op487062

Booked a flight to LHR on Air NZ that lands 10:40am. Assuming I have to pick up baggage and walk to T4 for an Air France flight to CDG and check bags in, how much time would you suggest that I plan between arrival and departure? Do I have to go through customs if I do not exit the airport?


Thank you very much

rcspeirs

If you book separate tickets on different airlines (and it sounds like that's what you're contemplating) then....
You must collect your bags, clear immigration and customs at T1. (Geography context, T1 and T4 are nowhere near each other, you can't walk between them). Then get the connecting train between terminals, which only runs every fifteen minutes. Then check in at T4 and go through security. Guidelines say three hours as the absolute minimum. On a bad day (Heathrow runs at 99% capacity and needs perfect conditions to run smoothly - bad weather always causes disruption) you might find 3 hours isn't enough.
Personally, I wouldn't book separate flights. I'd have the Paris leg added to the original booking, so (1) you are protected if there's a delay and (2) your bags are checked through and you can use the airside flight connections process.
Other folks appetite for risk and short connections may vary.

op487062

Darn! Oh well, guess I'll have to cancel the flight to LHR and do non-stop to CDG.


Thank you very much for your information

Gagravarr

If you have to go landside anyway (as you would on two tickets), another option is to take the Eurostar. May even end up quicker! With the Heathrow Express and the tube from Paddington to St Pancras, you're looking at about 30 minutes travel time (plus wait for the next HEX). Need to be there 30 minutes before, then it's about 2 hours travel, right to the centre of Paris, avoiding the slow trek in from CDG

rwoman

Only 30 min from LHR to Paddington to St. Pancras via HEX/Tube? Given the time to get through the stations and wait on trains, I'd expect to be 45-50 minutes. Also, if the OP is concerned about price, using the HEX is far more expensive than the Tube for this transfer. At 45-50 min via the HEX/Tube versus ~60 minutes direct on the Piccadilly line (at a fraction of the cost), I'd take the Tube.

Gagravarr

Travel time wise, from the central area station, should be do-able in 30 minutes with no delays, maybe 35 if you just miss a tube at Paddington. Obviously that excludes the time to get from T1 to the platform and the wait for the next train departure.

If I'm starting my journey from near Kings Cross / St Pancras, then I normally tube it, unless I'm in a massive rush. If I'm coming into / leaving form one of those two by train, the incremental cost of the HEX vs Tube isn't always too big, so I tend towards tube + HEX.

stut

Depends on the time of day - the H&C/Circle lines are very prone to delay in the evening peak, and it can feel like a crawl from Edgware Road to Euston Square...

However, despite all of this, I still opt for the HEX between King's Cross and LHR (a journey I do regularly). It just feels so much less stressful - although possibly because I'm 6'1" and those Piccadilly Line seats make it near impossible to read a book without getting neck cramps within 10 minutes...

op487062

I think we are just going to stay in London for a few nights instead

How often does a person land--and completely skip--a world capital just for the same of a few dollars

Gagravarr

You must be new to FlyerTalk... ;-)