OK, I am just going to put this out there and hope that those in the know/experienced will tell me.

For CROSS, we booked our own air on AA, using our many miles that we had been saving for a special trip. We are flying Washington DCA to JFK to LHR on AA, transfering to BA to NCE. We do have two nights booked on our own in Provence.

I am going into panic mode about the luggage situation at LHR. In today's Washington Post "Coming and Going" travel column they talk about the mess at LHR and I remember that some of the FJORD'ers had some luggage problems, notable MarnaLou and husband, and I think I remember Ngaire saying they also lost one of their bags.

So question is, should I be worried? Those of you have been traveling this summer thru LHR, what airlines did you use and did you get your luggage or not? What was your itinerary? Med, Baltics? I am thinking of maybe shiping luggage ahead, knowing that is an additional cost, not cheap - ok so help please????

If your bags did not make it, did you get them by the time you boarded, if not, did you ever get them? If we do our own air, will RSSC be of any help trying to locate and get our bags to us before we leave Funchal

Thanks all, I know you'all will tell it like it is.

Carol and I are on PUBS and transfer at LHR to CPH. Have had much the same concern about luggage. Have read a great deal about the mess on FFlyer. I almost decided to use a shipping company and looked into First Luggage which seemed to have good prices and uses FEDEX which I have confidence in. I have decided to chance it as we will be in CPH for two days before boarding the ship. One conclusion I have come to is to not check bags through. If you have the time for the connection which you will need about 3+ hours for you should consider picking up the bags in LHR and then checking with BA. This seems to help avoid mis routing.

We are doing ROAR II and am looking into alternates to going via LHR due to the bag issue. Sad situation in LHR.

JoAnn,

For FJORDS I flew United from SFO to LHR, transfered to SAS for the London to Copenhagen leg. I arrived with both checked bags. No problems at all.

Thanks for that info djw521, but I don't think we have enough time to claim and recheck luggage from what I have heard, because we will then have to go thru customs at LHR and then get in line to recheck, and I think we have just 2 1/2 hours and if there were any delay out of JFK, then we would be really pushing it. But will keep that in mind, most definitely.

Thanks Suzanne - I knew that several of you FJORD'ers may have flown thru LHR, but then connected to SAS or such - I actually think the problem is with BA more than anything, but again, every bit of info is helpful and I appreciate your input. :)

JoAnn we flew through LHR going and through LGW on the way back, connection was to/from BA - fortunately no luggage problems for us. On the way home from Geneva we flew through LGW - at check in BA put a "fast LGW transfer" tag or, something like that, on our bags so they would get noticed. Seemed to work.

I would cross pack and carry on a few days worth of stuff which will go a long way towards minimizing the problem if you have one.

Joann -

Fortunately, you've got a few months before you travel. I'm not sure how relevant our experience this summer will be for your trip, as BA is under a lot of pressure to get the baggage situation sorted out.

Summer is the biggest crunch time for LHR. I would expect the volume of luggage for BA to handle is lower in November vs. June or July. They are also working with the government to ease the one bag carry-on rule, as that has added greatly to the number of BA checked bags. Hopefully, that will be changed by November, too.

FWIW, in general the airport situation in many cities this year has been the most difficult I've encountered since 9/11. Flying just isn't anywhere near as easy. The trickiest part of your itinerary is the three flights. No matter which carrier, more transfers are more opportunities (albeit slight) to have luggage delayed.

Cheers, Anne

Hi JoAnn,

I booked our own air for FJORDS using AA miles. We flew BOS to LHR, transferring to BA for the CPH leg. We did the reverse on the return. Our bags made it both times. As I think Leslie said, tags were put on our luggage in both BOS and CPH saying "fast transfer". When we handed our boarding pass to the BA ticket agent on the LHR-CPH leg, she asked if we had checked any luggage. When I said yes, she asked to see our checked luggage receipts. She put the numbers into her computer and when I asked if there was a problem, she said no, she was just making sure our bags were on the plane.

Friends of ours on FJORDS also did their own air using AA miles, transferred through LHR to BA and had no problem with their luggage either.

My best advice to you is to pack a carry on bag, at least on the front end.

Good luck-

Kathy

Thanks Kathy - that definitely does make me feel better! And as Anne pointed out, we are traveling in Nov, so hopefully that will make a difference. When we check in at National, we will be sure to ask about the "fast transfer" tags.

When you transferred in LHR, you didn't have to go thru customs or immigration did you? Which terminal did your AA flight arrive at, and which terminal did you depart your BA flight on? I've heard that BA is going to start allowing two carry ons by the end of summer.

You don't have to go through customs when you transfer but you do have to go through a security check point when you change terminals. I think our flight from BOS arrived at terminal 4 and we had to change to terminal 3 for the BA flight (it might have been the other way around - I can't remember). There was no line at the check point when we came in from BOS. On the return from CPH we waited in line for 20 - 30 min.

Kathy