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BCN Barcelona flight connections

BCN Barcelona flight connections

Old Jan 20, 2013, 11:21 am
  #1  
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BCN Barcelona flight connections

Our first time to Barcelona Airport. We are arriving in Terminal 1 on AA flight from JFK at 7:15am. We have an Easy Jet flight booked out of Terminal 2 at 8:55am. I am an AAdvantage Platinum.

Will we have priority bags upon arriving in BCN?
How long does it take to get our bags and go through customs and immigration? We will be in the first row of Coach behind First Class
How long does it take to get from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2?
Is customs and immigration busy at 7:15am?

Thanks for suggestions.

====================MODERATOR NOTE===============


BCN airport map -
pink line is interterminal shuttle; reverse "C" is R2 Nord RENFE railroad station

tourist guide barcelona says:

Originally Posted by Tip
It is highly recommended that you find out in advance of your trip what terminal
you are flying from (or to) Either Terminal 1 (T1) or Terminal 2 (T2A, T2B or T2C) because you
will need to allow for up to an additional 30 minute transfer by airport shuttle bus to the other
terminal if you arrive at the wrong terminal. The time for the transfer between T1 and T2 is
between 10-15 minutes however you may need to wait (7 minutes) for the next shuttle bus.
AENA (Spanish Airports operator)

Terminal 1 primarily serves all international non-Schengen arrivals, oneworld, SkyTeam and Star alliances:

Code:
Terminal T1
It groups together the flights of the airlines Adria Airways, Aegean Airlines,
Aeroflot, Aerolneas Argentinas, Aeromxico, Air Algerie, Air Baltic, Air
Berlin, Air Canada, Air Europa, Air France, Air Nostrum, Air One, Alitalia
(and its subsidiaries CAI First and CAI Second), American Airlines, Arkia 
Israel Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Avianca, Ba Cityflyer, British Airlines, 
Brussels Airlines, Croatia Airlines, Czech Airlines, Delta Airlines, EgyptAir, 
El Al, Emirates, Finnair, Helitt Lneas Areas, Iberia, KLM, LOT Polish 
Airlines, Lufthansa, Niki Lufthart, Orbest, Qatar Airways, Royal Air Maroc, 
Royal Jordanian, SAS Scandinavian Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Sun D'Or 
International Airlines, Swiss International Airlines, TAP Portugal, Tarom, 
Tunisair, Turkish Airlines, Ukraine International Airlines, United Airlines, 
US Airways and Vueling.
Also note Terminal 2A is currently closed for construction; airlines normally served by T2A are served by T2B. EasyJet and EasyJet Switzerland are served by T2C.

Terminal 2B currently serves:

Code:
Terminal T2 B
Aer Lingus, Air Arabia Maroc, Air Transat, Armavia, Atlantic Airways, 
Belavia, Blue Air, Euro Afrique Express, Freebird Airlines, Gambia Bird 
Airlines, Germanwings, Icelandair, I-Fly, Jet2.com, Jetairfly, Kolavia, 
Luxair, Monarch Airlines, Net Jets Europe, Norwegian Air Shuttle, Norwind 
Airlines, Onur Air, Pakistan International Airlines, Pegasus Air, Red Wings 
Airlines, Rossiya-Russian Airlines, Ryanair, SkyWork Airlines, SmartWings, 
Sunwing Airlines, TACV Cabo Verde Airlines, Transaero Airlines, 
Transavia.com, Ural Airlines, UTair Aviation, Vim Airlines, Wizz Air and 
Yakutia Air operate from here.

Link to airlines serving airport and terminal used

Link to interterminals transport information


Left Luggage: According to tourist guide barcelona:

Code:
There is no longer a left luggage service at T2 of Barcelona Airport. 
The luggage storage is now only available in T1 (Terminal 1)

These are your two options for left luggage:

Option 1 - Baggage storage at T1
Catch the shuttle bus from T2 to T1. At T1 you will be able to follow 
signs for left luggage in the terminal building.

Option 2- Barcelona Sants Station baggage storage
Catch the airport train to Sants station where there is a left luggage 
in the Barcelona Sants station building.

Last edited by JDiver; Feb 19, 2013 at 3:11 pm Reason: retain original post title
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Old Jan 20, 2013, 11:28 am
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Originally Posted by EXPLAT
Our first time to Barcelona Airport. We are arriving in Terminal 1 on AA flight from JFK at 7:15am. We have an Easy Jet flight booked out of Terminal 2 at 8:55am. I am an AAdvantage Platinum.

Will we have priority bags upon arriving in BCN?
How long does it take to get our bags and go through customs and immigration? We will be in the first row of Coach behind First Class
How long does it take to get from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2?
Is customs and immigration busy at 7:15am?

Thanks for suggestions.
I can't answer most of your questions except to say that terminal 1 and terminal 2 are quite far apart, not physically connected at all. You must take a skytrain type thing to get from one to the other. Depending on how much luggage you need to schlep, that alone could add considerably to your transit time.
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Old Jan 20, 2013, 12:04 pm
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Assuming you bought a seperate, non-refundable ticket, this could be quite risky.


I don't know for sure, but the cheap European LCCs can often be unforgiving towards being late. I wouldn't count in them being leniant with a 'flat tire rule'. Their walk up fares could be expensive, as well.
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Old Jan 20, 2013, 12:42 pm
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I've read that it's a 10 minute transit from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2. Does that sound about right?
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Old Jan 20, 2013, 1:15 pm
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Originally Posted by EXPLAT
I've read that it's a 10 minute transit from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2. Does that sound about right?
Yeah, for the actual train ride itself. As I mentioned before, the two terminals are something like half a mile or a mile apart. Getting to the train from your arrival gate at T1 and getting from the train to your departure gate at T2, though, can make that quite a bit longer. Not to mention wait times if you get there just as a train is departing; I don't know how often they run.

ETA: I just looked it up -- the terminals are 4 km (that's 2.5 MILES) apart!
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Old Jan 20, 2013, 2:51 pm
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That's going to be a bit tight, but definitely doable.

Easyjet flights depart from Terminal 2C (they arrive at 2b). Similar to LHR, that's separate buildings, and you would not want to have to walk back....

Getting through customs and immigration should not be a long wait. The BCN airport was eerily deserted the last few times I've been through it. Also, there's not many non-EU arrivals, so there should be no long queues at immigration/customs.
Priority baggage delivery is hit-and miss - don't count on it. But BCN has a very modern and quick bag delivery system. Getting one's bags 15 minutes after deplaning is common there.

In my experience, going from T1 to T2c takes around 45-50 minutes all in all. But then, I have an EU passport and never had to wait at immigration at all.


Easyjet is more than strict with their check-in cutoff time (normally 40 minutes prior to departure). 10 seconds later than the time printed on your BP and you won't be accepted for the flight anymore.
Do OLCI, so you'll have your boarding passes already. In case you're running late that'll give you an additional 20 minutes - if worst comes to worst you'd need to check your bags at the gate. EasyJet closes the gate 20 minutes prior to departure.
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Old Jan 20, 2013, 3:20 pm
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Minimum Connection Time at BCN for International/Domestic or International/International arriving on AA in T1 and departing T2 is 1 hour and 15 minutes. Since your flights will be in separate reservations, the MCT has no bearing on what you can book, nor whether you will be protected, but is a reasonable guideline. An able bodied person should be able to make the transfer within that time under most circumstances even when the airport is busy. Therefore, your connection time should be fine if the incoming is on time. Cross your fingers!
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Old Jan 20, 2013, 3:35 pm
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Based upon the times you gave, I assume you are arriving from JFK on AA and leaving to MXP on U2.

If your AA flight is significantly delayed on the day of flight, and it happens to be a day when the AA JFK-MXP flight operates (i.e., not Tuesday), I would call AA and asked to be put on the MXP flight.
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Old Jan 20, 2013, 4:49 pm
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Relocated to the destination forum, as it is not specific to a single airline.

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Old Jan 20, 2013, 5:28 pm
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Originally Posted by beerup
Based upon the times you gave, I assume you are arriving from JFK on AA and leaving to MXP on U2.

If your AA flight is significantly delayed on the day of flight, and it happens to be a day when the AA JFK-MXP flight operates (i.e., not Tuesday), I would call AA and asked to be put on the MXP flight.
Great suggestion!
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Old Jan 20, 2013, 5:30 pm
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Originally Posted by beerup
Minimum Connection Time at BCN for International/Domestic or International/International arriving on AA in T1 and departing T2 is 1 hour and 15 minutes. Since your flights will be in separate reservations, the MCT has no bearing on what you can book, nor whether you will be protected, but is a reasonable guideline. An able bodied person should be able to make the transfer within that time under most circumstances even when the airport is busy. Therefore, your connection time should be fine if the incoming is on time. Cross your fingers!
We arrive T1 at 7:15 am and depart T2C at 8:55 am. So 1 hour and 40 minutes. So that gives me an extra 25 minutes.

The moderator moved me away from the AA thread to Spain, hopefully I'll still get some knowledgeable responses!
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Old Jan 20, 2013, 6:41 pm
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It is crucial that you get this time of 0855 out of your head, the vital time is 0815! That is when check in will close, on the dot. Miss that and you start from scratch with a new ticket, and walk up prices can be high. Easyjet are great but you have to be on time, and that is the time on their computer and there is no flexibility.

Personally I would never schedule two separate flights with less than an hour between them but you may well get lucky. Basically you have left no room for any problems, so if there are no problems you will be fine.
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Old Jan 20, 2013, 7:36 pm
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Originally Posted by BigVince76
It is crucial that you get this time of 0855 out of your head, the vital time is 0815! That is when check in will close, on the dot. Miss that and you start from scratch with a new ticket, and walk up prices can be high. Easyjet are great but you have to be on time, and that is the time on their computer and there is no flexibility.

Personally I would never schedule two separate flights with less than an hour between them but you may well get lucky. Basically you have left no room for any problems, so if there are no problems you will be fine.
...but EasyJet has online check-in available from 30 days before the flight, so the OP can check-in before leaving US!
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Old Jan 20, 2013, 9:42 pm
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Thanks for the tip about the 30 days in advance. I was thinking it was 24 hrs. in advance like on AA. As a previous post mentioned, this will give me an additional 20 minutes.

We've pre-paid for two checked bags. Is there a ticket counter where we would go and drop our two suitcases? How would we check them at the gate? In US, the bags wouldn't fit through the scanner.
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Old Jan 20, 2013, 9:52 pm
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Originally Posted by beerup
...but EasyJet has online check-in available from 30 days before the flight, so the OP can check-in before leaving US!
But the OP has to check luggage, so it really doesn't matter if he can check in ahead of time. Still must be there by cut off time. It's definitely a tight connection. That AA flight, which I've take dozens of times, is quite often late.
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