British Airways/Heathrow

I just tried a test booking on the BA site and noticed that they fly from terminal 2 at Stockholm. I wonder whether TeanneTX may have misread the confirmation.

BA certainly use T5 for Stockholm, so there should be some connection options available within T5.

It might be worth your while checking all your travel documents, and perhaps posting the flight numbers (even if not the specific dates) here so that we can check what is going on.

I just tried a test booking on the BA site and noticed that they fly from terminal 2 at Stockholm. I wonder whether TeanneTX may have misread the confirmation.

If TeanneTX had answered this question, it would all have been clear: "Am I right in thinking that the first (Stockholm-London) flight is on SAS?" I am sure that the answer is no, which would mean that Heathrow Terminal 2 has nothing to do with it.

I would lay a small wager on the itinerary being:-

01JUN17 BA785 ARN-LHR 0845-1035

01JUN17 BA181 LHR-AUS 1155-1605

BA-BA, T5-T5, 60 minute Minimum Connection Time, 80 minutes available.

Definitely.

 

If TeanneTX had answered this question, it would all have been clear: "Am I right in thinking that the first (Stockholm-London) flight is on SAS?" I am sure that the answer is no, which would mean that Heathrow Terminal 2 has nothing to do with it.

 

I would lay a small wager on the itinerary being:-

01JUN17 BA785 ARN-LHR 0845-1035

01JUN17 BA181 LHR-AUS 1155-1605

 

BA-BA, T5-T5, 60 minute Minimum Connection Time, 80 minutes available.

I think you would lose you wager BA181 is a LHRJFK flt the LHRAUS is BA191 the timings are correct

I think you would lose you wager BA181 is a LHRJFK flt the LHRAUS is BA191 the timings are correct

I would still be taking a punt on the OP flying straight home from the cruise rather than doing a post-cruise stay in Stockholm first. I could yet be on a loser for guessing the wrong date.

I will be flying into LHR from JFK (Virgin Atlantic) on a Sunday morning in May with an almost 12 hour layover (planned that way) before taking BA to LUX in the evening. Both flights use Terminal 3. I would like to leave my bags at Left Luggage, then take the HEX to Paddington for 5-6 hours in central London.

I am a bit OCD and like to have an idea of what I am doing prior to arriving so I can keep my anxiety level down. :) In my mind, I would pick up my checked bag, go through customs and immigration then drop my bags at Left Luggage. Is that correct? Are these places on the same level and easy to find (I will be traveling solo with one medium roller and one backpack)? Is the Left Luggage and boarding area for HEX nearby/same level? Upon my return I assume I would retrieve my bags, check my one bag, go thru security and then onto my next flight. Is 2 hours on each end enough time to do this? I flew out of Gatwick last time and Heathrow seems much more intimidating.

Last question: I still have my visitor Oyster card from my visit to London in June. Can I top it off and use the same one or would it be expired? I plan to prepurchase my ticket for HEX so would just be using the Oyster card on the Tube.

Thanks so much for your advice and insight. I am so excited to be able to go back to London, even if it is for just a few hours, prior to my Baltic cruise.

The first question is whether you're flying on one ticket all the way to LUX, or whether the BA flight was booked separately. If you're on one ticket, then the obvious thing to do is to ask Virgin to through-check the bag to LUX. I think that a 12-hour connection should be OK for this because it's a same-day transfer.

If Virgin will do this, then all you need to do is to clear immigration and walk out through customs and get going. You wouldn't need to spend time waiting for your bags or storing them, nor would you need to allow time to collect them and then drop them with BA. If you already have your onward boarding pass, you just need to make sure you enter security by about 60 minutes before your flight, which should give you more than enough time to get to your gate without stress. If you don't have your onward boarding pass, then leave a few extra minutes to collect one from the BA check-in desks (either Zone D or Zone E, I think) - and also remember to show BA your bag tag receipt so that BA can record the number if necessary.

If for some reason Virgin won't do this, then the baggage storage facility is in the public area on the arrivals side of T3. When you exit from Customs, walk straight ahead (don't be misled by the fact that most people will veer off to the right). You will see some counters for transfer services. Keep going in the same direction past them, and I think the Excess Baggage Company is on the left just before the Emirates chauffeur drive reception and lounge. Look at page 5 of these maps - it's the shop numbered 8. If that's not the location of the storage facility, they will be able to give you directions.

On that page, you'll also see the marking for Down to ... Trains to London (and the Tube etc). It's a ramp that leads down to the underground walkways that will take you to the HEX station - just follow the signs.

If you do leave your luggage there, then when you return to T3 you need to follow the signs for T3 Arrivals to get back into this part of the building. After you've collected your luggage, you just need to follow the signs for check-in, which will take you to the other part of T3 where the check-in desks are (on the same level - the ground floor).

Oyster cards shouldn't expire, so you ought to be fine to top up the card. And to be perfectly honest, depending on where you're going, using the HEX won't save you much time over using the Tube, but using the Tube will save you a lot of money. For example, I'm often travelling to/from Heathrow from near St Paul's, and using the HEX saves me about 10 minutes over taking the Tube all the way.

Globaliser: thank you so much for this detailed information. It was exactly what I was looking for! I have printed it and added to my travel documents.

I am traveling on 2 tickets as I am using FFmiles on the leg from Phoenix to London. I have not purchased my BA ticket to LUX yet as there is a small possibility that plans will change and I may be staying 3 days in London and flying directly to Berlin on Wednesday...need to stay flexible until probably after the first of the year. Even if that happens, your instructions have given me a comfort level for arriving and leaving LHR.

The HEX fare is reasonable for a Sunday morning if purchased 90 days in advance and what I have read states it is only 15 minutes from LHR to Paddington, while the tube seems considerable longer. With time being of the essence, that seemed the best choice for me. But you mentioned St Paul's and I did not get there last trip...it opens early so I may have to think about going there first via tube. So many options, so little time. :D

Thanks again for your assistance. The information you provide on this board is invaluable and greatly appreciated.

The HEX fare is reasonable for a Sunday morning if purchased 90 days in advance and what I have read states it is only 15 minutes from LHR to Paddington, while the tube seems considerable longer. With time being of the essence, that seemed the best choice for me.

It's true that the HEX is only 15 minutes from Heathrow Central to Paddington. But the problem is that Paddington is not really in central London and it can take you 30-45 minutes more to get from Paddington to wherever you're really going in central London. And if that is somewhere easily and quickly accessible by Tube, that fact rapidly whittles away the time difference between the two routes.

Hmmm...ok, back to researching the Tube some more. I was thinking of visiting either the British Museum or the Victoria & Albert Museum that day and probably won't make a firm decision until right before I arrive. They both looked rather easily accessible from Paddington but taking the Tube might work out better. Thanks again for all your help.

Both of these are great examples of the balance that I've mentioned.

For example, the V&A is about 5 minutes walk from South Kensington Tube. That's on the Piccadilly Line, so you just get on at Heathrow and get off at South Ken. Journey time: 40 minutes plus average 4 minutes wait for the next train. Average time from arriving at the platform to stepping off the train onto the platform is therefore about 44 minutes.

However, if you get the HEX to Paddington, you still have to walk from the train to the Tube, and then get the Circle Line from Paddington to South Ken. On the HEX alone, journey time 15 minutes plus average wait 7½ minutes for the next train, plus the time to change trains, and then for the Circle line it's 10 minutes plus average wait 5 minutes for the next train. So the average time from arriving at the HEX platform to stepping off the Circle Line train on to the platform is 37½ minutes, plus the time to change at Paddington.

I would lay a small wager on the itinerary being:-

01JUN17 BA785 ARN-LHR 0845-1035

01JUN17 BA191 LHR-AUS 1155-1605

 

BA-BA, T5-T5, 60 minute Minimum Connection Time, 80 minutes available.

Sorry I haven't been on here in awhile-just saw all the questions and comments about my original post. So here's my info on the flights from Stockholm to Austin on BA

6/1/17 BA 0785 leaves at 8:45 and arrives London 10:35 Terminal 2

BA 0191 leaves London 11:55 and arrives Austin 16:05 Terminal 5

This was made on the BA website and I just checked the email again to make sure I didn't make any errors. No indication from BA that it is a SAS flight out of Stockholm. So not sure what the deal is. And its only one ticket-not seperate tickets so I don't get the impression I have to mess with luggage in London. I may be wrong about that though.

Teanne

BA785 is a BA flight and it arrives at Terminal 5. There is no terminal change required.

This is a screenshot from the BA website.

Stockholm T2 to Heathrow T5

This is a screenshot from the BA website.

 

Stockholm T2 to Heathrow T5

OH I see what my mistake was. Out of Stockholm its Terminal 2-not arriving in London at Terminal 2. Thank you soooooo much for helping. As usual its just "operator error" for me :)

Teanne

And this is from the reservations system:-

Flight Details Search:
Departing on 01/06/17 0:00
Flying BA flight 785

Depart             Arrive             Airline  Equipment  Number  Meal   Time    Miles  Reliability
ARN                LHR                
Terminal:  2       Terminal:  5       BA       320        785     M M M  2h 50m  863    97% / 9m
01/06/17 8:45      01/06/17 10:35

So you are sorted. A T5-T5 connection with enough time to do it.

Thanks everyone for helping me with my question about London and the terminals. I now know that all is well and I will have plenty of time to make my connection to Austin while in London. I don't have to make any terminal changes. Should be a nice flight. Thanks again everyone.

Teanne

I kind of have the same question about BA abd Heathrow. We leave Stockholm and arrive in Heathrow at 8:45 am and according to my flight info, its Terminal 2. Then we depart from Terminal 5 at 10:35 on BA for direct to Austin TX. They only have one flight a day from Heathrow to Austin so if we miss it then I guess we grab a hotel for the night and get the next flight the following day. So we have an hr and 50 min to get from Terminal 2 to Terminal 5 and our flight. Do y'all think this is doable?

 

Teanne

They usually say at least 2 hours to transfer at LHR even if the same terminal.

You might just make it . It's a huge place.

If your luggage doesn't make it ,at least you are going home so can manage that.

I would not risk it going to a cruise.

Sandra

They usually say at least 2 hours to transfer at LHR even if the same terminal.

You might just make it . It's a huge place.

If your luggage doesn't make it ,at least you are going home so can manage that.

I would not risk it going to a cruise.

Sandra

Thanks Sandra-it turns out we arrive and leave from the same terminal and are ticketed through to Austin. So hopefully we will make it.

Teanne