6 hours early to Heathrow. What do we do with our bags?

[elsplace2]

We are coming back from our cruise (Anthem of the Sea) on a Friday, July 13 in Southampton.  We are taking the Stonehenge excursion with the ship and will be getting dropped off at  Heathrow, around 1:30p - 2:00p.   Our flight isn't until 8:00 pm. 

 

I assume we can't check our luggage 6 hours early......or can we?  If we can't, any suggestions of where we can go with our luggage until we can check them in?

Sorry if this has been asked before...I couldn't find anything on it.

 

Thanks in Advance!

 

Edited May 15 by elsplace2

[elsplace2]

opps it's Friday, July 12....not 13.

[hallasm]

Might depend on airline - Post airline. 

[6rugrats]

Four hours for most airlines; I don't know who you are flying.

https://www.heathrow.com/at-the-airport/airport-services/left-luggage

[elsplace2]

sorry, we are booked with American Airlines, but its a British Airway plane.

 

thanks for the info on storage....

Any suggestions on where we can hang out with (or without if we store them) our luggage until we can check them in?  

 

Most shopping and restaurants are after security check in....we've never been to Heathrow so we don't know if there's a place to go BEFORE security and checking our bags.

 

Edited May 15 by elsplace2

[waterbug123]

10 minutes ago, elsplace2 said:

sorry, we are booked with American Airlines, but its a British Airway plane.

 

 

 

Just as general info....when you are checking in for a flight, what matters is who is operating the flight.  In your case, that's British Airways, so anything pertaining to check-in, luggage etc. is generally going to go by British Airways policy, not American.

[elsplace2]

Good to know, because I wasn't sure how that works....lol

 

so when we are checking in, are we checking in at the British Airway desk or American Airlines??

 

[BOB999]

1 minute ago, elsplace2 said:

Good to know, because I wasn't sure how that works....lol

 

so when we are checking in, are we checking in at the British Airway desk or American Airlines??

 

 

British Airways.  You'll want to check to see which terminal you depart from as BA operates flights from both Terminal 3 and Terminal 5 depending upon the destination.

 

I don't see any timing restrictions for BA, in fact for morning flights they allow luggage check the night before.

 

https://www.britishairways.com/content/information/checking-in-and-boarding/checking-in

[waterbug123]

On 5/15/2024 at 12:49 PM, elsplace2 said:

Good to know, because I wasn't sure how that works....lol

 

so when we are checking in, are we checking in at the British Airway desk or American Airlines??

 

As a general rule (I'm sure there is some obscure exception somewhere) you check-in with the airline that is actually operating the flight, so in your case that's British Airways.  And if there is a discrepancy between what BA allows for luggage and what AA allows, you'll generally have to abide by what BA says.

[em-sk]

On 5/15/2024 at 5:33 AM, elsplace2 said:

We are coming back from our cruise (Anthem of the Sea) on a Friday, July 13 in Southampton.  We are taking the Stonehenge excursion with the ship and will be getting dropped off at  Heathrow, around 1:30p - 2:00p.   Our flight isn't until 8:00 pm. 

 

I assume we can't check our luggage 6 hours early......or can we?  If we can't, any suggestions of where we can go with our luggage until we can check them in?

Sorry if this has been asked before...I couldn't find anything on it.

 

Thanks in Advance!

 

 

British airways operates from Terminal 3 and Terminal 5 at Heathrow.  Do you know which terminal your flying from? 

 

There are shops, restraints and coffee shops before check-in.