BRU - LHR - HKG *** advice needed ***

[Flanders]

Hi all,

Next week I will fly to Hong Kong via London. I have already flown intercontinental but this was on direct flights. I have a few questions about the transfer at LHR.

These are the flights. Tickets were booked together via airstop.be

09 OCT / BD 154 (British Midland A32X)
departure BRU 19.15 (arrival LHR 19.15)

09 OCT / NZ 38 (Air New Zealand B744)
departure LHR 21.05

1) When I check in my luggage @ BRU, will it directly get the tags for HKG?
2) In LHR, my luggage is automatically transferred to the next plane, correct? So, I dont have to think about the bags? I just change terminals and proceed to the gate for HKG, correct?

Any other usefull information about transferring via LHR is more than welcome!

Greetings,

Flanders.

[capetown]

now that's a coincidence... I'm flying the same stretch from BRU - first LHR on BD, then HGK on NZ ... when do you leave? My flight leaves on Oct 28

[Ducatibiker]

Hi all,


1) When I check in my luggage @ BRU, will it directly get the tags for HKG?

Yes, BD and NZ are *Alliance members

2) In LHR, my luggage is automatically transferred to the next plane, correct? So, I dont have to think about the bags? I just change terminals and proceed to the gate for HKG, correct?

Yes, correct - allow enough time for transfer and you will have to go through security again

Any other usefull information about transferring via LHR is more than welcome!

Ask to sample some New Zealand white wine on board ! They have great stuff - enjoy the flight

Greetings,

Flanders.

[Flanders]

now that's a coincidence... I'm flying the same stretch from BRU - first LHR on BD, then HGK on NZ ... when do you leave? My flight leaves on Oct 28

BRU - HKG on 09 OCT
HKG - BRU on 04 NOV

[Flanders]

Hi all,


1) When I check in my luggage @ BRU, will it directly get the tags for HKG?

Yes, BD and NZ are *Alliance members

2) In LHR, my luggage is automatically transferred to the next plane, correct? So, I dont have to think about the bags? I just change terminals and proceed to the gate for HKG, correct?

Yes, correct - allow enough time for transfer and you will have to go through security again

Any other usefull information about transferring via LHR is more than welcome!

Greetings,

Flanders.

Thx!

[peacemaker]

I think your luggage goes straight to the other plane, when i went to toronto via chicago i had to put my bag on anothe conveyor belt, but that was america, when i returned i didn't had to do it, i don't know, but you can always ask in the airport, that's also what i did in toronto

[C-46commando]

If you want to be sure, ask at check-in counter here in BRU to check in your lugage from BRU all the way up to HKG.

[Flanders]

If you want to be sure, ask at check-in counter here in BRU to check in your lugage from BRU all the way up to HKG.

Indeed. I will do that for sure!

BTW: Has anyone a view on the loads for those flights? AND Can I already ask in BRU for a specific seat on the 747 leg LHR - HKG?

Thx!

[capetown]

Loads pretty heavy, especially around and during weekend.
You should have asked your travel agent to book a seat on the LHR HKG stretch. I guess it's too late now although my travel agent (who booked seats for me and my fellow travelers) told me I should try at BRU to change (I'd like emergency exit row seats but those can't be booked in advance...) So, this, I guess, means that it's possible to reserve seats on the LHR-HKG flight in BRU.
Anyway, meet you on the 4th Nov (coincidentally, that's the day I fly back from HKG)

[regi]

Dear Flanders, poor guy. You mentioned :
I just change terminals and proceed to the gate for HKG, correct?

As far as I know, luggage will not be a problem at all. It will be checked through. But the real problem is LHR !

If you have to change terminals, it is really a disaster.
This is how it went with a flight :
Bru-LHR, 10 minutes too early arrival. Great you think. Wrong. Problem. No docking . We parked at a B747 stand . After a long time the bus arrived.
The bus brought us to a kind of intermediary terminal, where we followed all kind of signs and corridors, to arrive at last at the other side of this terminal, downstairs again, to wait for...another bus!

So wait, wait, wait,

Another dirty bus, another dreadful ride to another terminal. Get out the bus and...wait in line for the extra safety control. Shoes off, shouting personnel, sweat and tears. Just name it.

Total time between landing at LHR and being at the final terminal: 90 minutes !

Succes to you. Take some tranquilizers, easy shoes to put off and on, and don't worry too much about it.
Remark 1:
despite the utterly high prices at LHR for almost everything, I made a good deal at the CD shop in Term4. When you look carefully , some records are quite cheap. A Nina Simone CD for 4 £ pound. OK
Remark 2:
If you have to wait a long time between flights at LHR there are better options than sit in the ( rather comfortable ) seats.
Go to a restaurant ( not a pub) and ask the waitress if it is okay if you order something that you can sit there for 2 hours.
Second option: they have a sky lounge where you have to pay entrance money. Costs some money, but clean and OK.
Remark 3
last time I used LHR was with Qantas coming back from BKK in August. One of the luggage items had not arrived in Brussels. At the lost luggage they had a computer list and my item was on it. Despite the +- 4 hours transfer time at LHR. Very strange.
Anyway, the same evening at 11pm that box was brought home by a courrier. No complaints afterwards.
Remark 4
take care to have UK pounds with you. The exchange rate at the airport is way too high.

Enjoy your flight

[Flanders]

Dear Flanders, poor guy. You mentioned :
I just change terminals and proceed to the gate for HKG, correct?

As far as I know, luggage will not be a problem at all. It will be checked through. But the real problem is LHR !

If you have to change terminals, it is really a disaster.
This is how it went with a flight :
Bru-LHR, 10 minutes too early arrival. Great you think. Wrong. Problem. No docking . We parked at a B747 stand . After a long time the bus arrived.
The bus brought us to a kind of intermediary terminal, where we followed all kind of signs and corridors, to arrive at last at the other side of this terminal, downstairs again, to wait for...another bus!

So wait, wait, wait,

Another dirty bus, another dreadful ride to another terminal. Get out the bus and...wait in line for the extra safety control. Shoes off, shouting personnel, sweat and tears. Just name it.

Total time between landing at LHR and being at the final terminal: 90 minutes !

Succes to you. Take some tranquilizers, easy shoes to put off and on, and don't worry too much about it.
Remark 1:
despite the utterly high prices at LHR for almost everything, I made a good deal at the CD shop in Term4. When you look carefully , some records are quite cheap. A Nina Simone CD for 4 £ pound. OK
Remark 2:
If you have to wait a long time between flights at LHR there are better options than sit in the ( rather comfortable ) seats.
Go to a restaurant ( not a pub) and ask the waitress if it is okay if you order something that you can sit there for 2 hours.
Second option: they have a sky lounge where you have to pay entrance money. Costs some money, but clean and OK.
Remark 3
last time I used LHR was with Qantas coming back from BKK in August. One of the luggage items had not arrived in Brussels. At the lost luggage they had a computer list and my item was on it. Despite the +- 4 hours transfer time at LHR. Very strange.
Anyway, the same evening at 11pm that box was brought home by a courrier. No complaints afterwards.
Remark 4
take care to have UK pounds with you. The exchange rate at the airport is way too high.

Enjoy your flight

Hi Regi,

Thanks for your answer! Sweat is breaking out already!
No shopping for me man, I will be going straight to the other gate!

I more or less realized this when booking those flights. But hey, time enough afterwards to rest and enjoy my first 744 ride!

@Capetown: Sure, meet you at the LHR gate, we can watch some birds before departure! 8)

greetings,

Flanders

[Ozzie1969]

Some good advice for future flights :

AVOID HEATHROW LIKE THE PLAGUE !

[b-west]

Some good advice for future flights :

AVOID HEATHROW LIKE THE PLAGUE !

I just did BRU - LHR - SIN and back. Apart from being bussed after arriving from BRU and before departing there again, the whole thing was a breeze. The biggest annoyance was the very squeeky peoplemover in terminal 4 and an annoying dutchman in the "quiet seating area".

[regi]

You were lucky that the people mover worked. It squeeks because there are many people on it. It is the one just before the security control, right? Or is it the one already in the middle of the shops?

To Ozzie:
I can imagine the horrible experiences you might have endured coming from or going to - or even worse: in both cases - the Phillipines. Your mind is set on a nice holiday, but you are stuck in the Heathrow system. Busses, delays, shoes off, small corridors, complaining people, being tired after a long flight, unpolite security. You can't complain or they do a deep cavity search.
Anyway, when you arrive at the same terminal from which you have your connection, it is not too bad.
Imagine to have this: a connection at Moscow untill you find out that you arrive at Shmerjetevo and have the connection at Domedodovo.
Same now in Bangkok: many people arrive at Suwanabhumi but have to connect at Don Muang. 500 baht taxi or wait for the shuttle bus.

[Flanders]

It took me 50 minutes. More info will follow when I return.

[jumpjet]

When I worked abroad I made several journeys through LHR which involved a change from teminal 3 or 4 to term 1 domestic and I can honestly say that this was never a difficult experience and invariably wished I had risked taking an earlier connection as usually ended up kicking my heels in terminal one for an hour or more longer than necessary.

Yesterday I flew in from Narita and from touch down to home [now in South West London] was just over an hour.

Heathrow is busy and bustly and needs improving yes but my experience is that its still pretty efficient.

[chunk]

Heathrow is busy and bustly and needs improving yes but my experience is that its still pretty efficient.

Sorry...can't go along with that one. If you are lucky, then it can appear to be just an old series of buildings with stairs everywhere and broken moving walk ways and escalators. In which case it may seem delapidated but tolerable.

However, most of the time it has way too much traffic going through it, resulting in constant queues for everything and a miserable experience. Add in something like fog and the whole 'system' as it is collapses under the weight of its own inefficiency. Bear in mind it is partly that inefficient thanks to the BAA policy of squeezing as much retail space into the buildings as possible and reducing security staff to skeletal levels, even when there are big problems.

[regi]

well Flanders, 50 minutes of what? Between touchdown and being in the right terminal after security check?
Well done.

[Ozzie1969]

It took me 50 minutes. More info will follow when I return.

I think you should be tested on EPO...

Last year I missed a BMI flight from Heathrow to Brussels because there was only 44 minutes left, and I was told there was a minimum of 45 minutes to check in before departure, and that was just to get from one end of the terminal to the other... AND I was first off the plane from Kuala Lumpur too, but that's no good if you have to get on a bus that waits until it's filled up to capacity (and beyond!) before it actually starts moving towards the other terminal you have to get to.

Kuala Lumpur has 2 terminals, and you can just go from one to the other with a small unmanned high-frequency train/tram. Maybe BAA should start thinking of dumping those decrepid buses (I've had one of those buses break down on only 5 occasions so far! ) and coming up with something more efficient. When they designed their fifth terminal they should have thought about that, but I guess retail space is more important than actually getting people to their destination.

[chunk]

Unless you live in London or live somewhere that has no shops whatsoever just don't transit at Heathrow unless it is soo much cheaper than any other option. And I mean any. I would transit through Baghdad before there! Let's look at the place is a little detail shall we:

Terminal 1 - Check in over crowded. Flights go to domestic destinations and europe. Oh no wait. Except the Israeli flights. And the ones to South Africa on SAA but not BA. Maybe. And oh yeah, the ones BA moved there because nobody could make the connection times to terminal 4. Glad we sorted that out. Arrivals can be overcrowded in the domestic bit, no idea about the international but i reckon it cannot be good at certain times of day. My girlfriend told me last week when she was going through all but one of the security machines broke down. Hand searches - how modern.

Terminal 2 - Never left from it but by all accounts it is horrible and way overcrowded. I assume that applies to check in and the bit after security (which i have seen from the walkway above it) - looks like a refugee camp with shops. Flights go to Europe from here right? Or do they throw in a couple of Middle East destinations in for a bit of fun? Arrival? No idea....I transited very slowly between 2 and 1 last week on the first day of fog. Grim grim grim. Not only did they only have 3 security machines working out of 6....they had staff all over the place well, standing about doing nothing.

Walk between T1, T2 and T3 and prepare to see lots of permanent reconstruction and bare electrical wire. Keeps away the jet lag having to avoid electric shocks.

Terminal 3 - Where do I begin with this dump? I first went through here in 1981 on Gulf Air to DXB and it is the same now as it was then. Once you get passed the scaffolding and tarpaulin outside it you walk into the most disorganised and small area for check in you have ever seen. Add the fact that flights from this terminal go to places that well, tend to have the most luggage attached to its users (DXB, Pakistan, India need i go on) and you have just fun fun fun. Get there early is all I can say. Even at quiet periods the security queue (conveniently located upstairs by the way!!!) snakes past the shops. Oh yes don;t worry, you'll be in that queue so long you will have to do your shopping before security so the BAA have conveniently put the shops there for you! Once you go through security here (of course only half the machines will be being used....the BAA staff need to have a cup of tea every ten minutes or so you know) feel free to wander round the mall straight after. Here, you can get a nice bit of seafood (it's true!) but apart from that nothing but the usuall BAA overpriced duty free shite. And oh yeah, the Harrods shop. Who buys stuff out of there??? A HArrods teddy bear? You are kidding. Get comfortable because your flight from this terminal is going to be very late. And wear wellington boots - last tme through here I went into one bathroom to find water (well i hope it was water) pissing out all over the floor. It was about 5 cam deep I'd say....BAA were too busy trying to sell stuffed Harrods teddy bears to repair them obviously. No BA flights go from this terminal. Except those to Miami apparently. Why? Who knows but obviously BA doesn't think much of it's Miami bound passengers. EK, VS and the others must be delighted with it though as they keep adding more and more.....

Terminal 4 is special. Special in that it was built after 1965. Unlike the others. However it is even more special because it seems that it is not in the same country as the rest of Heathrow. You either have to get a bus or take the train. Both are incredibly time consuming, confusing and a pain in the arse generally. That said, if you have to leave from Heathrow this is about as good as it gets just now....there is a little more space at check in and around the gate areas. Security is still shocking though. Flights from Terminal 4 are mostly BA and go everywhere other than Europe. And Miami. Oh and other than the places the BA flights from Terminal 1 go to . KLM use it to AMS and Sri Lankan to Colombo just to keep the confusion up.

Terminal 5 is going to help maybe...if you go BA. But even they are saying that they can't put all their flights through it due to a lack of room. So it will be all BA flights except those that go from T1,2,3 and 4. Brilliant. Now we have AF doing flights from LHR to LAX and all the US airlines getting into to add to the congestion. Status Quo resumed. Radical rethink required I would say as this situation is untenable.....