Old Dec 23, 2016, 9:07 am
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Last edit by: corporate-wage-slave
Baggage issues
Can I check my luggage in before my positioning flight?
It isn't guaranteed. You can certainly try, and many FTers have done this without issue, provided the longhaul sector is in Club World or First, or you have at least Silver/Sapphire status. But there is a risk the agent won't let you do this before the first leg. See this post for more options and ideas:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/27654059-post328.html
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Ex-Mainland Europe Travel Planning Guide

Old Apr 20, 2015, 6:04 am
  #241  
 
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Originally Posted by love_flying_hate_strikes
But I guess what you are saying is, if you don't want to rely on them getting you to LHR, say, the following day, you should grab your bags if they are checked in and try to find another flight into LHR which maybe isn't FUBAR'd which would allow you to get on the original ex-LHR leg?
If your l/h ticket is AMS-LHR-xxx then you have to rely on BA get you - or more explicitly rely on BA to arrange to get you - from AMS to LHR, you can't just find your own way to LHR. If you do, you'll find BA have cancelled your ticket once you failed to show up for the AMS-LHR sector.
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Old Apr 20, 2015, 7:43 am
  #242  
 
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Originally Posted by shorthauldad
If your l/h ticket is AMS-LHR-xxx then you have to rely on BA get you - or more explicitly rely on BA to arrange to get you - from AMS to LHR, you can't just find your own way to LHR. If you do, you'll find BA have cancelled your ticket once you failed to show up for the AMS-LHR sector.

Roger that, thanks. Was trying to understand KARFA's point regarding IRROPS.
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Old Apr 20, 2015, 8:01 am
  #243  
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Originally Posted by love_flying_hate_strikes
So I guess for ex-EU (ie inbound to LHR on BA to catch a long-haul BA flight ex-LHR), if something goes wrong at say, AMS, BA is duty-bound to look after you anyway?
Originally Posted by love_flying_hate_strikes
Roger that, thanks. Was trying to understand KARFA's point regarding IRROPS.
So the easy way to look at it is that once you are present at AMS (let's say that's your exEU starting point) at the right time for your first flight of your exEU booking any cancellations/delays are BA's problem to sort out in the sense that you need to talk to them and they will rebook you and make any amendments to your itinerary to get you back on track and to your destination. You should certainly not take matters in to your own hands, as noted by shorthauldad, and you should not self-reroute and hope to pick up the itinerary at some later airport, this wouldn't work. This is why I say for IRROPS once on your ticket there is less risk since you shouldn't be left stranded, but equally if you know what you want rebooking on it is easier and more likely the agent will give you what you want rather than a rerouting you don't like as much.

If you are not at AMS at the right time for your first flight, for example you booked a U2 flight from MAN-AMS to position, then if something goes wrong with your U2 flight you have a big problem. You are not at AMS at the right time and therefore not BA's problem to sort out as you have not started your exEU ticket yet. There are some ways you can try and get things back on track including appealing to the BA agent at AMS to rebook you when you do arrive late, or calling BA and going to LHR and trying to persuade a BA agent to reinstate your booking starting at LHR. However, you have no guarantee of either working and BA may well tell you no.

So you can see the risk period is basically getting to the start point of your exEU. What you do to minimise that risk can include things like going the day before to AMS.
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Old Apr 23, 2015, 1:45 am
  #244  
 
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Hi All,

First of all, may I say what an extremely helpful thread this is and I thank all those that have spent their time since Dec 2013 adding info to it. It's a daunting prospect contemplating an ex-EU for the first time (me, Mrs jayceeohh and two teenage jayceeohh clones), but this guide makes it all sound so simple. Maybe that's a bad thing

I have at this point one small question that may be answered within these pages but having looked I can't find it. It might also be a little OT and for that I apologise. A quick play with Expedia this morning brought a DUB - LHR - PHX - LHR - OTP on I/J bookings of 1,100. BA is quoting me on L/N bookings just LHR - PHX at 1,269.46!!! Using all the advice on here I'm looking at a mid afternoon return to LHR from DUB following an early morning positioning flight to DUB, then home for the night (30 mins from LHR) before a lunchtime departure to PHX the following day. On the return I've priced up the LHR - OTP the day after my arrival from PHX, thus (hopefully) meaning my bags aren't checked through to OTP.

The Expedia quote, whilst all being on BA planes are a mixture of BA, AA and US tickets. If I choose just BA it rises to 1,234 pp. I realise that adding my BAEC number at the time of booking will ensure miles / points are added correctly, but as a SCH, I would like to book my seats, recognising that there's a slight chance of OF on the 747 that flies to PHX. Will I have to go into each different website (AA and / or US for the LHR - PHX - LHR legs) to save my seats, and if that is the case, if rows 2-4 are available, will I be able to save them via these websites just like I could on the BA site?

Thanks for you time and any help you can offer.

Jay
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Old Apr 23, 2015, 5:31 am
  #245  
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Originally Posted by jayceeohh
The Expedia quote, whilst all being on BA planes are a mixture of BA, AA and US tickets.
It might be a mixture of BA, AA and US flights, but they will all be issued on a single ticket by one of the carriers. (Excuse my pedantry )

Originally Posted by jayceeohh
If I choose just BA it rises to 1,234 pp. I realise that adding my BAEC number at the time of booking will ensure miles / points are added correctly, but as a SCH, I would like to book my seats, recognising that there's a slight chance of OF on the 747 that flies to PHX. Will I have to go into each different website (AA and / or US for the LHR - PHX - LHR legs) to save my seats, and if that is the case, if rows 2-4 are available, will I be able to save them via these websites just like I could on the BA site?
Seat reservations are the responsibility of the operating carrier and can be done on the operating carrier's website for each sector individually.

If they are on BA metal, but under a different codeshare, then you may have a bit of an argument with the computer to get the seats, but at worse you can obtain seat reservations by telephone. Your silver status will apply, but there can be bugs in communicating between the carriers.
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Old Apr 24, 2015, 12:50 am
  #246  
 
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Originally Posted by Calchas
It might be a mixture of BA, AA and US flights, but they will all be issued on a single ticket by one of the carriers. (Excuse my pedantry )



Seat reservations are the responsibility of the operating carrier and can be done on the operating carrier's website for each sector individually.

If they are on BA metal, but under a different codeshare, then you may have a bit of an argument with the computer to get the seats, but at worse you can obtain seat reservations by telephone. Your silver status will apply, but there can be bugs in communicating between the carriers.
Thanks for the response. I guess I just need to take the plunge, book (AA now quoting 1,068!) and contact BA to sort out seats. Actually where I sit is the least of my worries. Getting to and from Dublin, plus making sure our luggage doesn't travel to Bucharest on the final leg is of far greater concern
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Old Aug 14, 2015, 3:55 pm
  #247  
 
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Originally Posted by Prospero


No passport control or security. Most of the time its a gate arrival.

Terminal facilities
  • Wifi: free wifi terminal wide
  • Toilets: WCs are present at several points along the length of the terminal and inside both Finnair lounges
  • Smoking: designated smoking area by gate 36
  • Finnair Non-Schengen Lounge & Finnair Non-Schengen Premium Lounge between gates 36 & 37
  • Terminal map

FT back to back turn-around rating: Excellent
FT airside transfer rating: Excellent to Good
FT landside transfer rating: Reasonable
Flew LHR-HEL last Friday, and back on Monday - parked up at a Schengen gate, bussed round to an international gate. On the way back the buses departed from 37A. Not sure how common this is nowadays, but might be worth considering changing the "No coaching / Remote Stands" to "Risk of coaching" etc.
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Old Aug 16, 2015, 1:41 pm
  #248  
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Housekeeping notice

The turnaround slides for AMS and HEL have been updated and (in case anyone needs a quick reference) BGO, OSL, and SVG have been added 😉
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Old Aug 16, 2015, 2:02 pm
  #249  
 
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Hmmm, just back from DUS. It wasn't back-to-back as such, as I popped into town for a couple of beers, but it was lucky it wasn't...

Remote gate inbound from LHR (and outbound, but to LCY, so that was expected), it wasn't the first flight on a sunday, the usual BA gates were vacant, so no idea why. But, worst of all, the bus decants you halfway down the C terminal (under the bowels of an EK A380, in fact). Get your timing wrong, and you could land behind that, or any number of flights from Turkey or the Gulf, and your hopes of a quick turnaround would be dashed. Saw no evidence of airside transfers either - you'd have to go landside and walk to the other end of the next terminal; no fast track security either

Anyway, no chance of being 5 mins. At a clip, with no queues, you might do it in 25-30. Land after an A380 and it's anyone's guess how long you'd take...

Does anyone know if this is just a Sunday thing? For my return flight in a couple of months, I'm thinking of leaving a couple of hours' buffer, just in case...
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Old Aug 16, 2015, 2:16 pm
  #250  
 
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Originally Posted by kt74
Hmmm, just back from DUS. It wasn't back-to-back as such, as I popped into town for a couple of beers, but it was lucky it wasn't...

Remote gate inbound from LHR (and outbound, but to LCY, so that was expected), it wasn't the first flight on a sunday, the usual BA gates were vacant, so no idea why. But, worst of all, the bus decants you halfway down the C terminal (under the bowels of an EK A380, in fact). Get your timing wrong, and you could land behind that, or any number of flights from Turkey or the Gulf, and your hopes of a quick turnaround would be dashed. Saw no evidence of airside transfers either - you'd have to go landside and walk to the other end of the next terminal; no fast track security either

Anyway, no chance of being 5 mins. At a clip, with no queues, you might do it in 25-30. Land after an A380 and it's anyone's guess how long you'd take...

Does anyone know if this is just a Sunday thing? For my return flight in a couple of months, I'm thinking of leaving a couple of hours' buffer, just in case...
I reported the risk of the arrival to a remote stand earlier in the year here. Although that was in relation to the first flight in at the weekend.

However I didn't find any problems doing a back to back even when arriving at a remote stand as reported in my blog of my Indonesian TP Run. [Note this is an external blog not hosted by FlyerTalk]

Perhaps the difference was where the arrivals bus dropped you off? I certainly wouldn't have any concerns about doing a back to back at DUS again.
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Old Aug 17, 2015, 3:29 am
  #251  
 
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Originally Posted by billinghamn
I reported the risk of the arrival to a remote stand earlier in the year here. Although that was in relation to the first flight in at the weekend.

However I didn't find any problems doing a back to back even when arriving at a remote stand as reported in my blog of my Indonesian TP Run. [Note this is an external blog not hosted by FlyerTalk]

Perhaps the difference was where the arrivals bus dropped you off? I certainly wouldn't have any concerns about doing a back to back at DUS again.
Thanks for that - yup, I'd seen your mentioning first flight of the day being remote stand (but I hadn't seen your report - lovely - I'm off to KUL too in October, and now kicking myself for not checking F fares!)

The big difference was waiting to fill the bus, even though I was amongst the first few off the plane (followed by gate-side buggies, babies, kids, disabled people, the whole shebang; and it was p155ing down with rain); and departures security, if it was anything like when I left DUS yesterday afternoon (very pleasant and efficient staff, but only one scanner open, and it was one of those full body scanners, which nobody seemed to know how to use)

So my estimate based on yesterday's experience at DUS would be:
+:10 mins to get to bus gate
+:15 mins to get to passport control, assuming no other arriving aircraft
+:25 mins to get back past security
+:35 mins by the time you get to gate, because of the queue at passport control (one window open, 3 flights leaving within 30 mins)

With some back-to-backs only on the ground for a scheduled 45 mins or so, that would mean missing your return flight. Oh, and if anyone is doing LCY, mobile boarding pass didn't work for me either (not sure about LHR), contrary to what it says on the website, so you'd need a paper boarding pass from somewhere

I'm not saying it can't be done, but in the event you are on a remote stand, I wouldn't want to take my chances at DUS any more. It's definitely not 5 mins...
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Old Aug 17, 2015, 4:47 am
  #252  
 
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Originally Posted by kt74
Thanks for that - yup, I'd seen your mentioning first flight of the day being remote stand (but I hadn't seen your report - lovely - I'm off to KUL too in October, and now kicking myself for not checking F fares!)

The big difference was waiting to fill the bus, even though I was amongst the first few off the plane (followed by gate-side buggies, babies, kids, disabled people, the whole shebang; and it was p155ing down with rain); and departures security, if it was anything like when I left DUS yesterday afternoon (very pleasant and efficient staff, but only one scanner open, and it was one of those full body scanners, which nobody seemed to know how to use)

So my estimate based on yesterday's experience at DUS would be:
+:10 mins to get to bus gate
+:15 mins to get to passport control, assuming no other arriving aircraft
+:25 mins to get back past security
+:35 mins by the time you get to gate, because of the queue at passport control (one window open, 3 flights leaving within 30 mins)

With some back-to-backs only on the ground for a scheduled 45 mins or so, that would mean missing your return flight. Oh, and if anyone is doing LCY, mobile boarding pass didn't work for me either (not sure about LHR), contrary to what it says on the website, so you'd need a paper boarding pass from somewhere

I'm not saying it can't be done, but in the event you are on a remote stand, I wouldn't want to take my chances at DUS any more. It's definitely not 5 mins...
Glad you made your flight ok, and good warning to others about the risks at DUS.
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Old Sep 5, 2015, 4:29 pm
  #253  
 
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I jumped on the €1 fares France-Canada, before it was posted that they were available from any French airport - so I ended up buying my fare out of MRS. Never been there - anybody got any insight into the conditions for same-flight turnaround there?
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Old Sep 5, 2015, 5:08 pm
  #254  
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There's an entry in the wikipost in this thread, which contains a link to my recent experience on an early evening back-to-back at MRS: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...tinations.html
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Old Sep 6, 2015, 11:48 am
  #255  
 
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Originally Posted by Globaliser
There's an entry in the wikipost in this thread, which contains a link to my recent experience on an early evening back-to-back at MRS: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...tinations.html
Many thanks indeed, Globaliser! In short, based on your experience, would you dare do it again?
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