QueenOfCoach

Short answer: No.

Long answer: LHR does not trust any other airport's security. Thus everyone arriving at LHR has to go through their security. It doesn't matter if you are on a connecting flight or just came to the airport from somewhere in London.

You will say goodbye to your wife at the Flight Connections point after your flight arrives. She will stay in T5 and you will go on to T3.

I wrote a detailed post in the BA forum about connecting in LHR. You might want to have a look at that message and the entire thread to better prepare yourself for the LHR connection experience.

Your AA J international ticket will get you into a lounge in T3. There is an Admirals Club, plus BA and others. I have only been in the Admirals Club. Others in FT have suggested the other lounges are better, but I'm totally OK with the AC. All I want is some fruit juice and a comfy place to sit with electrical outlets.

Arsey00

I wouldn't. But here's how I think it would go if you tried it:

You'd enter the country as normal at immigration, go back through security in T5 with the transitting AND originating masses, walk through the shopping mall to the Flounge/CCR complex at the opposite end of the terminal. To leave, you'll need to exit the secure area (not signed, you will need an airport escort to operate the badge protected doors and quite possibly be told to go through immigration again), take a bus or tube train to T3, go through security again, go through the shopping mall and get to your gate before boarding closes (some gates in the 40s are guided as 15 minutes walk from the departure lounge area. It's probably a little too high an estimate, but AA does sometimes use those far gates).

Keep in mind that LHR strictly enforces 'conformance' which is their way of not allowing people to decide for themselves whether they can make it: your boarding pass must be scanned at security in T3 at least 35(?) minutes before scheduled door closure. If you miss conformance, you will be directed to a landside ticketing desk.

You will, at least, have fast track. If you do decide to risk it, that'd work in your favour. But I'd be surprised if you had time to find a seat with your wife before you have to leave again, never mind enjoy the offerings.

kilbornr

Thanks for the detailed reply. That is kind of what I figured would be involved. Oh well. I guess I'll go enjoy the AC without her. I wonder if she can use her BA F lounge guest privilege to "guest" me into the T3 Flounge remotely from the T5 lounge.

Exec_Plat

1. I would set up alerts to get you both onto the same flight in an award... AA or BA. ( I have my wife in QF f and me in J on the same plane and she finds that 'unacceptable'... )

2. To others: Can they both use the T3 AA arrivals lounge outside security (and immigration) upon arrival into LHR?

3. It is possible to book a refundable ticket from LHR to [somewhere] (check in and BP) to get into T5.... very much frowned upon here. I'd focus on #1

QueenOfCoach

You can get into the AC with your own international J ticket.

I think you had a mental picture of LHR transfers much like connections at DFW or ORD. You both arrive in T5, you go together to the T5 lounge, wait a while, then you leave via some kind of shuttle for T3 and she stays behind. That is not at all the reality of transfer at LHR.

As a real-life example, consider my experience last year, which is typical. I fly LAX-DUS every year via LHR. I am very accustomed to the procedure. I had 2 hr 45 min between flights. Last year I arrived on an AA flight in T3, probably Gate 35 or so. (By a quirk of fate, I was in J. I didn't plan it that way, but that's how it worked out.)

I had to

-Walk the long distance from the gate to the Flight Connections point.
-Wait for the bus.
-Get on the bus and ride to T5.
-Off the bus at T5 and go up to the security level of T5. Super-long escalator, if you are in to that kind of thing.
-Go through pre-security questioning, up another escalator, then through regular security.
-Once through security, I went to the Boots down the hall and bought travel sized bottles of contact lens solution, unavailable in my area in the USA. That took about 10 min.
-Over to the North BA lounge, found a seat and waited about 45 minutes.
-My DUS gate was announced, so walked to that gate in the South part of the terminal.
-Waited about 15 minutes to board the flight.

Bottom line: Following the _normal_ connection procedure with a 2:45 layover, I had about 45 minutes in the lounge. You have about an hour longer between flights, but much more hassle to get to that lounge. I doubt if you would have much time with you wife there, at all.

Plus: You run a giant risk since your flight out of T3 and on home is an award flight. If you miss the flight, or miss LHR conformance and thus miss the flight, you will have a GIANT problem getting a new award seat.

I doubt seriously if your wife will be able to "remotely" guest you in. Guesting in is for the convenience of the first class passenger who doesn't want to be separated from a traveling companion. You are already separated by virtue of getting separate flights.

If you are nerdy like me, you might want to check out the distances on Google Earth.

The T5 Flight Connections bus point is at 51.471367 -0.486724. The T3 FC bus point is 51.470031 -0.459696. As the crow flies, that's about 1.25 miles apart. The bus, of course, takes a route that goes to the south of the runways through a series of tunnels. I would guess that route is about 1.5 miles. The bus is not really fast, so I'd estimate it takes about 10 min for the one way trip. That's after you've waited and boarded the bus.

Finally, I know AA has verbiage on their website indicating that purchase of an airline ticket for the sole purpose of accessing airline facilities is considered fraud (by them). I don't know about BA, but I can very well imagine "issues" if you try the refundable ticket routine.

Arsey00

Unfortunately, I think the best you'll get is a few emailed photos...

1. Good idea!

2. They'll be landing in T5. T5 has a BA arrivals lounge, but you can only use it after a long haul, not before.

lkar

What happens to domestic or RoI arrivals at T5? Don't they just walk out of the airport after getting off their plane? Why couldn't OP leave T5 as though he was an arriving PAX? (I guess the answer must be that arriving PAX who do not need to go through immigration at T5 probably are somehow whisked away outside the terminal without mingling with the rest of the masses in T5, but I'm just checking.)

Is it possible to check out the immigration lines and, if they are long, go back to fight connections in T5? So, could OP and spouse, if they wanted to spend more time together, simply go to immigration, enter the UK, and then hang out for another hour or two at the Coffee Grotto in T5 arrivals? The spouse simply goes upstairs and goes through security and catches her flight, and OP takes the HEX over the T3 and catches his flight. The problem with this is that if immigration is a 1.5 hour wait, that won't work. But can they go scope out the lines and if it all looks good, just enter the UK as arriving MUC pax and then hang out together at T5. If it looks bad, say goodbye and do flight connections?

SJC AA

Domestic arrivals do walk out, but Munich is not domestic.

There is a way to do this, but it isn't much fun.

The passenger with a T3 departure needs to book a refundable (e.g. Avios) flight out of T5 for later in the day. Then both pax clear conformance and security in T5 FCC. When the T3-departing passenger decides it's time to head to T3 (at least an hour and a half before flight time), he cancels the T5 ticket, boards the shuttle train to T5B/T5C, and then stays on it at T5C. He is then treated as an arriving passenger and can get off at T5B (or T5A, but that would waste time), take the connections bus to T3, clear security there again, etc. Not really worth it, IMHO.

QueenOfCoach

Airports everywhere are good at segregating passengers arriving from different departure points. Those who must pass Immigration/Customs are directed one way. Those who do not need Immigration/Customs are directed another way. Usually there are stern-faced folks with walkie-talkies along the path to ensure stragglers don't get their own ideas.

QueenOfCoach

I agree.

Remember, we are talking about a husband and wife who will be reunited at the end of the journey. I get the impression the husband just wants to experience the BA first class lounge. I can understand that desire.

This is not some kind of deal where millions of dollars or national security depend on these two people meeting face to face before traveling to their separate destinations. We're not talking about James Bond or Sherlock Holmes.

It could be done, but there is too much at risk (missing an award ticket and having to buy a full-fare walk-up ticket) and not that much to gain. The couple could enjoy a really nice bottle of "First Class Lounge" champagne at home with the money not spent on the replacement ticket.

Speedracer2

Not so in AMS where arriving and departing passengers can mingle in the terminal.

kilbornr

This is what I was hoping for, but all my research and everyone's replies shows that it is really more like JFK where each terminal is a separate beast and you can't just terminal hop at will. The main difference between JFK and LHR seems to be that at LHR international connections can be made without clearing immigration first.

dmsdfw

The fundamental factor at play is that LHR, and all other UK airports, are primarily geared up for international flights whereas US airports are more biased to domestic operations. This means that the majority of the departure areas are considered outside the country for immigration purposes and therefore you can't freely leave them other than on a plane.

QueenOfCoach

I should have been more specific.

In Europe, they segregate people arriving from non-Schengen countries from those arriving from Schengen countries. (Various exceptions involving Switzerland and Norway, but I digress.)

Take Düsseldorf, for example. I am very familiar with this process. When I arrive from my LHR-DUS flight, I walk off the plane and go through Passport Control before entering the main concourse. I am now officially "landed" in Schengen-land. I can freely mix in the main concourse with passengers arriving from Schengen-land and those originating in Düsseldorf going to other Schengen-land countries. I can travel to other Schengen-land countries, such as Belgium or France, without any passport checks.

Amsterdam, being in Schengen-land, would be similar.

When I leave for my DUS-LHR flight, I am in the main concourse mixing with all the other passengers, until I get to the where I must go through Passport Control to get to the departure gate. I have to show them my boarding pass and get my passport stamped for an exit. Thus, I leave Schengen-land and am on my way to the UK. They have a small Passport Control stand that is staffed when a non-Schengen flight arrives or departs.

Once in LHR, should I stay in London, I would go through the UK Border check.

Since I'm a transit passenger, I stay in LHR. I walk to Flight Connections, go to T3, through T3 security then on to the departure lounge and eventually my flight back to LAX.

In other countries, where there is no Schengen-type agreement to eliminate border checks, incoming passengers are segregated from the main departure lounge. When I arrive on my LHR-LAX flight, I pass through various corridors on my way to the BCP area in Los Angeles. I might see the main departure lounge through glass, but am effectively cut off from it. Once through BCP, I am officially "landed" in the USA and can go wherever I please. Usually straight home.

As I said before, airports are architecturally designed to move people from one point to another, satisfying airport security and legal immigration requirements. Barriers exist to keep people moving in the desired direction and not get lost in the process.

The subject under discussion in this mini-thread involves a man who wants to get around these barriers to spend time with his wife in the LHR T5 First Class lounge. It is possible, as others have mentioned, but difficult. He would have to buy a fully refundable T5 departure ticket, etc etc. It would be like swimming against the current as opposed to floating along with the current.

aktchi

Same in SIN. This is clearly good for pax and for airport businesses as well.

In the US this is fairly common for domestic arrivals and departures---arriving pax can access the same shops and lounges as departing ones---but sadly not for international.