Connection times

That connection time is way too short for me. You need to go through immigration and security. The time it takes to go through both of those will depend on how many other flights arrive around the same time. Heathrow is massive. You may have to take a bus between terminals. We once had a 3 hr connection to Glasgow and only made it because our Glasgow flight was delayed.

That's scary. Thanks so much. Just what I needed to know.

What is your travel date? The BA flights on that route that I looked at in May, June, and July all have a 3 hour 45 minute connection time. You depart Las Vegas at 12:25, arriving 21:35, arriving Heathrow at 15:35 the next day. The flight to Inverness departs Heathrow at 19:20, probably from the domestic side of T5.

Are you not looking at BA 274 from Las Vegas to Heathrow? Do you have an additional flight from Las Vegas to a different US airport, where you board a BA flight to Heathrow? I see a lot of those 2-stop flights offered on the BA website, but personally I would avoid something like that.>. There is also an earlier BA flight from Vegas to London, BA 2276, that goes to Gatwick—-you definitely do not want that, and have to transfer to Heathrow for the Inverness flight.

BA 274 is an A350 which is a very nice plane. That is the best flight I see on the schedule.

When we flew to Edinburgh we arrived at Heathrow at T5 and departed from T5. The connection took us an hour. Immigration wasn’t an issue. By continuing to Edinburgh you go through a separate immigration area. On the day we went through, there was no line. Going through security is a pain at that airport, especially at certain times of the day and when the x-ray machines break down. If transiting Heathrow we try to have a layover of 3-3.5 hours. That allows for late arrivals, long security lines, or other unforeseen event.

I found a single ticket option on the BA site with 1hr 15min layover at LHR.

As BA is selling it as a single ticket, they are of the belief it can be done. They are unlikely to be scheduling connections that cannot be made as the financial burden is on them to get you to your destination

Use the link provided in this post to familiarize yourself with the process --
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/england/layover-time-london-to-inverness

Traveling mid-September. It seems every time I check flights either flight times or connecting times change, or the one schedule that worked best has completely disappeared, and prices are creeping up. I'll keep plugging away and do the best I can ASAP.

BA just announced a sale, ending January 31, and prices look good.

If I were you, I would stop shopping and go ahead and buy now—-the flights on BA 274-275 with the A350. Going to Inverness, you depart Las Vegas at 21:50 and have 3 hours 30 minutes for layover at Heathrow to connect to the Inverness flight.

Coming back from Edinburgh there are tons of flights and lots of choices, all of them connecting with BA 275 for the long flight back to Las Vegas. But personally I would choose the 11:45 departure from Edinburgh, which gives you a 4-hour layover at Heathrow before the long haul flight. That is one I would be comfortable with. The next flight is a 2.5-hour layover, and it is the last flight back to London that day. I would not want that.

Price for that pair on random dates in September came to $1283 in Economy Basic.

Go to Heathrow Flight Connections, plug in your flight data and you will get step by step instructions. (You will have to wait a bit before September is available.)

As of now, the Las Vegas flight arrives into Heathrow Terminal 3. Your flight to Inverness departs from Terminal 5. You can stay airside and a bus will take you from Terminal 3 to Terminal 5.

However, you still have to go through passport control (Separate area from everyone else) and security. At least, if you are a US passport holder, you get to use the egates.

Last year, after cancelling our flight, BA offered us a connection that involved getting from Heathrow to Gatwick, all in 75 minutes. They have a private guideline about what connections they will sell, and they "cover" you if you miss a flight. Basically, if you buy a flight with them directly, if they sell it, you might make it. I turned down that option for a switch from Glasgow to Edinburgh.

I so appreciate all of you for your input. We are booked now and have sufficient time for our connecting flights. Now looking forward to our Rick Steves tour in Scotland!! 😊😊 This foum is truly awesome.