BA arrive at airport time

[Corin]

Hi, this has probably been asked loads … sorry !
We fly on Weds with BA at 6.50am, we will do the online check~in, so we will need to do bag drop and security.
What time would you suggest arriving at the airport?
This will be our first family holiday in 3 years so we have no idea how busy the airport will be at this time.
Thank you 😊
Edit. Flying to Crete

• This topic was modified 54 years, 4 months ago by .

[John]

I’d aim for 0445 as that’s when things tend to open in practice, however there may already be queues by that time.

[Keely]

I dropped my son at T5 at 4-00am on Tuesday. There were already some people there awaiting bag drop (which opens at 4-30) and more people starting to arrive . You can get your bags weighed and tagged before then by check in staff but then have to wait for the bags to be taken . Self service bag drop wasn’t open at that time. As @John says I wouldn’t leave it any later than 4-45am and personally would prob get about 4-15. Have a great holiday!

[Mrs_Fussy]

Corin – I would highly highly recommend using Airportr if the service covers your area ( if its available, your booking under BA should give the option). We travelled to Maldives recently and they collected our luggage from home and next we saw it was baggage collection in Male.. we went straight through security. It was a lifesaver and cost less than £40 for 4 bags.. we had a promo code. Happy to provide a referral code or Rob may even have one …

• This reply was modified 54 years, 4 months ago by .

[travelwell]

Mrs_Fussy wrote:

Corin – I would highly highly recommend using Airportr if the service covers your area ( if its available, your booking under BA should give the option). We travelled to Maldives recently and they collected our luggage from home and next we saw it was baggage collection in Male.. we went straight through security. It was a lifesaver and cost less than £40 for 4 bags.. we had a promo code. Happy to provide a referral code or Rob may even have one …

I’m considering using them for an upcoming trip. Do they provide confirmation of when they have physically checked your bags in ? Thanks for the tip!

[bobby]

does anyone know of an alternitive to VIP Black at LHR, using the Windsor Suite. They are fully booked this Saturday

[Corin]

Thank you, hadn’t even thought of this, does the referral code offer a discount ? I’ve just run a dummy quote through and it’s £65 for 2 bags from the airport hotel the night before (sadly Airportr don’t cover Dorset)!

Mrs_Fussy wrote:

Corin – I would highly highly recommend using Airportr if the service covers your area ( if its available, your booking under BA should give the option). We travelled to Maldives recently and they collected our luggage from home and next we saw it was baggage collection in Male.. we went straight through security. It was a lifesaver and cost less than £40 for 4 bags.. we had a promo code. Happy to provide a referral code or Rob may even have one …

[Corin]

We are staying at an airport hotel and were planning to get a taxi at 4.15, so arrive at 4.30am or just before, so hopefully this will be enough time.

John wrote:

I’d aim for 0445 as that’s when things tend to open in practice, however there may already be queues by that time.

[Corin]

Does anyone have an airportr code please 🙏

[pablo]

There’s also the option of twilight check-in on the evening before departure which you may wish to consider since you’re staying at an airport hotel. In the morning you’d go straight to security. All passengers travelling must be present for the evening bag drop.

Overnight Bag Drop is available if you are travelling on a flight departing before 13:00, you can check in your bags between 18:00 – 21:00 the day before.

For security reasons, you cannot check in someone else in their absence, everyone in your booking needs to be present. We’ll ask you to provide a contact number, give you your boarding pass and take any baggage you want to check in. Once your baggage has been checked in, we won’t be able to retrieve it so make sure you have everything you need before you check in.

[John]

pablo wrote:

There’s also the option of twilight check-in on the evening before departure which you may wish to consider since you’re staying at an airport hotel. In the morning you’d go straight to security. All passengers travelling must be present for the evening bag drop.

Overnight Bag Drop is available if you are travelling on a flight departing before 13:00, you can check in your bags between 18:00 – 21:00 the day before.

For security reasons, you cannot check in someone else in their absence, everyone in your booking needs to be present. We’ll ask you to provide a contact number, give you your boarding pass and take any baggage you want to check in. Once your baggage has been checked in, we won’t be able to retrieve it so make sure you have everything you need before you check in.

Not sure if that’s a good idea when there aren’t enough staff to process bags going straight to a plane let alone storing them overnight and finding them again? Yes I know most of it is meant to be automated

[Thegasman]

Had a 7:25 flight from T5 this morning. Walked over from Sofitel just before 6 & it was fine. Small queues at most check in zones but everything moving. Lots of families with kids as would be expected on first Saturday of most private school holidays.

On a Wednesday I would day 4:30 is slightly excessive but I’m not a fan of loitering in airports!

[ianwardz]

John wrote:

pablo wrote:

There’s also the option of twilight check-in on the evening before departure which you may wish to consider since you’re staying at an airport hotel. In the morning you’d go straight to security. All passengers travelling must be present for the evening bag drop.

Overnight Bag Drop is available if you are travelling on a flight departing before 13:00, you can check in your bags between 18:00 – 21:00 the day before.

For security reasons, you cannot check in someone else in their absence, everyone in your booking needs to be present. We’ll ask you to provide a contact number, give you your boarding pass and take any baggage you want to check in. Once your baggage has been checked in, we won’t be able to retrieve it so make sure you have everything you need before you check in.

Not sure if that’s a good idea when there aren’t enough staff to process bags going straight to a plane let alone storing them overnight and finding them again? Yes I know most of it is meant to be automated

We used this in May and it worked with no issues. We were CW so had fast track security, walked through with no queue at 8am on a Friday.
I did have an AirTag in the suitcase, but tbh, this just creates more stress, checking that it was on the plane, as it only updated as being on the plane a couple of minutes before the plane pushed back. Nothing I could have done once the plane had taken off and it was still reporting not on the plane. I suppose at least when we landed and it still showed in London, it would save time waiting at the carousel.