MyDogKyle

Hi guys,

I have a question about flights, for anyone who's recently gone through London to Nairobi. I'm planning to check with BA again closer to our trip to be sure I'm up on all the latest regulations about bag size, carry-on, liquids, etc. But I'm just wondering whether someone flying from SFO to Heathrow and immediately on to NBO has to claim their bags and go through security again in London, or if bags are checked all the way through to Nairobi. When we flew to Delhi via London, our bags were checked all the way through but they would not give us seat assignments until we reached London (this was AA and Air India, though). In this case we'll be on AA to London (from SFO, via Chicago) and then BA to Nairobi.

My husband is getting a little stressed about having only 3 hours between our flights in London, because on a recent trip to the Caribbean we had to wait at baggage claim in Miami, get our checked bags through security again, and then put ourselves and our carry-ons through security again too. We just barely made our connection in Miami.

Should we be concerned at all about a 3-hour layover in London? Every time I've flown lately the security rules seem to be slightly different... Thanks for your thoughts!

sandi

You should be able to check your bags at SFO thru to NBO. AA & BA are partners and have an agreement to do so. In fact, most airlines have this agreement (though apparently for some reason some carrier didn't with Air India... strange). If your flight from ORD/LHR is on time, three hours should be more than sufficient to make your transfer, even if arriving/departing from different terminals.

Once you arrive LHR, you will be in the secure area as transiting passengers (even if you have to change terminals), so should not have to go through the main security checkpoint... the one before you reach the departure lounge/gates. However, you will go through security at the gate heading to NBO.

Marija

Note that the carry on rules on BA are different for travel to the UK from the USA and for travel originating in the UK to all destinations. You will be subject to the carry on rules for flights originating in the UK for your London to Nairobi flight. Since you won't reconnect with your luggage in London make sure you meet the more stringent requirements for flights from the UK.

MyDogKyle

Thanks, Sandi! That puts my mind at ease, and I'm sure will help my husband feel better too. When we flew to India they did actually check our bags all the way to Delhi from SFO, but they wouldn't check us in for the flight and confirm our seats until we arrived in London. Which worked out well for us, because the flight was overbooked and we were upgraded to 1st class.

Thank you too, Marija, for the tip on packing our bags. One thing about all the changes -- it's a lot less fun to fly now, but I have become an expert in traveling really, really light!

I appreciate your quick replies.

joeyi

we did very similar flights last Nov/Dec except we were San Diego, NY, London, Nairobi. AA then switching to BA to go on to Nairobi. Bags were checked all the way through we had plenty of time to make the connection in London (even being delayed at JFK for 1 1/2 hours), it was really easy and you just shuttle between terminals. it is very well marked. Marja knows what she is talking about with the carry on in London so make sure if you are also carrying a purse it will fit in your carry on bag.

Patty

Is this all on one ticket? Because BA can be problematic when it comes to interlining luggage on separate tickets. With almost any other major (non-LCC) carrier, it's not a problem whether you have one or two tickets, but BA is known to be a stickler.

Assuming you're on one ticket with luggage through checked, you'll just need to change terminals and go through security. Barring any changes between now and when you travel, your AA flight will arrive at T3 and your BA flight will depart from T4.

MyDogKyle

Wow, Patty, you really are the flight guru! Yes, it's all on one ticket. I really never used to worry about these airport things until that last crazy trip through Miami to Grand Cayman...

lifelist

Make sure you check the routing tag they put on your baggage. Out of SFO, it should have a tag for NBO, not LHR. And, coming back, it should have SFO, not LHR.

Coming back from my safari in Tanzania, we had a flight from Arusha, Tanzania to London (LHR) via Nairobi (NBO). We were only supposed to be in transit in NBO. I caught the gate agent in Arusha putting routing tags on our luggage that had NBO on them, even after I told him to check us all the way through to London. He just wasn't paying attention.

I made him take the tags off and put the correct ones on.

sandi

I'm looking at my tags from last trip where I was departing JFK via AMS to JRO; the tag reads AMS (flt#) and JRO (flt#). It was the same on return from NBO via AMS to EWR; tag reading AMS (flt#) and EWR (flt#). In both instances, the bags were thru checked and marked accordingly. Bags arrived at both destinations.

If your ticket for both legs are written as one ticket, the airline should be able to thru-check your bags.

joeyi

the only other thing i want to is add is on our return from NBO the BA agent couldn't give us our boarding passes all the way back to SD. once we got to LHR there is a transit desk for AA and the boarding passes were issued. it was no problem and of course i worried a bit for nothing. Husband had no worries.
i did talk with someone else in NBO while waiting at the gate that was going to Chicago on AA and they had boarding passes all the way home, so it probably depends on the agent you get in NBO.

lifelist

Sandi - if my bags had a routing tag that read NBO and LHR, I wouldn't have worried, but the one the gate agent put on only had NBO on it. I thought he was going to add another tag or something, but he just threw the bag onto the belt (or was it a cart?). At that point, I started asking the gate agent where my bags were going. He said they were going to London, and I asked him why the tag read, NBO. He got an annoyed look on his face, and pulled the bags off and put new tags on.

sandi

That's why you should ask to see the luggage tags before they're put onto a cart for transfer to the security xray machines (or on the belt for domestic US flights).

Had something similar departing Istanbul some years back... wrong airport codes and flight #s; based on my original flight and not those I had later changed.

You just have gotta check.