I’m planning to fly into LHR and want to jump on another plane to CDG. Most likely United transatlantic and then BA or AF for the quick jump. How much time do I need get thru customs, grab my checked bags and then go back and check in with BA or AF. I assume they’re in different terminals. Thanks in advance!
Check the Heathrow website, there’s a tool for this. Add 30 minutes if you are prudent.
I fly LAX-LHR-CDG on BA the whole way. Don’t need to recheck bags and you don’t have to change terminals.
and the BA lounge has several nice vintage champagnes open on the bar.
The F lounge, the terraces club has NV but only if you ask for it.
Word on the street is that the CCR has had 98 lynch bages this past week.
Creedence Clearwater?
CCR = Concord Club Room, which you have to be in long haul first to be admitted (status just get’s you into Galleries First)
To answer the original question - if you don’t have status, and have to go T3-T5, I would do 3 hours in case the security is a nightmare. With status, 2 hours 15 minutes.
Which airline to take depends on a lot. From LAX, I like AA’s non-stop plane better. BA’s award program (earning and redeeming) is horrible. But if it’s a revenue ticket, then I’m sure money will be the key consideration. The only exception is short hops (i.e., LHR-CDG) which is only 5k miles one way in coach, 10k in Club Europe (biz).
I check to see when the next flight after the one I’m trying to connect to is. If there isn’t one within a few hours, that’s riskier than if the next one is not too much later.
You might consider staying within one alliance as the interline bag transfer will be smoother, and they are more accomodating if the inbound flight is late. (I.e. AA/BA same alliance, UA/BA different alliances)
BA F to boot. First on a OW partner won’t cut it.
I’m not wild about BA F. Great soft product but seats are narrow at the shoulders in full flat mode. AA F on the new 77W might get my nod. On another AA plane, I would agree.
LOVED the Virgin Upper Class. MUCH better than BA 1st n my view. Of course that doesn’t help for the beyond-travel.
Really, BA F trumps Virgin in every regard except the kerbside checkin in my view. In particular I dislike the lack of recline in VS J. I can understand a preference for the VS lounge over the CCR but that’s not a taste I share (billionaires midlife crisis play room).
Etihad and Emirates F blow everything outside of Asia away.
you people and your acronyms . . . I have no idea what VS J is. The cabin and lie-flat seats in upper class were much more comfortable than the BA first, and the service was actually pleasant, as opposed to officious and put-upon.
You people, you mean frequent flyers? Or just those that understand the basics of the industry.
J = Business class, that’s what Virgin Upper is, a business class product. It’s a good one, I prefer it to BA business but not BA first.
Y = Economy, F = First.
Neal VS is Virgin.
J is business class
F is first class.
J/F are what ballers fly… 
then I don’t understand your reference to lack of recline. The seats in Virgin Upper recline all the way. MUCH more comfortable than the BA 1st seats (although to be candid, neither are made for people over 6’ tall, and I can’t sleep in either)
If they do they have changed recently. I took around 15-20 flights in Virgin Upper from 07-12, and the chairs reclined some way, but to lie flat they flipped forwards. As opposed to going from seated to flat without having to get up.
Since we left the UK and I lost Virgin gold status I have not followed them as much, so I may be out of date. But that aside I still think BA a better product apart from kerbside. I’ve had great BA crews, also great Virgin ones, but I’d say on average BA ‘win’. Virgin are certainly younger.
FIFY
OK, now I understand. Yes, as I recall you had to get up. But they lay flat. Getting up, once, didn’t seem a hardship
And what can I say; I like young F/As. 