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Checking a Bag with a Connection on a Different International Air Carrier

Posted on 8/4/25 at 10:44 am
Posted by Nigel Farage
South of the Mason-Dixon
Member since Dec 2019
1241 posts
Posted on 8/4/25 at 10:44 am
Good Morning Travel Board,

I am going to Iceland and Ireland next month. I will be flying out of Reykjavik into London Heathrow Airport before I take another flight to Belfast. My flight from Reykjavik to London will be on Iceland Air and then the flight to Belfast will more than likely be British Airways (haven't booked this ticket just yet).

I plan to check one bag and carry my other one on. My question is once I get to Heathrow, would I need to go through customs and go claim the checked bag in the baggage terminal before rechecking it with British Airways or is there a way to avoid this and instead have the airport somehow transfer this to my next flight. I plan to give myself about 4 hours from touchdown to wheels up to be able to do this while also giving myself some breathing room incase there are any sort of delays. Has anyone else had any experience doing this? What are your recommendations, thanks!
Posted by LemmyLives
Texas
Member since Mar 2019
12851 posts
Posted on 8/4/25 at 11:33 am to
BA and Iceland do not have an interline agreement, so you’re going to have to get your bag and re check it.
Posted by Warheel
Member since Aug 2011
2224 posts
Posted on 8/4/25 at 12:33 pm to
Done it a few times, through Madrid, Paris, and Rome. I always give us at least 2 hours (3 at CDG). Only issue I had was when weather caused us to miss our flight to Rome so I had to change the ticket from Rome to Dubrovnik to the following day which cost a few bucks. Thankfully there was availability on the flight.

I’d think if your flight from Iceland was on time 4 hours is enough time to do everything.

Posted by H2O Tiger
Delta Sky Club
Member since May 2021
7369 posts
Posted on 8/4/25 at 11:29 pm to
Lemmy nailed this, you'll have to reclaim your bag after your Icelandair flight and then recheck with whatever carrier you're using for your onward journey.
Posted by TheDeathValley
Louisiana
Member since Sep 2010
19915 posts
Posted on 8/5/25 at 11:11 am to
I would strongly consider taking BA801 from KEF-LHR to keep it all on BA.

Or you could do KLM through AMS.

As it stands, Iceland Air uses Terminal 2, and British Airways mostly uses Terminal 5 (some in 3).

So you'll have to
Go through UK immigration at Terminal 2.
Collect your bag at baggage claim.
Transfer to Terminal 5 (or T3) on the Heathrow Express or Elizabeth line
Recheck the bag at BA’s check-in desk.
Go through security at Terminal 5.

Edited to Add: you want at a minimum of 2 hours to do this, possibly 4. The customs process can take 5 minutes or 60 minutes. The transfer is 5-10 minutes, and then another 10-45 minutes to go through security again.


This post was edited on 8/5/25 at 11:13 am
Posted by Sho Nuff
Oahu
Member since Feb 2009
13370 posts
Posted on 8/5/25 at 11:14 am to
Agreed. LHR is a clusterfrick unless you're traveling in business class. You'll be sitting outside waiting to get back through security in these long lines stressing out.
Posted by LemmyLives
Texas
Member since Mar 2019
12851 posts
Posted on 8/5/25 at 5:14 pm to
quote:

ou'll be sitting outside waiting to get back through security

Their inbound immigration rivals only JFK in terms of shittiness. It's astounding.
Posted by baldona
Florida
Member since Feb 2016
23275 posts
Posted on 8/5/25 at 5:30 pm to
quote:

I will be flying out of Reykjavik into London Heathrow Airport before I take another flight to Belfast. My flight from Reykjavik to London will be on Iceland Air and then the flight to Belfast will more than likely be British Airways (haven't booked this ticket just yet).


Are you staying in Iceland or did you just get a ticket deal to fly though Iceland like they run sometimes?

That's going to be a PITA as said. Unfortunately.

Its a lot easier to fly through Dublin and you can likely get a flight from there to Belfast, if that's an option.
Posted by Nigel Farage
South of the Mason-Dixon
Member since Dec 2019
1241 posts
Posted on 8/6/25 at 12:13 pm to
So I live in Nashville and we currently have direct flights to Reykjavik so I figured this would be as good of a time as any to visit. Initially I was just planning on doing Iceland and Ireland, but flight from Nashville->Reykjavik->London was about $250 cheaper than going to Dublin from Reykjavik. I cashed in some skymiles for the return flight from Dublin so it only cost me about $45.

After reading the responses in this thread and mulling my options over I ended up deciding to just do a day and a half in London before flying out to Dublin. I figure a day and a half in London would beat the hell out of a day spent entirely in airports and having to go through the baggage issue I started this thread about previously. I visited London and the UK about 14 years ago so I'm curious to see how much has changed since I last visited.



Posted by TheDeathValley
Louisiana
Member since Sep 2010
19915 posts
Posted on 8/8/25 at 12:20 pm to
quote:

I ended up deciding to just do a day and a half in London before flying out to Dubli


The absolute right decision. London is easily top of the list for me as far as favorite cities go.
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