joining up flights - help!

GlasweJen

Planning on flying from Orlando to Gatwick on 2nd December into the 3rd December. The flight is due to land at 8:50am flying Virgin atlantic.

I'm then looking to fly home to Glasgow. The only flights are 10:10 or well into the afternoon with BA. Is that enough time to land, collect luggage and check into the flight or will we need to look at getting home later? I've checked other London airports but nothing seems to join our flight at a decent time or in a time scale we can travel in case the flight is delayed.


Alternately is there any way for us to check our bags through to Glasgow at Orlando meaning we just get off the flight and head to the next one when we land?

GlasweJen

I've just realised we can do Gatwick to Orlando and back with BA for a little more money, problem is it makes the Glasgow to Gatwick flight a bit tight.

The Gatwick - Orlando leg is classed as a BA flight but shared with American Airlines, are we most likely going to be able to check through with BA-AA than we are with BA and Virgin?

jpsartre

GlasweJen wrote: »

The Gatwick - Orlando leg is classed as a BA flight but shared with American Airlines, are we most likely going to be able to check through with BA-AA than we are with BA and Virgin?

If you buy everything on ticket with AA/BA you will be checked through. Doubt they would check through your luggage to Virgin although you can probably use the Gatwick connect service which should save you a bit of time. Still, trying a 80 minute connection on separate tickets when you have to clear UK immigration and collect luggage is certainly not something I would try. Even if your flight is on time that's pretty risky.

GlasweJen

I thought that, it would be my luck that the one time I need to clear immigration quickly would be the day they pull me aside to search me!

I could kill my other half to be honest, I usually book from glasgow to new york then join there to orlando but this time we have a friend in England who is an anxious flyer so he offered to fly down and meet her in departures at gatwick without thinking of how it will impact on our flights. Then we had to book Glasgow to Gatwick because the plane was filling fast (good thing we did as it has now sold out) but I'm now panicking that we need to collect bags and re-check them with hardly any time in a strange airport. Oh and did I mention I also travel in a wheelchair so we are always last off the plane!

jpsartre

Well in that case you're probably much more likely to miss the connection than to make it IMO. Do I understand you correctly that you've booked your domestic UK flights and now want to book the long-haul part separately? Ifyou're connecting to an AA flight from a BA flight, AA will offer the same protection as if it had been on one ticket and BA would probably check your luggage through the whole way to MCO. Of course, the next available flight to MCO might not be the same day.

GlasweJen

Yeah we have the Glasgow - Gatwick flight booked already, that one has us landing at 9am and we don't depart for MCO until 11:45 so theoretically we should make that connection and so should our luggage?

It's the return flight that's concerning me, it just seems too tight, if I book it as one usually I'd be driven across the airport from the plane but I don't know how that works in this situation.

callum9999

GlasweJen wrote: »

Yeah we have the Glasgow - Gatwick flight booked already, that one has us landing at 9am and we don't depart for MCO until 11:45 so theoretically we should make that connection and so should our luggage?

It's the return flight that's concerning me, it just seems too tight, if I book it as one usually I'd be driven across the airport from the plane but I don't know how that works in this situation.

So what exactly do you have booked? Glasgow - Gatwick on BA and Gatwick - Orlando - Gatwick with Virgin?

Yes the return connection seems too tight. It's possible (particularly if Virgin will interline your baggage - they have an agreement but I don't know how willing they are to use it on separate tickets) but it's risky.

The only suggestions I can think of are getting the 3pm Easyjet flight or getting the train. The train will be cheaper but obviously it takes longer and would involve a short tube journey so may not be worth the hassle. Maybe give Virgin a call and see if they would be willing to interline the bags. If they are I'd personally be happy enough to risk that tight connection.

Caz3121

GlasweJen wrote: »

Yeah we have the Glasgow - Gatwick flight booked already, that one has us landing at 9am and we don't depart for MCO until 11:45 so theoretically we should make that connection and so should our luggage?

I would be nervous about this connection too. BA will not tag bags through and, as a fairly regular Gatwick traveller, waiting an hour for the bags is not unusual and the Virgin bag drop closed 60 mins before departure. So if your flight is on time (and bags take the usual time) you have 45 mins to change terminals and drop your bags which is doable however if there are any delays you could end up in trouble.
Personally I would travel the night before and stay in Premier Inn- the cost would outweigh the stress as you could end up in Gatwick for 24 hours and having to buy a new ticket to MCO at an on-the-day price.

I have had a delayed flight from Edi to Lon that resulted in a missed connection. Thankfully it was on a through-ticket so the airline got us on another flight (8 hours later) but, had it been separate tickets, I would have been stuck, hence I now book a long connection (at least one other flight option should my flight be cancelled) or travel the night before unless my flight is a through-ticket with later options (more common in short haul than long haul)

GlasweJen

I'm seriously considering cancelling the flights I have and rebooking as a through flight, i just feel less can go wrong this way and if my friend doesn't catch us in the terminal then it's tough luck, we plan on purchasing seats as close together as possible in advance anyway do she should be fine on the flight.

I just feel like telling her if she wants she can train it to Glasgow the day before and depart with us if she doesn't like it.

lgw29

if you have separate flights with ba you will have diffent booking which you might have to collect bags and recheck in, if you book ba to mco ring ba and ask them to link the pnr

Grumpygit

I also wouldn't risk the 80 minutes between flights.

If flying, we always have to get connections back to Guernsey and you can easily miss your flight.

We flew back from NY into Gatwick - landing at 6am and I booked a 9.30 flight back to Guernsey.....should have been ok?? No, we were delayed leaving NY by 3 hours and therefore missed our connection and had to fork out another £300 to get back here.

I wouldn't trust the through baggage either, but at least you are on your way home so if a bag is delayed it's not the end of the world.