BPJ

Hi

New to the site. Have to say great site and forum! Really enjoyed some of the BA tier point runs!

Advice greatly appreciated
I have a BA flight : LUX-ORD in November in CW
I had a separate positioning flight from LHR to LUX on same morning - BA in CE. I had 95 mins between flights which whilst tight was within BA transfer times.
BA have changed time of departing LUX flight such that I now only have 55 mins!.

Even with carry on this seems too tight. Does any one know LUX. Do you need to re-clear security? I could go out to LUX the previous afternoon. Before I phone BAEC- Do BA have to refund/offer a flight change for my positioning flight as they have changed the time meaning I will likely miss my connection.

Thoughts/ advice appreciated.

Mwenenzi

BPJ Welcome to FT

It is not a "connection" :- you have 2 tickets. As you have booked 2 separate tickets the risk of a missing your next flight is 100% your problem. If it was booked as 1 reservation/PNR you would have had a connection and then BA would have fixed the problem.

However as both flights are BA phone them and ask what they can do. Have your credit card handy.

JPG3392

Welcome to FT.

I'm a little unclear on the details of your flights. BA can hardly be flying LUX-ORD. And am I correct in thinking that "separate position flight from LHR to LUX" means that this flight is on a different reservation than your transatlantic flight?

If the reservations are separate, you don't strictly speaking have a connection, and BA is under no obligation to treat your schedule as such. What matters in this case is a) what BA's policies are when a schedule is changed by 40 minutes and b) what BA may be willing to do even if they are not strictly required to do so. Before you call BA, you should check their policies regarding a schedule change of 40 minutes. If that kind of change doesn't entitle you to reschedule or receive a refund, you should check to see if there is a better alternative and then politely ask BA if they will allow you to follow that route.

Often1

1. Not only is this not a connection, it is not on two BA tickets. BA does not serve LUX-ORD.

2. As others note, all OP can do is call BA and determine whether BA will move him to the next earlier flight and what, if anything that will cost.

A good example of how positioning flights on separate tickets can be very costly.

Mwenenzi

As a guess its LUX-LHR-ORD in CW to avoid paying the APD Sometimes its works and sometimes is does not (Does BA fly LHR-ORD?)
The flight is in November, so the schedule could change again.

NewbieRunner

Yes, avoiding the APD is the obvious explanation and BA does fly LHR-ORD.

LondonElite

Hello BPJ, welcome to FT!

Without looking at the timetable, can I assume that you were planning to taking the same aircraft back on your return LHR-LUX flight? In LUX, 55min is possible to go from arrivals back to departures, and any delay in the inbound service will have a consequential delay on the outbound (same aircraft).

I believe that you can avoid passport control by going through the 'correspondence' channel, but it's a fast airport with security (10 mins max). After you clear security (if you've had to do this), stay on the same level for the lounge and proceed straight ahead.

Note:

Ticket 1:
LHR-LUX

Ticket 2:
LUX-LHR-ORD-LHR-LUX

Ticket 1:
LUX-LHR

If you really wanted to feel safe, buy another separate flight to LUX much earlier (though I suspect you will then lose your CE positioning flight completely since I'll bet it's a very cheap ex-UK CE fare which is completely unchangeable; not much of an issue for the return, which you'll also lose, since you don't really want that flight )

To others, this is not so much about avoiding APD (though there is that benefit as well). This is about the cheap ex-EU I class fares that BA sells (especially during the sales). I'll bet BPJ is saving well over £1,000 doing this.

Incidentally, I've done you the favour of asking a moderator to move this to the BA forum, where you'll get pages of replies!

Prospero

Welcome to Flyertalk, BPJ

As LondonElite says, 55 minutes is more than adequate to clear both arrivals and departures formalities at LUX. Have a peek at the http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...ing-guide.html thread. This post in particular covers turnarounds at LUX

Cymro

55 minutes is probably plenty to get through security etc. but what about baggage?

Did the OP build in such a long turnaround time due to needing to re-check a bag? If so that could be a real problem at 55 minutes, although there are ways around this such as leaving luggage at LHR then collecting - which could cause problems if the LUX - LHR leg is late.

BPJ

Thanks for the replies and apologies for delay in replying. Heavy night followed by unexpected work!

London Elite was correct.

The main ticket is LUX-LHR-ORD return. As suggested this was substantially cheaper than the direct LHR-ORD flight. I then purchased sep LHR-LUX return flights to complete the journey at both ends. This gained a few extra TPs and as the turn around was short for the cost saving certainly seemed worth while - I assumed the LHR-LUX plane was a straight turn around (only 2 flights/day) and as such felt 95mins was long enough.

I'll phone BAEC and see what that they- if people are interested I'll post the response.

Again many thanks.
Happy flying!

LondonElite

Depending on the time between the LUX-LHR and LHR-ORD legs, I would say the accepted wisdom is to leave luggage at T5 Excess Baggage Co, next to M&S and domestic arrivals.

But you make a very good point.

Globaliser

Plan A would probably be to ask at LHR to check your bag for LHR-ORD only, even though you have not yet flown LUX-LHR. Experiences seem to differ as to whether this is permitted. Just yesterday, there was a report from someone who was successful.

Plan B would be to leave the bag at left luggage at LHR. Clear to landside after flying LUX-LHR, pick up the bag, check it in, and then fly LHR-ORD.

If you don't have the luxury of enough time for Plan B if Plan A doesn't work, then you may want to think about changing the LHR-ORD flight to a later time, so as to create the chance to do Plan B if necessary.

corporate-wage-slave

If you are on hand baggage only, I can confirm you will make a 55 minute connection at LUX, it is a tiny airport, there is a connections route (that always looks deserted, I think you have to call someone to let you through). However if you simply go landside and back via security, you can do the whole thing in 10 minutes easily. You'd probably manage a bit of lounge time, which is in the Schengen area and more or less en route. You can check if the European Parliament is in session there, which isn't often, then it may take a few more minutes to get through, but even then security at LUX is very swift. The only annoying thing is that you effectively walk the entire perimeter of the building, due to its layout and the location of the non Schengen gates, but as I say, it's a small building! I can't comment on checked luggage handling at LUX.

Welcome to Flyertalk BPJ!