Long distance flights - transfer

I want to fly to Kuala Lumper this summer. If I book through BA from Heathrow return and make my way to and from Heathrow flying with Aer Lingus I can save EUR150.
My question is... is the saving worth the risks involved? ie delays, baggage risks? Would you take the risk even with say 3/4 hours to spare on connection?

€150 saving after purchasing the DUB-LHR flights on Aer Lingus ??? ... or €150 saving before doing so ??

If it's €150 before doing so then it's definitely not worth it

If it's €150 after then maybe it is - certainly allow yourself loads of time. I don't know what time the Malaysian flight departs Heathrow ... be aware delays on DUB-LHR (and most short haul routes) tend to accumulate during the day - i.e. the morning flights are more likely to be punctual (the exception to this is with fog which generally hits the morning flights - but that's fairly rare and usually limited to winter time)

You don't want to mess up your outbound connection but on the return at the end of the day if you're saving €150 and the inbound connection messes up and the airline doesn't take pity on you then you have to buy a last minute LHR-DUB ticket which would likely be covered by the €150 anyway so you'd be no worse off.

Other thing to consider is baggage - if you have two separate tickets Aer Lingus would probably not check your bags through to KUL - whereas on a through ticket the bags should be checked all the way (also on a through ticket on Malaysian airlines "paper" you may not be liable for the Aer Lingus baggage charges - not sure on this & another way to avoid this nonsense would be to fly bmi to LHR)

Extra security in LHR these days is savage.....allow several hours to get from 1 terminal to the other, even if using the flight connections centre. I flew to austria via LHR recently and it took 90 minutes to get from t1 to my onward flight.

Baggage: not only will they not check them through but be careful with baggage allowances. The allowance for long haul is probably more than you would receive on AL. SO if you are travellign with a lot of stuff be prepared to pay excess baggage charges on AL. On the same trip you get the same long haul baggage allowance on all flights.

Heathrow has also had a lot of baggage problems lately, I few threw Heathrow at christmas Aer Lingus in and BA out and my luggage was lost (for the second time this year) for 5 days, bit dissapointing chrsitmas morning wearing the same clothes for the third day in a row and no gifts to give. Just be careful and give yourself lots of time to transfer terminals and check in again. I have learned my lesson and won't fly through Heathrow again.

I've always found that the cheapest and best way to KL (or Singapore/Bangkok etc) were to go with KLM through Schiphol.

And I can't begin to tell you how much a better place that Schiphol is over Heathrow/Deathrow/Haterow.

Just booked flights to KL via Amsterdam with KLM - €795 including taxes departing on June 24th. I would advise to avoid Heathrow if you can - travelled to Bangkok via there last year and baggage went missing. They have a very poor baggage handling service as turnaround times are quite short between flights.

Bear in mind that by booking "through" tickets from DUB to KL via LHR you will not be charged for check-in baggage for the DUB-LHR sector and you have certain rights to be rerouted, at no additional cost, if you experience delays at either end which result in you missing your connection. For long haul travel with a connection at a hub airport I would always advise purchasing "through" tickets

Extra security in LHR these days is savage.....allow several hours to get from 1 terminal to the other, even if using the flight connections centre. I flew to austria via LHR recently and it took 90 minutes to get from t1 to my onward flight.

Click to expand...

Surely security delays are only a factor on the homeward journey? Domestic and Irish arrivals into Terminal 1 can transfer to airside via the Flight Connections Centre without going through security again, as they've already passed Irish/UK security.

Update: the Heathrow website is misleading on this point, but it seems there is still an extra airside security check when you reach the departure terminal. It's a while since I've done a Heathrow transfer, so I'm a bit hazy on the details.

Update: the Heathrow website is misleading on this point, but it seems there is still an extra airside security check when you reach the departure terminal. It's a while since I've done a Heathrow transfer, so I'm a bit hazy on the details.

Click to expand...

There is a full security check airside going from T1 to the other terminals.

Just to clarify, If you arrive into Heathrow from another UK airport (including Northern Ireland) and are transferring, you will not need to go through Security as you have already been cleared within the UK but if you are arriving from a Republic of Ireland airport you end up on landside in Terminal 1 and you then go through Security for Flight Connections; slightly inconvenient but does not take long.

But BAA's Heathrow web-site suggests that Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland passengers arriving into T1 are handled the same way (or at least, can be, if they disembark at an appropriate gate.).

I've also read elsewhere that there is an additional airside security check in T3/T4 after the FCC, which isn't mentioned on the Heathrow site, and doesn't seem to be factored into the transfer time guidelines they give.