IFlyPlanes

Hello all,

I am currently thinking about buying a connecting flight from London Heathrow to Warsaw via Hamburg. I know there are direct options but I would like to earn some BA tier points whilst also trying out an E-jet for the first time (with LOT)

I have found this itinerary:
LHR - HAM (Departs 7:15 and arrives 9:50am) BA964
then:
HAM - WAW (Departs 11:10 and arrives 12:40) LO400

Would such an itinerary be possible to make?

I also found one where it involves me taking Lufthansa from LHR to FRA then to Warsaw, I would arrive in Frankfurt at 9:05am and depart at 10:20. Would that be possible too? This one is one I would actually prefer as it is an all in one booking.

My questions are:
What would I have to do when getting off the plane? Is there passport and security control? (At both FRA and HAM)
Are there e-gates I could use? (Again, both at HAM and FRA) (Provided I finally get my EU passport (Polish) by then)

Thank you very much for any replies or help.

ralfkrippner

From my recent experiences flights do get time changes quite frequently, so booking two seperate return-tickets is risky as there are 4 flights where changes would endanger the journey. I would at least put much more connecting time into your plans.

Immigration at HAM (as everywhere) is depending on the arriving flights at this time, usually it's not very long waiting times but I have seen long lines there also. AFAIK currently there is no eGate usage for UK citizens and I haven't seen eGates in HAM.

IFlyPlanes

Thank you for your reply. There wouldn't be 4 flights, rather there would just be 2.

I said that I have a choice LHR-FRA-WAW leg and the LHR-HAM-WAW leg. I would then book one of the flights Judging by your explaination though, an All-in-one booking with one Airline Group would be more safe.

If I get my Polish passport by then (Dual Citizen) I assume I could use those to enter Germany through e-gates? Thank you again.

mustafina

At both FRA and HAM you'd have to go through passport control - FRA has no further security if you're travelling within Schengen - assume HAM is the same.

If there are e-gates, you can use them with your Polish passport but not UK. (By the way, if you are dual non-EU/EU, some countries say you must use your EU passport to enter Schengen, so don't know if Poland has similar rules - perhaps worth checking. Either way it will be far less hassle to enter on an EU passport if you can!)

Do you have checked bags? If so, you'd need to collect them and re-check in HAM which I think would completely rule out the flight timings you suggest - you'd have to go landside to check in and then come back through security. I don't know whether HAM has different terminals but that would add time too if you need to switch. The FRA option would allow you to check bags straight through to WAW.

Any travel on separate tickets is always risky as the connections are not protected, so I guess it depends on your risk appetite. If it's two return tickets (that's what the previous poster meant, I think) BA LHR-HAM-LHR and LOT HAM-WAW-HAM, then that doubles your risk, as if you miss the HAM-WAW flight, your WAW-HAM leg would be cancelled and you wouldn't be refunded. Would you be prepared to pay for a new ticket to complete your journey? It might all be fine if you're hand baggage only, but you might be unlucky.

Personally I'd go with the FRA option for minimum hassle - LOT would have to rebook you on to the next available flight if you're delayed and miss your connection - but if you really want to go with two separate tickets, I'd leave several hours (3+) between flights to account for delays, immigration and bag check if needed.

Hope that helps.

IFlyPlanes

Thank you for your reply. You've answered all my questions!

I think I'll go for the Lufthansa + LOT flight for the safety.