? about our London air
 

1. I have been searching on LHR? Is this correct or should I do Gatwick (don't know initials) We are coming from SAN

2. There are many ways to go...can you tell me the minimum connection time I should have? I keep seeing posts on this.

3. .and if we go on AA does that mean the international flights are always in a different terminal??????..

Thanks for your help.

If you're going to London (not connecting to somewhere else), it doesn't matter that much which airport to use. Each has its advantage and disadvantage. Also depends on how you plan to get into town and where your hotel is.

AA flies to LGW (Gatwick) from DFW (twice daily) and Raleigh/Durham. All other flights - Chicago, JFK, etc - goes to LHR (Heathrow). Too complicated to explain why, but it has to do with regulations, airport slots, etc.

There's a minimum connection time allowed by the airline at each airport, and there's a time that makes you comfortable. What makes you comfortable depends on the nature of your trip, how much time you have, and the consequences. If you're getting married in London the next morning, I think you should have a longer connection time; if you're retired, going on a leisure trip and you're not paying for your hotel in London, then who cares? ;)

Anyways, in <b>very general terms</b>, I like to have about 90 minutes to connect to an international flight if there's no extra security to go through. I won't mind 120 minutes, but I will get nervous with less than 60.

Hmm..,more food for thought. I think I read that our hotel was near the Gatwick Express (whatever that means) so I may look at Gatwick.

Your answer is perfect. My comfort level would be 2 hours..my husband's is much much less...but you have explained it well.

Thanks again..

When I'm looking at flights to London, I type in LON, which is all airports.

Thanks for the hint...!

AA has a non-stop to LHR from LAX.

If you choose LGW then connect through DFW (Dallas). 60 minutes is more than enough time for the outbound. You are basically walking from one gate to another. Your docs will be checked and verified in SAN.

For the return you may want to consider 2 hours although I personally never needed more than ~45 minutes, but I do this on a regular basis.

At the first port of entry into US you will have to go through immigration pick up all your luggage, go through customs and then they will &quot;spit&quot; you out into the general area of the airport. You will need to drop off your checked luggage outside the customs door and proceed. That means you will have to go through security again with your carry ons, etc....

In my opinion I think that it is more expensive to fly into LHR (Heathrow) than LGW (Gatwick). That is just my opinion though.

I would go for a connection time of at least 2 hours on the outward and a bit longer on the return. 60 mins would be fine on the outward IF there are no delays. If you miss your flight then you will have to wait a full day to get the next one, I would rather allow a bit extra for comfort,
Carolena

I'm still a bit unclear what you're doing. I presume you're connecting on another flight to get to London from SAN. If so, I agree with other posters on time needed to connect.

&quot;IF we go on AA...&quot; Are you looking at other options from SAN, such as connecting through IAH or ATL? For ex., there are 5 flights a day from IAH to London (2 nonstops on CO to LGW; 2 nonstops on BA to LGW; and 1 direct (one stop, no plane change) on BA to LHR. Other cities might give you more options and maybe different fares. Thought I would mention it just in case.

BTW, the Gatwick Express is the direct train from LGW into London (Victoria Station). So, if your hotel is close to Victoria Station, IMO that would not necessarily be THE reason to fly into LGW. Getting to the Victoria Station area is certainly not difficult from LHR either. I'd also take into account the convenience of flight times, costs of tickets, etc.

Hope this helps some.