Heathrow Terminal 1 to 4

Old Aug 6th, 2006, 06:25 PM
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Heathrow Terminal 1 to 4

We arrive in LHR from Rome(BA), Terminal 1 and then have to connect thro Terminal 4, Toronto on BA. As it is the same airline we hope bags will be checked directly from Rome. We have 2 hours 15 minutes for this connection, but reading the transfer info I am anxious about us /our luggage making it. Anyone tranfer from T1 to T4 with any advice. Thanks.
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Old Aug 6th, 2006, 06:34 PM
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Did just the reverse last December. We were on British Air-San Francisco to Heatherow-to Copenhagen. The luggage made it fine, we checked it all the way through in SFO. Of course, its always posseible to have lost luggage on any trip, but you should be fine. You will need all the time you have have I think. Takes over an hour, according to the infor we had, just to change terminals. We got a break because my SIL has severe arthritis and we had a wheel chair for her, so we just breezed right through everything, got to cut in line, had a cart to ride down to the gate...worked for me!!!!! I think your luggage will be fine.
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Old Aug 6th, 2006, 06:39 PM
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Shouldn't be a problem. Look for "flight connections" signs that will direct you to the bus to T4. There will be a security check but no passport control or customs. Your bags should make it fine.
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Old Aug 6th, 2006, 07:16 PM
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We did Terminal 4 to 2. My layover was 90min. I needed 80min to do the transfer. I did not get lost. It does take long time to move from/to terminal 4 due to need to use the bus as well as having to do thru the security check all over again.
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Old Aug 6th, 2006, 09:53 PM
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From the Heathrow Airport website

< Connecting from Terminal 1 International to Terminal 4
Your connection will take approximately 70 minutes, from landing to departure gate. Make your way by foot to the Flight Connections Centre, pass through customs and security and visit our airline desks before taking a coach to Terminal 4. >

http://tinyurl.com/psry7
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Old Aug 7th, 2006, 03:09 AM
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You should be ok, provided that your flight leaves Rome close to its scheduled departure time. Your bags will be checked through to Toronto. If there is likely to be a significant delay (e.g. it's known that your flight out of Rome is late), your bags would not be loaded onto the Toronto flight, but would instead be loaded onto the next one - as would you.

As others have mentioned, when you get off the plane there will be signs for Flight Connections, which you should follow. You'll get on a bus, which will take you to T4. In T4, you will have to go through security again (you will already be "air-side", so this is likely to be a shorter line-up, containing only passengers who are on connecting flights). The shortest security line-up I've experience has had no one in it. Usually, it takes about 5-15 minutes to get through. The worst line-up I've experienced was about 40 minutes. If for some reason you ended up very short of time (eg delayed flight out of Rome) so that there was 30 minutes or less before your scheduled departure time, you could approach an agent and ask if you could go through security ahead of others (be prepared for other people to complain - they've got flights to catch, too). Once through security, you've probably got a 10-20 minute walk to the gate. If they're planning to load your checked luggage onto the plane, they will wait a few minutes for you - otherwise they face a delay in order to offload your bags.

Also, keep in mind that the worst case scenario in this context likely isn't too bad. I expect you're coming home from a vacation, not going to one? Worst case is that you miss your flight to Toronto. Is there another one scheduled that day? Do you have to connect again in Toronto? Is the connection part of the same ticket? If so, if you miss your flight, they'll get you onto the next one (you might have to line up to sort things out). Really worst case scenario - spend a night in London ...
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Old Aug 7th, 2006, 06:38 PM
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Thanks for the prompt replies. We booked thro BA so I assume they think this connection is doable and being a Friday we allowed ouselves time to relax before work on Monday, however we are going to just go with the flow and if we happen to be delayed and spend a night in London, so be it. It seems easy enough with the info you all have provided, so now it all depends on Rome to LHR being on time.Thanks again.
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Old Aug 7th, 2006, 06:58 PM
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Depending on where your gates are, it might be convenient to take the Heathrow Express. Trains run every fifteen minutes and the ride takes less than five.

Oh - and it's free.
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Old Aug 7th, 2006, 11:20 PM
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If you choose to take the Heathrow Express, then you would have to go through Customs & Immigration in T1 first, then take the train, then go through landside security in T4. So, I think it would take longer than the airside inter-terminal buses plus airside security route.
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Old Aug 8th, 2006, 04:25 AM
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Agree with Kate W. Heathrow Express does not save much time, especially if you consider walk to/from the train platforms, waiting time for the train and the time for security check from the land-side at T4. Stay on the air-side, use the shuttle connection.
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Old Aug 8th, 2006, 06:25 AM
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Egads, taking the Long March and the HEX for a sterile transit? No way.
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Old Aug 8th, 2006, 07:13 AM
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I wasn't aware that connections between terminals could be conducted entirely airside. Everywhere I've done it, once you leave a terminal (by any mode), you're handled as if you came in off the street. Only connections through the Transit Lounge within a terminal avoid a full security check. Can anyone document this?
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Old Aug 8th, 2006, 07:23 AM
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I frequently transfer between terminals at Heathrow. You still have to go through security, even if it's a T4-T4 connection. It's just that there is a separate, airside security clearance facility for passengers in transit. Passengers who transit airside between terminals (e.g. via the airside buses) or transit within the same terminal between planes, go through the airside security facility. And you don't have to go through Customs and Immigration. Usually, the lines are much shorter. At least once, though, and before they introduced Fast Track for business class passengers, the T4 airside security line was so long and disorganised that I decided to go through Customs (with a Fast Track pass because I was on a business class flight from Canada), re-enter the same building and go through landside security (with Fast Track access, again because my onward journey was business class). But that was only worth it the one time (out of about 75 journeys), on a T4-T4 transfer, with Fast Track access.

But you have to exit the airside part of the terminal in order to use the Heathrow Express, which means that you have to use landside security to get to your gate.
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Old Dec 15th, 2006, 06:05 AM
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We are flying from Toronto to Kolkata via Heathrow with BA. We arrive and depart from T4 - the way the connection works is that we only have 60 minutes to make our connection - is this realistic? I booked through BA directly. Will they hold the connecting flight if there are enough passengers from Toronto that need to board that flight? Any advice would be highly appreciated. Thanks.
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Old Dec 15th, 2006, 06:55 AM
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sultan, I don't think 60 mins. is realistic. Heathrow is plenty crowded and sometimes your plane sits on the runway waiting for a gate to unload for 1/2 hour. I would call BA and ask your questions.

Dock, I think 2-1/4 hours is sufficient for what you describe. I always transfer thru Heathrow, you just follow the signs. Just make sure your luggage is checked thru Rome to Toronto.
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Old Dec 15th, 2006, 07:21 AM
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Sultan:

No-one can offer you certainty on this. BA say you can do the connection in 60 mins, and they're probably right: I've got from a T4 touchdown to being on a bus home in 9 minutes.

But they may not hold the depsrture (there are LOADS of flights from Europe and the Americas that could have Calcutta-bound passengers on). And if they don't, there aren't that many alternatives, since BA don't even run this route every day.

But why run the risk? Surely there's an earlier departure from Toronto? Much, much better hanging around T4 for an extra couple of hours than having to change airports in Bombay a day later! Or getting to Calcutta, but not getting your bags for a couple of days.
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Old Dec 15th, 2006, 05:58 PM
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Thanks all for your kind help. My ticket is non-changeable but I will call BA and inquire about the possibility nonetheless. Also, I'll try going to the airport early enough to see if they will take us on the earlier flight which leaves 2.5 hours earlier. wish me luck!
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