a little freaked out as I don't want to miss my flight -
what do you suggest?

OReilly

Personally, I would prefer more than 2 hours connection.

Luggage pickup is not the major problem (always found it reasonably efficient at T3). It can be as much as a 20 minute walk from the gate, depending where they park. Depending , on your arrival time, immigration line-ups in T3 can be a nightmare - plan on at least 30 minutes (can be much less or much more). The walk from T3 to the train to T5 is about 15 minutes. Train to T5 is only about 5 minutes, but you need to leave 20 minutes for that due to the schedule. You need to check in about 60 minutes before the flight.

You are already over the 2 hours! I have flown into LHR at least 100 times. If I had a connection, I always given myself at least 3 hours when it involved a change of terminal, even fling BC, where I was fast-tracked through security and immigration.

I suggest changing your ticket to a later time.

Best .. Ger

hetismij2

If you are connecting straight through to a non UK destination on a single ticket you do not need to go through immigration, or luggage pick-up.
You will need to go through security again though, which would be quicker with only a tote bag. The other bag would be checked through. I guess it depends on whether you can walk fast towing your carry-on sized bag or not.
Being checked through you do not need to be at the gate for Paris an hour before, but you do need to get there asap.

OReilly

Sorry, FaboulousFrance just realized you may not have to exit T3 security to make the connection to T5 and there may be a quicker way to do it, but I still think 2 hours is too little.

OReilly

H is right. Just make sure the first airline is willing to check your bag through to final destination. If you have bought tickets separately, I found in the past, that 'Partner' airlines were willing to do it, but non-Partners could be difficult.

Sue_xx_yy

I would post this on the airlines forum. Rkkwan in particular is always good at this sort of thing.

I just did some research on this for a friend, so here are some consolidated tips from similar threads on other forums.

If you are staying Airside (which you cannot do if you bought separate tickets - all this applies only if you are a single ticket), follow sign to Flight Connections. Pick up any boarding pass needed at the airline desk there. Make SURE your carryon complies with your onward-flying airline; if their rules are more strict than your arriving airline, you may find your bag gets checked. For example, BA includes the wheels in the length dimensions. You go to a bus waiting area and take a bus to T5 where you clear security for your flight.

MCT t3 to t5 is 90 minutes. You are protected on a single ticket itinerary with a 2 hour connection.

All bets are off if you are on separate tickets. Then you need more time, including - most likely - time to clear immigration and customs, exit landside, transit to and enter t5, check in, clear security. (We've done the separate ticket thing several times, but have always overnighted between segments.)

I'd still repost this on the airlines forum.

Sue_xx_yy

Oh, sorry, I see you have no checked bag - so maybe you can stay airside on separate tickets (for this situation, I have found no specific tips. I knew rkkwan's expertise would come in handy somewhere...)

OReilly

http://www.oneworld.com/member-airli...1A17799169340A

AA & BA are part of the One World Alliance, so you may be OK. If you bought separate tickets, then call AA and ask if they can check your bag through to Paris.

vincenzo32951

Re the baggage.

It's been a couple of years since I went through Heathrow, but my memory is that it's one of the strictest as far as carry-on goes. Most airports allow women to carry a handbag and a carry-on, but at Heathrow, when they say one bag, they mean one bag. So if you have a tote and a carry-on, they probably won't let you through security, and you'll have to go back to the check-in desk to check the carry-on.

So, you may want to check the bag at the start of your journey to avoid that hassle. Two hours seems a little tight, depending on several circumstances.

nytraveler

You would say airside -- no immigration and no recheck in luggage - as long as it is a single ticket and you don;t have to check in again.

But Heathrow is huge and I would never be happy with a 2 hour connections there - I have had connections of almost 3 hours and made them only by trotting the whole way - with my carryl-on wheelie - due to a long wait for a bus to the next terminal and then a very long security line to get into the next terminal. (They were already making the last call for boarding when we got to our ongoing plane.)

Gardyloo

When you get off the plane at T3 follow the signs to "flight connections" which will take you to a bus stop where you will catch a bus to T5. On arriving at T5 you'll go through a document check (boarding pass, passport) and then up an escalator to a standard security checkpoint. After the carry-on x-ray and metal detector, you'll be released into the T5 shopping mall. The departures level is one floor down (oh don't worry, there are more shops there too.)

I've done this connection numerous times in under two hours, and if for some reason your LA flight is late, BA has numerous flights to Paris so you'll just be put on the next one. You won't see your bags until customs at Paris. I'd check them; lugging them on and off the FC bus can be a pain.

One note is that AA uses some pretty distant gates in T3 (some of them feel like you're walking from Windsor) so if LAX-LHR is running late, try to get going ASAP.

janisj

>> Most airports allow women to carry a handbag and a carry-on, but at Heathrow, when they say one bag, they mean one bag. <<

Not true. That depends on the airline. AA/BA - a carry on plus a personal item are allowed.

FabulousFrance

You guys are the best!
...thank you.
It is one ticket-and I was told when I booked it would be tight but doable and I should carryon.
After reading about the change of terminals and now the advice here, I think I will check my suitcase in at LAX and just have my tote and wait for my suitcase to catch up with me in Paris.

HappyTrvlr

I would carry on. The only time we had checked baggage not make our connecting flight to CDG was at LHR.

ayemimi2007

I had a ticket from the USA to Glasgow, a few years ago, with a two hour connection time at Heathrow...Had only a carry-on and computer bag. Security took almost two hours. I repeat: SECURITY TOOK ALMOST TWO HOURS..Could have been the time of day--many international flights arriving at noon,perhaps? Had to run for the flight to Glasgow, but made it. Remember Peter Greenberg's quote to live by: There are two types of bags, carry on and lost.

ayemimi2007

Should probably add MY quote to live by:
AVOID HEATHROW WHENEVER POSSIBLE

Odin

<<It's been a couple of years since I went through Heathrow, but my memory is that it's one of the strictest as far as carry-on goes.>> I think it must be more than a couple of years, I go thru LHR regularly and so does my other half, and this rule hasn't existed for a long time.

I never ever have only carry-on (unless an overnight stay) and have never had my luggage lost or missed connection. If you check your luggage in it will be transferred from T3 to T5 and save you lugging your carry-on thru flight connections. And security lines at LHR that take 2 hours - rare if ever. 2 hour delay at security would mean many people would not make their flight. "International" flights arrive all day long, they don't all arrive at the same time. The connection time of 2 hours is fine. Its AA to BA so will be on one ticket.

basingstoke2

The last two times I transited Heathrow (both times on AA connecting to BA) our luggage did not make the transfer - both pieces the first time and one piece the second. Both times the connection times were more than ample and both time we were assured our luggage was aboard our connecting flight. Based on that snapshot and having been burned twice, I would carry on rather than check if at all possible.