BA or AA for connection at LHR
 

I'm planning the following trip in April: ORD-LHR-PSA. If I fly AA from ORD to LHR I'll have 2 hours to transfer from T3 to T5 and make my connection to Pisa. If I fly BA from ORD to LHR I'll only have 60 minutes to make the T5 to T5 connection. I've never flown through LHR before but have read enough to know it can be an unpleasant experience. The Heathrow website says the minimum T5-T5 connection time is 60 minutes and the minimum T3-T5 connection time is 90 minutes. Since the AA route gives me 30 minutes of margin above the minimum I have put the AA ticket with a transfer to BA on hold and I reserved a seat near the front of economy to speed things up. Before buying though I wanted to hear about other people's experiences. Which flight do you experienced LHR flyers feel is best?

Welcome to Flyertalk.

I would not do a 60 minute connection at LHR. Yes, you would likely make it but any delay at all and you won't make it. I would actually be a bit nervous with the 2 hour connection between T3 and T5 but I would take that one.

Welcome to FT!
Suggest you read this thread (at least the Wiki at the top of the first page) from AA forum:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...solidated.html

BA or AA for connection at LHR
 

60 minutes is cutting it pretty close. Heathrow concourses are notoriously on the long side and you could likely end up running for your flight - something I have done in Heathrow and really hate doing...

Yeah, I'm not comfortable with only 60 minutes. I thought that perhaps since I wasn't changing terminals it might be better than the 120 minutes w/ terminal change option. The latter option does leave some room for error, albeit slight. I'm nervous about both because there is only one daily flight to PSA.

Hi pg0xd, and welcome to FlerTalk!

Joining the crowd, who'll do the T3-T5 connection given 120 min. I often do this. IMHO, you're quickly bussed to T5, then joining the same security queues as pax checking in at T5. If you have OW status, you'll have a fast track card for security, but honestly, not much faster than without

If missing a day would really screw you up, book the two-hour connection.

On the other hand, if you book the one-hour connection and a delay on the inbound from ORD causing you to misconnect and be late into PSA, BA owes you €600 compensation, overnight hotel in LHR, and all your meals.

I've done a connection at LHR T5 which was reduced to 50 minutes by late arrival of the inbound aircraft, and it went fine. I have fast track security due to my BA Silver status, though, so it might have made a difference.

60-minutes T5 Transfer unrealiable
 

Welcome to Flyertalk. You probably know this already: T5 itself is divided into terminal A, B, and C, connected by an underground train. Each of the A, B, and C terminals are themselves of a decent size. Longhaul flights would usually park at Terminal B and C, and shorthaul flights usually depart from Terminal A. To transfer between your flights, you will probably have to walk to the underground train platform, wait for a train (sometimes it could get so full that you won't be able to get on the first one), and clear security at Terminal A. All in all, the minimum transfer time requirement within T5 could not be much less than that between T3 and T5. So I would recommend the AA flight, even just peace of mind.

I had a very tight T5-T5 connection about a year ago (not planned; weather problems during the January 2013 storms) and was told at the gate that I needn't have worried: as soon as I went through the final security check, the gate staff knew where I was and would have held the flight for a minute or two if necessary.

That said, I'd take the T3-T5 connection here: an hour is more than the terminal transfer will take, so it effectively gives you at least 30 minutes more time.