nufnuf77

transfer security at t2 is empty at 10pm --> there is very very few flights at that time. the only snaffu is delay on your VIE-LHR getting gate/stand/open doors. which is definitely possible and will make you miss it but i dont know how/if likely it is. T2 does not have conformance so running for it if you are late will help

Krisz

Bit of everything I guess. In T2 it is just transfer as no separation between Schengen or non Schengen or anything. If the airport is busy it can have an effect on all areas. No one can predict at the moment what the situation will be however as you currently have 1 hour any delay longer than 10-15 min could have effect your connection.
as others said in case of issue you need to talk to the airline who issued the ticket. I have no idea when you have a M&M award who exactly the airline and what is the process, etc. if you let us know the first 3 digit of the e-ticket then someone can let you know who is that belongs to. Like 125 is BA. Bags less of an issue as it goes back to the system and will follow you if your original ticket changes. If you get a new ticket or the airline make a new reservation/ticket then I guess you either need to pick it up and check it in or submit a claim when you arrive to your final destination and the it will be delivered later.

zrh2yvr

I have done T2 many times and find this to be a low risk connection. Your arrival will be to the A-pier and the walk to security is very short. There will little to no line. Then - you make your way down under the tunnel and the moving sidewalk to B. The whole process from beginning to end will require around 25-30 mins. If you are late by 30 mins - you do risk it but there will likely be some waiting for late inbounds. Good luck.

SKT-DK

I concur - though might want to add, that in case of delays, you might find yourself in a situation where you would make it but your checked luggage will not. Most likely, that would then be on the same flight the next day.

flyupfront

I wouldn’t risk this tight of a connection. Besides, even if it works out you’ll be stressing about all the way until the moment you board the connecting flight. Life’s too short (and so is your connection), add some wiggle room.

KeaneJohn

Late flights sometimes suffer delays in gate allocation, people to operate jet bridges and/or baggage handling.

An hour whilst a legal connection is risky but you are protected and will be rebooked and you should have a hotel booked for you under the airlines duty of care.

your best hope is the VIE-LHR gets cancelled in the cuts and you can rebook to an earlier flight to give you a bigger connection. This might be better in the LH/Star Alliance threads where regular travelers can give there first hand experiences.

TravellingSalesman

In case this is helpful to you: UK is not part of Schengen. You are connecting international to international.

Of course that doesn't change the fact that your connection is risky but you should be fine if all goes well.

scottishpoet

When they rebook you they will see you had bags checked in and they will reroute them to be on the same flights you are rebooked on

ArnoldB

If rebooking to an earlier, less stressful connecting flight was an option, I would've already done it. It's not like I'm sadistic and love being worried.

I booked this award (VIE-LHR-BOG-LIM / LIM-BOG-BCN-VIE) two months ago and even then it was already a major hassle, as I had to talk to about 10 different hotline staff members until someone finally managed to piece this routing together. The problem was that the BOG-LIM legs are Economy only and therefore the whole VIE-LIM connection did not show up for the agents in their search results and they have to add it together manually, but ultimately it worked and I have the ticket issued.

I checked again today and that connection (VIE-LHR-BOG) does not show up anymore at all in the award search (not in United Award Search either). It does not even show up anymore as purchasable for cash on austrian.com. Neither does a variant with a feeder flight 4h earlier (which never showed up at all even 2 months ago, or I would've booked that back then). And I'm also worried that even if I just call them and ask them to look if it's available they'll somehow screw up my current booking and that will be gone as well.

So yeah, my hope is that the feeder flight is moved ahead of time a bit or cancelled and I get rebooked to the earlier flight. Or that the Avianca flight is moved backwards a bit further. Or that something is cancelled and they just rebook me to a Lufthansa VIE-FRA-BOG-LIM connection.

But what if they deny rebooking me to the early next morning KL/IB flights and I book that myself? Because that's what I'm afraid of. That I miss the flight, they deny rebooking me on the early morning KL/IB flights and instead insist on rebooking me to the late night Avianca flight the next day (24h later), so that I have to rebook myself to the KL/IB connection (and later send them the bill). Would they still need to comply when I tell them to reroute my bags to the KL/IB flights in that situation and is that even possible?

I know it maybe sounds like I'm overthinking things but actually I don't think that is such a far-fetched scenario.

angetenar

Very unlikely that they would agree to rebook you on the KL/IB flights. You may try getting rebooked on UA 879 LHR-IAH leaving at 10:35 am, connecting to UA 207 IAH-BOG, which arrives at 9:40 pm. Is that too late for you? Alternatively LH 925 LHR-FRA leaving at 8:30 am, connecting to LH 542 FRA-BOG, arriving at 7 pm.

This appears to be an award ticket? In that case, advance rebookings may be difficult, as it will require partner award availability, especially because UA does not fly to VIE.

Sheikh Yerbooty

Your flight to LHR is highly likely to be running late, as it’s probably the last flight of the aircraft that day. Chances are high delays will have accumulated during the day, and will manifest itself by being late inbound to VIE.

Once you arrive at LHR, better hope they’ve got their stand allocation and staffing up to speed. Otherwise you might have to wait for a stand to be vacated, and that can easily add 15-30 minutes. And if they do have a stand ready, better hope there’s someone to drive the airbridge

Then there’s security, where the UK for some bizarre reason have decided to run all connecting passengers through security - the same passengers who’ve just gone through security at another airport. But, that’s besides the point. There’s a chance Heathrow will have sufficient staff in place by October, and they might even have opened fast track too, and luckily for you it’s rather late in the evening. Still, it’s not unusual having to wait 15-30 minutes to pass security

You also have transfer bags. This is Heathrow we’re talking about, the place where transfer bags are suffering a high chance of not making a connection when there’s 2 or more hours between flights.

All in all: Chances are very high you’ll loose your connection unless everything is on time, stand and staff are ready and in place, and there is no queuing for security. And if you do make your connection, your bags probably won’t.

Why anyone would voluntarily book a connecting itinerary via Heathrow is a mystery to me.

ArnoldB

Thank you for the honest words. I now decided to risk it and call the M&M hotline and they were able to rebook me from VIE-LHR at arriving at 21:40 to VIE-LHR arriving at 18:40. So now I have 4h connecting time. Not exactly ideal either but better too much than too little I guess.

:D!

I think 4 hours *is* an ideal connection time at the moment. There is a significant risk that the issues won't be fully resolved by October and even before covid evening flights could often be late just from accumulated delays throughout the day. On your original itinerary if you actually arrived at LHR at 2210 then there is a good chance nobody would be around who would help you get rebooked.

Sheikh Yerbooty

Think you made the right choice there. Enjoy the trip.