LHR-LUX is Immediate return to LHR possible?
May 4, 2017, 10:43 pm
#1
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LHR-LUX is Immediate return to LHR possible?
I can return from LHR -SEA for 70k Alaska miles and $525+ or LUX to SEA connecting in LHR for 70 K and $240. (Same onward flights) I can use 4500 BA miles to fly from LHR to LUX to position and save ~$250 but I would need to turn around in LUX in 50 minutes. It is the same plane but having never been to LUX I don't know what to expect and if I can stay airside (a la the US) Or if I need to do the Heathrow shuffle through passport control. If I need to exit and go through passport control this will not work. Any ideas and would any attempt? In the US this would be no big deal
BTW, I will not be checking bags
BTW, I will not be checking bags
Last edited by LasVegasBuck; May 4, 2017 at 10:44 pm Reason: Clarification
May 4, 2017, 10:49 pm
#2
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May 4, 2017, 11:05 pm
#3
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May 4, 2017, 11:59 pm
#5
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May 5, 2017, 12:27 am
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May 5, 2017, 12:59 am
#7
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There is no airside transit at LUX, so you will need to go through passport control and back through security. That said it's a small airport and both are normally quick. I've done a back-to-back (i.e. got off a flight from LHR and back on the return operated by the same aircraft) here without issue, and every other time I've been through the airport there have been no queues. There is the potential for it to go wrong, however, and I'm not sure that's worth $250 (to me, anyway).
May 5, 2017, 1:41 am
#8
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On my only visit to LUX (BA) I was one of the first off the plane but had a 25-minute wait at immigration as we were behind at least one easyJet arrival. That would have been very ropey as a B2B.
There must be better T3 destinations that are Band 1 redemptions e.g. Marseille (off-peak) and Bilbao
There must be better T3 destinations that are Band 1 redemptions e.g. Marseille (off-peak) and Bilbao
May 5, 2017, 1:45 am
#9
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Echoing previous comments, you'll likely be fine in LUX. My folks did it back in January with non-EU passports. Not foolproof, but safe enough IMO. Check the thread posted above, particularly this
post from c-w-s.
(As an aside, they used Airportr to check in bags for the longhaul flight which worked just fine.)
Since no one has ever seen the transfer desk open you have to go landside. However LUX airport is tiny, smaller than LBA. Arrivals is at one end of the square building, security at the other end, with the check in desks in between, To go back-to-back you clear passports, walk the length of the building landside to security and round back airside to the gate. It is a landside transfer but as easy at it gets. The building is 100 metres from corner to corner, and you are therefore walking just under 400 metres in all.
(As an aside, they used Airportr to check in bags for the longhaul flight which worked just fine.)
May 5, 2017, 1:56 am
#10
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Re-reading my own post, the one fact that I didn't include, though it's fairly obvious when you are in LUX, is that you need to go up a level. Arrivals is all in level -1, and departures is at ground level (Rez-de-chausée/rdc). There a stairway and lifts as you bear left from arrivals. Assuming non EEA passports, and assuming the passengers are quick to the passport control desk on arrival, then all will be fine. Exit passports is done such that it's unlikely to miss a flight by being held up there.
May 5, 2017, 4:08 am
#11
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On my only visit to LUX (BA) I was one of the first off the plane but had a 25-minute wait at immigration as we were behind at least one easyJet arrival. That would have been very ropey as a B2B.
There must be better T3 destinations that are Band 1 redemptions e.g. Marseille (off-peak) and Bilbao
There must be better T3 destinations that are Band 1 redemptions e.g. Marseille (off-peak) and Bilbao
Due to an easyJet flight that is scheduled just before the BA flight (and which is often a bit late) you could be standing behind a full plane-load of people at immigration with only 2 officers handling passport checks.
I have spent around 30 minutes at immigration before due to this.
So if you are attempting that, at least make sure you are sitting in the very front of the plane.