Transiting LHR Problem
 

Me and some other FTers who took advantage of the SFO-ORD-MUC-LHR-SFO run for 2 weeks in December have been fretting over our connection in LHR. Our connection at MUC to an LH flight MUC_LHR is 2 hours, should be a breeze.

However, many people have expressed concerns over the 75 minute connection in LHR that we have transiting T3 to T2. So we wish to knwo our options.

None of us will have any luggage, just one carryon bag (secondary questions is if yo're allowed to carry a laptop bag in addition)..

If we don't, will UA help us make arrangements if we miss our flight. Are there any precautiosn or measures we can take to make transiting faster.

And is fast pass an option in this case, is there any dedicated UA secuirty lines at LHR. Thanks for your help guys and hopefully we have a way out.

Since this is not just United specific, I am moving this to the London forum. Thanks for your understanding.

iluv2fly
moderator, UA

Would your carry-on have any liquids or gels or creams of any kind?

Travelling ex-UK, all of the above are not allowed through security. So if you have those in your carry-on, they will be chucked away !

Security is extra stringent and loooong especially at LHR these days especially for connecting passengers.

75 minutes is cutting it - especially if your flight from MUC has a long taxi to the gate. Most flights from Germany to UK are rarely on time. If you miss your flight, then UA would have to accomodate you accordingly. Don't know what they'll do though.

You will need to put your laptop in your carryon / rollaboard to get through security.

75mins is going to be tight, depending on security at the connections center. I don't think that going through passport control and through the landside connection / security would be quicker unless you have EU passports (and even then it would be a toss up).

UA will put you on a later flight if you miss it. This might mean connecting in IAD or ORD (I haven't looked up the timetable), and a significantly later arrival. Another hitch might be that you dont get BPs from LH at MUC for your UA flight - seems to be a lottery on this - in which case you'll need to check in at th connection center and you will be after the checkin time by then I would think.

Is there any chance of you changing your flights now? Or are you tied to this particular itinerary and looking for hints.

If it's the latter, my advice is to leave it all alone for a couple of weeks. New security rules are expected to come into force within the next 10 days. When they've been announced, you will have a better idea of what you can and can't bring. Your limiting factor on this trip is going to be what is permitted through security at MUC and LHR, which may be running on the same rules by the time you travel.

I transited through there 2 weekends ago on JFK-LHR-BOM and return and it was definately over an hour one way with terminal change and about an hour going the other way. I booked mine with 4 hour connections because of the problems. The alternate was two hours which I thought at the time, and still do, would be possible but might not work.

Me and some other FTers on ths flight will probably be carrying one bag only.

That is why we are lookign for fastpass optons

It's not you. But everyone else. The ones with more than one bag. The ones with liquids, creams in their carry-ons that they have carried from their origins which they are allowed to and then they realise they have to ditch their make-up, creams, medicinal liquids etc. It's those people who will be holding you up. There will be tears, arguements, people who don't want to throw their things away, or they will be there holding up people while they repack their bags to recheck in . They will be there about a hundred or so, AHEAD of you. And you can't say to the security staff that you're going to be late for a flight. Why are you so important ahead of the other people?

75 mins. Say your flight gets in on time. You taxi to your gate. Oh, wait there's a plane on the tarmac blocking your plane from parking. Wait another 10 mins.

You get to gate. LH parks at the furthest point from T2. You need to trek for at least 10 mins to Connections Centre. You go through security there. Then you go to Terminal 3 presumably you will have your boarding passes already. Then at T3, you will be subjected to ANOTHER security check for people going on US flights.

That's the worst scenario. But it's better to be prepared right?