Enough time between flights at Heathrow?
 

Hi,
I am considering booking a flight to Rome through Heathrow, but I'm worried about the time between flights. The layover at Heathrow from Rome flying back to the States is 1hr 40 mins. Is this enough time to get through the airport to our connecting flight?

Thanks a bunch!

More info...what airlines, what gate, luggage checked thru?...

We also need to know when you're planning to do this, since the airport's about to have a massive terminal change.

You can't possibly know what gates, and probably don't know yet whether you can through-check bags.

So airlines and dates please. THe likelihood is, though, that you'll be OK after May 1 on an Alitalia to Air France/Delta connection, an all-BA connection, or a bmi to United. Any other: fuggedaboutit. Ant earlier: come back to us with details

...and of course bmi don't fly to Rome any more. So it's just Alitalia or BA.

Both complicated answers. So dates and full itinerary, please

On the Heathrow website, you can see which airlines use which terminals. If the connection is in the same terminal, I would probably risk it. But I would make sure there is a later flight I could get onto in case I missed the connection.
And if it is booked together of course.

I have a similar flight booked:
San Franciso to Rome, through Heathrow.

My layover is also 1:40. I took this flight two years ago, and I remember the two flights were in the same terminal.

The person I booked the flight through said there would be plenty of time -- but I am also a bit nervous...

I'd say you're cutting it a bit fine. If the first flight is delayed, you could easily miss the second.

<<< I took this flight two years ago, and I remember the two flights were in the same terminal. >>>

Doesn't mean they'll be at the same Terminal this year - especially with the changes for T5

As was said earlier, give details of the flights and whether it is a connecting flight or separate tickets & whether you are able to check luggage through

My ticket info says that I fly in and out of Terminal 5. I've been trying to find out more about that connection, but the page isn't working.

alan -- you are right -- my experience two years ago doesn't mean much. I was just trying to make myself feel better :)

michelle1018 -- I hope some of this info helps! If I had a choice, I would pick a flight with more time for delays and other unexpected events. Good luck!

I don't know if we just got lucky or what, but we arrived at Terminal 4 and had to connect out of Terminal 2. We had 2 hours and 5 minutes. I found it didn't take nearly the 90 minutes that the BA website said it would. I am sure that time of day could make a huge difference. Our first flight also left on time and arrived at LHR early.

Be prepared...check the airline website to see if there is a later flight to your destination in the States from LHR. Then in Rome, if your 1st flight is delayed you can call the airline to see about getting put on the list for the later flight right away.

If it's all on one ticket and all on BA, you ought to be fine. T5 isn't open yet but BA promises to consolidate most of their LHR ops into the new terminal, sometime this year. If it's on one ticket and you misconnect, it's BA's obligation to get you a chair on a subsequent flight. If it's on two tickets, all bets are off.

As for your bags making the connection, well, do you feel lucky?

I agree that you should be fine. But if you find that your time is short (arriving flight is late whatever), don't hesitate to make airport personnel aware of your problem.

We arrived 45 minutes late at Heathrow 2 years ago (flying from the States). We would never have made our connection to Athens, but we asked for help and were immediately taken out of the long line and whisked through Passport Control. (We ran like crazy and were the very last people to board our flight. Whew!)

Hi- I'm not sure of the airline yet- it's from 1-800-fly-europe, so they don't specify. We are traveling in May, probably checking bags

Thanks for the replies!

If you post the flight details from 1800flyEurope, people here will be able to match it up to determine which flights they are.

Ok- here are the flight details...

24 May, 2008
8:15 AM
Fuimicino (FCO) 24 May, 2008
10:00 AM
Heathrow Int Apt (LHR) Major European Airline

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

24 May, 2008
11:40 AM
Heathrow Int Apt (LHR) 24 May, 2008
3:40 PM
Fort Worth Int Apt (DFW) Major European Airline

That's the following, so it is British Airways all the way back:

Rome, Italy to London, United Kingdom: 895 miles 2 hrs 45 min

British Airways Flight BA551 on an Airbus A321 (jet) in coach class
(meal)
Departs Rome, Italy (FCO) Sat, May 24 8:15a 2 hrs 45 min
Arrives London, United Kingdom (LHR) 10:00a

London, United Kingdom to Dallas/Fort Worth, TX: 4737 miles 10 hrs 0 min

British Airways Flight BA193 on a Boeing 777 (jet) in coach class
(meal)
Departs London, United Kingdom (LHR) Sat, May 24 11:40a 10 hrs 0 min
Arrives Dallas/Fort Worth, TX (DFW) 3:40p

So, is it doable? I'm guessing so, if it's the same airline all the way?

If it's the same airline all the way through, I'd do it, unless you really need to be back at a specific time. If by chance you get delayed a lot, BA is required to put you on the next flight, as it was booked together and it's long enough to be a legal connection.

Nothing to worry about - the worst that can happen is that BA has to put you up in a hotel overnight or they put you on a non-BA flight home which may - or may not - be more convenient to you

I was actually a little nervous about time when I had 4.5 hours between my flights. But this was because I was changing terminals and airlines (tickets were booked separately). This would have meant going through customs, waiting for my luggage, getting to the terminal, rechecking my luggage, waiting for security again, etc.

After the Heathrow horror stories I've heard of circling for an hour as they wait for a gate to come free and then waiting for an hour or more at customs because several jumbo jets landed at once and THEN going through security in the next terminal, I was concerned that even with all that time I would miss it.

Luckily for me (probably unluckily for everyone else, though) my return flight was canceled and I convinced them to transfer me to the next day's flight instead of the earlier flight like they wanted to.

Now, as the others have said, if it's the same airline and the same terminal and your luggage is checked through, it should be fine. Even changing terminals should be fine if its the same airline and your luggage is checked through.