Another LHR connection question
 

Is 2 hours enough time to transfer from terminal 3 to terminal 1? We would hopefully only have carryon (not coming from US). Thanks

"We would hopefully only have carryon"

How are you going to manage this? Even if you're coming from an airport and on an airline that allows a lot of carryon, your connection from T1 won't. And it's very unlikely there'll be a significant change in Britain's rules about this for some months.

Assuming you're going to have to check bags - and at Heathrow this has to be done landside - you'll get a sensible answer to this question if you tell us what the connection is. Transferring from SAS or Singapore to bmi on one Star ticket will be a lot easier and quicker than going from SAS to BA on different tickets.

Tranferring from Gulf Air to BA on seperate tickets. Thanks

As for my comment about carryon, I just meant that I would not need to wait to claim bags (from a time standpoint). I was assuming we would need to check them for the BA flight.

With a non-EEA passport, it might take as long to get through immigration as to wait for bags at T3, but even so 2 hours to do that, walk to T1, check in, go through security and get to the gate should be about OK.

There's no law that stops Gulf checking your bags through onto BA, BTW: even if BA don't like it, a bag that Gulf has through-checked will automatically go onto the BA flight, since that's the default system for bags at Heathrow. So try to get Gulf to do that.

The process will also be speeded up if you check in for the BA flight online before you leave home. By doing that - for most of us, an option available only after the 24th hour before take off - you'll have two options:
- if Gulf will check your bags, just get the bus to the FCC on landing at LHR, go through security and walk to your BA gate.
- if Gulf won't, walk through immigration, push your bags on a trolley through the underpass to T1, leave them at a dropoff point then go through security. Actually, for EEA passport holders this is usually a faster way anyway, and since you're not waiting for a bus, you don't have the stress of not being in control.

Clearly, all this falls apart if your incoming flight is delayed more than about 45 mins. So it's not a wise connection if your outgoing ticket's non-refundable.

Check the hand luggage rules for Heathrow just before you travel otherwise you might find you have to check your hand luggage once you reach Heathrow

Agree with AlanRow about checking the carry-on baggage rules. My mom recently traveled on BA and she said they were very strict about the rules - ONE carry-on bag only (no handbag, briefcase as well) with dimensions of 45x35x16cms.

We had to check our small carry-on's last week on a flight from LHR to Chicago.

I don't know if this applies to you but the telephone AA rep told us recently that EVERYONE arriving at LHR must now claim their luggage and recheck it. We will be on a flight from Johannesburg to Paris via LHR on British Air using AA FF miles.

Here is a PDF for suggested times to go from Terminal 3 to Terminal 1. (75 minutes) You have to take a bus, then go back thru security.

http://www.britishairways.com/cms/gl...3_int1_cnx.gif ((b))

I'd like to know if anyone has actually had to claim and then re-check baggage when connecting through LHR from the U.S.. While this is the policy upon arriving in the U.S., I have heard from many different travelers connecting on flights through the UK, and JaneB's statement on having to claim all checked bags at LHR is news to me. In the past, this has been a temporary policy in times of highly elevated security, and I am surprised to hear of it now.

We were flying from JFK to Munich with a transfer at Heathrow. What a goat pull -- I will never go thru Heathrow again unless it's the last resort.

The luggage was checked straight thru to Munich by AA onto a BA flight (partner airlines).

Word of caution - Flights departing JFK are not normally on time. Evidently this is an ongoing problem. Missed connection in LHR, got on another flight, but no luggage when we arrived Munich.

I was hoping our luggage would have been awaiting us in Munich, but if you are not on a flight, your luggage doesn't go either.

I would recommend 2 to 2.5 hour transfer time because of late flights & luggage situations.

Hey, Doug, are you coming to our GTG on the 21st of October in Weehawken? We'd love some Fodor's participation, and some Fodor's Pins. ((b))

What Doug meant to ask was whether anyone's had to claim and recheck <b> through-checked </b> baggage in Britain (JaneB's third-hand clainm is occasionally repeated on these boards as being standard DoT policy for all UK airports) <b> in the past three weeks </b>.

It's clear that some airlines did impose this policy in the first week after the August 8 panic. That's now history.

I flew from Geneva through London Heathrow on Sunday (Sept 10). I checked two bags through to my final destination (St. Louis) and carried on only one small bag that fit in the demonstration area at the Geneva Airport check-in counter. I did not have to claim my checked luggage at Heathrow. Once we pulled into the gate at Terminal 4, it took 1/2 hour to get to the entry point at Terminal 3, where my flight from Heathrow to Chicago was leaving from. It took another 1/2 hour to get to the gate areas. I'm not sure what the distance is between Terminal 3 and 1, but there are some significant distances.
Martha

Hello, hopefully someone here can answer my question. If flying transit thru LHR, can an airline check baggage thru to final destination even if the connection is on a a different, unrelated airline?

Maybe, maybe not. Many people here post that it is difficult to get airlines (particularly BA) to thru-check luggage. But you should certainly try when you depart the US. The last time I had to connect to a different/non-partner airline was when I switched from American to BMI through Heathrow on the way to Milan, and I was able to thru-check my luggage and had no problems at all. So I think it probably depends on the airline you are flying from the US to the UK.