In July I will fly into Heathrow's Terminal 3 from the U.S on British Air at 1:20 PM. I was fortunate to book Business class seats so I will exit the airplane quickly...then the preferential treatment likely ends. Would it be realistic to go thru Immigration/Customs, travel to Terminal 2, check into my Aegean Air flight and get to my gate to catch a flight to Athens at 4:30? (3 hours).
Posted by
Oxford, United Kingdom
5459 posts
Actually the preferential treatment doesn't end at landing as with a business class ticket you will be given access to the fast-track immigration. All in all you should be OK if your first flight isn't late. You can walk between terminals 2 and 3 using the underground passages to/from Heathrow central. Advisable to check into Aegean online before you leave the USA on British Airways.
Posted by
Freedonia
16299 posts
Is this a through ticket or two different ones?
If a through ticket, go to Heathrow Airport Flight Connections, fill in the information and you'll get step by step instructions.
If not, follow Marco's advice.
Posted by
Oxford, United Kingdom
5459 posts
It would have been somewhat easier to have an entirely BA itinerary, or alternatively have flown into T2 on an airline in the same alliance as Aegean , ie either United or Air Canada. Realise though that there is somewhat of a big hole in the afternoon in the BA flights to Athens.
Posted by
OP
9 posts
I didn't know about the expediated Customs for Business class - thank you for that information. Yes....I wish I had booked a through ticket, but I didn't have my itinerary when I booked my flight from the U.S. I may try calling them to see if they can book me at this late date as it would obviously be an advantage. Thank you all for your input.
Posted by
824 posts
I have negotiated the change from terminals 3 to 5 in as little as 60 minutes on multiple occasions. If the airline knows your connection is particularly tight, they issue you an "expedite" card which gets you to the head of the queues.
Posted by
Atlanta, GA, USA
2791 posts
The airline won't know OP has a tight connection as in thier mind he's just getting off the plane in London with no further connections.
IMHO this is tighter then I like (I tend to go for 4 hours) but doable. My rule of thumb is 4 hours and a full understanding of what the cost of a walk up fare will be. (and I do this a lot as I often find good deals into London and then figure out what I am actually doing :) I have a business seat on BA in May that I got for cheap so... I connect to CDG on my own)
By the way if they don't give you the expeditited pass for immigration ask the Flight Attendant before landing. I have had them forget!
Posted by
Colorado
82 posts
We just did a T3 to T5 transfer at Heathrow last week. We had about 3 hours between flights and made it over to T5 still in time to have a nice "fry up" for breakfast. We were on BA and before we borded our plane in Denver, they gave us a brochure that helped us navigate through the transfer process which was very helpful. The security screening was fairly quick leaving the longest part of the journey being the walk from the plane to the terminal transfer buses.