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So in September I'll be visiting the USA for the first time. I'm an EU citizen and have filled out my ESTA which has been authorised, my passport is still in date and tickets are booked. I have some concerns that I hope some knowledgable travel-goons can help with. I'm flying from scotland to london heathrow, then making a connection from london heathrow to miami. The time between my flight arriving at heathrow and the next departing for miami is 65 minutes. Seeing as I'm bringing baggage with me (not hand baggage) will this usually be marked as carry forward for the handlers, or will I have to go to baggage reclaim, then check it back in again for the miami flight? According to the heathrow website, this may or may not happen - it is up to the airline. The airline (British Airways) gives no indication one way or the other, they say it may or may not happen. Any travel goons been through heathrow to connect and had it happen? Anyone had it not happen? Trying to figure out the odds. Further to that, I will apparently have to go through security / passport control all over again - that plus checking in baggage (if necessary) is surely going to take more than an hour, plus getting to the departure gate. What if I miss it? Will I have to pay to change flight? Assuming all that stuff is done though, I'll be landing in miami on a friday in september. Ignoring Disney stuff, what not overly-touristy but nice to visit places are there? Any travel guidelines for a solo travelling goon that hasn't been cross-ocean on their own before - and specific USA tips?
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Jul 22, 2015 16:04
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| # ? Apr 19, 2024 22:53 |
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Innerguard posted:So in September I'll be visiting the USA for the first time. I'm an EU citizen and have filled out my ESTA which has been authorised, my passport is still in date and tickets are booked. I've had to get my luggage out and re-scan it in Heathrow, but only when transferring from Europe. It's possible flying in from Scotland is different. 65 minutes is going to be super tight though since you'll have to change terminals and Heathrow is pretty big. I had something like an 80 minute connection from GVA->Heathrow->SFO a couple years ago and we ran through the concourses and were the last people allowed on the flight. Literally the people right behind us were denied boarding because they arrived 29 minutes before takeoff, while we arrived 30 minutes before takeoff. There's also some rule about checked bags (your bag has to go on the flight with you, security reasons) but I'm guessing if you check a bag through but arrive at the counter 25 minutes before takeoff, they'll take your bag off the plane and tell you to wait 6 hours until the next flight. If you miss it you'll get bumped to the next flight, for free, so check the flights and see when the next one would be just FYI. I'd put your odds of missing your flight at "pretty high" if you have to get your bag and scan it again, and "moderately low barring delays in arrival" otherwise. IIRC this added something like 10 minutes to the connection and we butted our way to the front of the line. Saladman fucked around with this message at 17:00 on Jul 22, 2015 |
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Jul 22, 2015 16:57
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I can't remember if i had to recheck baggage flying into Heathrow, but i definitely did to fly into Iceland, and that was just a connecting flight. I don't think the TSA will recheck London baggage tbh. The US and the UK are on the same page on all kinds of security stuff.
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Jul 23, 2015 08:53
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If you're just going from Scotland to Heathrow I doubt you'll have to re-check your bags, since you're not actually leaving the UK, so you're not changing customs zones. You'd be more likely to if you were coming from Europe (Schengen -> UK) or anywhere else, really. I mean, I've never done it so I'm not 100% sure, but I've never had to re-take my bags when staying in the same customs zone. You will have to go through security again though. There shouldn't be any passport control between England and Scotland though. My bet is you just land in the domestic terminal. Saladman is right though, if you miss your connecting flight you'll just get put on the next one.
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Jul 23, 2015 12:08
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I flew from Calgary to Madrid via Heathrow and I did not have to collect my luggage at Heathrow either way. I don't know if it makes a difference that I was strictly in transit and never had to go through customs. You will definitely have to collect your luggage in London on the way back, because you will go through customs in London before your domestic connection.
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Jul 23, 2015 13:35
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Are you just going to be in Miami or traveling to other states?
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Jul 23, 2015 18:39
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Not too familiar with Miami specifically, but fan boat rides are pretty fun, imo. It is kind of a touristy thing to do, but one that you can only do in Southern US Gulf states.
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Aug 9, 2015 02:01
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Stay away from Disneyland or any areas around it....freakin tourist trap prices and such. September, go to the beach and watch the bikinis. Chicks dig Scottish accents. Any shop or restaurant near water will cost you more.
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Aug 9, 2015 13:46
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jototo posted:Not too familiar with Miami specifically, but fan boat rides are pretty fun, imo. It is kind of a touristy thing to do, but one that you can only do in Southern US Gulf states. I highly recommend fan boat rides through the mangrove forests.
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Aug 10, 2015 08:41
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65 minutes in Heathrow is do-able, and I doubt you'll have to re-check your baggage. Generally speaking (but not always!) the airline won't sell you the ticket if they think it's likely you'll miss the connection. I don't blame you for feeling a bit weird about it, I'd be stressed in that situation too. Heathrow can be overwhelming if you've never been there before, but honestly I've never once had a bad experience there (knock on wood, I'm transiting through there with a 90 minute layover later in September). It is absolutely massive though, and even with shuttles that go between the terminals, you will almost certainly be facing a situation where you seriously have to speedwalk through one long, interminable underground tunnel to get from one gate to another. Thankfully at Heathrow they've planned this out, and you'll usually see on the signage how long of a walk you can expect to get from one place to another (I walk fast so I think their estimates tend to be fairly generous), and moving walkways are everywhere to give you an extra precious few seconds. Since you're flying domestically into Heathrow and internationally out, you'll probably be transiting from some other terminal into Terminal 5. For transatlantic connecting flights through Heathrow you have to go through security (but I don't know about connecting flights with their origin within the UK), but this is also generally reasonably streamlined as well, even in high season. I went through there the day after the London Olympics ended and it was totally fine. You shouldn't have to go through passport control again in Heathrow since you haven't crossed any borders yet, but I could be talking out of my rear end here. The last time I flew into Heathrow, they grilled me for several minutes at the UK border about the purpose of my trip/exactly who I was visiting/what their occupations are/what part of London they live in (but I'm foreign, so that may have something to do with it). If you miss your flight because your connector from Scotland is late, you shouldn't have to pay to get the next flight. You may have to be persistent with it but if the circumstances are totally out of your control, you won't have to pay. Out of curiosity, how long did it take to get your ESTA authorization? I'm an American living abroad and will be flying back to the States for a week in November with my fiance, who is German, and want to know how far in advance we need to fill out his paperwork. Drone fucked around with this message at 13:56 on Aug 10, 2015 |
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Aug 10, 2015 13:51
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Drone posted:
ESTAs are granted immediately for 99% of people, so unless your fiancé's name is shared with that of an international terrorist or criminal (or is actually an international terrorist/criminal himself), you will get the authorization immediately on the website after you pay your $14. We've had to do this a couple times and it's pretty easy; it's just annoying that it's required at all. I can't imagine what this actually does besides feeding the salaries of the people who set up the system.
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Aug 10, 2015 17:08
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Saladman posted:ESTAs are granted immediately for 99% of people, so unless your fiancé's name is shared with that of an international terrorist or criminal (or is actually an international terrorist/criminal himself), you will get the authorization immediately on the website after you pay your $14. We've had to do this a couple times and it's pretty easy; it's just annoying that it's required at all. I can't imagine what this actually does besides feeding the salaries of the people who set up the system. For my husband who comes with me on multiple land border crossing trips to America a year (like 5+) it easily saves us at least 15 minutes every time because he doesn't have to fill out the form with all his life's story on it every single time.
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Aug 11, 2015 07:15
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I've travelled from LHR to MIA before as a connect with BA a few times and whether the baggage gets auto carried on seems to change for reasons beyond my knowledge. They will often mention connecting flight details towards the end including what's happening with baggage, and worst case scenario you just ask someone (most people in airports are actually fairly pleasant, maybe a British accent helps. TSA can be exceptions). The plane BA use for that route changes a bit too, half the time it's these poo poo old 90s planes with crap in flight screens and bad AC. And of course they'll do their best to charge you for an exit row, but we managed to get one for free last week (different route). Score. e: Just realised how old this is! It wasn't far down my screen and thought it was only a week or so old. D'oh. Hope you had a good time! EL BROMANCE fucked around with this message at 12:36 on Oct 15, 2015 |
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Oct 14, 2015 23:48
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| # ? Apr 19, 2024 22:53 |
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If both flights are BA and were booked together then you definitely don't have to re-check your luggage. It also means that your flights will be into and out of Terminal 5. Check your tickets to make sure that's the case, but that should make a 65 minute connection entirely do-able. If you do end up missing it, LHR-MIA is a very frequent connection and they can just put you on their next flight, or a flight from one of their OneWorld partners, and it shouldn't be a big deal.
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Nov 9, 2015 11:34
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