Angela_m

We will be arriving at LHR at 7:50am (if all goes as scheduled) on AA and I am ready to purchase a ticket on BMI to Naples leaving at 11:25am. I've been reading threads about having to go through more security, changing terminals, etc. so I'm hoping that 3+ hours will be enough time to make the connection.
Can someone reassure me before I make the purchase?

willit

I am no expert on Heathrow transfers, although I have flown in and out many times.

If your plane is not more than an hour late, and neither incoming nor outgoing flights are from Terminal 4 (unless both are), then you should be fine.

I would estimate that landing, baggage retrieval, customs should take no more tahn an hour. Transfer between terminals (If not Termainal 4) should take no more than 15 minutes. Even allowing for some minor delays, this gives you plenty of time to check in to the BMI flight.

W9London

AA lands Terminal 3 and BMI departs from Terminal 1. Offical LHR site (http://www.heathrowairport.com/, check under airport info) recommends 65 minutes minimum for T3 to T1 Intl connection.
You'll need to take a short coach ride to the flight connection centre.
However, early morning slots at LHR are ALWAYS crowded, and delays are quite common.
Also, make sure your check-in luggages are checked through Naples, so that you don't have to claim them at LHR.
Overall, 3hrs should be sufficient.
T1 departure louges have plenty of shops & ammenities.

Sarvowinner

W

If you are flying in from the US on AA, can you check your luggage through to Naples with BMI?

Angela_m

I don't think I can check my bags through since the itinerary I purchased on AA is ORD - LHR. I'm purchasing the leg to Naples separately since booking directly through AA required changing airports. This is why I'm a little nervous about doing this.

flanneruk

Unless your incoming flight is very late, you'll have ample time to go through immigration, collect your bags and put them on a trolley, go through customs, push your trolley through the underpass to T1 and check in at bmi.

Last time I did this (admittedly on a British passport) it took a bit under an hour, including time spent having a brief client meeting at T3.

But your life will be easier and less stressful if you can persuade AA to through-check your bag. Airlines sometimes don't do this in your circumstances, but if the bagtag says 'Naples via LHR', the LHR handlers will route it to the bmi Naples flight whatever AA's policy manual says. Just look the checkin clerk firmly in the eye and tell her it's absolutely fine.

If your powers of persuasion work, then you won't have to bother with Immigration or Customs. Just get the bus to the FCC as W9 says, collect your bmi boarding pass and walk through security to the retailing delights of the T1 departures area.

Sue_xx_yy

We have made several trips on separate tickets. Here is what I have learned:

-- the safest option is to overnight in London between flights. This is because connection window times at time of booking often turn out to be meaningless. Twice, one or both airlines changed their arrival and/or departure times subsequent to our booking the tickets. Both times, it was in the direction of shrinking, not expanding, the window of time. Plus, our flights have been known to arrive technically at x hour, but the gates at LHR were so busy, we were a long time getting off the plane. And while it has only happened twice to me in my lifetime, the fact remains that occasionally transatlantic flights are seriously (i.e. 20 hours or more) delayed. So no matter how carefully you plan at the outset, your connection window could shrink or even disappear completely. Obviously, this is particularly critical on the return.

Regarding checking your bags through: officially, you are only entitled to do this on a through ticket, not separate tickets. Sometimes you can persuade the agent at check-in to ticket your bags through on separate tickets, but this isn't guaranteed - particularly if you don't have 'status' with the originating airline. Also, both airlines have to participate in interline agreements (something that Ryanair and other discount carriers never do.)

If you miss the next flight, the airline in question is under no obligation to reschedule you as part of the original cost of the ticket. You need to be prepared for the possibility that you will incur costs in that event - often far in excess of the cost of a budget hotel for a night or two.

While we choose the overnight option, this doesn't mean you must. In particular, if you plan on doing the separate ticket thing enough times, you can safely assume that things will go badly wrong only occasionally (and even perhaps never), so that any penalty cost you ever have to endure (if ever) will in effect be spread over the cost of all such trips you have taken or will take. But, only you can make that call. Good luck.

Angela_m

Thanks, everyone for the information. I will try having the ticket counter tag our bags through to Naples even though I feel I'd be increasing the odds that the bags end up in Timbuktu.

W9London

I would recommend using all your charm offensives to get the AA to check-through the luggage. Failing that, you can ask for "SHORT TRANSFER" luggage tag.
I think non-UK/European immigration queue at T3 in the morning hours usually is quite long, esp summer.
Also, I would alert AA flight attendants that you have a short connection before you de-plane.
Another thing you can do probably is check-in bmi online.

Having said that, you should be generally OK with 3 hours. Bon voyage!

flanneruk

"even though I feel I'd be increasing the odds that the bags end up in Timbuktu"

There's enough things that really can go wrong on complicated flights without worrying about things that won't.

Transferring international luggage between different airlines is what Heathrow does. Over a hundred thousand times a day. Sometimes, on tight connections, bags don't make it. When something goes seriously wrong, bags often don't make connections. But I've never known a bag go to the wrong place. They almost always turn up at your hotel the following day. And every time I've chanhged planes at LHR, the bags have made the connection.

Your biggest danger, in my experience, is getting US checkin clerks tagging bags to the wrong place. Watch them like hawks, Especially since I believe there's an airport at Naples, Florida.

There are, however, no flights from LHR to TOM

janisj

I wouldn't worry about your luggage much - as flanner says - even in the unlikely event it misses your flight it will be delivered to you in Naples. It is always a good idea to have a change of clothes in your carry on in case.

Your main problem is AA. The last 3 times I've flown on AA (but it isn't limited to them - can happen on any airline) there has been a schedule change. One was a 5 hour change others have been less. In that case your plan is screwed. BMI won't honor a ticket missed because another airline changed its flight.

Now this isn't going to happen every time (and maybe I've just been unlucky) Three hours should be more than enough for a T3 to T1 transfer - but it really is a crap shoot as to what really happens

IF AA dcoes notifiy you of a schedule change - call them immediately and get them to fix it (if they can).

pavfec

We flew to Barcelona through Heathrow last year. Even though we flew to London on BA and to Barcelona on Iberia, our bags were checked right through to Barcelona and we had about a 3-hour connection time. We made it no problem and had around a 2-hour wait for our connecting flight. Our bags were there waiting for us in Barcelona.

It'll be fine!

rubyinaz

this post was helpful may I add questions? We are flying AA to London and then to Rome via Alitalia.. we have a 2 and 1/2 hour connect time.. now I discover Alitalia requires you to check in 2 hours prior to departure . The gal that I talked to today said "no no problem, if you are a little late to get there, they still let you on".. So we go from T3 to T1 our bags are checked through to Rome (per AA).. do we still have to go through immgration and customs? Is there an Alitalia desk at the connect center in Heathrow.. that way we can get boarding passes and then worry about getting to T2 and the lines??

fishee

Iberia is a partner "oneworld" airline with American Air and so checking bags through wouldn't be a problem in that case -- I don't think that's true with BMI but check out aa.com for partners on the oneworld alliance.

Is there anyway to just do carry-on? Of course, check out bmi's policies to see if this is even plausible for you. The safe thing (notwithstanding an overnight in $$ London) would be to schedule a flight for late afternoon and hence a 3-5 hr weather delay wouldn't kill your connection but you'd be losing most of your first day. If your plane leaves on time, 3+ is fine but the dreaded situation is a possible delay of your red-eye out of the U.S. for weather or equipment problems.

Carrybean

Angela, just a thought, but if you're flying Business or First Class on AA you go through the expedited immigration line. It's very fast - never a long line.