hipquest

Is 2 hours, before his next flight, enough time for my husband to clear customs/passport or whatever before he boards a US (home) bound flight? Trying to book directly through AA increases the cost almost 200%, booking BA on the round trip from LHR/AMS roundtrip saves thousands of dollars, so the all of his flights will not be on the same reservation #. Any experience or advise is greatly appreciated! Thanks

TWA884

Are you asking about the time necessary to clear security and passport controls at AMS or LHR or both? Will he have checked luggage that will have to be picked up and checked for the next flight?

MSPeconomist

The time of day, day of the week, and time of year surely will affect how long the lines are likely to be.

Often1

What exactly is he proposing to book and on what date?

Don't forget that BA & AA can easily be booked on separate tickets into the same PNR, if that is what this is all about.

hipquest

Yes, please. Specifically LHR arriving from AMS. No checked bags.

hipquest

October 22, 23 or 24 2018. 10:40 am arrival with a 12:40 departure to US.

TWA884

Well, in that case since it is an LHR specific question, I'll move this thread to the UK forum.

TWA884
Travel Safety/Security co-moderator

hipquest

We tried this method and the cost for the ticket was much, much more expensive. If you know any tricks, please share This is business travel and his company was not having it! Dates of general travel are 10/18/2018 to 10/28/2018 with the AMS leg on Monday or Tuesday. Thanks!

ajGoes

If he's on separate tickets and misses the second flight, that leg of his reservation will be cancelled. He'll be stuck with no way home other than buying an extremely expensive walk-up ticket.

nancypants

The _Banking_Scot

Hi,

What is his US destination and airline ( AA flies from T3, Some BA USA flights use T3 also but AMS arrives at T5)

If on separate tickets and with hand baggage only I would online checkin and print or use the mobile boarding pass and use flight connections route ( no customs or immigration but a security check at flight connections)

Regards


TBS

lhrsfo

Assuming that the OP is using Flight Connections, which he can do on separate tickets, 2 hours is plenty of time assuming the inbound is on time. I did it the other day (from MUC rather than AMS but the principle is the same) and it took all of 10 minutes from the airplane door to being inside T5. Also plenty of time if the departure is from T3. However, the OP must understand that, if the flight from AMS is very late, he will miss his onward flight and BA is under no obligation (and likely won't) accommodate him on a subsequent flight - he'll simply lose that ticket and any onward flights will also be lost. So, for example, if the inbound flight is more than 1hr 15 minutes late, then he will not be able to comply with conformance and will be offloaded from the subsequent flight. At that stage he will have to enter the UK, rather than go through Flight Connections, and set about buying a new ticket.

On one ticket, 2 hours is plenty of time. On separate tickets it's a very unwise gamble.

Often1

You misunderstand what I wrote because you are confusing "tickets" and "PNR". If you don't know the jargon, don't use it.

One may purchase separate tickets, typically at the same time, and have them in the same booking record (PNR).

In this case, if your husband purchases separate tickets and for whatever reason no shows for his onward flight to the US, it will be cancelled and he may --- barring a kindly agent --- be required to purchase a new one-way ticket at exorbitant one-way prices.

The question then is not whether one can make it between T3 and T5 (if that becomes necessary) in 2 hours, but what happens if his first flight is delayed sufficiently. That is a risk tolerance matter and it sounds as though his employer is cheap.

Given the potential financial consequences, I would recommend that he fly into LON the night before so that he has an overnight buffer. He can even use any of the LCC's and fly into any LON airport if that saves further money.

UKtravelbear

cafeconleche

Looks fine to me. I would definitely book this ticket if it were cheap.