emnyc

The good news--I just found a wonderfully good price on Travelocity for travel from New York to Rome in early October--$530. I snapped it up as it was $150 cheaper than the $680 fare that had seemed to me the best deal I was likely to get and that I had been on the verge of purchasing. Now that the deed has been done, I have noticed the tight connection we in Heathrow--we get in on an American Airlines flight at a little after 8 a.m. in T3 and have 1hr and 20 minutes before our Alitalia flight leaves from T2. I know, I know, this is not enough time to be comfortable, but the nonrefundable ticket has already been bought, and given the price, I don't (yet) regret it. My questions:

--Does purchasing this as a single trip on Travelocity mean I have one ticket? This sounds like a foolish question, but in reading on this forum about how this transfer is likely to go, people always seem to begin by asking the questioner whether she has one ticket or two tickets, and I am not sure which I have. Travelocity offered it to me and I bought it as a single purchase, but it is two airlines, and I think they are NOT alliance partners. So, is this one ticket, with whatever protections that implies? If I miss my connection, will I be automatically rebooked, or will I just be out of luck?

--Does anyone have experience checking baggage through when transferring from American to Alitalia? Any reason to think this will be a problem?

--Will I receive my Alitalia boarding pass when I check in in New York? Is there anything I can do to make this happen if it is not automatic? If I cannot, what must I do when transferring at Heathrow exactly?

Thanks for any info. (And yes, I know that I really should have allotted two and a half or three hours to be safe. Too late now.)

JudyC

From my limited experience (about 3-4 times a year), most likely you have to get the boarding pass at Heathrow, as I often transfer within Star Alliance airlines at Heathrow, but never be able to have the BP ahead. But almost always to check the luggage to the final destination.

Just to top this for you, hope some experts would be able to answer you better.

nibblette

You are all on one ticket so there should be no problems checking your bags all the way thru to Rome. Just make sure the baggage claims tags have the correct airport code (Rome).

You will have to go to the star alliance connections desks to get the Alitalia BP. Just follow the signs for flight connections. The desks are immediately after security.

You are transiting so you won't go thru immigration. 1 hr 20 min should be plenty of time. Just don't dawdle going from T# to T2.

SAB

I can't really answer this for you, butfrom what I hve read most of the problems with thru checking occur with BA that will not thru check from another airline. Alitalia may not be an issue.

I'm sure you know that time to transfer depends a great deal on how busy Heathrow is when you arrive. For example this past Easter Sunday, my plane arrived 1/2 early, got to park at a gate right away, we cleared immigration in 5 mins because there were no lines, my bags arrived at the carosel at the same time as I did--I could easily have made an 1 1/2 hour transfer. But horror stories arise when your plane is slightly delayed, it can't get a gate right away, it arrives with lots of other internatinal flights so immigration is backed up. Not much comfort I know.

suze

niblette- are you sure about that? <<You are transiting so you won't go thru immigration>>

I'm always in transit thru Heathrow (Seattle/Heathrow/Geneva) and you still go thru immigrations line upon arrival, before you can make your terminal change.

emnyc- Not to add more worries but another possible snafu is that Heathrow is a crowded airport so sometimes planes land and sit on the tarmac for 1/2 hour waiting for a gate to open to de-plane. This has happened to me several times.

emnyc

Thanks for the responses so far. Anyone else have a vote on whether I will have to go through immigration or not? And assuming I have to get the boarding pass at Heathrow, do I understand correctly that I just have to go to the right desk at the Connection Centre, rather than having to leave the ticketed passenger area of the airport and check in at Terminal 2 in the general departures area?

Hal8999

You don't have to go through immigration but you do have to go through security which can take anywhere from 5 minutes to 45 minutes depending on the time of day.

You should be able to get your Alitalia boarding pass from American when you check in. If you don't, go to Alitalia not Star Alliance. Neither American nor Alitalia are members of that group. If you don't find an Alitalia desk, Alitalia is part of the Delta Skymiles group and they may be able to help you. You should not have to leave the ticketed passenger area. There should be an airport operated help desk that can assist you if all else fails.

We had under an hour for our last connection between terminal 4 and terminal 3 and made it even though security line was VERY slow. Our bags even made it. Terminal 4 is quite a distance from the other. I don't think you'll have any problems, other than maybe some anxiety.

suze

What I assumed was immigration is a security check?

Well to the original question, I don't think it really matter. You DO have to line up and depending on how many planes land right at the same time... this could be a quick short line or a LONG one. And must happen before any other tranfering, etc. can begin.

emnyc- Maybe some of your questions are better answered by a telephone call to AA, like: can they issue a boarding pass for your Alitalia flight, for example.

emnyc

I will call AA, but sometimes it is better to approach those conversations with more information so you know when to push a little harder if someone says something is impossible. I understand that I have to go through security again, but if the consensus is that I don't have to go through immigration too, that is good to hear, as one possibly long line is better than two. Does anyone have any thoughts of how easy or difficult it will be to be accommodated without extra charges on a later Alitalia flight if my AA flight is late, given they are not partner airlines? (I will check with the airlines about this too, but it's helpful to hear how it works in practice.)

Gardyloo

If your bags are checked through, you get off the plane in T3, follow the "flight connections" signs, ride the bus to T1/2, go through security, and then look for the "Flight Connections Centre" where there should be an Alitalia desk. If you don't get your BP at JFK (and I doubt you will) then you will get it there.

1h20m ought to be sufficient, but I doubt you'll have tons of time for shopping at T2.

chepar

I don't know if my experience was an exception or not, but about 4 weeks ago I landed at LHR (T3) at around 7am. I needed to make my way to T2 for my connecting flight.

The line to catch the shuttle bus to T2 was enormous and extremely slow moving - it took 45 minutes just to get on the bus. I had several hours of layover time, so it didn't really matter to me.

The security line in comparison was a breeze to get through with a minimum of waiting time.

I believe you can walk from T3 to T2 if the line for the shuttle is too large for you to wait.

Patty

At Heathrow you have the option of transferring airside (no immigration) or landside (immigration). I've only done the airside transfer as Gardyloo described but you can do it either way. Which way is quicker? I don't know.

Once you deplane at T3, you'll have the option of going toward immigration or toward flight connections. Flight connections will take you downstairs to the shuttle bus waiting area. After you get off the shuttle bus at T2, you'll go through security. Right after security are the transfer desks where you can pick up your onward boarding pass if necessary.

suze

I'm still wondering about the "does this mean you have 1 ticket?" question. Just because Travelocity sold them together, does that make Alitalia responsible for putting you on a later flight at no charge? This to me seems key in unraveling your puzzle.

mztery

one reason I don't use travelocity or expedia is for this very reason -to get a lower price they will put you on as many airlnes as it takes to get that price.I find that is when most problems occur.

What you have is 2 e-tickets on the same PNR (passenger record) Your PNR should look something like this:

6NR2Y8

A six digit combo of letters and numbers.
However you have separate etickets (usually) if you are on 2 airlines, and because it is not actually a CONNECTING flight, if you do get stuck or late wetc the airlines will argue over whose responsibility it is to get you to your destination. That is the worst case scenario but with two separate flights they don't have the same responsibility they have if it's a conenecting flight.

It's more like two tickets that are not related to each other than it is the same flight.

emnyc

Actually, e-tickets were not available for this flight so I will have two paper tickets, but I guess that doesn't change the analysis. Even so, all in all I am encouraged by the responses. Certainly lots of things could go wrong, but it seems there is a good chance it will be fine. I am in a glass half full mood today I guess; after all, I just bought two tickets to Italy.

suze

Good luck! I really would get busy and check with the airline about a couple things: can you get the Alitalia boarding pass when you check in with American & maybe even more important do they have luggage transfer arrangements between the two.

If you can get a "yes" for either or both of these, you'll have a much better change of making the Heathrow connection on time.

Gardyloo

And if all else fails there are three additional Alitalia flights from LHR to Rome every day.

rubyinaz

Please please let us know how this goes. I am doing this same transfer in March 07 and between Orbitz (very unhelpful) AA and Alitalia I have 12 different versions of what when and where. We are traveling through Chicago and have less than an hour to connect there and on to London.. 2 and 1/2 hour connect there. Do you really have to have your boarding pass two hours prior to departure of the Aitalia flight or are they easier on connects with less time?? AA did tell me I could show up early in Phx and try to get an earlier flight standby (and they cannot charge you a change fee )