Daventry

Airprox

If your BA flight is cancelled on the day, what are you going to do? What is the backup plan for getting to the starting point of your QR ticket?

Very few travel insurance policies would be paying out in this situation.

mikeyfly

There is no correct answer - only other's experience. On same day any number of things could go wrong and you'd lose your long haul.

It's all dependant on the level of risk you're comfortable with. I flew to MAN at approx 18.00hrs for a MAN-DOH-AKL leaving at 21.30hrs. I cut it too short and I spent too long worrying about it in the lead up. All worked out fine - but it could have gone awfully wrong

stewaran

Most travel insurance will not cover un-connected tickets, so it will more likely be good bye to the money you have paid and also the non-flex ticket you have bought on QR!

So really it is a matter of your personal appetite for risk, I prefer to travel the day before, especially at the time of year when things such as fog can be an issue

Dicksbits

I've done same day before: Just leave at least 4 hours between arrival and departure of the QR flight. If travelling the day before, don't get the last flight of the day in case it's cancelled.

ratypus

No, it's because your positioning flight is a separate booking - so if it arrives late or is cancelled and you miss the departure for your QR ticket in the 'positioning' airport, you have lost the entire QR trip (outward and return). Your travel insurance might pay up for a 'missed departure', but they also might not if they grasp all the circumstances.

Positioning overnight is normally the recommendation, unless you can very clearly identify that the "out to position" flight will be the same aircraft as the first leg of your onward flight back through the UK (doing the positioning literally "back-to-back"). Your proposed gap of 6 hours actually sounds generous enough that you might do a same-day positioning flight...but the key will really be what your back-up options are. You can probably cope with a delay of up to 4 hours quite comfortably, but what are your alternatives if the flight is simply cancelled...? If your ex-EU starts in say Amsterdam, you will have a lot of alternatives available i.e. other flights on BA you could move to, other airlines you could throw ｣100 at for a cheap fare etc. If your ex-EU is somewhere more niche like Bucharest or Sofia, your back-up options will be quite limited. That will determine how comfortable you really can be with this arrangement.

ratypus

Basically - imagine you are at the airport you are supposed to depart the UK from; let's say at the scheduled departure time you are told "cancelled"....can you work out how to still get onto another flight to 'position' in time (perhaps on BA, or another airline...even another London airport) - could you make it?

You would then have to decide how far into a "delay" you can run before you implement the back-up plan.

If there is no back-up plan possible, then you really are in the hands of the travel gods if your flight is cancelled...

mikeyfly

Does the EU airport have multiple daily flights across several airlines from London ?

YacozA

When I do it, I usually do same day... and give myself 4-5 hours to connect or b2b...

My annual travel insurance plan covers missed connections (on separate itineraries) >3hrs, and I have the max coverage GBP2000 for that benefit.
Have not had to use it yet, but plan would be to call QR (or EU op airline) and rearrange ex-EU flight given inability to arrive at starting airport in time, eat the ticket change fee, and claim back on insurance.

Daventry

dsf

I've done maybe 5 or 6 same-day ex-EUs (non-b2b) but my attitude to risk is becoming less cavalier each time, i.e. I think I'll more than likely stick to b2bs and overnights in future. Thankfully, many of the cheaper starting points (for my typical trips, at least) are wonderful cities to spend a day in beforehand. Specifically this tale of woe in the QR forum made me very nervous about my same-day ex-CPH QR trip a couple of weeks ago!

On the way home, I typically book same day, latest flight home but with SDC flexibility to move forward if feasible.

Daventry

Deltus

I cross the road ignoring red lights, I cycle across central London every day (although obey lights when cycling), and I have thousands of pounds invested with Woodford that I'm not trying to withdraw.

I also have an ex-EU from GOT next week on the first planned LHR strike day, with a 4 hour gap between my BA arrival and LH departure. Feels comfortable to me, and my only back-up options are DY from LGW an hour before my LHR departure (so would have to activate that plan the day before), or an indirect KLM or LH routing to get to GOT.

So it depends on your risk appetite. I've never missed a flight in my life.

dsf

Nope! My LHR-CPH-LHR was a cash Economy Plus fare. See https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb...ort-haul-fares

Daventry