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Connecting flight AA to BA at Heathrow

Posted by (Dallas, Tx) on

Bit of an odd question. I'm flying to Basil-Mulhouse via Heathrow. Dallas to Heathrow is AA flight and connecting to a BA flight at Heathrow. Arrive at Terminal 3 and, normally, take the bus to Terminal 5 for the BA leg. Both tickets booked through AA.

Online checkin for the Dallas-Heathrow leg on AA works normally. However, AA says I have to check in and get boarding passes for the BA leg on the BA website. The BA website says that online checkin is not available for that leg of the flight and I should checkin at the airport. A telephone call to BA confirms this necessity.

That would not normally be a problem either, except I sorta suspect there is no BA checkin counter on the secure side of the airport in Terminal 3 from which I would normally catch the bus. And although I haven't actually done this before, I suspect I will need the boarding passes for the BA flight from Terminal 5 in order to actually get into the secure side from the bus.

Unless someone is aware of a STAFFED BA counter or kiosk on the secure side of Terminal 3 or before going through security side security check into Terminal 5, I'm afraid I will have to exit the secure side of Terminal 3, go though UK Customs and Immigration, get in line at a BA ticket counter on the insecure side of Terminal 5, and go through regular security screening again.

Somebody please tell me I don't have this right :)

Failing that, is there a secure side accessible place to get the boarding passes?

Posted by
5850 posts

Try going to check-in counter at Dallas. They should be able to check you in.

Posted by
6531 posts

I think Laura's right. It seems like we had the same problem a couple of years ago, and the clerk in DFW checked us on through.

Posted by
357 posts

If there is no BA counter at Dallas, AA should be able to check you in. You will be issued a boarding pass that BA will swap at the gate for your flight out of Heathrow.

Posted by
134 posts

I can confirm that there was a staffed BA check in desk in the secure terminal transfer area in June of 2016. (that was the last time I was at Heathrow.) I had to do the same terminal transfer and they made me check in again and get a new boarding pass even though I had all of my boarding passes in hand already. There was a staff member standing in the hallway asking everyone flying BA to stop and check in again, but even without that person the desk would not have been difficult to see if I had needed it.

Posted by
107 posts

Thanx to all who replied. As it turned out it was a non issue.

Contrary to what TWO AA reps said, the bags are indeed checked all the way through to the second flight and leaving the air side is unnecessary. This would have been possible with a 1 hour connection assuming you ran and everything went perfectly, otherwise allow more time.

A very pleasant AA rep at DFW was able to print the BA boarding passes, as she said the BA desk did not open until 1430.

A 7 hour layover makes Terminal 5 feel like a branch office of hell.

BA was putting lots of bags in the sizing bin. 👍

Basil customs and immigration took about 30 seconds.

Posted by
6531 posts

Thanks for the "heads up" on the sizing bin. We're flying BA next month (next month!). Our bags have always fit, but sometimes we have to shake them a bit...

Posted by
93 posts

I fly AA/BA flights all the time connecting through LHR. You can check in with AA at Dallas (or wherever) and get your boarding passes for your second BA leg. Also your baggage gets checked through as well..

On rare occasions you may be told you can't get your second boarding pass (I've only had it happen once in 15 years), in that case you get the boarding pass as the transfer desk when you come into T5. (Otherwise you can't get through T5 security).

But it is standard you will get both boarding passes when you check in.

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