Peter Ould

Hi all,

Any info on whether easy Sofia B2Bs are achievable at the moment? Can you do the normal airside "out the plane and back in the gate"?

crazyarmadillo

Back-to-back / Immediate Turnarounds at BA Destinations

This may have changed since then with brexit . Most sofia TP tirips would have been cancelled last year., So unsure, there may be limited info. We had one, I wouldn't do it now tbh. But that's just me.

Great fare tho , and longest cheap fare / TP runs/ flying enthusiast I can remember.

ClubflyerLondon

no offense OP but talk of doing B2B right now is pretty irresponsible given that UK travel restrictions would prohibit this, no one should be travelling unless essential and B2B is about as far away from essential as you can get.

The _Banking_Scot

to be fair to the op , we do not know when the op intends to travel. This could be for later in the year when travel restrictions may be lifted or his final destination ie a cheap Sofia flight to the us. That being said it adds another element of risk if Sofia is not removed from travel restrictions by date if travel together with increased likelihood of flight schedule changes at the current time

Regards

Tbs

ClubflyerLondon

OP did ask for feasibility at the moment which would indicate imminent travel plans but fair point

The _Banking_Scot

Hi,

Sorry, I assumed he was planning for future travel and not imminent and agree that non essential travel currently is not a good idea.

Regards
tbs

gcuk

So now the customary judgements and opinions have been raised, back to the OP’s question then, which presumably remains a valid question for some posters who have SOF as a starting point for US trips that need rescheduling and may be possible to take in the summer? They may be guided by what the arrival prices is in SOF and whether a b2b would currently be possible?

Misco60

The OP doesn't provide his complete itinerary, so he could be travelling from a third country and only connecting at LHR. He also doesn't say what passport he holds: this is important, because a back-to-back isn't generally considered to be a transfer and BA might deny him boarding at LHR if he is not entitled to enter Bulgaria.

In any case, I'd consider an international back-to-back right now to be foolhardy.

craigthemif

I know that it's theoretically possible for somebody to be so desperate for BA TPs that they will start in a third country and connect via LHR to SOF only to turn around and go back to LHR. But it would be crazy in normal times, especially for an ex-SOF USA run...

Positioning flights should be direct from where you are to where you need to be, whether that's on FR, U2, W6 or any other airline. The added "safety" of doing a B2B on BA is completely lost if you are connecting instead of just starting your day in London...

FlightDetective

All well and good to say, but it doesn't take into account the reality of the situation. I going via SOF for a US trip in January. Ryanair fly direct to Sofia, but both the schedule and flight times don't work to connect to the BA flight from SOF-LHR. Therefore, in my case, I have to connect, and since I have to connect, I am doing it with BA.

Only point in favour is that I have to overnight in London on the way out to get the LHR-SOF, which will then connect with my internatonal SOF-LHR-JFK-LAX itinerary. Needless to say. I've done the full dance at the end of the trip and hated it, so this time the way back is LAX-BOS-LHR-DUB (rather than LAX-BOS-LHR-SOF-LHR-DUB).

Now all we need to know is if the SOF flight still spits people out at the gate so you can about face and get back on with your hand luggage only and online boarding pass in hand.

mikeyfly

I guess another consideration would be UK green for entry to USA for instance, but not Bulgaria, thus making you ineligible to travel onwards

ISTFlyer

Bulgaria is currently green for USA entrance purposes and is not included in the Presidential Proclamation.

PUCCI GALORE

Your assumption and mine is identical. I was also right in assuming that the Mask Morality would see fit to concern themselves with the motivation of the exercise rather than provide the information that he was seeking. I was interested in the answer as while I am far too cowardly to attempt B2Bs on anything like a regular basis I had just assumed that this was in the future. For what it is worth, we are going nowhere beyond the shores of Europe until Him Indoor has had his 2nd Covid and even then with all the restrictions and the tedious (and in the UK outrageously priced) quantity of testing; frankly I would not want to bother. I would think that this would make any B2Bs extremely complicated at this time

crazyarmadillo

i would be suprised if anyone is contemplating TP runs , B2B etc. Maybe domestics USA, where flying is still 'happening..

We have flown less this last 12 months, than any ever year in 30 years,. I would guess that the OP was thinking about future travel plans.

Its a good fare, but we wouldnt do it.

frb98mf

But transiting in countries that are included still is a no-no, isn't it?