Minimum transit times LHR?

[justcallmeryan]

Hi all,

I'm very inexperienced when it comes to LHR and transits so keen to get your thoughts. I am arriving on QF1 from SYD/DXB on 4 November @7am (a Wednesday) and need to book another ticket to fly to VIE that same day. As they will be on separate PNRs I'm wondering about recommendations for minimum transit times?

Some points:

• QF arrives in T3 and my departure options are T4 or 5, both apparently a 20 minute bus or train away from each other.
• I won't have checked baggage.
• I have an e-passport.
• Another thought would be that I could lean towards booking the ticket on BA for the sake of ease of transit, presume there's some benefits to Oneworld?

I have never waited very long to exit LHR in the past, but have never had to be in a rush to transit before either. I have also heard many rumours of QF1 being often delayed.

As always your insights are much appreciated.

 

[Anna]

Have you looked at whether you can cut out LHR altogether and instead fly DXB-VIE on EK?

Last time I went to Europe, I booked BA to LHR because I prefer SIN to DXB. I had a choice of onward flight to FAO, either a 2.5 hour transit at LHR or 9 hours. Because I get a bit stressy if I might miss a connection I opted for the 9 hour transit, and spent 6 hours resting in the Yotel at T4 (pre booked at cheap rate). That turned out to be a good choice because we were late into LHR by 2 hours and I would have missed the earlier connection and I would have had to pay a lot more for a room to rest in if it wasn't pre booked, or I would have had to spend the whole time in the lounge with no privacy.

 

[justcallmeryan]

Have you looked at whether you can cut out LHR altogether and instead fly DXB-VIE on EK?

Unfortunately, no. The conditions of travel (staff) mean I have to stick to QF this time around, so LHR it is! But good suggestion.

 

[NM]

On different/separage tickets/PNRs you have a few choices. You can either book a connecting flight that meets the usual minimum connection time (prob 2 hours at LHR) and take the risk that you may be a no-show for the flight and have to purchase a new ticket. Or you can plan to stay overnight in London and travel the next day to VIE, allowing for a a delayed inbound flight to not impact your connection (unless delayed more than a day).

Anything in between those two options is dependent on your application of the risk profile. Its all about probability/likelihood of the inbound flight be delayed and how much it is delayed. Book a 3-hour connection and have 2 hours delay and you are in trouble. Book an 8 hours connection and have a 9 hour delay and you are still in trouble. Longer delay is lower probability, but the outcome is the same.

 

[Anna]

Unfortunately, no. The conditions of travel (staff) mean I have to stick to QF this time around

Ok. I just thought that as you were considering OW partner BA, you might be better off considering QF partner EK in this instance.

 

[Mal]

I'd purchase a BA ticket over Austrian or anyone else, purely for the added advantage of a oneWorld to oneWorld connection. Can assist if things go pear shaped with the incoming flight . The transfer itself, if using BA, you have options of 07:15 (not a chance), 10:50 (good if on time), 12:45 (giving you more leeway), and 14:20/18:40 (even more leeway).

Transfers at LHR are horrible, and QF1 is often late (Very poor OTP FlightStats - (QF) Qantas 1 On-time Performance Rating ). Your chance of 10:50 is good, but 12:45 would be better in case QF1 is particularly late. T5 also has decent shopping (and average lounges).

 

[justcallmeryan]

Ok. I just thought that as you were considering OW partner BA, you might be better off considering QF partner EK in this instance.

I probably didn't explain myself correctly. I have to use QF to arrive to Europe as I am on staff travel and don't have access to the partners. For internal travel in Europe I can't access staff travel so have to buy a normal ticket. Considering BA as perhaps there are some one world benefits that I can play with if my inbound flight is late.

Sorry for the confusion!

 

[justcallmeryan]

I'd purchase a BA ticket over Austrian or anyone else, purely for the added advantage of a oneWorld to oneWorld connection. Can assist if things go pear shaped with the incoming flight . The transfer itself, if using BA, you have options of 07:15 (not a chance), 10:50 (good if on time), 12:45 (giving you more leeway), and 14:20/18:40 (even more leeway).

Transfers at LHR are horrible, and QF1 is often late (Very poor OTP FlightStats - (QF) Qantas 1 On-time Performance Rating ). Your chance of 10:50 is good, but 12:45 would be better in case QF1 is particularly late. T5 also has decent shopping (and average lounges).

Thank you very much this is very helpful! I think I will go for any flight that is after 11am or so, to allow for 4 hours in case of any delays which seem likely. Not having checked bags should help - hopefully....

 

[Franky]

Further to this post, Expert Flyer has QF1 into LHR with a 69% reliability record and an average 50 minute delay over the past two months..

 

[justcallmeryan]

Further to this post, Expert Flyer has QF1 into LHR with a 69% reliability record and an average 50 minute delay over the past two months..

Not great odds huh? I decided in the end to fly to Zurich (small change in plans) and have booked a 1pm out of LHR which gives me around 5.5 hours - hopefully should be enough!

Thanks for your help everyone.