bork

So, I was set to travel to Cairo this weekend on two separate bookings. I first was going to fly to Barcelona landing on Sunday June 12 at 12:25 and then leaving on EgyptAir the same day at 15:20 for BCN-CAI. 3 hours seemed like plenty of time to handle the exit/rebooking. Just this morning, EgyptAir informed me that they have canceled their Sunday flight. So, now I'm scrambling. There is a flight on Royal Jordanian that leaves at 14:05. Am I crazy to try that?

Madone59

Bork what are the exact flight's you are trying to connect between? Each airport has a MCT (Minimum connect time) but it varies depending in the inbound and outbound flights. If you tell us the two flights we can look up the MCT.

Also, your question may get better answers here in the Middle East forum

bork

Thanks Madone,

Incoming is:
LHR-BCN
BA0484
Arriving 12:25

Outbound would be:
BCN-AMM (and then on to CAI)
Royal Jordanian 108
Departing 14:05

My full first itinerary is actually SEA-LHR-BCN on BA, which I got for very cheap, so I can't really change that. I was planning to spend half of my vacation in Cairo and the other half in Barcelona. If I must, I'll just change the Cairo destination to be somewhere else.

Madone59

STANDARD.D/D...D/I...I/D...I/I.
ONLINE .20 1.00 1.00 1.00
OFFLINE .20 1.00 1.00 1.00

The MCT is 1hour. You should be ok. Good luck!

JY1024

bork - just curious...are you going to be checking any bags? That may complicate things slightly as well if you aren't able to get BA to interline bags to RJ on a separate ticket. (At least both are in the same alliance, so your odds are better.)

mmff

Even with carry-on only, this can go wrong very easily. I can tell from your OP that you don't know BCN well, so my advice is that you look for an alternative flight later in the afternoon or in the following day.

The OP has two separate tickets, the MCT is not enough in these cases.

lhrsfo

The OP has to realize that if he / she doesn't arrive in BCN on time, then the ticket to Cairo is completely lost. So if either the SEA-LHR flight is late meaning rebooking on a later flight to BCN, or the LHR-BCN flight is late, then the OP is SOL. The only sensible thing to do is fly out of BCN the following day.

bork

Thank you all for the responses. Yes, I am going to be checking baggage. I've talked to BA about the ability to interline the baggage all the way to CAI if I booked the RJ flight, but they wouldn't confirm that they could over the phone and it was something to check with the counter agent about. With the recent change to the OW policy on interlining, it makes me a little nervous.

I'm still contemplating whether I should take the risk, and it definitely is a fairly big risk, of the close connection. But it's now 28 hours until my first flight departs and I'm running out of time. I had my heart set on seeing the pyramids, but maybe the world is trying to tell me to wait. Other second destinations that all could work are BUD, IST, and ATH.

nux

MCT is irrelevant on separate tickets, especially if checking luggage and needing to recheck it (and thus clear any immigration/customs/security and meet checkin deadlines).

Why not book a direct or connecting flight ex-LON?

bork

Because the initial flight was purchased months ago when I was able to get an $1100 RT business class fare for SEA-LHR-BCN. I've already called BA to see if I could skip the LHR-BCN segment and treat it like an open jaw and then book another OJ LHR-CAI;CAI-BCN but they said it would be a $500 change fee plus the difference in fare. They also said that if I skip the LHR-BCN segment they would cancel the rest of the ticket. So, whatever I do, I'm starting from BCN.

LondonElite

Couple of things to reiterate here.

As nux says, MCT is irrelevant in this case since you are not connecting. I would fly out to Cairo the next day or, if not possible, the day after.

Also, don't risk not taking any of the BA flights, since the rest of your itinerary will be cancelled.

84fiero

Maybe I've missed something, but your only choice is the 14:05 RJ flight or not going to CAI at all? Surely there are other options later in the day or the following morning that would work, or is it a cost issue?

bork

It's not an issue of cost, but really an issue of time. My gf isn't keen on the idea of landing in BCN, spending a single hotel night there, and taking an indirect flight to cairo later since that would be a lot of additional downtime to/from the airport and in the plane itself. So, I wanted to find an option that would have me get to cairo without waiting an extra day.

What I finally decided to do was give up on making Cairo work and save that trip for another time. Instead, I'll be going to Budapest, which is somewhere else I've always wanted to go. Much more comfortable weather, too.

MSPeconomist

With separate tickets, you always need to allow plenty of time for things to go wrong. Continuing the next day is a good idea. As the OP ahs seen, it's not just IROPs but also schedule changes announced in advance that can cause things to go badly wrong.

The_Bouncer

Wise decision. The first plan was never going to work.