 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi,
Am thinking of going for one of the Lastminute.com deals to Banff. The flights are with Monarch from London Gatwick and I need connecting flights from Edinburgh. On the way down, no problem we would stay overnight in a Gatwick hotel but coming back, the Monarch flight arrives in LGW at 05:45 and I then have options for Edinburgh flights as follows:
Easyjet: 08:20 from same terminal (South)
BA: 08:25 from North terminal.
I would prefer BA as they give a better luggage allowance (23kg insead of 20kg with EZJ), but do you think 2.5 hours is enough time to get thru passport control, collect bags, get to North terminal, check in ?
Any advice gratefully received !
The alternative is a 6 hour wait (yawn!!!) at LGW for an EDI flight around 12:30pm - safe but dull.
Thanks !
btw. I am new to the forum but have found it very useful.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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McJax, welcome to SnowHeads 
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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McJax, yep, I reckon that's enough time. It's a quick monorail ride between the two terminals. You could give yourself more margin by checking in online for the BA flight before leaving Canada.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Monorail is no more. You have to get a bus now, but they are very regular.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Monorail indeed being redone and LGW passport control and baggage handling can be shocking but BAA want shooting if you can't connect in the time given assume you land on time. You can always get a cab terminal to terminal if you've just missed a shuttle.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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They are recommending you allow an extra 20 minutes between terminals while the monorail is out of service.
I would still hope that 2.5 hours would be enough, particularly sine the BA flight would be a domestic one.
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| Frosty the Snowman wrote: |
| Monorail is no more. You have to get a bus now, but they are very regular. |
Oops - I stand corrected.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Thanks for the replies - so quickly!
Very good point about the Monorail ... am thinking the safest option may be to book the Easyjet flight which leaves from the same terminal, saving a bit of time. Perhaps BA on the way out and then on the way back I will just have to ditch all the unnecessary shampoo, conditioner, shower gel to save 3kg!
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Aha !
Another option I've found is to book into the Yotel in the South terminal - £40 for 4 hours which means we can shower, snooze, relax for a wee while then get the 12:30 flight unstressed. I think it may be worth it as I know both BA & Easyjet will charge a fortune if, e.g. the Calgary flight is delayed and we miss our booked flights.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Does anyone know if you can transfer between terminals without having to go through security again, am looking at a tight enough connection, less than an hour, and land in South Terminal and leave from North. Cheers
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Dublinfella, I'm pretty sure you can't, since I think the shuttle is entirely landside.
And I don't think you have any realistic chance of making the connection in an hour either, if you have to change terminals, and you have any hold luggage. An hour and a half would be tight but possible if everything goes smoothly.
If you only have hand luggage, or your luggage is "through booked" so that you don't have to pick it up between planes, then it is tight but possible.
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And there was me worrying about a 2.5 hour connection slot!
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You know it makes sense.
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Nah, would only be able to bring hand luggage alright - could be a very interesting flight as I would have to leave straight from match, sans shower, wearing as much of my gear as possible, boots in bag. hmm, looks like I am being a bit over optimistic. Nuts.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| Dublinfella wrote: |
| Does anyone know if you can transfer between terminals without having to go through security again, am looking at a tight enough connection, less than an hour, and land in South Terminal and leave from North. Cheers |
You even go through security again if you are not changing terminals - well we had to on arrival from Orlando (with BA) to get a connection to Edinburgh (also BA) in October. But at least we didn't have to collect our luggage, and we also bypassed customs, since we had no luggage at Gatwick, and arrived in Edinburgh on a domestic flight.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Dublinfella, the official minimum connecting time between terminals is 1 hour 15 minutes, then add in the replacement bus another 20 minutes, so you need at least 1.35min
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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2.5 hours should be enough... unless your flight is delayed! If it is contact BA direct before you leave and get the flight changed. I got caught by this in Feb having allowed 4hours but was delayed 5 hours. Geneva handling agent for BA told me it'd be ok but it wasn't and cost me the flight cost.
Yotel at Gatwick is good and a bit of an "experience".
adrian
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Always try to get your bags checked through to Edinburgh - then you don't need to collect them at LGW. As it is a different airline it might not be possible, but def worth a punt.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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CaurnieBred, Ideally yes, but have talked to both BA and LastMinute and that's not an option unfortunately. The best they could suggest is to try and persuade the check-in people at Calgary to check all the way through but no guarantees that they will as it's charter (Monarch) to scheduled (BA) 
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| McJax wrote: |
Aha !
Another option I've found is to book into the Yotel in the South terminal - £40 for 4 hours which means we can shower, snooze, relax for a wee while then get the 12:30 flight unstressed. I think it may be worth it as I know both BA & Easyjet will charge a fortune if, e.g. the Calgary flight is delayed and we miss our booked flights. |
sounds like a safe bet, i'd probably opt to pay for the peace of mind as if things go wrong its time, stress and money wasted as im sure you know!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Well .... just booked, checked the flight times with Inghams and .... the Calgary flight is due to land in LGW at 05:05 not 05:45 as stated on the LastMinute.com website !
So, we will risk the 08:20 BA flight and unfortunately have to miss the Yotel experience.
Have to stay overnight on the way out - can anyone recommend a hotel at LGW ? Don't need parking as will be flying from Edinburgh. The Courtyard seems cheapest.
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McJax, I too have gone for one of these LastMinute Banff deals (16th-23rd Jan). Watch out for admin fees.
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McJax, The Gatwick Belmont does singles at £39 and twins/doubles at £56 - however those include a week's free parking, breakfast and free airport transfer, so I guess you can get better deals elsewhere.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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crosbie, What admin fees ? I booked Inghams to Austria with LastMinute.com during the summer and didn't pay any more than I did online.
You've got me worried!
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McJax, my group leader said there was a ten quid per head booking/admin fee. And yup, Inghams via LastMinute. Make sure you get all the optional extras sorted out in one go, because every amendment costs another admin fee.
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