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London flight connection: separate tickets

Posted by (Iowa) on

Planning a trip to Italy later this year and I found a great deal on flights using miles from the US to London and back. Two adults, two teens traveling in Spring. (We've had these tickets for awhile). The plan is to go on to Italy (didn't book direct to/from Italy from the States because it was double the miles per person when we booked...London was what we could get for just the fees). We travel carry-on only

Delta flight scheduled to arrive at Heathrow at 845 am on a Monday. We'd like to fly on to Rome that same day (returning from Venice with a couple of days before our return flight to the US). Flight options we're considering heading to Rome are:

from Heathrow: BA departing at 115 pm, 210 pm, 415 pm, or 620 pm
from Gatwick: Easy Jet at 235 or 435 pm
Stansted: has a couple of flights that are operated by Malta Air/codeshare with Ryan Air (130 pm, 230 pm, and 610 pm)
Luton: Wizz Air at 350 pm or 940 pm

BA is the most expensive (not factoring in how much it would cost for 4 people to transfer to another airport) but looks to be the most convenient.

We've flow from Heathrow and Gatwick before and on actual Ryan Air, Easy Jet and BA before....no experience with Stansted Airport, Luton Airport, Malta Air or Wizz Air). We are okay with the fact that we are on separate tickets and would like to maximize our realistic chances of making the onward flight (knowing that we may have to pivot if an unusually long delay occurs). Arriving at Rome earlier would be ideal but we would like to give sufficient time that we are likely to be a bit early (or a lot early) for our onward flight.

I'd love to hear some opinions on which flight (airline and time) anyone would recommend? Getting to Rome earlier would obviously be ideal but not at the expense of booking the separate ticket connections too close together.

Posted by
9924 posts

Separate tickets already adds one degree of risk which you have stated you are okay with. Transferring to a completely different airport adds an additional risk factor that just might be one too many.

I am a fairly risk averse person and I would choose BA flight out of Heathrow at 2:10 pm. If you do plan to change airports, you will need to go through Border Control and have UK ETAs. Keep that in mind. If you plan to spend time in the UK on your return, you would need them for that anyway.

Posted by
54 posts

Thanks. Should have mentioned that we all already have UK ETAs.

Posted by
4499 posts

I don't know the difference in ticket prices for the London to Rome flight, but it would be nice to stay in the same airport (even though Heathrow is my least favorite airport for making a connection -- though it is better going US->LHR->Destination than in reverse). I would probably go with 210 pm flight, too.

If changing airports, I would probably build in a bit of an extra buffer and 3:50 or later.

I've only flown through LHR, so can't make recommendations on the other airports.

As an aside, I am willing to accept the risk of the proposition of 2 tickets and have done this multiple times. My connection airports have been Frankfurt, Munich, and JFK. I give it a minimum of 4 hours -- usually aim for more like 5-6 hours. I have done it changing airports, too --> JFK to LGA. I think I gave myself more like 6 hours for that one.

Posted by
1095 posts

I would not considered changing airports to Stansted. There are too many variables with incoming flights these days and to add another airport transfer would be too much stress for me. Stansted is actually a fair way from LHR - there is a bus (National Expression) or train option but it is not worth it. Stansted is also a very busy airport. I would not even bother with Gatwick either for the same reasons. Its closer than Stansted, but the hassle of getting in and out of airports these days, is not pleasant. I would just stick with the Heathrow connection. Have lunch, shop and relax. I would also take the 2:10 pm option if I was doing this. We actually did this with Athens last September, and it worked out fine with a 4-5 hour lay over.

Posted by
1032 posts

I'm in agreement with everyone above- I wouldn't risk trying to get to Gatwick, Stansted, or Luton. (For reference, I believe there is a direct bus between Heathrow and Gatwick but I don't think there is any direct public transport between Heathrow and other airports). I think I would also go for 2.10pm. Good luck making it all work!

Posted by
3138 posts

Well, as someone who does this all the time because of frequent flyer tickets, I would take the 115. My rule is four hours. I’ve never had a problem. I am willing, however to pay the price if I do but … I don’t see the benefit of waiting 50 minutes more for the 210

Posted by
1180 posts

In general, if you want to cancel a trip booked with miles, you can do so with no
charges and all miles redeposited (at least on US carriers, not quite so much on
European carriers and I don't know who you booked with).

So, just because it was a great deal before and now you are trying to evaluate
the risk involved in the second flight, perhaps you should also keep checking to
see if the through option to Italy has dropped in miles required. Obviously if that
happened it would be the optimal solution.

Barring that, if you are not traveling on a bank holiday weekend in the UK, in the
spring, maybe flights are not that full, and even if you are delayed on the inbound,
BA will be able to (or have mercy on you and) accommodate you on the next
available flight. Having carry-on doesn't hurt.

But there are too many variables involved in connecting to a different UK airport
under time constraints to make it stressless (unless you enjoy that kind of stress).

Where in Italy is your final destination? Perhaps you can find a cheaper option
out of LHR to that or a nearby city. It would still carry the risk of a misconnection,
but save you some $.

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