HKFlyer026

I understand it's a chaotic summer for all travelers, and I want to acknowledge that everyone's going through their own tough times. Being from Hong Kong, this will be my first trip outside of the city for the last 3 years, so want to get some feedback from fellow travelers who's had recent experiences traveling through Heathrow on BA.

Specifically, I want to see if anyone has any insight into the first-class check-in and security experience in Heathrow flying BA. I am OWE and will be on redemption J class flying out of LHR, and was wondering if the first-class queues are any better?

Also I will have to check in my luggage for a long trip across Italy. Is it better to consider sending the luggage ahead of time through Fedex/UPS vs. risking it to be lost/delayed due to Heathrow situation? I assume priority tags don't mean much in these circumstances?

Thanks all!

bluemoon68

Flown twice recently out of the first wing at LHR T5. First time I had to wait 2 minutes until a desk was free, second time there was no wait. No wait at security, straight into the lounge. The lounge did seem busier than usual. Luggage was fine and arrived with all the other luggage.
Remember you mainly hear horror stories. No one starts a thread to say the service was good and nothing went wrong.

HKFlyer026

Thanks for sharing your experience, that's good to hear. I'll be flying LHR-MXP in late afternoon, so weary of the traffic buildup throughout the day.
Admittedly I'm not flying till mid Aug, so situation (hopefully?) will improve marginally by then

PGberkshire

Mid Aug is bang in the middle of UK school summer holidays. Its peak season

benmitchell

Well all I can say is good luck as your going to need every drop of it. The place is a total shambles, and BA is a total disgrace. If you get a slight sniff of your MXP flight being late then seriously get a hotel asap as Wednesday night they kicked everyone out and told them to go find hotel knowing full well there was nothing available witin 150 km. People who are defending BA on here and coming out with phrases like they are doing their best really have not a clue how bad this is going to get.

corporate-wage-slave

Late afternoon will be fine. The First Wing has had some busy early Saturday mornings and busy Friday late mornings, but that's about it. You can safely arrive 1 hour before departure.

golfmad

I thought I would address these other questions for you.

Connecting with luggage on BA at the moment is a bit hit and miss. It might be fine but then again it might not. If you absolutely need your checked luggage with you without any significant risk then a courier is by far the best option. If you were able to travel with hand baggage only that would be the simplest and cheapest option. The priority tags won't help you. Good luck with the trip.

VSLover

are you traveling alone?

i ask only because it will make any scenario a bit easier for you.

as for luggage, if you do not mind the expense of sending luggage ahead, i personally would do that if i needed it for the remainder of my travels. i live in london so if my bag got lost on the way to milan, i could just replace some things and not worry much as i would return home to london. different analysis if i were going to HK or SYD for example.

but as others point out above, expect things to be rather busy--and research any alternatives to MIL in advance to have on hand just in case of cancellation-- but at least you are preparing for it in advance!

sweetsleep

If you own an iPhone perhaps get some Apple Air tags for checked bag(s)? Even if you use a courier instead of checking your bag(s) that could be quite helpful.
Good luck!
I had my connecting flight from LHR to FRA cancelled over the weekend and had zero communication from both BA and AA(flying on awards using AA miles) and I leave next Thursday. Found this out on my own when updating passwords and making sure my apps were working on my new phone! Fortunately I just yesterday got rebooked to AA from home airport to DFW and nonstop to FRA. Phew. So I did go by some Apple Air tags this morning.
Glad everything worked out for me but even a week out can seem like an eternity these days! I even get my BA taxes and fees refunded too.

golfmad

Very sound advice. I have an AirTag in my golf bag which will again be working its way around the globe - hopefully not too far from me - next week.

HKFlyer026

I’m traveling with my gf but on the same ticket. May I ask what would be the complication if traveling together? Is it because it’s easier to get put on a different flight?

Also we’re actually going to be in London for a while before leaving for Milan, so won’t be connecting from HKG (heard plenty of nightmares with connecting flights). So figure we would consider sending the luggage from London to Milan a day or two in advance.

At this point I am in fact wondering if it’s safer to train it to Milan lol via Paris

HKFlyer026

Thanks for the advice! Just placed the order for airtags. Jeez I’m glad your trip got sorted out, I feel like the lack of communication is more stress inducing than delayed flights as I’m sure we’ve all dealt with our fair share of flight delays as frequent travelers

mikeyfly

My concern wouldn’t be so much around the checking in / screening service at T5, but more the punctuality and risk of cancellation of the flight. If you have plans close to arrival in Italy / onwards travel plans these could go out the window with the amount of aircraft taking off late / being cancelled very short notice

HKFlyer026

That’s a good point. For now I’ve buffered a few nights in Milan before our onward travel plans, keeping all hotel bookings on flex rates

I do wonder if BA can’t accommodate us on next flight on same day or next day, can we request for them to cover our train journey to Italy instead (which would take an entire day at the least)

Confus

No, but they will reroute you on either another BA flight or another carrier should the worst happen. Chances of every single flight/route to Italy being full are slim.

I know it’s easier said than done, but try not to worry. Millions of passengers are flying at the moment, and most of them as planned (if a bit delayed). Absolutely have a back-up plan but always remember the chances are you’ll be fine.