Harpsuk1

Hi - I'm flying with my wife and 2 young kids from GEG (Spokane) on Alaska Airlines to Seattle International to then take BA flight to LFR (Club). I land at Seattle on Alaska at 1711 and Club BA flight leaves Seattle at 2000 is this enough time to collect bags I assuem at Concourse C and go to the satellite check in BA desk and get through security?

Other option is arriving at Seattle at 1541.

TIA :-)

Arsene Wenger

You shouldn’t need to grab you bags in SEA so you’ll have plenty of time to make your connection as the AS check in agent at GEG should be able to check your bags through to LHR as BA and AS are partners.

As an example I was recently on a AS award ticket SEA-LAX (Overnight)-HND on AS and JAL and it took manual intervention to not through check our bags all the way to Japan.

It sounds like you’re mixing up the process for departure and arrival as if you were flying the reverse and SEA was your first point of entry back in the US then you’d need to grab your bags, go through customs, recheck them to GEG, and finally transit back through security so the longer connection time would be important, but on the way over to LHR/out of the US you’ll be fine.

beckoa

Harpsuk1, as this is an AS to BA question, we'll relocate this to the AS forum.

Agree, AS *should* be able to tag this through to LHR. Was this one ticket? Avoids collecting baggage and reclearing TSA (can be quite some time these days in SEA)

~beckoa, co-moderator Information Desk

ashill

If you're on one ticket, this is very easy and 2:49 is a ton of time. Even if it's separate tickets, Alaska policy still allows through checking to the partner airline (unlike, for example, American Airlines). In fact, they'll even base the checked bag fee on the allowance on your international ticket, so you shouldn't have to pay the Alaska bag fee (if one normally applies to you).
Given that, I'd be comfortable with far less than 2:49 minutes in Seattle. You may have to go to the BA gate to get your BA boarding pass (if you can't get it online), but you won't have to leave the secure area. You'll almost certainly need to go to a human rather than the kiosk to check the bag at GEG if you're on separate tickets, so I'd allow a few minutes extra time at GEG. I haven't done this (check from an AS outstation to a long haul ticket on a separate carrier) in several years, but when I last did (a decade ago) it was totally routine and the Alaska/Horizon check-in staff were efficient. Have a printout of your connecting long haul ticket.

AbZorba

Apologies for hijacking but wondering if the same applies with WestJet flights.

I'm on WestJet from Calgary to Seattle and then only have 2:21 till my flight from Seattle to LHR. I was thinking of only taking hand luggage to cut down the transfer time but would opt for a hold bag if I knew that WestJet could bag it to LHR when I check-in at Calgary.

ashill

Welcome to FlyerTalk!

The WestJet forum is the place to ask this, but:

BA and WS are interline partners, so in principle it's possible. Again, it depends enormously whether these are separate tickets; I assume they are since WS and BA are not codeshare partners or otherwise partners beyond the very basic interline partnership? If on a single ticket, no worries at all. If on separate tickets, I'd be considerably more nervous about this than I would with an AS-BA connection, since AS and BA are both oneworld alliance members and therefore relatively close partners, and AS's baggage policy explicitly covers checking bags through in this case. Especially since WS has a YYC-LHR (and YYC-LGW) nonstop (and why aren't you taking that? I'd take WS's nonstop on their very nice 787s over a connection to fly BA any day of the week; in fact, YLW-YYC-LHR on WS is my preferred way to Europe even when it includes a connection), I wouldn't be surprised if WS agents are far less willing to check bags through on separate tickets.

If you're not checking bags, I wouldn't be too worried about a 2:21 connection in SEA on separate tickets, since your flight from YYC should arrive as a domestic flight (you'll clear US Customs in Calgary). But again, if WS is delayed enough to endanger your connection, you'd be hosed.

AbZorba

Excellent - thanks for the info ashill and apologies for using the wrong forum - realised as soon as I'd sent it!

I'm using Avios and a Companion Voucher and couldn't get direct to Calgary with BA so I've ended up with the reward flight return to Seattle and a separate paid for flight to Calgary. I'll stick with hand luggage only, sounds like I'm just adding unnecessary risk by checking in bags.

DG206

2:21 is more than enough if you are not checking a bag, all the terminals are connected. Even if you need to leave, check bag, and go back through security shouldn't take long at all

AbZorba

Excellent news - thanks all.

ashill

Makes sense. With hand luggage only, 2:21 is ample for this connection if it’s on time. If you can get checked in and get a boarding pass for your BA flight before leaving Calgary (online or, failing that, try at the BA counter at YYC if they’re open when you’re there), you’ll certainly make the flight with a WS delay up to 90 minutes or so, assuming BA is on time. Longer delay than that and it gets dicey. If you can’t get checked in for the BA flight, you might have to worry about check in deadlines.