JB in AZ

Hi from a less than frequent flyer, and even less frequent poster here...so if this is answered elsewhere, or in the wrong place, please let me know, direct me. I tried searching, but, well, this is a huge forum! Thanks!

We are flying on an AA flight operated by BA to Rome FCO from PHX in Oct 2020 for a cruise. Air tickets are reserved and guaranteed thru Princess EZair Business class to FCO with a 2:45 connection in LHR. Last year we went thru LHR to Copenhagen CPH and it was a nightmare! Same terminal for arrival and departing flights, IIRC, but unfamiliar (to us) security and un-friendly (UK equivalent TSA) agents. We were not knowing what to expect and as we are "older" it was difficult for us. I hesitated to book these flights this year as I wanted to avoid LHR, but the alternatives didn't seem any better. (1:45 in FRA, 7+ hrs in MIA) etc. IIRC, we had to get our baggage in LHR and re-check it onward to CPH??? I could be wrong as we were tired from long flight to LHR, and we had some expectations at that time that were apparently wrong. At that time it was also AA/BA. We would like to know what to expect in LHR this time.

What advice can the experienced group here provide, and, is 2:45 enough I get through the mandatory checks and baggage stuff, and possibly have a few minutes to go to the lounge?

Our return is from Barcelona BCN, and also goes thru LHR.

Besides being less $ than booking through the airlines, these fights can be changed or cancelled with NO fee until Mid Aug, so this is a good way for us to book our flights for a cruise.

I will be happy to give flight numbers, exact times etc if that helps any. Appreciate any insight.
Again, if this has been discussed elsewhere, please advise.

JB

corporate-wage-slave

It may be best to give the flight numbers, just to be sure, since there may be some terminal changes here, but I hesitate to be dive into the answer until we know exactly what flights are involved.

If a general answer will do, normally a 1 hour connection within Terminal 5 is fine, and that's the minimum. I've done plenty with less time than that (lowest being below 30 minutes) and been fine. If there is a T3 / T5 change, then that minimum is 90 minutes, and it's very rare for people to miss their flights. I've seen the stats on that, and on one particular month last year only on 2 days did anyone miss their flight. So you really should be fine and even have a bit of time to have a bite to eat or something to drink.

Key to it is understanding that in Europe the security standards are different to TSA. In particular liquids to to conform to the 100ml x 10 max items rule, clear plastic bag and removed from the bag. Along with anything electric/electronic larger than a mobile phone (to be safe), clumps of wires, battery packs and anything which could look like Semtex (e.g. cheese). If in doubt, take it out, spread it clearly and neatly, no strange wires running everywhere. This will avoid a secondary and normally security should only take a few minutes. Read the Heathrow website, the same system will apply in BCN as well.

There is a guide in the Forum Dashboard for transferring at Heathrow, which you may also want to read.

JB in AZ

Thank you! MUCH appreciated! I will have a look at the guide. Here are the flight numbers, I wasn't sure if that was too much info
Sept 29 AA 194 PHX - LHR depart PHX 3:15PM arrive LHR 9:25AM
Sept 30 BA 560 LHR - FCO depart LHR 12:40 PM arrive FCO 4:15PM

Oct 15 BA 473 BCN - LHR depart BCN 10:05AM arrive LHR 11:30AM
Oct 15 AA 6198 LHR - PHX depart LHR 2:15PM arive PHX 505PM

JB

The _Banking_Scot

Hi,

Outbound it will be arriving at T3 and departing from T5 (AA PHX -LHR uses T3) with a bus transfer T3-T5 with security but bags will be checked through.

Inbound it will be arriving at T3 ( BCN uses T3) but AA 6198 is a BA metal filght so will use T5 ( it has moved from T3) with another bus journey.

2hr 45 is plenty of time for a connection but I have to admit the bus journey is not the best ( albeit on Monday at lunchtime I was one of only 2 pax on the T3-T5 bus!)

Regards


TBS

UKtravelbear

delete - got confused over terminals!

scottishpoet

Your previous experience when you had to collect bags and recheck, this would be the case if your had one booking to LHR and then a separate booking from LHR. In situations like this AA and BA will not check through bags.

I assume that on this occasion you will have one booking, PHX to FCO, in which case your bags should be checked through and you will not have to collect them.

In terms of the T3 to T5 connection, this should take around 45 minutes from when you leave the inbound aircraft to when you have cleared security in T5. The bus journey itself is around 10 minutes.

Assuming an ontime inbound arrival, a generous 15 minutes to leave the plane, and being at the T5 gate 40 minutes before departure this would give you around 1 hour 15minutes in the lounge.

corporate-wage-slave

Some great advice above, nothing I would disagree with. Some extra points of my own:

- You mentioned potentially changing your flights. In a way you have got them the wrong way around: you should ideally swap airlines around, and arrive into London on the BA service from Sky Harbor - since that has moved to T5 - and return on AA, departing from T3, this would avoid the terminal transfer in both directions.
- If you are the sort that hates being rushed between flights, well yes, try and increase the connection time. The downside is that it makes the overall journey longer / more tiring, so I would personally avoid that, but maybe a slower approach is better for you?
- You didn't have a great transfer last time, but you seem to have lounge access. T3 has some great lounges for you to enjoy (some would say the best selection of lounges anywhere) and the lounges in T5 are better than what you will get in most airports. So maybe consider leaving a day early, having a night in Heathrow in both directions? The hotels near the airport are very good value on the whole, lots to choose from and will mean you get to BCN or PHX more rested than the direct services. The security experience for those starting in London is generally better than the experience of those connecting, for complex reasons, so that will de-stress the process too. If you did that the T3 to T5 thing wouldn't matter. You could choose if the luggage goes all the way through to FCO out / PHX back, or you can recover in London, assuming it's one ticket. That also protects your cruise timings a bit better, if there were delays.

QueenOfCoach

So you are flying Phoenix - London Heathrow - Rome. The PHX flight is on AA and the Rome flight is on BA. Do I have that right?

As far as I know, there is only one PHX-LHR AA flight a day, AA 194. I was on that flight last November. It departed from Sky Harbor Terminal B. EDITED TO ADD: I saw later you are on a BA flight PHX to LHR. You should arrive and depart from T5.

I fly LAX-LHR-Europe every year. I am familiar with the procedure. I usually fly AA LAX-LHR then BA LHR-Europe. (Last year flying from PHX was an exception.)

You will not have to worry about checked bags in London. Assuming you are on one ticket, your bags in PHX will be checked through to FCO. I think you might be mistaken about your need to collect bags last year when you went to CPH. Either that, or you were on two separate tickets.

I, personally, don't find it such a nightmare as some describe. I do it every year and, yes, I am a senior with creaky knees.

Here is, in detail, what you should expect.

1. Check in at PHX, and get your luggage checked all the way to FCO. Confirm with the check-in agent what terminals you will arrive in and depart from in London. Ask for a BA LHR-FCO boarding pass. In my experience sometimes I get it, sometimes not. If not, then I will have to get the LHR-Europe BA boarding pass in London. Not a big deal. It's just slight more convenient to get it at check-in.

2. Board the aircraft and fly to London.

3. Arrive in London at (most likely) Terminal 3. You will depart (most likely) out of Terminal 5. After your PHX check-in, you will know for sure.

4. When you get off the plane in London, follow the purple Flight Connection signs. You can't go wrong here. If, for some reason you arrive and depart out of the same terminal (not likely in my opinion), you still follow the purple Flight Connection signs,. If you arrive in T3 and depart from T5 (most likely) you still follow the purple Flight Connection signs.

5. Flight Connection purple signs will take you to a departing bus station if you are changing terminals. Just look for the Terminal 5 bus line and wait there. It should be a short wait. There are chairs available should you, like me, need to sit down.

6. Once in the bus, if you are in need of a seat (as I am) grab one. If you are one of the last to board and fear the seats might all be taken, then just wait for the next bus. I've done that, no problem. They have a few seats with blue handicapped reserved stickers. If an able-bodied person is seated there, just give them the "Grandma Look of Where Are Your Manners?" and hope they volunteer to move.

7. The bus takes you to your departure terminal, most likely T5.

8. This is important to understand: All connecting passengers (excepting I believe people connecting from UK airports, but I am not sure) MUST go through LHR security. From reading your message, I think you were not expecting this last time, as you might be accustomed to USA connecting airports where passengers go through TSA only at the beginning of their trip. In London, you and everyone else will have to go through their security.

9. As you are flying Business Class, you are eligible for their "Fast Track", so it's a bit easier.

10. After you get off the bus, follow again the purple Flight Connection signs. You will find yourself in a large area where there are airline check in desks and lots of LHR employees to help guide the befuddled passengers. This is the beginning of the security process. If you need to get a boarding pass for your BA flight, do so here.

11. With boarding pass and passports in hand, look for the Fast Track line. You will first show boarding passes and passports to an agent who confirms you have arrived in T5. This is (I believe) called Flight Conformance. Others may correct me if I am mistaken. Go past the Flight Conformance podium, follow the crowd and go up an escalator.

12. Get off the escalator and follow the signs to Fast Track Security.

13. The LHR security process is a bit different than US TSA security. You don't have to remove your shoes, unless they are heavy-looking and/or very metallic. I think they are only looking at shoes with a thick sole where contraband could be hidden. (Tip: Don't wear heavy shoes on your flight.) You do have to remove all electronic devices: laptops, tablet computers (iPads, Kindles, etc), any bundles of charging cables, wires, etc. They go in the plastic bins. Similarly, your 3-1-1 bag of less than 100 ml (approx 3 oz) toiletries go in the bin as well as overcoats, etc. Go through the detector, the collect your personal belongings at the other side.

Remember: Your Global Entry or TSA Pre-Check status means nothing here. You have to follow their security rules. Essentially the only break you get is a shorter line in Business/First Fast Track. But you get to keep your shoes on.

14. After leaving Security, you will find yourself in the main departure lounge. You wait here until your gate is announced. LHR, unlike most American airports, do not announce a gate until they are ready to take passengers at that gate. You can't just go to your gate and sit there for a hour or two. With your AA Business Class ticket you have several options for waiting.

15. First, look at the monitors to see what they say about your departing flight. If your flight will depart from some still-unknown gate in Terminal B, for example, you can go to Terminal B and wait there. There is a BA lounge in T5, I believe. If the monitor says nothing about Terminal B or C, then you will depart from the main Terminal A where you are now.

16. There are two BA lounges in Terminal 5 open to AA Business Class travelers, one at the north end and the other at the south end. In a perfect world you would know where your departure gate is, and pick the lounge closer to your departure gate. Alas, not possible here. So you go to either the north or south "Galleries" lounge and wait there. Your other alternative, and it's not a bad idea, is to just pick a comfy place to sit in the main lounge about midway, thus avoiding a long walk from (eg) the North lounge to a South gate, or vice versa. Pick a place where you can easily watch the monitors. I do that when I have a relatively short-ish wait and don't want the long schlepp to one of the lounges and then, with my luck, an even longer schlepp from lounge to gate.

17. Watch the monitors and when they say "Go to Gate XXX" for you flight, get up and go. Slower walkers should not dilly-dally. Fast walkers could take a few minutes for the restroom, etc, but a slow walker such as myself should get up right away and go directly to the departure gate.

18. Wait at the gate and board the aircraft.

19. Arrive in Rome. Here you will go through the Immigration and Customs formalities. Stand in line to show you passport to the officials, answer questions and get your entry stamp. Then follow the signs to the baggage carousel and get your bags. Carry them through Customs. Unless you have something you need to declare (excess cigarettes or alcohol, etc), then just go through the green Nothing To Declare door and out to the main Arrivals area. This is where you could be met by your cruise line people, or make your own way.

Final note: In Europe, restrooms are "toilets". Weird to us Americans, yes I now, but over there it's totally normal and polite to ask for the "toilet". Signage in the airport and other public places will say "Toilets". In Heathrow, for some crazy reason, the door to "Toilets" usually takes you into a long, hallway with a few left and right turns. Just keep going, assured there will be restrooms at the end of the trek. Be glad there are no stairs. In many public buildings in Europe, sadistic architects put the restrooms in the BASEMENT, requiring trips down and up stairs. Pro tip: Be proactive.

Often1

I also take it that you have at least an overnight in Rome before departing on your cruise. While you have plenty of time for your current connection, things do go wrong and nobody can predict the weather this far in advance. Given that you can't just be late to your cruise, it is always a good idea to arrive at your departure point at least a day early and, in this case, Rome is hardly a hardship post.

The added benefit of an overnight is that it takes all the stress out of your connection. If you do misconnect, you will be on the next flight.

JB in AZ

Thank you, it's great to hear form those who are actually knowledgeable re: LHR.

JB in AZ

I suspect that after rethinking about it, we probably did not have to collect and re-check baggage in LHR. We were on one booking last time, and we will be again this time. I confused LHR with our experience in ORD, where (due to this being the first stop in the US after being abroad) we DID have to collect and recheck baggage, an also had to take a bus between terminals. These long haul flights and less than normal sleep times (and aging brain cells) do negatively impact memory.

nrr

I've connected T3 to T5 (JFK-LHR; LHR-ZRH) often, most of the time I've done it in about 1 hour. But a few times compounded delays made even my 2:30 connection tight:
(1) the plane landed in a far out gate of T3 = LOTS of walking to bus
(2) buses were running on a "delayed" schedule = waiting for a 2nd bus to arrive
(3) fast track security machines were "down" so pax (after waiting 10 minutes) were moved to slow track
(4) the flight gate in T5 changed a few times and ultimately I needed to take a bus to get to the plane located out on the airfield

corporate-wage-slave

Yes, countries divide in two in this space: those like the USA which clear Customs at the port of entry, Australia, India, South Africa are the same; and those where you clear Customs where-ever you end up, which is UK, rest of Europe, some parts of Latin America. USA has actually greatly improved Customs handling (as opposed to immigration) so the USA could quite easily go to the Europe model now and save a huge amount of labour cost in the process.

ORD makes LHR look like a picnic!

JB in AZ

Interesting! I will look into this changing the flights around. AA-BA etc, not sure we need to stay in London over night.

I'm not overly panicked about connection times, figuring 2:45 is normally enough, but my memory (as such as it is) from the last time we were in LHR was not pleasant, so just asking here for thoughts. I assume we will have lounge access flying Business all legs. Appreciate them all!

JB in AZ

WOW! What can say but THANK YOU! This is very helpful and I sincerely appreciate the time and effort you put into it to type this all out for me! I have read it twice, and printed it our for further reading and understanding.
THANK YOU AGAIN!