BWBriscoe

Saw a thread earlier about using B gates lounge but being mindful of an A10 departure.

Now we all know not to use the transit if going from B back to A (because we're all seasoned pros!). I'm lucky enough to be gold so just use F lounge, but if I were to use the B gates lounge (without knowing my gate departure), how long realistically does it take to walk back from the B gates to A10?

KARFA

Somewhere between 7-10 minutes depending on walking pace. Bear in mind it will be slightly slower coming back then heading out as the travellators only go in the A->B->C direction.

corporate-wage-slave

Between 7 and 9 minutes depending on how mobile you are. It's about 400 metres. It's the lifts by Boots. More detailed timings in the Passageway Guide for Departing Passengers, via the BA Forum Dashboard.

ryanbriar

Agree with timing. It comes down to how briskly you want to walk. I did the C to A walk this summer to stretch out post red-eye and it was ~10 minutes, but I walk quickly.

On the A10 front…second week in a row that the Newark flight (and what appears to be other long hauls) are going out of A10. I’d take the trek out to C versus a bus any day of the week as it is comparable to the old 35X at DCA (for AA flyers) and the Penn Station Amtrak waiting area!

CatchThePigeon

Leisurely walk in under 10 minutes. The real worry though is for those who find themselves in the B lounge and don't realise that getting the transit will dump you at arrivals . No idea how long that would take to work itself out although I guess one would need to speak to someone to see if you could somehow be allowed back airside again without going through immigration. Probably not.

Talking of A10 and buses, is A4 also a regular bus gate?

xarantine

I’d also be interested to hear of anyone who’s had the “B>A via transit” experience and how it worked out.

vhdg87

A10 is at least close to the exit of the tunnel, which is something. However the flight may be asked to board early if from A10, reducing that benefit somewhat. It's always a faff when boarding longhaul from those bus gates.

Ladyfliestheredwhiteandblues

There was a young aviation enthusiast who was caught out. He went to look at a particular aircraft then went on the transit back to A. He missed his flight because he was now in the arrivals stream. Perhaps somebody can find the thread and link to it? It was such a pity and a cautionary tale that it was an easy mistake to make. We are all so much wiser here, only in my case because of the wisdom of all of you others.

Confus

Yes, traditionally A4 is bus gates for domestic departures, and is fully kitted out with the requisite cameras. But nowadays so is one of the A10 gates, so it’s a bit more of a mix than it used to be. One of the B gates is also frequently used for US departures from remote stands, as that’s where the security guys are based (but confusingly, this doesn’t prevent US departures being A10 or A18 on occasion).

KARFA

It’s pretty much destined to end in disaster.

Firstly if stepping on the transit at B you will have to go to C first then all the way back to A stopping off again at B to pick up arriving passengers. You would need to exit through immigration on getting to T5A or go through connections. Prior to scanning in at security in either case you will have to find a BA agent to reset your ready to fly marker - not trivial and will require a little bit of time and some explaining. And you need to be scanning in at security no later than 35 minutes before your scheduled departure time.

ryanbriar

It seems like at that point one should just give up / hit the reset button, go through the border (assuming no issues there) and head to the First Wing (if able).

bisonrav

I've sort of done this by default, in that I was airside in T5 and decided to go out to leave a bag in left luggage via the C Gates express, expecting to be able to stroll back in via the Gold Wing. This was through immigration and e-gates (no problem), but as Karfa points out, you need to get your ready to fly flag reset properly and it took quite a while and a lot of head scratching in the Gold Wing. Not recommended.

chriswiles

Guilty 🫣! For some reason, a few months ago, I thought a flight (can't remember which, perhaps AUS?) was from B gates, so headed straight to the B lounge and spent an hour in there. Realised it was an A gate departure, jumped on the transit after confirming with two workers sitting in the waiting area you can 'go back to A via transit'. Another worker with a wheelchair was also heading back to A via transit and asked what I was doing. Told him, he said I'd have to go back via connections.

To be fair, this was pretty swift. I went to connections, explained, let me straight through after scanning passport. Didn't realise you had to go through second a second time, but that was swift too. So through connections and security within about 15-20 minutes. It was a quiet area and no wait.

Although it was a bit of hassle, arguably it might have ended up being quicker than walking slowly between B and A!

chriswiles

Whilst it's true the transit can take a few minutes, I did exactly this (see above) and the process wasn't too slow. 20 mins?

xarantine

True, but then you were pointed to connections and had a quick journey through security. That is not always guaranteed! If that 20 mins becomes 35 or so it can get more interesting.

The main issue is Ready To Fly I think as has been mentioned above.