changing airlines at LHR

I've only been through LHR once so my experience is low but we had a similar transfer from Air Italia to BA on the way home with a 3 hour layover. We had to go through security again and got to our flight just in time to be the last to board.

As for your luggage, I would expect since your are now on two separate tickets that you will have to retrieve your luggage.

Was on ba in may. Didn’t change airlines but did have to change planes. Had to go thru passport control twice and had my luggage removed from my possession. No overhead signage. Had to rely on asking a random volunteer to find out where we needed to be. After all that, we had to run for our connecting flight. Be aware of very poor signage and absolutely no assistance on where you needed to go to catch your flight. We flew into terminal 5 and out of terminal 3. Terminal 3 was much better and easier to find your flight. You will probably need 2 - 3 hours between flights.

and back through airport security

You WILL go through security.

Anyone arriving at LHR from a non-UK airport goes through security when making a plane change.

Plug in your flight info here... https://www.heathrow.com/connecting-flights to get a guide to the process

We were booked round trip through LHR, but British Air cancelled the leg of our flight from LHR to Zurich. In order for us to stay on our travel schedule I was able to book the same exact flight direct LHR-ZRH on Swiss Air

You may have already done this, but it is not clear to me if you formally changed your ticket with BA after they canceled the LHR to ZRH leg to be a ticket to LHR rather than a ticket to ZRH. When BA issued the original ticket, it would have been from your home airport to ZRH. If you did not rebook the cancelled portion with them and expect to use the other legs of your ticket, you may have a problem if you have not notified them of this. In general, it you skip a leg of your ticket the airline will cancel all subsequent legs.

Assuming that you are on two separate tickets and you can only check luggage to LHR, you must go through immigration to get to the luggage. After you pick up your luggage, you go through customs. You will then need to go to terminal 2, drop off your bag with Swiss, and go through security.

If you were traveling with carry on only OR on a single ticket, then you could stay airside and avoid immigration and customs at LHR.

Last month we flew from Denver to Heathrow Terminal 5 on BA, then went to Terminal 2 to catch our Aer Lingus (partner airline of BA) to Cork, Ireland. We did carry-on only bags, not checked, so that’s a difference.

We did catch the bus from T5 to T2, but the signage wasn’t outstanding. The waiting area for the bus was behind some elevators. Once in T2, we had Security, and a passport check after that. UK security is still very big on observing the quart bag of liquids, although we didn’t have to empty water bottles - they apparently can now identify water versus suspicious liquids.

Once we reached the T2 waiting area where you watch the screens for your departure date to finally be announced, we didn’t have to wait a whole lot of time before our flight and gate were shown. Then it’s a quick walk to reach that gate in time. I can’t say exactly how long the whole transfer process took, but as long as your first plane lands on tube at Heathrow, 2 1/2 hours should be adequate for making your Swiss Air flight. You might want to check with them for assurance that all your paperwork is n order, and where they’ll want you to check in with them at Heathrow. With BA cancelling your second leg, you’ll certainly have a different Booking Reference number for your second leg.

That’s crazy that BA cancelled your journey with them for Zurich, but that actual plane is still flying!

If you did not rebook the cancelled portion with them and expect to use the other legs of your ticket, you may have a problem if you have not notified them of this. In general, it you skip a leg of your ticket the airline will cancel all subsequent legs.

This advice by Laura should not be overlooked.

Be sure to verify you still have your homeward tickets

When you were first notified of the cancellation, did you contact BA and try to make it their problem, or at least discuss options with them? You may be entitled to a refund for that significant a change, although if the flight is close, it may be expensive to replace it. At a minimum, you should ensure that BA adjusts your ticket so it terminates at LHR.

What do you see when you view your ticket on the BA web site?

A lot of good points have been brought up regarding your new flight.

Did BA offer the Swiss flight as an alternative and rebooked you on it or did you do this yourself without consulting BA? Did you speak to BA at all? If so, what did they say?

The answer to those questions will affect the answer to your question.

And when you say the exact same flight, do you really mean the same route? Why would you have to book the same flight that was canceled?

There are some very important points about whether BA actually cancelled your flight or just gave you other options. Having booked a ticket to Zürich and ending with a ticket to London seems a bit wrong.

That being said, 2:30 is short for self connecting at Heathrow. Much short than I'd prefer if it was my trip.

BA was obliged under UK law to reroute you to your final destination if necessary on a different carrier in the event of its cancellation. Doing it yourself potentially causes problems as already stated. If you have accepted any refund though it is case closed.

It will be interesting to see if the poster provides any more information. Something does not seem right with the BA flight change / cancellation.

thank you to those who have provided me with useful information regarding the nuances of changing airlines and terminals at LHR. Regarding the comments about flight cancellation and rebooking through Swiss Air, we purchased this packaged trip through BA one year ago, and I was notified four months ago that the LHR-ZRH leg was cancelled. We are to arrive at LHR at 9:20am and the only option BA gave us was to fly to ZRH late that evening. Unfortunately, this completely disrupted the remainder of our entire trip, which had also already been booked a year ago.

So, I initiated a search for other flights and found the one with Swiss Air. I don't know if it's the same exact flight, but the departure/arrival times are exactly the same as our original BA flight from LHR to ZRH. I discussed this with BA Customer Service and they reticketed my flights to remove the cancelled leg. They said that they could not book us on the Swiss Air flight, we would have to do that ourselves. They also said they could not give us any monetary credit for the cancelled flight, but that we could "request a refund" once our travel was complete. Interestingly enough, our new BA ticket states it is the "original purchase - no change." Not sure what that is about, but I do still have a copy of my original booking.
However, all of that conversation is not helping me navigate the LHR airport transfer. I appreciate those who can contribute to providing us with useful information on that. I wonder if I could get BA to deliver our checked bags to the arrival gate at LHR and if we could carry them to the SA departure gate and check them there? I've done this on domestic flights before, but never at an international airport. I don't see why we have to go through immigration and back through security since we are never actually "immigrating" to the UK, we are only leaving the airport secure area because it appears LHR policies are requiring us to do so.

Thanks for the update!

So, I initiated a search for other flights and found the one with
Swiss Air. I don't know if it's the same exact flight, but the
departure/arrival times are exactly the same as our original BA flight
from LHR to ZRH.

Swiss and British Airways are in different alliances so probably not.

I discussed this with BA Customer Service and they reticketed my
flights to remove the cancelled leg.

If they have formally cancelled the connecting flight to Zürich, you now have a ticket to London and it's up to you to get to Zürich. So no need to worry about the rest of your trip being cancelled.

However, all of that conversation is not helping me navigate the LHR
airport transfer. I appreciate those who can contribute to providing
us with useful information on that.

Follow the arrivals signs, go through immigration, head to the luggage belts and pick up your bags. Take the train or tube to Terminal 2 (I think Swiss uses T2, but double check that.) Check in your bags, hopefully you've checked in online so you only need to print luggage tags. Go through security and head to your gate.

I wonder if I could get BA to deliver our checked bags to the arrival
gate at LHR and if we could carry them to the SA departure gate and
check them there?

No.

I don't see why we have to go through immigration and back through
security since we are never actually "immigrating" to the UK, we are
only leaving the airport secure area because it appears LHR policies
are requiring us to do so.

It's UK policy that you always have to go through security when you change planes there, unless you've arrived on a domestic flight (one of the reasons I avoid transfers at Heathrow). And if you have checked in luggage, you need to collect it and check it in for the next flight. But I would urge you to try to travel with carry on only, because 2:30 for a self transfer with checked in luggage at Heathrow is not a lot of time in my opinion.

Also note that Swissair went bankrupt in 2002. You've (probably) booked a flight with Swiss.

My concern with staying on our travel schedule only had to do with the offer BA made us for a later flight. I made the decision at that time to go with the SA flight to resolve that concern, so, yes, we haven't had any further concern with that.
We are traveling for several weeks, so limiting ourselves to carry-ons only is not an option.

Again, I do appreciate your insights into the regulations at LHR, but I'm not going to continue to respond to comments about other aspects of our travel.

SWISS is part of the Star Alliance of airlines, which included United Air Lines. They were once part of the One World Alliance that includes BA, but apparently no longer. Whether that provides less incentive to assist passengers on partner airlines, I don’t know.

I’ve never flown SWISS, but looking that up just now, the original airline was founded back in 1931, eventually becoming Swiss international Air Lines, but ceased operations in 2001. After a Swiss government bailout, it was revived for a year. SWISS was formed in 2003 and continues 20 years later.

We are traveling for several weeks, so limiting ourselves to carry-ons
only is not an option.

Then you need to make sure you have a plan B so you know what to do if you miss your flight to Zürich.

I don't see why we have to go through immigration and back through security since we are never actually "immigrating" to the UK, we are only leaving the airport secure area because it appears LHR policies are requiring us to do so.

It is the same in the USA, Mexico and several other countries. You clear immigration, recheck your bag and clear security before proceeding on to your next destination.

Swiss international Air Lines

It is a subsidiary of Lufthansa.

Thanks for clarifying that the tickets are sorted out. Unfortunately, BA has a policy that they will not check bags through on separate tickets. You must go through immigration to get to the baggage claim area. See this post about a recent experience where the OP had two separate tickets and a connection at Heathrow https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/general-europe/luggage-being-checked-through-on-two-british-airways-tickets

With regard to your transfer:
1) You should be able to check in online for your Swiss flight and print your boarding pass before you leave; they allow check in 23 hours before your flight departs. That should save some time as you will only have to drop off your baggage.
2) After landing at Heathrow, follow the signs to arrivals / passport control. Heathrow has e-gates which U.S. and Canadian citizens can use. After you go through the e-gates, pick up your luggage from the carousel and proceed through customs
3) You are now ”landside” and will need to use one of the public transportation options to get to T2. You can use either the tube (Follow the signs to ”Underground”) or the train (Follow the signs to ”Heathrow Express” or ”Elizabeth Line”). For the trains, there is a machine to get a free connection ticket. For the tube, you can use a contactless credit card. Travel to T2. The link in Badger’s post has more detail.
4) At T2, follow the signs to the Swiss check-in counters and drop off your baggage.
5) Proceed through security to your gate.

I hope this all goes smoothly for you.

There is no way to get a checked bag at the gate arriving at Heathrow. Since it is tagged for LHR, it automatically goes to baggage claim and customs. So you will have to go through passport control--if with a U.S. passport you can use the egates which will save time.

Pick up your luggage, walk through customs--you probably won't be stopped--then get on either the Heathrow Express/Elizabeth Line or Underground to get to T2. (The Heathrow Express/Elizabeth line will be easier).

Once at T2, you check in your bag, go through security and then go to your gate.

Technically, with two separate tickets, you would not be able to use the Flight Connections scheme that doesn't require passport control and customs even with just carry on but sometimes they look the other way.

There may be an alternative. There is a company called Send My Bag that ships luggage. I've sent things from the UK to the US and they were very efficient. You might want to see about shipping you luggage to Switzerland and taking a small carryon on board with just a couple of days of clothes. (It usually takes 3-4 days.)

It isn’t just LHR policy that requires you to go through passport control to retrieve your checked bag. Baggage claim is “landside” and once you are there, you are free to depart the airport with no further checks. So you must go through passport control to get there. This would be the same at any other airport with international passengers arriving.

As for security, all passengers changing planes at Heathrow will go through security on the way to their connecting flight, even if it is in the same terminal. The only exception is for passengers arriving from certain airports within the UK itself. Basically, LHR does not trust the security procedures at airports outside the UK. So you would have to go through security screening in T2 even if you transferred from T5 airside, on the internal bus system.

The good news is that once you are landside at T5 baggage claim, you can use the free train service to transfer to T2/3, with the Heathrow Express or Elizabeth line. You follow the signs from the Arrivals area (outside Baggage Claim) to the train platforms below (not to the Tube/Underground). You will need to pick up a ticket from the machines to get through the turnstiles to the platform, but you will not be charged for it.

The procedure is explained on the Heathrow website. Scroll down to “Not a connecting passenger?” and Terminal 5.

https://www.heathrow.com/at-the-airport/airport-maps/travel-between-terminals

Having said all that, I cannot stop myself from adding that we, like many others in this forum, routinely travel for multiple weeks with carry-on bags—-in our case, as long as 6 weeks, with clothing for everything from hiking in the Alps to the opera in Venice. I will urge you to consider it.

thanks so much to Badger, Laura, Frank II and Lola for the detailed explanations that have been so helpful! I'm more at ease now of what to expect, what the process entails, and what we need to be aware of step-by-step. Not knowing was my biggest concern, so I have printed out your instructions and will follow them, especially since so many have commented on poor signage/assistance available in the terminals.
I believe the weight limits on carry-ons (especially on the Swiss flight) are the determining factor for us. My husband is a big man, so no lightweight stuff in his bag! LOL

I believe the weight limits on carry-ons (especially on the Swiss flight) are the determining factor for us. My husband is a big man, so no lightweight stuff in his bag! LOL

You could pack a carry on for the BA flights and just check in the bag for the Swiss flight. BA allows carry on bags up to 51 lbs.

With carry on bags, and the boarding passes for the Swiss flights, you might be able to use the airside transfer from T5 to T3 so you don't need to go through passport control or customs. You will still have to go through security.

Frank II has the perfect solution.

That is a great solution except that the sizes of our luggage exceed the dimensions allowed for carry-on. Our cabin bags are larger than the dimensions that BA lists for "hand bags" and our checked bags surpassed the dimensions for carry-on bags. Again, I could probably pull that off, but my husband's bags are "man-sized"