In a previous post I reviewed our excellent American Airlines business class flight from Charlotte to London, as we were enroute to Greece. In that installment I hinted at how our flight ended on a sour note, so in this post I wanted to talk about what happened.
Continue reading: Grrr: Our Unlucky London Heathrow Misconnect
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Oh no! That's why I booked with the Emirates 5th freedom flight -direct but now getting nervous I booked a separate 1 way to Santorini, with about a 3 hour layover too. Glad you made it to Chania - can't wait for your review. I'll be there end of June!
IME, 2 hours to connect on a separate ticket is inadequate, even at an efficient airport (honestly, I'm surprised that you expected this to work -- I would not have booked that connection). LHR ain't anything like efficient. And no matter where you are connecting, there are just way too any things that can (and occasionally do) go wrong, and a misconnect is the result. For that connection in LHR, I would give it 3 to 5 hours minimum, depending on the time of day (if your arrival is scheduled for early in the day, then you have more options to get another flight in case you misconnect) and the direction (outbound misconnects usually have more dire consequences for most folks than the flight home). At least you didn't arrive at LHR after al the possible onward flights had departed -- been there, done that.
Flying on separate tickets bumps your risk WAY up.
I’m glad you guys are safe and handled this well!!!
I still remember back over 8 years ago when BA rebooked you guys to EK first on the LHR-DXB leg when your flight to LHR was delayed and what a treat that was!!!
Stay safe and enjoy your vacation!
Same thing happened to me in January at LHR on a BA flight. We landed early from LAX and the jet bridge we arrived at was "broken". Took over an hour but they got the bridge to connect, the FO was great and kept us updated, he was claiming the Captain had opened the plane's windscreen and was trying to help. lol
Thank god I didn't have a connection, can not image how frustrating that is.
The only airport that I dare book a less than 2 hours transit is HKG and SIN, anywhere else you are asking for trouble.
@Lucky:
Will you claim compensation? 600€/person? Or is that no longer possible since the UK is not in the EU?
When it rains, it pours ! I have had trips like that, just one thing after another. Just have to sit back and wonder what next will happen to further screw up the journey.
I have my own set of horror stories misconnecting at LHR along with IT issues which seem oddly frequent for that place. I have spent the better part of the last decade avoiding LHR and waiting to hear that operations have improved and its no longer a crap shoot for connecting flights. The wait continues.
Your Mother looks great! Enjoy your holiday!
2 hours for a connection at LHR during the pandemic. Are you crazy? 🙂 when I booked my upcoming trip I saw that as an option but went for the 5 hour layover instead. Much rather get bored in the lounge than deal with a missed connection.
Firstly, so sorry to hear about your misconnection. Secondly, this garbage about AA tickets and rebooking when missing a BA connection is not new or one time. And doesn’t even matter if you are flying AA or BA from the states. I’ve run into same problem with AA issued ticket but flying BA metal from JFK and BA connection. If paying for ticket I just buy BA tickets if connecting to another destination in Europe. Really aren’t any good work arounds if using redemptions. I happen to like BA overall but using avios for long haul flights through LHR is just a horrible value. In this case, just super unlucky.
Got to take some risks! I’ve had tons of tight connections and have never missed. 40mins at Frankfurt etc. if you do miss you catch the next one. So you don’t lose a whole lot.
Much easier now everything online (unless the system is down loll)
This is why I could never be someone flying all the time. I would be so stressed out waiting to get off that plane. Not because I want to be stressed but that is just me.
While I think the BA agent that was laughing at the other guy should have a taking to, I do think he would have been correct to say "Sorry but that is the risk you assume when you book separate tickets" People generally do separate tickets to save money so it shouldn't be the concern of the airline if they miss the flight.
27+ hrs is too long for me to travel although I wouldn't have spent a night in the UK right now either.
When the other day I read the mum's route was Tampa to Charlotte to London (Heathrow!!!!) to Athens I thought : oh what a perverse son.. On AA and BA!!!, more perverse even... Joke....
I should have paid cash to minimize connections and avoid LHR instead 57,5k aa, and besides other A3 flight!??? Also boat and island donkey ???
Personally I would have gone for the same two hour connection at LHR. Oddly, my experiences connecting in and out of Heathrow have mostly been smooth (there goes, I’ve jinxed it now)!
Glad you were still able to get to the destination the same day!
But have to admire Heathrow’s consistency in making any connection an adventure even during the pandemic.
I get that we all have the travel bug right now and you have to take over-the-top trips (and I remember the backstory to this trip, with your Mom and all), but for a “normal” person, I just think there are sooooo many amazing places closer to home that make more sense to travel to right now ...
Honestly I don’t want to go to Hawaii because I can’t bear the idea of having to go at least 12 hours or so wearing a mask nonstop - I assume you are masked for pretty much the entirety of this minimum 27-hour journey, since you’re in planes/airports the whole time?
Plus three connections, one in a notoriously difficult airport even pre-COVID... the potential for limited rebooking options in case of a misconnect... all to get to a place that is likely to be super congested now since it opened back up to attract tourists (and where I wouldn’t be surprised if those staffing the tourist infrastructure were none too pleased to be dealing with all these people)... I guess that’s the charm of this blog, we get to live vicariously through your travel mayhem so we don’t have to do it ourselves. So thanks?
Damn bro you missed a 787 first class on BA report opportunity from London to Greece. Your psychologist must have a real sense of humor because i would have been infuriated.
Klaus - Brexit makes no difference as the EU261 regulation has been UK law since 2005 and will remain so until it is repealed or replaced.
There are only 2 changes made so far - one to rename it UK261 and the other to convert the € amounts into £ amounts.
In anycase it's not relevent because Ben et al were arriving from a non EU departure point on a non EU airline.
Can anyone shed light on why they didn't just move the aircraft to a gate with a functioning jetbridge. Sure seems like a huge mess could have been avoided, and it had to have cost less (for all parties) to move the damn plane.
@ChrisC:
But the itinerary involved BA. So they would be able to claim the compensation?
If I’d be flying on a United ticket and the Last Segment would be operated by Lufthansa, I could claim compensation in case of delay
I am reading this on Saturday night when the first passengers from London to Chania arrive ... with British Airways. Have fun and enjoy your stay .
Same problem at heathrow on american airlines flight! it was the bus to the next terminal to a ba flight and security, we missed the connection. Ba rebooked us and gave us food vouchers.
Ben, given the current entry and quarantine requirement to the UK, you can consider yourself lucky that there was a second flight to Athens that day and you did bot have to enter the UK … You need a prepaid test on days two and eight plus a quarantine for ten days. While the airline might put you into a hotel (though I doubt fir ten days) and I doubt they would provide the prepaid tests.
Ah, such fond memories of connecting through Heathrow. Although I've always allowed enough time to enjoy the Cathy Pacific lounge. But I understand your not indulging in that, for your Mom's sake. (She looks great, btw!)
But I commend you for knowledgeably handling the misconnect. Your post should serve as a good example of how to do it (politely, appreciatively, and -- perhaps most of all -- causatively). The phone is always your friend when the next misconnect looms. I've pulled mine out the moment we hit "wheels down" more than once.
@Andy
The UK allows passengers to continue their journeys if transiting within 48 hours without having to get the day 2/8 tests! They just need to stay in their hotel rooms technically during the layover.
@Mm - I don’t have a clue about the gate situation that Lucky experienced at LHR on that day, but normally when this has happened to me in the past, there wasn’t another gate available for that particular aircraft type and pilots would let you know that before the cattle cars showed up.
They are limiting the busses to 20 people for social distancing—as they are unloading people off of an airplane they’ve all been on together for 8 hours, and to take them to a terminal where there will be no social distancing enforced.
anyone flying 4 segments, including international, in LHR and Athens, in one stretch, is out of their mind.
Of the many airports around the world I've transited through, LHR is by far the worst for incredible incompetence, lack of consideration and nasty staff that invariably manage to make a bad situation worse. You were lucky that you found someone helpful Ben.
As for BA, they suck. There is no better way to describe it. After my last trip to Capetown, I'd rather walk than get on a BA flight. Nasty, incompetent, pompous, arrogant, obnoxious American hating staff barely begins to capture the actual ground and in flight experience. I know there are exceptions, but they are sadly rare. The sadistic agent who laughed in the customer's face rather than helping them is the perfect example of BA customer service. What you experienced is the exception. An AMEX travel agent once shared that they are the absolute worst to deal with.
I actually and intentionally book around BA flights and try to avoid destinations where I would have to fly them. YMMV
Enjoy the trip. Good luck on the return...
@klaus the delayed flight was American Airlines from the USA therefore Eu261 doesn’t apply. It was also American’s responsibility to rebook as it was their flight that was delayed.
My last trip through LHR I was misconnected not once but twice by BA. The only way to avoid an overnight in NYC was to get BA to switch my flight from LHR - JFK to LHR - IAD. I was at the gate for the IAD flight an hour before departure. BA told me to pound sand. That was my last BA flight.
@Klaus There’s a good summary on this site written by James in 2018. It appears the delay was on the inbound aircraft which was not operated by a European carrier. Hence, no compensation via UK-261 (post-Brexit law) is applicable. https://onemileatatime.com/eu261-compensation/
In case anyone is interested, here’s a summary of how Brexit impacted the EU-261 passenger rights law. https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=d66cd856-d3fa-445a-8985-df1264044d2f
Perhaps we are all missing one important fact. AA was only 20 minutes late
The problem was due to LHR GATE FAILURE.
I don't know how BA can claim it's the passengers problem. Fault lies with Heathrow Holdings Ltd. (formerly BAA).
Totally in the dark on how liability is allocated since the delay was caused by LHR. Anybody know?
I usually love travel internationally and welcome foreigners.
But unless your journey is essential, please do not come to Britain right now.
We have had a bad pandemic with the Kent and now Indian variant taking hold, and despite starting in early December, have yet to reach the under 30s with a single dose of the vaccine.
So unless your travel here is truly essential, please keep off our island until we have the disease fully under control and everybody has had the chance of a vaccine, including the often younger airport and hotel staff.
Thank you,
Alfred
Klaus
As I said the regulation does not apply to non EU/UK airlines arriving from non EU/UK departure points
Lucky flew into the UK on AA so the regulation simply does not apply. BA aren't liable for a delay they didn't cause.
Just as LH won't be liable for a delay caused by UA on your trip . They would be responsible for a delay they caused though and pay compensation if the criteria were met.
I’ve managed to get unlucky multiple times with LHR and actively avoid it.
Flying BA from SFO to LHR in 2018, our A380 got stuck on the runway. Despite a 1-hour early landing we got to our gate 1 hour late. I misconnected to Stockholm and spent a night in England. Silver lining was I got the 600 euro compensation and didn’t have plans until the next day.
Another time, I had to connect between T3 and T5, with a 2.5 hr connection and barely made my flight on to DEL.
Anecdotally, in the extra screening for US bound flights, the LHR security staff always give extra attention (not in a good way) to me, others with irish accents, and non-whites in line!
I avoid LHR like the plague. Why pay so much in taxes for such a horrible experience!
I despise England and the English. Alba Gu Brath!
Dear Sir
Totally agree about taxes at LHR and fuel surcharge on BA.
I really miss British pubs and visiting friends. Must be 15 years avoiding LHR.
Travel via Asia (CX QR) which is a longer time on a very pleasant flight.
Will never understand why you and many others took to the skies to visit Greece when they swung the doors open? Do you feel deprived of trying to grab those free tickets? And to subject your mom to such a journey.
Also since your boyfriend is never involved in travel planning it seems, he’s a Virtuoso agent, why aren’t those resources utilized, and him, to correct situations such as these?
Chania is nice, but see if you can get to the southwestern coast of Crete..there's a sleepy seaside town named Loutro with a picturesque port and near some wonderful beaches ! Plus hiking n the Samaria Gorge.
@Mm,
One of the joys of the UK is experiencing NMJ - not my job. Demarcation lines are all over the place.
There's a fair chance that the only person allowed to make the decision to change gates finished their shift 20 minutes earlier.
Even if they were working overtime, then the tug operators would have seen that they weren't scheduled to do a pushback for another 2 hours, and it would have taken 3 hours to get approval to change the schedule.
And after that, Lucky would have found the person responsible for opening the door at the end of the airbridge didn't have permission to open that particular door. So everyone would have had to wait another 15 minutes for the supervisor to finish their tea break.
Needless to say, after 10 years of living in the UK, I'm beginning to learn that it's normally quicker to just do it yourself.
LHR is such an awful place to connect. Unfriendly staff. Additional security checks. And things just don't seem to go as smoothly as elsewhere. FRA or AMS are way better.
I love Aegean's business class. The flight attendants are friendly and the food on a flight between the islands is better than United's Polaris (when it comes to quality).
Ben, I appreciate the candid and informative report of your misconnect. As someone who has spent more than a few days living at LHR in 2020, I feel your pain and am glad for your resolution 🙂
If that was AA ticket, I wonder why Lucky did not call AA EXP desk to correct the issue? He could do it from a lounge rather than seating on a floor of the transfer hall.
I think if it was a special trip with my Mum I’d have purchased tickets with money and gone a better route TPA/JFK/ ATH JetBlue and Emirates
This is the 4 year anniversary of the BA IT "Meltdown". I was traveling YVR-LHR-JNB-CPT and their systems went down just as we landed. We were not allowed to stay in the terminal. Immigration took forever and nobody could help rebook me as the systems were down. Managed to get a room in Central London, had a nice dinner and crawled into bed. Got up the next morning (early) and went out to Heathrow as the phone lines were jammed. Couldn't get into the terminal so got back on the HEX and took the Underground to LCY where I managed to basically walk right into the terminal. An agent was able to rebook me for that evening. Then it was back to the hotel to get my bags and then off to Heathrow for the second time that day! Ah, memories........
@ Steven E -- At the time we were traveling there were no nonstop flights between the United States and Greece yet, or else I would have absolutely done that.
@ Alex_77W -- Sabre was down at the time, so they couldn't have done anything by phone either. Furthermore, we couldn't have gone to the lounge, because we didn't have boarding passes for our connections. Due to travel restrictions, in the US they could only issue boarding passes as far as London. Generally I find it's more efficient to handle this kind of stuff at the airport rather than over the phone.
@ JW -- Fortunately we just had carry-ons, because that would have complicated things even further.
@ Andy -- Indeed we were lucky there was another flight that day, but it is worth knowing that you can also spend a night "quarantining" in an airport hotel and then fly out the next morning. Then there's no option to take the tests days later. We had been tested prior to travel, as that was a requirement to even transit the UK.
@ Antonio -- In fairness, the issue here wasn't that we weren't paying cash, this was actually just the most direct routing. When we were traveling there were no transatlantic flights from Tampa and no transatlantic flights to Athens, so the most direct routing had two connections.
@ JB -- The original flight, which we missed. We went from 787-9 first class seats to A321 intra-Europe business class seats.
More and more I am going with the longer layover, unless, like in TK's case you have to have the shortest layover available for their gratis hotel program.
I'd much rather have a few extra hours in the lounge than deal with these types of issues.
I've had the broken jet bridge at LHR, too! Theses days, when flying overseas I usually book a stay at arrival airport hotel before continuing to final destination. It helps with jet lag and builds in a huge window of flexibility.
2 Hr during a dead period at LHR is not enough i couldnt even imagine it right now with all there restrictions it being anything close to efficient
Why not stay in Athens for one night.There is a Sofitel just beside the terminal.
@Ben, I can't wait to hear about your experience in Chania. I'm heading there with my partner in July for two nights. Would love any good tips for food, stays, and excursions! Thanks.
On behalf of Broken Britain, I apologise to you and your mom. Reminds me of a US news agency editor living over here who was once quoted in an interview saying: “The trouble with England is it doesn’t ****ing work.” He’d lived here about 25 years at the time.
In its defence, LHR has suffered huge losses due to the pandemic (the free bus service you once wrote about has just been all but axed) and was probably understaffed when you came through, hence the delay sorting the airbridge. Why the plane wasn’t simply allocated a new gate and towed there - why use common sense when a cluster will do instead?
I had hoped to snark back that I had had a similar experience in the US. The one time UAL cancelled my flight from LAX, due to a faulty toilet, we were informed from the flight deck, promptly deplaned, adequate staff appeared to allocate us airport hotels and coach transport, notes were slipped under doors detailing the next day’s replacement flight, the coaches showed up on time and we reached LHR early, albeit about 20 hours late. It can be done right, though, obv, that was not in the middle of a pandemic.
A good reminder that the UK really is a third-world country when it comes to transportation infrastructure. When it works, it's great. When it doesn't, there is no Plan B.
Thanks for sharing your adventure. We had a similar adventure well before the pandemic, connecting in London, going on to Florence. Our flight to Florence was leaving out of London City but, since we know our way around London quite well, were confident that we could not only make it across the city, but spend some time in the American Airlines arrivals lounge beforehand. Ha! We had allowed 5 hours. Not only did we not get any time in the arrivals lounge, we barely made to LCY to catch our flight to Florence. We have booked tickets to Rome via LHR next spring (both flights in/out of LHR) and have allowed a four-hour layover. Fingers crossed!
I'd much rather have the longer layover, go the lounge, get a shower and a meal. You basically were at LHR 5 hours anyway.