Air New Zealand and British Airways flights
 

I booked 2 separate flights for 9/26/11: first leg is LAX to LHR on Air New Zealand and then connecting LHR to CDG on British Airways. They're on 2 separate tickets. Can I have Air New Zealand check-through my baggage from LAX directly to CDG or do I have to get my baggages in LHR and then check-in and go through immigration again? I'm only connecting in LHR for about 2 hours.

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You will have to collect them and re-check-in. NZ stopped interlining baggage on separate tickets some years ago.

This is a reasonably tight connection for LHR. If the NZ flight gets stacked up and is delayed you will will have to move fast to clear immigration, get baggage, and make the long terminal transfer from T1 to T5 to check in again.

You should be aware that by booking two separate tickets, you are carrying all of the risk in the event of missed connection between flights - ie if your first sector on NZ is delayed, then you have no 'entitlement' to ask BA to assist you by placing you on a later flight (they *might* choose to do so).

Much will depend on how flexible (ie changeable) your LHR-CDG ticket is. In the worst case of a very cheap and inflexible ticket, you might be faced with the prospect of having to buy another ticket at much higher prices - and I have seen the hassle that these situations can bring to the unwary/unknowing!!

Depending on how much connection time you have, it may be prudent to either only bring carry-on bags, or consider rearranging flights with a bigger gap. Obviously this is just broad guidance, and hopefully all goes well.

Good luck! TK

That doesn't really give me much time to get my baggages and recheck-in at BA in Terminal 5. I could only find 2 airlines (BA and Air France) that flies out of LHR to CDG and Air France is way too expensive. Hopefully I can change my BA flight to a later time to give me enough time to transfer.

I am doing a similar transfer later this year, coming in on NZ2 (sched arrival 11am) and then onto Hamburg, but have left myself nearly four hours to connect to my Lufthansa flight as I bough a cheapo and doubt they will rebook me if I miss it.

Worst case I just spend a few hours in the airport pub!!

NZ does publish fares LAX-LHR-CDG using AF or BA for the connecting LHR-CDG sector.

Depending on whether your BA fare is refundable and the fare conditions of your NZ fare you might want to consider changing your NZ fare to be LAX-LHR-CDG instead.

Just called Air New Zealand yesterday and they said that they will check-through my baggages from LAX to CDG even if they're on separate tickets, just show my ticket on BA from LHR to CDG to agent at check-in.

In that case it will make your connection much easier. From memory you can transfer to terminal 5 airside at Terminal 1. When you get close to the long immigration lines in terminal 1 go left to the transfers area.

That's certainly not my experience.

I did try to change my BA flight to CDG for a later time but they're going to charge an additional 60 GBP. I don't want to change my Air New Zealand flight from LAX to LHR since I got that as a saverpass business class (50k miles)through Continental, which is very hard to come by. So I think I'll just take my chances that everything will go smoothly. Cross my fingers.

It's their official position, and one I have repeatedly encountered (as have other NZ FQTVs, including NZ*Trout who once had them refuse to interline a bag on AKL-HKG-LHR booked as two separate tickets for the same through trip).

Any "exception" is just that - an exception, and the AKL premium check-in made it very clear to me last time that they won't do it any more. Outstations may do it, although WLG never liked to do it in the past prior to the policy change.

That is unusual. I wonder if they have reverted on their annoying policy, which would be nice.

Anyone know for sure? ntddevsys?

You need to change your second flight. If you don't, you face buying a new ticket on the day for five or six times the price.

Let us assume that, as you say, you have a two hour connection time. And let's assume that the first flight is on time.

Air NZ use gates at T1 which typically entail around a 15 minute walk to passport control, even if you are in Business Premier and disembark first.

At passport control you can reasonably forsee a 5 minute wait if you have an EU passport, or a 20 minute wait if you don't.

You will then take around 5 minutes to go to get a trolley and reclaim your luggage. Your bags may already be waiting (it's already 25 minutes since you landed), but I commonly end up waiting another 20 minutes. We are now at 45 minutes from the time your plane landed.

You then need to make your way to Heathrow Central tube station, which if you don't know the airport will take another 10 minutes. You then have a wait of 1-15 minutes for a Heathrow Express train to Terminal 5, and the train will take 3 minutes. (It is now around 65 minutes since you disembarked from NZ2).

You will then take another ten minutes at best to get to BA check-in. It's 75 minutes since you got off NZ2.

But here is the killer. BA require you to pass check-in a minimum of 45 minutes prior to departure. They require you to pass security a minimum of 35 minutes prior to departure. And they require you to be at the gate 20 minutes prior to departure, or you will be denied boarding.

In other words, your current itinerary can only work if the NZ flight is operating early, and if the NZ staff at LAX incorrectly allow your luggage to be checked through to CDG. And if you have an EU passport.

If any of those things don't eventuate, you will be buying a new ticket at LHR at grossly inflated prices.

This is very, very unusual. You should call back, get the person's name and ID number or whatever. Air NZ normally won't interline baggage even with Star Alliance partners, let alone an airline outside of Star Alliance.

I think you are taking a huge risk here. I would take this risk personally.