MareLuce

I (a US Citizen) will be traveling from Texas to a cruise departing from Stockholm.

British Airways Austin to LHR
Terminal 5
Club World
Arrive at 9:30 am on a Thursday

Connecting to a British Airways flight to Arlanda (Stockholm)
Terminal 5
Club Europe
Depart at 11:20 am Edit --> Now departing at 11:55 am

2 questions:

1) How much time should I budget to clear passport control upon arrival in Terminal 5?
I realize this can vary widely. Any guesses as to the median time these days?

2) Will I need to collect my checked luggage to bring through immigration?
I don't recall doing that last trip through LHR but that was going home.

bisonrav

unless you’re going landside you don’t need to clear passport control, you just go through flight connections

if that’s busy you may opt to go landside and come back in through fast track or gold wing if you have it. As a US citizen you ca use the e-gates which tend to be quick, depends what else is coming in at that time. Early morning has a lot of long haul traffic including you probably so can take a while.

bags will be checked through.

TTmex

you don't need to do either. Just clear security. You should have enough time, even if your arriving flight is 30 or 40 mins late

MareLuce

By that, you mean - I just go to my connecting gate for the Stockholm flight?

With 1 hr 50 min connect time, I wouldn't go land side. I don't have gold wing. Not sure if flying BA Club World would give me Fast Track...

I remember seeing e-Gates several years back, but thought it would be a UK - Euro-only thing. Thank you!

Thank you !
​​​​​
Are you referring to the security process at my Stockholm gate?

Or, is this a complete carry-on baggage inspection ; something that happens before I get to my connecting gate?

corporate-wage-slave

If you want all the details, then this is the thread for you:
A Guide to Connecting at LHR T5

Flight Connections is an area between arriving and departing aircrafts. Outside the USA it's a common feature of international travel. In the UK (and many other countries) it's a 2 fold step - a ticket/boarding pass check to make sure you're in the right terminal, that's very quick; then a security screening, which can involve queues. After that you are through to the secure airside departure area. Some airports do security at the departure gate, notably SIN in most cases, but most airports centralise it. So you can't go straight to your departure gate, you have to go via Flight Connections.

There is an alternative to go landside and via the e-gates, then re-enter the airport security, which is the USA system. You do have Fast Track access. Depending on the day of the week and the time of day this may be faster or more congenial, or it may make very little difference.

BerksFlyer

You go through the connections route, which is just security and not the border. You can’t just walk from gate to gate at Heathrow when you arrive from overseas.

The guide that’s been mentioned above gives you everything you need.

MareLuce

Wow, so helpful!

corporate-wage-slave You always seem to pop up out of no where and give me such helpful advice every couple of years. Do you have a YouTube channel?

I've taken screen shots of the linked maps from that FAQ and put into my T5 Connections Google Doc.
Thank you KARFA and corporate-wage-slave for the very clear images and tips in that post.

I will plan to take the Flight Connections Center (FCC) path because
- that makes more sense to my brain at first glance
- It's the thread's recommendation for the scenario:
"if you arrive at T5 with less than 45/50 minutes to go before your connection."
Today's BA 190 Austin --> Heathrow arrived 55 min late,
Looks like FlightAware reports avg delay is only 10-20 min. I wish FlightAware reported Median delay instead of Average delay.
But this flight isn't until April so everything could change anyway.

Is there a way to see what was today's BA 190 arrival gate at LHR?
FlightAware doesn't show it. (I thought for sure it would). Neither does British Airways when checking today's status.

I will re-read the tips in section
>> Other factors which may make you decide to go via the landside route are:
to have that in mind. Seems like a slick trick to know.

Just to double check I have the fundamental part correct...
At the FCC, based on

• US Citizen arriving to T5 from US on BA / Club World
• Connecting to Stockholm from T5

looks like I'd follow the INT-INT Connections path, correct?

LHR T5 Flight Connections Center zoom-in

corporate-wage-slave

Oh my goodness how I laughed at that! No, I am afraid there isn't much chance of a YouTube channel, I'd rather retain my credibility.

I can totally back your decision to go via Flight Connections, and though it's a bit complex in the details here, one huge advantage is that it is very clearly signposted, much better than most airports, and so you don't have to remember too much to go that way, it's reasonably obvious, just follow the purple signs. You can decided it on the day, if you end up having over an hour and the e-gates look to be flowing nicely then you can change your mind quite easily, but I would guess 90% of people in your shoes would go Flight Connections. I wouldn't read too much into the stats, it's more chaos theory than 2 standard deviations.

MareLuce

Ohhhhhhh c'mon .

I am totally sure you could be a YouTube star ! I could be your first FanGirl!

Beyond those compelling reasons:

• A bazillion people from FT would Subscribe.
• With all the helpful clever PITHY tips, you'd create a counter-balance to all the Gen Z's talking on and on, frequently about their feelings! .

corporate-wage-slave

I think even my friends on here who know me in real life would gently suggest that I have a good face for radio.

MareLuce

Ohhhh some people don't care or it would make you more endearing.
PLUS, that lends more strength to the counterbalance point (to counterbalance all the young perfect people on YouTube!)
There are also lots of audio-only YouTube channels. The real problem is: video takes so much time to create, edit, etc.

OK... I have it - you should do a podcast limited series! LHR Top 10 Tips
Much of it would be "evergreen" content as the content creators say. Always lots of downloads and a source of new ad revenue for you. Rah!

Tobias-UK

One must also consider the possible affects on unsuspecting children who might inadvertently find themselves viewing the content 😁

bisonrav

I think that travelling for a cruise, a couple of additional questions might come into my thoughts:

1. Does missing the connection cause me to miss my cruise?
2. What happens if my bags don't make a short connection?

The way to avoid (1) being an issue is to have an idea what alternative flights exist from Heathrow to Stockholm later in the day, including those from other carriers (logically there should be some from SAS I would guess) and having some padding anyway. That puts you in a better position when discussing with BA at the transfer desk if you miss conformance. (2) has the potential to be very annoying, I don't know exactly what happens with bags and bag forwarding when you're travelling on a ship (I haven't watched all of CWS' youtube channel). Usual advice is to pack what you need to enjoy a few days in hand luggage, and then pick up other things as you need them, but may be difficult onboard. In any case, well worth checking provisions of your travel insurance for both circumstances.

The connection is tight enough at 1h50 that I would be a little concerned about a late incoming or a stand delay, but I'd expect I'd make it most times.

MareLuce

bisonrav

• [...] have an idea what alternative flights exist from Heathrow to Stockholm later in the day, including those from other carriers (logically there should be some from SAS I would guess)
• [...]Usual advice is to pack what you need to enjoy a few days in hand luggage, and then pick up other things as you need them, but may be difficult onboard.
• [..]well worth checking provisions of your travel insurance for both circumstances.

Thank you, that's great advice.
I will do that additional research re: later departures to Stockholm.

Arrival is several days before the cruise. Though I'd guess it would be a pain to return to the Stockholm airport and pick up the luggage the next day.

Agreed. I originally requested a minimum of 3 hours per connection from my Travel Agent, to avoid those problems. Plus, I actually enjoy strolling through LHR and taking it all in. :-)

But with schedule changes for end of april, BA 190 --> 778, that is where I'm at.
I believe the BA schedule changed enough since I originally booked (____ hrs) that I could exercise the option to cancel and reschedule.

What is a "stand delay" ?

Last time I flew to LHR (as destination) I used Luggage Forward to ship my luggage due to
- All the news stories last summer about LHR luggage chaos
- My shoulder was not yet healed from a rotator cuff, clavicle and acromium surgery from by a hot air balloon crash landing in Amsterdam.

Using Luggage Forward again would eliminate that problem. But it's so expensive, and not without its own problems as I learned.

My Trip insurance is via "Traveled Insured" ; their coverage for those situations is pretty robust.
Pros and Cons of Travel Insured <--- corporate-wage-slave You would get along with the owner of this business, Steve Dasseos. He's a walking encyclopedia of travel insurance. The website looks retro-90's but it has tons of great detail pointing out all the gotchas of various policies.

stuvoi

Podcast it is then !