Ronda

Looking at flights from SJC (via Dallas) to Gatwick on American Airlines (using award ticket) then onto Venice on BA. The AA flight gets in at 8 a.m. and the BA flight to Venice leaves at 9:30. Does this allow enough enough time for changing planes and will we have to clear customs in Gatwick or Venice? Thanks.

jody

If your luggage is checked thru...and since AA and BA are partners , that should not be a problem..it might be close but it is certainly doable.

ira

Hi Ronda,

You are cutting it close, but I think 1 1/2 hrs is OK.

Intrepid

Agree with Jody..if AA and BA have a luggage agreement you should be able to check the luggage all the way through which will make your connection easier.

wpcx2

This is a recurring problem for people who are unaware of the existence of legal connections at airports. These times can vary widely - domestic to domestic, domestic to international, when you fly on one carrier but switch to another, etc. It is really incumbent upon you to contact the airlines directly and inquire about this - have you called American and asked them to route and price this itinerary? If you have been ticketed on a routing which has a legal connection built in, then you're in good luck if things go sour. If you get some web-based ticket which does not conform to the required time (and every airport is different) and your first flight, for example, is late or there is a huge jam in customs/immigration and you can't get to the next flight on time, then it's not the airlines' fault. Good luck........

suze

You are assuming your 1st flight gets in on time? I'm just taking a wild guess of possible circumstances, i.e. what if your AA flight lands 1 hour late due to weathe?, for example.

Poster directly above seems extremely well informed of the details -often overlooked- about using 2 different carriers.

Woody

My experience is that if you call the airlines, they will tell you how much time to allow for a connecting flight at a given airport. Also, if you book your trans-Atlantic and connecting flights to Venice on your own, and the first flight (e.g., on American Airlines) is delayed, AA has no obligation to put you on a later connecting flight. While you might save money by booking the two flights separately, there is a risk if your first flight is delayed.

flanneruk

Your luggage will be checked through from your US airport to Venice. Some US check in clerks sometimes misunderstand this. But there's no "if" about it. Just tell them to do it. Be very firm about it.

You should also be able to get boarding passes for all your journey at the same time: BA and AA claim to have compatible systems. If that doesn't work at SJC, try again at Dallas. And if the gate clerk can't make it work, go into the AA lounge. This whole thing will be a lot less painful if you have the Venice boarding pass before leaving the US.

There's no customs or immigration at Gatwick if you don't plan to enter Britain. Gatwick's spectacular early morning Immigration queues are irrelevant to you. You do need to change terminals: airside inter-terminal transfer train goes every 3 mins and takes 3 mins.

Even if your flight's an hour late, you'll make the connection easily IF you get your boarding pass before leaving the US.

Ronda

Thank you for your informative responses. Flanneruk, sounds like you have done this before!

My husband still hasn't firmed up his business plans (it's August, it's Italy what can I say) so we have only looked at flights on the AA site but sounds like I need to get on the telephone and call them.

There is an earlier flight that goes through St. Louis which my DH wishes to avoid but may have no choice. Would give us another hour.