KeaneJohn

orbitmic

Not only and not necessarily. B2B can go wrong for instance if: 1) you land at a bus gate and with a delay, by the time you arrive into the terminal from flight A, boarding are already closed for flight B; 2) some flights that day are cancelled and BA uses renumbering with the existing rotations (e.g. BA 111 was due to arrive at 09.00 and leave at 09.40 as BA 112, BA 113 was due to arrive at 11.00 and leave at 11.40 as flight BA 114. BA 111 is delayed and end up arriving at 10.50, BA run it back at 11.40 as BA 114, and they cancel BA 112 (ex-LON) and BA 113 (ex-AMS).

Variations of both of the above have happened to me though both are unusual and BA LHR and LGW flights usually use contact gates at AMS so B2B is a LOT safer than taking an earlier flight the same day, but they are not full proof. In my view, flying the day before, whilst also not full proof is also faster.

As mentioned, with checked luggage, the only way that B2B would work is by short checking from LHR to your final destination before heading to AMS. However, again, this is not full proof. First of all, some people have reported being refused that at check in when trying to check in before an earlier flight to somewhere else that showed in the system (I can't find the thread but I remember it distinctly).

Second it sometimes technically fails. In fact, this has happened to me twice in recent months even though I very rarely check luggage. The F wing agents would try to check my luggage in to LAX whilst I was first going to BRU and flying BRU-LAX via LHR later that day and the system would not allow it. The agents tried, call supervisors etc and nothing would do. They did not know what was happening. One thing to note was that I was not on B2B, I was genuinely going to Brussels (in that first example) for a meeting n the morning and leaving again in the afternoon, so I did wonder if it was because the flight check in was not supposedly open early on from BRU. I was also SSSS and the F wing lady wondered if it was because BRU could not tick some box about that and that created a block on short checking but that seemed unlikely to me as the SSSS is, I believe, only for the LHR-LAX flight there. The second time it happened to me was NCE (was basically supposed to be in NCE the days before but had to stay in London longer and it proved cheaper to just fly to NCE just before and fly back than to change the itinerary, which is paradoxical because NCE fares were actually more expensive than ex-LHR but by the time I needed the change, advance purchase made all fares a lot higher and it would have been recalculated). So both cases, I had to check in my bags to BRU/NCE, pick them up, and check again and was really glad that I was not B2B!!

The bottom line is that B2B with HBO to AMS is 98% likely to work, much better than flying a few hours earlier in any case. However, B2B with checked luggage is not 98% likely to work because you add the risk that your attempt to check from LHR to final destination is either refused or fails technically and that risk, in my experience is real, so personally, this is not something that I would attempt and if checking luggage, personally, I certainly would fly the day before.

obduro

We normally position the day before to manage the risk (if flying via LON we make a day trip of it and sleep in our own bed the night before more often than not, otherwise airport hotel!)

+1 for Citizen M if you choose to stay in AMS - personally my risk tolerance for a B2B (which has many many many examples of being perfectly fine) is low but if you choose that way around, I agree with others who say it's not possible with checked bags. If you aren't able to check them in for your BKK flight just use left luggage.

darloscott

I've got an ex-EU coming up from AMS and planning to fly there from my local (Durham Tees Valley) with KLM. My BA departure is 4pm so was planning on getting the morning KLM flight - would I be better going the night before just in case? I've not booked that leg yet so plenty of scope for changing plans.

KeaneJohn

Tiger_lily

Cymro

Just to confirm that I was refused checked bags in advance of an LHR-VIE positioning VIE-LHR-YYZ. Thankfully I'd anticipated and had packed a rather full cabin bag that I wouldn't need for the duration of my flight, so I just had to lug it around rather than jettison my stuff or find left luggage on a tight connection.

My preferred route for a B2B is to take the last LHR-AMS-LHR pair of the day (so LHR-AMS on BA442, returning on BA443 typically) on the night before, then do whatever I would normally do in London (go to work, check a bag, etc.) on an ex-LHR the next day. That way I've plenty of time contingency and very little risk of a bus gate.

giorgio1712

I'm doing AMS-LHR-CPT in January, flying over the day before and having a night in Amsterdam. I have also booked a £35 ticket on Eurostar as an extra backup, I wanted to add a different mode of transport to reduce my risk further.

nufnuf77

This could be because you were checking bags in at T3 (VIE flights) for YYZ which departs from T5?

Cymro

No, I got to T5 extra early

orbitmic

To add to Cymro's answer, he is not the only person to whom this has happened, so again, refusals do occur and acceptance should not be taken for granted. Quite simply, B2B are by far best for people who intend to be travelling solely with hand baggage.

nufnuf77

With the number of check-in counters at T5, I would HUACA it haha