Help with timeline. Connecting flights in London Gatwick
 

We are flying from San Francisco to London Gatwick in late May and(supposedly) landing in Gatwick Airport at 12 pm on a Saturday. I'm in the process of booking another flight with a different airline to Venice.

I'm guessing when we arrive in Gatwick, we'll have to retrieve our checked luggage, recheck it with the new airline and go back through security. Is this accurate?

If so, how long does this process take (if not, please enlighten me on the process)?

How much later from my arrival in Gatwick should I book my departure to Venice to give us an adequate window of time to catch our connecting flight? Keeping in mind we'd like to keep that window of time between flights as small as possible while still making sure we have a reasonable amount of time to catch our 2nd flight.

Thanks in advance for your help.

FIRST of all, do you know at which of the two terminals you are arriving and from which of the two your onward flight begins?

SECOND of all. What is the check-in deadline for your 2nd airline, flight to Venice?

Personally, I'd book ~3hrs between flights for a situation like this, as you will be responsible for finding alternate ways to Venice should your 1st flight be delayed and you miss check-in cutoff for the 2nd flight.

If you are more of a risk taker, then you could roll the dice with 2hrs.

It says we are arriving in Terminal S. Don't know which terminal we're departing from as I haven't booked the departure yet

I would also ask what your risk tolerance is, if your inbound flight to Gatwick (from the States) is delayed or cancelled, what your travel insurance will cover, and how much your budget would be impacted

It might also depend on how important it is to you, to be in Venice on a particular date (say, a family wedding or a business meeting, versus a holiday).

For more opinions and advice, you could also try the Air Travel forum on TripAdvisor, and/or the Flyertalk forum.

One of the Airlines I'm looking at says "check in close,45 min before flight starts". I haven't booked the flight to Venice yet. I was waiting on your recommendations on how much later I should book the departing flight for

Risk tolerance has been brought up. My ideal situation is I calmly transition from one flight to the next with no sprinting or stressing out about missing the 2nd flight. I still don't know if I'll need to collect my luggage and go back through security. How long does that part take (if that's a part).

Unless the two airlines you plan to fly have an interline baggage agreement they you will definitely need to collect & recheck your bags. For planning purposes assume that is the case.

Getting through security is not your main concern, it's getting to the front of the check-in line in time that matters the most. Waiting for your bags at baggage claim will be the critical point.

My experience flying into many airports around the world is that baggage claim can take anywhere from 30min to 90min. Nobody can predict how long it will take you on that particular flight & day.

You also have to clear immigration before collecting your bags, since you are not transiting airside. If you are not a UK or EU citizen that can also take a while. Personally, I would want at least three hours, and better four. Have you already bought the ticket to London? If not, you should look into getting both flights on the same ticket.

It would be really REALLY helpful if you were to tell us exactly WHICH airlines we are talking about.

Are you, in fact, arriving from OAKLAND on a British Airways flight?

Are you planning to book your flight to Venice on EASTJET?

This whole "I'll let you guess" routine means people are having to talk about airline luggage agreements and whether or not an interruption is going to stress you out, etc., etc. so how about a little HELP, OK?

>> Personally, I'd book ~3hrs between flights for a situation like this<<

3 hours would be awfully short, and ESPECIALLY if the 2nd flight is on easyJet or one of the other budget airlines. They are <u>extremely</u> strict re check in.

If you arrive at noon I would not book the 2nd flight until very late afternoon/early evening. 5PM would make me semi- comfortable. The connection does not tale 5 hours but if <i>anything</i> goes pear shaped -- late arrival, a security alert, baggage handlers strike or work-to-rule, delayed luggage, and you could need every bit of the 5 hours.

As Dukey1 stated, if you let us know exactly which airline you'll be flying into Gatwick on and which airline(s) you are looking at for flight to Venice, we can better advise you. Generally speaking, and without further information, I agree that at least 4 hours would be what I'd plan for.

Great I found a British Airways departing at 5:45pm that I'll book. We're flying into Gatwick via Norwegian Airlines at noon. That gives us a 4:45 hour time gap between arrival and departure, which seems safe. Thanks for the assistance and info. Sorry I didn't provide more flight info initially. I'm new to this. Also I didn't know which Airlines we were using to fly to Venice. I was going to pick the option that fit the time schedule best. Norwegian is not an option unless I want a 10 hour flight to Venice.

Err 5:45 hours

You should be fine. A good idea to check which terminal(s) you'll be using. I'm not familiar enough with Gatwick to know which terminals BA and Norwegian use.