Connections @ Heathrow

Can you not change at a smaller airport? Heathrow is a nightmare even though they now say that changing from BA to BA in the new Terminal 5 should be going much smoother. Just FYI Continental have a daily nonstop flight to Hamburg from Newark.

I have looked at the Continental flights to HAM, but their fares are quite a bit more than AA. Plus, I am Platinum on AA and would prefer to accumulate more points, as I am a bit greedy.

I believe that AA and BA are codeshare partners, If that's true and if you are able to book your entire route on ONE ticket, your bags should be checked through and BA will be responsible for getting you on the next available flight should you miss your connection. To be safe, check with AA.

I have connected through Heathrow many times. Two hours is normally fine. Everyone complains about Heathrow; it is big, crowded, and connecting can seem stressful as you walk a long way, take a bus, go through security when you switch terminals. I've never missed a connecting flight because of the airport. I have missed connections because my flight was delayed leaving the U.S. and in each case, I was put on the next flight from Heathrow to my destination. I actually think this is one of the good things about Heathrow. If you do miss a connection, there are usually more that same day.

AA and BA are partners. However, if you participate in the AA Frequent Flyer program you will NOT earn miles on a BA transatlantic segment. So if you want the miles, you should choose AA.

Personally, I would choose to go through London over Newark. I always prefer to have the connection in Europe. If you miss your connection in the U.S. you are more likely to have to wait until the next day to get a flight.

Thanks, Laura. I was not aware that I wouldn't get the mileage credit on BA. That, plus the other points you made, makes the decision a no-brainer.

I just read a travel article in the NY Times that quized frequent flyers to Europe about their worst and their best airports. Heathrow was voted the worst by 100% of those interviewed. The article did not say how many people were polled.

Slightly in Heathrow's defense, I will say that it would be probably my top choice to spend a longer layover. But I do agree, I'd put it near the bottom choice for short connection times.

Charles, I would totally agree that Heathrow is not my favorite airport (although they do sometimes offer samples of the scotch in the duty-free ... Perhaps people need it after waiting in check-in and getting patted down by security :)

I just would not exclude LHR if it was the better price or connection. I lived in London and have flown to and from LHR a lot with delays and crowds but no major crisis. Maybe I've been lucky. I was in London a few years ago when they had a computer problem with the air traffic control system and grounded all flights in the UK for several hours. I was very thankful that my flight that day was out of London City airport (a great little airport that only does short haul flights) and only delayed a few hours. I can only imagine the zoo at LHR.

John, hopefully your flight will be uneventful. And if is not you can always swing by the duty free for a little scotch :)

In October we flew Virgin Atlantic from SFO to LHR, free on a frequent flyer award. We connected with a BA flight to Rome. The whole connection took less than 1 hour! It was so quick that BA could not accept our bags at check-in and we had to come back in 20 minutes.

Admittedly, this is the exception. If you can fly on one ticket, they will transfer your bags to your connecting flight, which can save a lot of time and hassle.

In my experience, Heathrow has worked well 6 times in the past 7 years. Touch wood! That said, I try to allow 3 hours for any international connections.

It looks like AA have a direct flight DFW to LHR which lands at Terminal 3 in Heathrow.

If you take a BA option it looks like you have to connect through O'Hare in Chicago. The advantage is that you land at Terminal 4 ( much nicer and cleaner than T3 with faster moving queues at immigration ).

Either way the BA flight to Hamburg flies out of Terminal 1. For ease of transfer I would sooner fly into T3 and transfer to T1, it's less distance than T4 to T1.

Opinion about Heathrow varies. A lot of that depends on which terminal you use. For my money T1 and T4 are fine. T2 and T3 are a long standing disgrace.

I think T1 is much better now that it's been redone. But whilst the construction was ongoing it was a mess - no board announcing when or where flights were leaving very few airline reps around to help out with queries.

The problem with LHR and BA is often not so much the actual connection, but whether or not your luggage happens to make it. Last time I flew via LHR, BA lost one piece of luggage each way. And it wasn't just me - despite the fact that the return flight from Terminal 1 was very delayed, something like 40% of the luggage didn't make it on the flight.

Have you looked to see if there are any KLM or KLM codeshare flights via Schipol. That's a great airport and much better for connections. I've flown there direct to/from Atlanta.

Kate

Since we now travel exclusively with only carry-ons - our thanks to Rick - we do not worry about our luggage having an itinerary different from the one we have.