Into gatwick and out of Heathrow
 

Just beginning to look for airfare for a possible fall trip to Italy. I was on AA's website and noticed that all of British Airline's flights to Rome first landed in London (Gatwick)but flew out of Heathrow. Why is that? Sure seems like a lot of hassle for the traveler. What does it buy the airline in doing that?

Hi S,

>Why is that?<

Because that is how they do it. They don't have to havee a reason.

((I))

just looking for some logic...silly me, huh?

Hi, Sandi.

I looked at BA's schedules as if I were buying a ticket from DFW to FCO. I did find some options where you can come and go from the same airport. I think the reason they don't automatically offer that is because regardless of which airport you use, it will mean an overnight layover in London, as none of the flights from Rome arrive early enough for you to catch your plane to DFW. I hope this helps to make sense of it.

Where are you flying from?

I believe most BA flights from the US arrive at Heathrow, not Gatwick. Same thing with AA. Exception is DFW (both BA and AA), Raleigh-Durham (AA), and perhaps one or two that I can't remember, where they arrive at LGW. It's almost an either/or situation. For example, BA flies JFK-LHR like 8 times a day, but there is no JFK-LGW.

BA has flights from both LHR and LGW to Rome, but LGW-FCO flights are infrequent.

I checked both DFW to FCO and JFK to FCO. I've recently noticed better deals from NY than Dallas and I thought we'd have enough time to find a good deal from DFW to JFK. The JFK to LGW was cheaper than from Dallas.

We are just in the beginning stages, so nothing is set in stone. I definitely don't want to overnight in London. Changing airports is a better option than that.

Well all I know is that BA has 5 flights a day from LHR to FCO and vice versa. Maybe AA's codeshares via London are limited to their LGW base because AA serves FCO on its own and doesn't want to make it easy for you to use BA flight nos. on BA metal.

Anyway, on the AA website, check the box on the advanced screen that lets you select AA <i>and <b>one</b>world</i> carriers and you'll see all the choices, including dandy routings via Madrid and Dublin as well as London.

I did check that box which is how I got the BA information. It didn't show any Madrid or Dublin connections for the dates I was searching....hmmm. Well, I'll keep checking.

Oh I was confused - you're starting from DFW. I thought NYC.

In that case AA or BA will only take you to LGW directly, pity. That's fine for connecting on one of BA's 2x daily flights LGW-FCO; unfortunately one FCO-LGW return arrives after the DFW flights have left, hence either the overnight or the LHR shuffle, which is awful. The other arrives at 1:35pm but apparently is below legal connection time to AA's 2:30 DFW flight, which surprises me.

But... easyJet to the rescue? You can book an open-jaw itinerary, DFW-LGW-FCO, then LGW-DFW for the return, and use easyJet from Ciampino airport (not FCO, not bad, just different) that has a 10:40am flight to LGW that would give you a couple of hours before the 2:30 AA departure to DFW. You'd need to schlep bags at LGW but that's no big deal.

You'd probably save a little on the transatlantic ticket cost, maybe as much as the easyJet ticket, but certainly when you add in the cost and hassle of a transfer to LHR this is a cheaper and far easier alternative.

Is your plan to get a better deal on the DFW to JFK leg on the same airline or a different one? If it's different, it can create a real headache if anything happens to your first flight (it's delayed, cancelled, etc...). Unless it's an AA flight from Dallas, the folks at JFK aren't obligated to cut you any slack.

I found this out the hard way when I cleverly (I thought) took a cheap Alaska Airlines flight from Portland to San Jose, and then American from San Jose to Austin via DFW (because it cost less to fly from San Jose than from Portland). When AA canceled my return flight, causing me to miss the Alaska flight from San Jose back to Portland...I was STUCK. Spent 14 hours in the SJC airport and then had to spend the night and come back the next day. The hassle definitely was not worth the savings on air fare.

Thanks for that reminder Carmen and I didn't mean to confuse anyone. I am in Dallas but I usually see better rates from NY to Europe so I thought I'd try that too. So excited about getting to start the research process over again!

AA has a <b>direct</b> DFW-LHR flight. It's flight number 66 on the way to London and flight 67 for the return. The difference is that it makes a stop in ORD, so it's not a <b>non-stop</b>. :-(

If you are getting a nice fare with the LGW-LHR connection then do the bus transfer. It takes just over an hour. The busses are comforable new coaches, some even have TVs. During the day they run about every 1/2 hour. The fare is 17.50BPs.

Get schedules and prices here:
<b>www.nationalexpress.co.uk</b>

And before anybody chimes in with a story about airlines paying for that transfer, they have not traveled to London in some time. Airlines <b>DO NOT</b> pay or even help you with the bus transfer. The OP will have to collect luggage in LGW and re-check it at LHR. It's actually just a drop off point as your bags will be already tagged to DFW, so you don't have to stand in the check-in lines. It's quite painless.

I just realized it would be the other way around, LHR-LGW, but it does not make difference. :-)

Actually, got a farely decent rate of less than $700.