LHR- customs, transferring flights, need time estimate
May 16th, 2007 | 01:34 PM
#1
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Joined: May 2007
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LHR- customs, transferring flights, need time estimate
LHR question-
I'm a new traveler and
trying to coordinate times to/from LHR on a really busy flight day- I'm not familiar with how long it takes to go through customs etc. .
I'm arriving from the US at 11:30 am on 5/21 to LHR and am thinking of booking a flight from LHR to Nice at 2pm. Is that enough time to get through customs etc?
Also on the way back I have a return flight to the US at 12pm. I'm considering a flight on Lufthansa that arrives from Nice at 10:40am. I'm guessing that's cutting it a bit close to catch my 12 oclock.
I'm a new traveler and
trying to coordinate times to/from LHR on a really busy flight day- I'm not familiar with how long it takes to go through customs etc. .
I'm arriving from the US at 11:30 am on 5/21 to LHR and am thinking of booking a flight from LHR to Nice at 2pm. Is that enough time to get through customs etc?
Also on the way back I have a return flight to the US at 12pm. I'm considering a flight on Lufthansa that arrives from Nice at 10:40am. I'm guessing that's cutting it a bit close to catch my 12 oclock.
May 16th, 2007 | 01:50 PM
#4
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 17,268
Likes: 0
There are no absolute rules at Heathrow, because the permutations available are just too great.
If you're on flights that ensure luggage is transferred - for example a United or Air NZ flight from the US, followed by a bmi flight to Nice (Lufthansa don't fly the LHR-Nice route), or a BA/BA connection, you don't go through immigration or Customs, and your airline will be great deal more reliable than us on what's doable.
If you're trying to book the tweo sectors separately on non-partner airlines, there's a very high chance they WON'T book your bags through, Britain has very stringent limits on carry on so you can't take your bags with you and you'll have to go through immigration, collect your bags and probably change terminals, since all Nice flights go from T1, and the only transatlantic flights into that terminal are BA's from the US West Coast. And if you were crossing the Atlantic on BA, you'd be connecting to BA and the question wouldn't arise.
If you DO have to collect bags, go through immigration and change terminals, allow 3 hours. Changing terminals without going through immigration - 90 mins. Same terminal (BA from the West Coast only): an hour shouod do it.
If you're on flights that ensure luggage is transferred - for example a United or Air NZ flight from the US, followed by a bmi flight to Nice (Lufthansa don't fly the LHR-Nice route), or a BA/BA connection, you don't go through immigration or Customs, and your airline will be great deal more reliable than us on what's doable.
If you're trying to book the tweo sectors separately on non-partner airlines, there's a very high chance they WON'T book your bags through, Britain has very stringent limits on carry on so you can't take your bags with you and you'll have to go through immigration, collect your bags and probably change terminals, since all Nice flights go from T1, and the only transatlantic flights into that terminal are BA's from the US West Coast. And if you were crossing the Atlantic on BA, you'd be connecting to BA and the question wouldn't arise.
If you DO have to collect bags, go through immigration and change terminals, allow 3 hours. Changing terminals without going through immigration - 90 mins. Same terminal (BA from the West Coast only): an hour shouod do it.
May 16th, 2007 | 02:13 PM
#5
Joined: May 2005
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Go to the Heathrow airport website
Go to the search box at the top of the page
Type in "flight connections centre" (note British spelling and press enter
Read the results about connecting through Heathrow.
If your luggage is checked all the way through to Nice then 2h30m is plenty of time - even if you aren't through ticketed you should be able to avoid going through immigration and be able to use the FCC instead
If you have to collect your luggage and recheck it then 2h30m is cutting it a bit fine as you have to pass through immigration before you can collect luggage which can take an hour in itself
Go to the search box at the top of the page
Type in "flight connections centre" (note British spelling and press enter
Read the results about connecting through Heathrow.
If your luggage is checked all the way through to Nice then 2h30m is plenty of time - even if you aren't through ticketed you should be able to avoid going through immigration and be able to use the FCC instead
If you have to collect your luggage and recheck it then 2h30m is cutting it a bit fine as you have to pass through immigration before you can collect luggage which can take an hour in itself
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