jeffrey262626

Hi all,

I'm around ~320 tier point short of BA gold. I am planning to do a mileage run on a weekend to hit gold.

Saturday:
LHR-HEL (outbound ticket 1)
HEL-LHR (outbound ticket 2)

Sunday:
LHR-HEL (inbound ticket 2)
HEL-LHR (inbound ticket 1)

I only have around ~50 minute connection time in HEL.... I did some research and I believe they'll be using the same aircraft but I just want to be sure that it's gonna work.

Thanks!

mikeyfly

I'm going to do the same, although several weeks apart! Both the usual threads give it a thumbs up I wouldn't worry

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/22081702-post18.html
Back-to-back / Immediate Turnarounds at BA Destinations

Krisz

Most of the time the BA planes arrive in HEL to a jetty, so the turnaround is easily doable as you exit to the boarding area and mixing with the passengers. There were a few times however when the BA plane arrived to a remote stand and a bus was used. I think it's still doable so i wouldn't worry much.

orbitmic

I have indeed had remote stands many a times, especially with the mid morning flight. When it happened, they tried to cram as many people as possible in the bus so disembarkation was slow. Moreover, when boarding by bus you have to go to the downstairs gates which are a bit of a walk from where you'd arrive if arriving by bus.

I'd say that bus gate + 15 minutes delay would be enough to make your B2B impossible, so personally, I actually would worry. You definitely cannot be certain that this will work.

DYKWIA

Some of the flights are bussed (there was regularly a BA flight going at about the same time as my 16:00 flight to MAN). In which case you'll have a problem, as you'll be dropped near the passport control area. It's about a 10 minute walk back to the bus gates, by which time the buses may have already left.

Lefly

Would you advise against it, then?

DYKWIA

I wouldn't chance it. Far better arriving the day before and have a nice evening in Helsinki

esledo

For BA794/799 it is a bus gate for maybe 90 % of time if the plane is running on time, at least until the new terminal is complete. B2B should be doable with busses, too, but it is maybe a good idea to go straight to the gate as it will close 20 mins before dep.

orbitmic

Completely agree, same for me. And yes, exactly, the flight that always arrived at a bus gate for me was the mid morning from LHR arriving around 16.00 that you mention.

Of course, as always, it depends on how risk averse one is and one what stands to lose. The risk of things going wrong is well above my personal threshold here, and if the "cost" of missing the B2B would be to potentially risk losing a long haul ex-HEL, I personally wouldn't touch a HEL B2B with a barge pole, sorry.

eefor jfp

But if it's a BA metal flight and thus the same plane, how could you not make it? If the inbound to Helsinki is delayed, the outbound back to Heathrow will be, too. They can't start cleaning the plane until everyone is on the bus and headed for the terminal. By the time you walk the five minutes from the bus arrivals gate to the bus departures gate, they should have just started boarding. And they almost always send two buses, so even if you're on the second bus, it shouldn't be a problem. Assuming you're able to do online check-in for the return.

orbitmic

I wouldn't be so sure. It is not unusual to start bus boarding as the plane is merely arriving (even if it means keeping people in the bus for a while) to try and catch up on delay. It's happened to me multiple times for bus boarding to start minutes after I've seen my plane landing late. As for cleaning during the rotation, we all know what a relative concept that is so I'd certainly wouldn't count on that to keep the plane on the ground long enough.

KeaneJohn

KARFA

I too am struggling with some of the comments on here. Firstly I am unclear why some are suggesting it takes 10 minutes to get from the bus arrival point to the departure gate? Perhaps are people thinking of a non-schengen arrival to a shengen departure? that would be a 5-10 minute walk as the shengen bus gates are around gate 20 which is completely the other end of the terminal. in fact the whole non-schengen area is not massive and you can walk from passport control to any gate within 5 minutes.

the non-schengen bus drop off is on the ground floor around the gate 51a-d area. it's possible the flight would be boarding from one of those bus gates in which case you are there and it will take seconds from entering to being at the gate. the bus gates used in my experience tend to be the new 50a-m ones though so that is up the escalator, about 60m walk, right turn, down the escalator, and then to whicever a-m gate is being used. the OP can download the HEL airport app beforehand to check the gate before reaching the terminal, the buses have free wifi, that walk takes less than 2 minutes. for a b2b there is no security or immigration or bp check on entering the terminal, you just have to walk to the boarding gate.

also as noted if the in bound is delayed the boarding of the outbound will also be similarly delayed. in my experience HEL does not seem to be an airport where they just start boarded with reference to the scheduled departure time regardless and then have you sat in a bus near the aircraft for ages until ready to board.

i have to say i really wouldn't be worried if i booked a b2b at HEL even if it was a bus gate.

megaloman

I second KARFA - Helsinki is fool proof b2b location. A few weeks ago I've done 45 minutes connection from AY1332 to AY1337, albeit on a single ticket. Our A359 was running late, we've landed at 15:30 at gate 54 - still managed to get into the Premium lounge, then to the bus gate 50A... in time for 16:00 departure.

DYKWIA

It's probably changed since I was last there. I think I used to get dropped off just near the schengen checkpoint when arriving from MAN. By the time you'd got off the bus and up the stairs, it would have been about 10 minutes to get back to bus gates.