tattikat2

Hi There,

Wanted to get some thoughts on choosing an onward flight from LHR to GLA after arriving long haul from SFO ( CW , if that makes any difference)

Mid June flight arriving on a Tuesday at 10:50 am

Have mostly had good luck with flight being on time and luggage arriving promptly.

Our choices for onward travel ( separate PNR ) to GLA close to our arrival time are 12:55 or 17.10pm.

Any thoughts on the prudent choice? Not sure how reliable service to GLA is.

Thanks for any replies

The _Banking_Scot

Hi,

With bags you will need to recheck them in by T-45 for short haul ( 60 mins for long haul per Checking in | Information | British Airways) so 1210 so you only have 75mins in reality

Prudent choice would be the 1710 but its not great

( is it possible to go via EDI and then train to glasgow?)

Regards

TBS

scottishpoet

following a 10:55 arrival, a 12:55 departure where I have collect luggage and recheck luggage by 12:00ish would be outside my comfort zone

On a through ticket with my luggage checked through, no problem.

GM1985

For me, 2 hours is an optimal time for an international to domestic connection like this. Enough padding for a small delay. If everything is on time, plenty of time for an unrushed connection and a brief lounge visit to grab a drink or bite to eat. And if on a single ticket, protected in case of a more significant delay on your flight from SFO.

6h 20, on the other hand, is an awfully long time to hang around Heathrow, even with lounge access.

edit: just spotted the point about separate PNR so ignore the above, it’s definitely cutting it too fine. Would echo the advice above about potentially flying to EDI and train to GLA. Or even just booking a train from London Euston to Glasgow Central - you’d still manage to beat the 17:10 flight.

csdavidson

I have an upcoming flight DFW-LHR, landing 9.45 in a few weeks. No Avois availability on LHR-EDI so have decided to do a revenue ticket as a separate booking. Planning to book 14:10 to have some padding.

flarmip

Yep. The obvious answer here is to buy an Off-Peak ticket for the train, costing £119.20 - this ticket is flexible (i.e. not tied to a specific train) and valid on any departure from the 09:30 train onwards. There's an hourly fast Glasgow train from Euston at xx30 which takes just over 4.5 hours. To boot, you're treated to some amazing scenery during the section between Lancaster and Glasgow (weather permitting!). The OP could upgrade to Standard Premium onboard the train for £30 - this is essentially First Class (2+1 seating) but without the at-seat food/drink service.

Euston is a bit of a faff to get to from Heathrow - if the OP has lots of luggage it's probably easiest to take the Elizabeth line or Heathrow Express to Paddington and then a taxi or bus. You can get from Paddington to Euston (Square) by Tube but there's a fair walk at the Euston end. Alternatively you can continue on the Elizabeth line to Tottenham Court Road and then take the Tube from there to Euston, which involves a bit less walking but possibly takes a bit longer.

tattikat2

Thank you everyone that replied to my post.

Yes, seperate tickets unfortunately so the comments regarding the earlier flight being too risky are well made.

I'll look into the EDI idea, and the train option as well.

Didn't think of that!

I am weighting up the pros and cons of just sitting around at Heathrow and then flying verses actively moving from point to point ( HEX, Tube, Train Cab, etc to arrive at the same place) maybe a bit sooner. But maybe more tired?

Again thanks for the replies

Tiger_lily

I’d also get the Seatfrog app. If you book on the train, you can bag a last minute upgrade to first for very little (I often get St Pancras to Loughborough for £10). You could also grab a nap on the way

flarmip

Avanti rarely offers reasonably priced SeatFrog First upgrades anymore, sadly. They want to push all ad hoc upgraders towards Standard Premium. At £30 for the 4.5 hour journey to Glasgow that's a no brainer in my view.

LCY8737

Book the earlier ticket on a fare that allows same day change (plus fares?). Once you’re in the air and have a clearer view on arrival time, make required changes using the onboard WiFi.

also, at SFO ask for your bag to be checked through to GLA. They’ll likely say no, but if you get lucky it should make the experience much more pleasant.

Misco60

I think it's better to book the later flight and then try to change to the earlier one if you arrive early enough.​​​​

Thank goodness for that. The very last thing we want in the first class carriage is a load of cheap upgraders.

scottishpoet

My own view would be to book a later flight, with the potential to move to an earlier one, otherwise there is a risk, when you realise you will not make the flight, that the later flight is full or the wifi is not working and you are hosed

Tiger_lily

That’s a shame. East Midlands are obviously happy to flog their product at any price. Considering first tickets are hugely expensive on our route, £10 is a deal.

haha 😜 I would also book the later flight and avail myself of the lounge

strowger

The train ticket can be bought at any time so shouldn't be bought months in advance in case plans change. A weekday daytime train is unlikely to fill entirely and have zero reservable seats. If you end up train'ing, don't forget to look for splits.

Personally - I would want the option to fly in case the railway decides it can't be arsed on the day of travel, a situation which obtains without exception every time I want to get home from LHR. Depending on quantity of luggage, weather, and fitness of OP and party, I'd also suggest that lugging bags from LHR baggage reclaim to any mainline railway station in London other than Paddington is a significant faff that is worth avoiding.

If redemptions were available on both LHR-GLA flights I'd be tempted to book both and then take a view a couple of days before departure on whether trains were looking reasonable (eg no cancellations recently, no strikes planned, calm weather forecast) and the flight to LHR had a reasonable history of on-time arrival, before cancelling one or both.

Captain Schmidt

The £30 'upgrade' is actually the standard charge on Avanti - i.e. for a departure today it's GBP119.20 in standard and GBP149.20 in Standard Premium and as strowger says, this doesn't need to be bought and paid for in advance of the day of travel. My own experience with Avanti has been excellent - no cancellations or significant delays - but I accept that this isn't the experience of others.