Heathrow Airport, London - Transfer time from Terminal 1 to Terminal 3?

[Roland Perry]

I have communicated with Archers and they assure me that my luggage will be booked right through to Cairo

Which will only happen, as far as I know, if you get boarding cards for
both legs, in Edinburgh.

so there will be no delay waiting for luggage
from Edinburgh and that the time allowed is "legal"
Finally they assure me that if the Edinburgh flight is delayed

BMI and EgyptAir are both in Star Alliance, so there's a possibility
that this may be the case. Even more so if your flight numbers are
booked as codeshare. Do you know what the flight numbers are?
--
Roland Perry

[Graham Harrison]

Whether you get boarding cards or not is irrelevant to whether baggage is
interlined. Baggage can be interlined without through boarding cards -
I've done it many times.

bm - the programs you see on TV tend to be about low cost airlines (easyJet,
Southwest) and they don't do connecting flights which means that if you *do*
book two flights you are responsible if you miss the second one. (Yes, I
know Airport is about Heathrow and therefore not about low costs but the
delays I've seen on that program have been caused by road and rail
problems).

In the world of "full service airlines" like BMI and Egyptair the
relationship is set within the parameters of their IATA membership and
anything Star adds is a bonus. So, provided BMI and Egyptair have an
interline agreement the bags will be taken from you at Edinburgh, tagged via
London to Cairo and you'll see them next at Cairo. It is a requirement of
membership in Star that all member airlines have interline agreements so,
from that point of view, you're covered. Mind you, that assumes that
Archers have issued you with an interline *ticket*. If they have issued
one BMI ticket and a separate Egyptair ticket the airlines are quite at
liberty to say "this is two separate contracts and even though we have an
interline agreement we will not be implementing it on this occasion" and
that would mean collecting the bag at LHR, schlepping it to T3 and joining
the Egyptair check in queue in which case the 1hr 45 won't work.

So, we're left with that time. Each airline looks at each airport it uses
and sets a "minimum connecting time (MCT)". It can happen that airline A
to airline B can be a different MCT to A to C even though they both use the
same terminal. And A to B can be different to B to A. I don't know the
BMI/Egyptair MCT but 1hr 45 sounds about right. What it does mean is that
when you arrive at Heathrow follow the "Connecting" or "Connections" signs,
not "Arrivals".

[Roland Perry]

You will be checked in at Edinburgh for the Heathrow to Cairo flight, so
your boarding cards etc will be given to you at Edinburgh.

That sounds pretty definite. Probably worth trusting.

On arrival into Heathrow you will go to Terminal 3 and go straight to
passport control as you have been checked in already.

This is significantly more flaky, as there's no passport control for
outgoing passengers, and hasn't been for years! But perhaps we can give
them the benefit of the doubt.

In practice, having arrived at T1 you should go to the "Flight
Connections" centre for hand baggage x-ray and access to the T3
departure lounge.
--
Roland Perry

[Roland Perry]

Do you know how far I have to walk from T1 to T3?

Both are sprawling buildings, and the gate might easily be 10 minutes
walk from the centre. When I last did a transfer at Heathrow I walked
literally the entire length of T4 just to find a transfer bus-stop, and
your change will also require a 5 minute bus ride I think (assuming you
stay airside). Half an hour on the move ought to cover it though.
--
Roland Perry

[Graham Harrison]

Believe them. Roland and I are debating some pretty arcane issues.

You walk from the aircraft to the connections centre. From there you take
a bus to T3 and then find your gate.

[JohnT]

We have checked this for you and your booking has been made on the same reference number, however we will be issuing 2 tickets. I have called BMI
and Egypt Air and they see no reason why you will not be checked through
on your flight with us. Please remember to inform the BMi check in staff
at Edinburgh that you are travelling on to Cairo.

This seems to confuse things. Is the "same reference number" a Cosmos
reference or an Airline reference? The issue of 2 tickets (which will, in
any event, be e-tickets) seems to infer that they may be sepeate bookings.

The bottom line is that Cosmos are liable if things go wrong. Make sure that
you have a phone number on which they may be contacted if things go wrong!
--
JohnT

[Roland Perry]

[quote from travel agent]

I can understand your concerns, however we are not the airline and
therefore I can not guarantee anything to you regarding your luggage.

And people wonder why travel agents are a dying breed. If they can't
answer a simple question about a local airport with certainty!
--
Roland Perry