Hello fellow travelers
I am flying into LHR on Virgina Atlantic and I will be catching a flight from LHR to Madrid in September.
This will not be on the same ticket. I already have my Virgin flight and it arrives at LHR at 3pm. How much time do I realistically need to catch a flight to Madrid on either Iberia or British Airways to Madrid. We will not be checking luggage, and will only have our carry-on bags. There is a flight that leaves LHR at 5pm. Is 2 hrs enough time? Ther is also a 6:15pm flight. Just trying to get to Madrid as early as possible.
Thanks! I appreciate any advice. Some blogs I have read have said that LHR is organized and 2 hrs is enough time and others say it's not.
Posted by
Preston UK
1856 posts
The general rule of thumb is that for two separate flights you should leave at least 4 hours, so neither flight could be recommended. However, if you can check in to the second flight and have your details with you when you land and you only have carry on luggage, you should be able to use Flight Connections and travel between terminals airside. This should mean you will be OK but I would still book the later flight.
Using Flight Connections means that you will not enter the UK and will therefore not need to get yourself an ETA. But, given the circumstances and the fact that an ETA only costs £20 even with the price rise I would probably recommend that you get you one anyway in case the first flight is delayed. A delay that means you miss your second flight will of course mean that you lose it and will need to buy a new one at the walk up price and that any return ticket will also be lost, but I assume that you understand that.
Posted by
USA
366 posts
Check which terminals you will be arriving to and leaving from. Virgin Atlantic arrives into Terminal 3; BA & Iberia both leave out of Terminal 5. The bus between those 2 terminals (which I took 3 weeks ago) takes roughly 30 minutes. Since we switched terminals, we had to go through Security. Furthermore, it took us 20 minutes to get from the Flagship Lounge to our Gate - the terminals are huge. Even assuming that the VA flight arrives on time, I would not feel comfortable with a 2 hour window. The 6:15 flight would give you more of a cushion, and it is just 1 hour later than the 5:00, so to me, it's worth taking the later flight and not having to worry about connecting.