Two hour trip to LHR – am I likely to get stopped?

[Hanana]

I’m two flights away from going up a tier (already met the tier points requirement due to several Qatar flights this year). As my nearest airport is GLA, thought I could do a day trip to London. I’m trying to do it as cheaply as possible, and have found a flight which arrives at LHR at 19:50, with the return leg departing at 21:55, £80 total. It doesn’t really bother me at all to do a very quick trip down and back up but I’m hesitating as I had a thought that such a short trip might get flagged as suspicious. Has anyone done something similar and can offer insight into whether I’m likely to be questioned or even denied boarding over this?

[BA Flyer IHG Stayer]

People do this all the time without any issue at all (and not just to get qualifying flights / status).

You won’t be entering the UK as you can use the flight connections route (there is a passport check but it’s not immigration)

[freckles]

I would hope there is no immigration travelling Glasgow/Heathrow – relations between Scotland and England have not deteriorated that much 🤣

[BA Flyer IHG Stayer]

I read it as GVA!

[John]

You are not *likely* to get stopped but you could be. I was stopped and I answered “Because I like flying” then the policeman got a call and lost interest in me, so I walked away. Though it was quite weird because my passport had a 20% success rate in the e-gates before that, but since that incident I have had 100% success in the e-gates. (The policeman had asked for my name and address and wrote them down.)

There is also a thread on Flyertalk BA where people who did back to backs in Cairo or something because there were cheap ex-CAI fares got stopped.

[Anna]

I did this last October MAN-LHR-MAN. We disembarked at a remote (?) stand which meant having to show my boarding pass on the way back to T5 departures but no one said a thing even though the system must have known I was going there and back in a relatively short space of time.

[Stu_N]

I wouldn’t worry – the explanation of a TP run will be accepted, it’s niche but not entirely uncommon activity.

You’ll come into domestic arrivals (hopefully a gate, but a bus will drop you at the right end of T5). Just follow the T5 Flight Connections route. A quick boarding pass check and photo and you’ll be in departures in <10 mins, no immigration or security to worry about. I would, however take a minimal overnight kit just in case something goes pear shaped, later the flights are in the day, the more chance of issues.

[Anna]

Yes, I took a small overnight bag as after all this was a BA domestic route 😂. Fortunately the worst that happened was that my inbound flight was delayed a couple of hours – which was much worse for the exhausted pax who were waiting to connect from long haul than it was for me!

[Aston100]

John wrote:

I was stopped and I answered “Because I like flying”

I’m surprised that didn’t get his back up TBH.

[Lady London]

I was asked at the US border processing desk in Toronto, why was I flying to Fort Lauderdale via Toronto on Air Canada instead of flying to Fort Lauderdale from London direct (it’s a long detour).

My straight away off the cuff response to the officer was “Because it’s cheaper”. The officer nodded, he’d clearly heard that before, and it was accepted.

Border control and customs officers deal with thousands of travellers every week and will know if you’re lying. Honesty is always the best policy. If you can make them grin a bit and agree with you by saying it’s my 3rd visit to Portland in three years and No I don’t know anyone there but I like it and I’m from England so all the rain there makes me feel at home, that helps too.

They know about mileage runs just tell them if that’s your case.