Earliest bag check times at BA European stations
 

I arrived at FCO early last week to find seven (yes, seven) people behind the check in desk, all doing nothing. One was knitting, another was reading a newspaper, others were gossiping. All of them refused to accept my bag at T-3hours. FWIW, I am a GCH but that is not the issue here.

I know that, LHR/LGW a BAEC card holder can check in luggage from 5:00AM on the day of travel, regardless of ETD. That is a wonderful privilege, which can be very useful.

I would not and do not expect such a facility at BA's European outstations. However, can someone tell me what is the earliest bag check in times at DUS, FCO, MIL etc, please?

Plenty of people have read this thread, but no one has any answers - yet.

I'm not sure there is any set time to be honest..

I would have said 3 hours before as that is fairly standard. However, a visit to BOD saw them only open about 90 minutes before.

Actually at LGW any passenger, no matter their status and including non BAEC members, can check a bag at any time for any flight (unless there's disruption in which case that will change). And we also take bags from 4pm for any flight the following day.

As for Italian outstations, well they have no rules anyway ;):D

This is a really useful policy ... I just wish more airports(/airlines) offered it!

So, well done BA LGW! :cool:

That is because there is no sure answer. At many outstations it is the airport that decides when check-in/bag drop opens (probably because their baggage systems are overloaded or because there is nowhere to hold your bag for so long). In most cases you can safely assume that you will be OK 2 hours before departure.

Thanks to all who have taken the trouble to respond to my query, especially to angatol for pointing out an early thread on this very subject!

Molto grazie a tutti!

I'm flying (my first) F in January next year and made a slight mess of my valet parking reservation. I actually booked it for a day earlier than we're flying!

This might end up working in my favour, as we're staying at the Hilton T4 the night before the flight which has a free private shuttle service to T5 and back.

It would cost £16 for a night's parking at the Hilton whereas the extra day's parking I booked at LHR is only about £4, so I was wondering if I could OLCI, then bag drop around 6-7pm the evening before the flight which is at 12:45 the next day, leave the car there and just take the shuttle back to the Hilton.

I called BA gold line to ask about this and was told as I was flying F I could bag drop "at any time before the flight". So I asked, "so the day before is OK?", she replied "at any time before the flight!", so I said "so, a week before is OK?", she replied again "at ANY time before the flight!".

I found this a bit too good to be true so I thought I would ask on here, surely there must be a limit to how far in advance you can bag drop!

Panny, you can't bag-drop unless you are checked in, so since one can OLCI 24hours before the flight departs, I would assume "any time before the flight" would mean any time after you have checked in (OLCI or otherwise). You must be in possession of a valid boarding pass, so OLCI will either give you a mobile BP or allow you to print one.

I'd rather keep my bags until the morning I'm flying, since then I have the "liquids" I need for the day of the flight. Hilton T4 to LHR T5 isn't too bad, and if you need help with the luggage, it should be no problem. I also think (though this is just my rumour) that the shuttle bus picks up on arrivals level and drops off at departures level at T5.

5am on day of departure.

Thanks for the clarification, I thought it was a bit too good to be true! :)

The Hilton shuttle picks up and drops off at the arrivals level, I've used it several times so I'm pretty sure about that.

As our main suitcases are usually stuffed full we don't normally open them at the Hilton, so I think we will OLCI, bag drop the day before and just keep our wheelie bags with a change of clothes for the flights etc to take on as hand luggage. This should save a bit of hassle on the day of the flight and give us a bit more CCR time too :D

I just hope they don't lose the cases if we drop them too far in advance! :eek:

Why on earth doesn't BA establish set opening times for each flight+outstation combo and publish them online?

Interestingly, this is something I've meant to ask on FT! There's a minor checked bag dilemma coming up:

I'm flying from TXL to LHR on 31 Dec, spending New Year's in London and flying out to BOM on the morning of the 1st (!) in F. I'll have a big suitcase and a rolling, more compact suitcase. I'd like to avoid taking the big one with me to London on the 31st but am not sure what to do. Is there a commercial luggage storage facility at T5? I'm guessing from the replies above that I couldn't leave the big suitcase airside in the bowels of T5 overnight?

Yes, there is a commercial luggage storage unit on the arrivals level, landside, towards M&S.

You wouldn't be able to store your bag anywhere airside.