Flying from Country to Country with Separate Tickets?

Hi Amber. This might sound like overkill advice, but I would suggest that you stay in London for the night when you arrive (or outside London near the airport from which you'll fly to Spain). Your flight from the States could be delayed because of weather or you might run into another problem that would cause you to miss your flight to Spain. A few years ago I flew into Manchester, UK from the States and had a separate flight on easyJet to Paris. But our luggage didn't get on the plane with us to Manchester and we had to fill out a claim form. The process took so long that we missed our flight to Paris and we each had to pay a 35-pound change fee ($70 in 2007). If you book a flight to Spain for the next day, you won't have to worry about delays and you can take a nap in your hotel room and try to get over jetlag. A German friend of mine who went to school in the U.S. had a ticket to fly from Hamburg to London to Chicago 2 years ago, returning for the spring semester. But there was so much fog in London that his plane from Hamburg couldn't land and had to circle. By the time it landed, he missed his flight to Chicago from London. The airline put him up in a hotel for the night and he got on another flight the next day. These things are pretty rare but they do happen.

Where do you want to fly into in Spain? Intra-European airlines don't fly into and out of every airport in every country. You might fly into Heathrow from the States and out of Gatwick or Luton to go to Spain. If you book a flight for the next day, you don't have to worry about getting from one airport to the next as soon as you land.

You will have to go through customs and immigration in London when you fly to Spain, even if your flights are back to back, because you will be flying on 2 separate tickets as you said. This process can be pretty quick or take a while, depending on a lot of factors - how many people are flying that day, whether they tag you in security and have to look through your stuff, etc. I flew to Brussels via London Heathrow a couple years ago and in security, the people ahead of me were tagged because their liquids weren't properly packed. I had to wait while their things were searched because there was only one security agent. Then I was tagged because I had 4" nail scissors and they weren't sure if the scissors were okay for carry-on (it turned out that they were okay). I almost missed my flight to Brussels.

Thanks for the insight, Sarah. This helps a lot!

I did essentially this a couple of years ago. I got a roundtrip deal to London, then took a cheapie flight on to Spain (my actual destination). To do so, I had to fly into Heathrow, take the National Express bus to Stansted, then continue on. It took quite awhile to get through passport control, and I had to show my ongoing ticket when they asked how long I would be in the UK. All together, it took about two hours to get through the airport and to Stansted. You still have to allow time to check in for your outgoing flight, though, and if it's on a budget carrier they will be strict about your timing. Be sure you check the rules of the other airline before committing to a flight. In general, if you miss your ongoing flight you will have to buy a new ticket, so make sure you leave PLENTY of time in between flights. In my case, I arrived in the UK about 8:30 a.m. and was in Spain by dinnertime, no problems. I don't see any need to overnight in London on the way.

I agree that it probably isn't necessary to stay the night in London and it's probably crazy advice. But because of my experience, I would book a flight the next day just for my own peace of mind.

Amber, what airline are you using to fly from Seattle to London? Start by comparing prices and routes with that airline versus other options, including the discount airlines which may fly from different airports. It simplifies things if you do not have to transfer airports, and as you haven't booked yet you are in control of that. Also, when are you going? spanish airport workers have announced a series of strikes on specified days starting around april 20 and continuing into the summer. The strikes may or may not happen, but you might check the dates and avoid those days if possible (although if the strikes occur other days will likely be affected as well.) Some UK news media are saying that prices for flights to Spain are dropping due to th euncertainty, but I haven't confirmed that.

I also typically stay overnight in London when I am flying elsewhere on a separate ticket. I have had two occasions in London where I have missed my connection on a connecting ticket and one occasion where I was terminating in London and arrived 2.5 hours late. If you fly out the same day, give yourself a decent cushion. What airline is your inbound flight on? If you are flying on BA, I would be inclined to buy your ticket to Spain on BA as well. BA has flights to Spain out of LHR. One note though. If you arrive at Heathrow and then fly to Spain from Heathrow, you don't necessarily have to go through immigration. Having two separate tickets does not automatically mean that you have to go through immigration. Rather, if you have a checked bag and it is only checked to Heathrow, you will have to go through immigration to get to the baggage claim area. If you have only carry on and are taking another flight out of Heathrow, you will go through a security check, but can stay in the in-transit area.

I am flying into London through United Airlines. I will arrive around 7am London time so, I'm thinking I might give myself at least 4 hours between flights? Staying the night in London does sound like the safest way to go but it would be preferable just to get to Spain the same day. I will have to check a package since the reason I am even going to Europe is for a hair stylist training and I have to bring my shears which aren't allowed on planes. Good point about checking the strike dates. I'll look into that. My trip isn't until September.

The strike dates do not extend into September so you should be OK on that.

If you're flying from Seattle to London on United, that means you're changing planes in the US. So, you already have double the chance of flight cancellation and lost luggage. I'd stay the night.

I don't know why you couldn't show your ticket to the United Airline agent and interline your suitcase thru to Spain, assuming you use an airline they cooperate with, and assuming you leave from the same airport. On my first trip to Europe, my flight from LGW to IAh was delayed a total of 13 hours due to broken windshield. I hope that is still a rare occurence but I learned NEVER spend the last of your cash, nor spend up to your credit limit.

"I will have to check a package..." You're planning to check a suitcase, right? The old days of flight attendants holding a package of 'dangerous goods' is long over... I, too, would stay the night - check with your hotel there (for your training the next week) and see if they will hold a bag with things you don't need to take to Spain, like shears that need to be checked on the airplanes and some trains in Spain...

Eileen, I was planning to pack light enough so that I didn't have to check any bags in, but then I realized my shears would need to be checked in since they are contraband.

amber, One other point to mention. Since this is your first trip to Europe, I'd highly recommend reading Europe Through The Back Door prior to your trip. It will provide a lot of good information on "how" to travel and avoid problems. Given your location, you might find it very helpful to take the short drive to ETBD in Edmonds one day, as that would allow you to use their free Library to plan your sightseeing in Spain. The Snapshot Guides for Spain will provide you with LOTS of information on sightseeing, Hotels, Restaurants, transportation, etc. (any of the Guidebooks are now also available in E-book format). It would also be a good opportunity to purchase a Money Belt and Plug Adapters (especially in Spain, a Money Belt would be a really good idea!). Your flight will probably arrive at Heathrow (LHR) in London. As someone else mentioned, you'll likely have to get to one of the other London airports for a budget flight to Spain. However, British Airways and others operate from LHR, but likely from a different terminal. Which city in Spain are you planning to visit? Happy travels!

Ken, I checked out Europe Through the Back Door at my library but had to return it before I was done reading it. I am going to try to get it again. I will be arriving a LHR, but I don't know what terminal I will be flying into. I was looking into the budget flights from the other airports and surprising enough, for my specific journey, British Airways at LHR is the cheapest. In that case, I will be leaving to Barcelona from terminal 3. I was looking into dropping my stuff off at the Left Luggage storage place at Heathrow. It's £8.50 a day, which might be worth the piece of mind I'll have while traveling to Spain with out checking in a bag. Any one have experience with the Left Luggage storage?

United uses T1. If you can, I would suggest that you see if you can check-in to your LHR to Spain flight online before you leave. BA lets you check in 24 hours in advance. That will save you from waiting in the check-in queue at the BA counter when you arrive. When you check in with United, you could ask United if they can interline your bag through to Barcelona. I don't know if they will still do this. Some of the airlines will no longer do this if you are on separate tickets. If they won't interline your bag, on arrival to LHR, you will go through immigration, customs, and then on to baggage claim. This can take an hour or more when it is busy (it can also be very quick ... just depends on what other planes arrive at the same time as you). You will then need to get to T3. Landside, you can walk to T3 (it is about a 15 minute walk through a bunch of tunnels). At T3 you can either store your bag at the left luggage or go to the BA counter to check it through. You will then have to go through security at T3. If you try to fly on the same day, you just need to know that if for some reason your UA flight is delayed and you miss the BA flight, BA is not obligated to put you on another flight to Spain. This is the risk that you take when flying on a separate ticket.

Amber - At least once a year for the past several years we have been flying through London so here is our experience. If our connecting flight is at Heathrow, we leave 4-5 hours for our connection. It's a long time in the airport, but I wouldn't feel comfortable with anything less. We have never had to go through immigration if we didn't have to pick up a bag. They do check passports, but just to make sure you have a connecting flight. We have had good luck with United checking our one checked bag through to our final destination on British Airways. Just check the flight and airline code on the baggage tag - one time they put BMI but British Airways figured it out and got our bag to us the next morning in Prague. British Airways also tracks bags and can tell you when they have it in their possession. They can also make comments in their system in case there's a problem with the bag. Virgin Atlantic wouldn't check our bag through on British Airways, but even with the liquids scare that August, a late arrival flight and having to pick up our bag, we made our connection. If you are running late, don't hesitate to talk to the airline employees - they put us at the front of the long line that time to check our bag. The advice about checking in online for British Airways before you leave is a good one - we have done that whenever we use British Airways. If transferring to Gatwick (which we try to avoid), we leave more than 5 hours. We have spent the night in London once but only because of flight schedules. If you are only paying for the European portion of your trip, you could get trip insurance to help with missed connections in case your flight into London is delayed. As for your shears, can you ship them ahead (if you feel comfortable) to your hotel, a colleague or a place of business so you don't have to check a bag? Enjoy your trip!