EWR-LHR-BOM (flight VS018 connecting to VS350)

I need to travel from New York to Mumbai (EWR-BOM) sometime next month. On other agent sites (cheaptickets.com, orbitz.com, expedia.com, etc..), I find traveling by flight VS018 & then connecting to VS350 as a feasible option for EWR-BOM. Details that they give are as shown below:

EWR-LHR VS018:
Departing Newark, NJ (EWR) Friday, Nov 10, 2006 at 8:20 AM
Arriving London, United Kingdom (LHR) Friday, Nov 10, 2006 at 8:00 PM

LHR-BOM VS350
Departing London, United Kingdom (LHR) Friday, Nov 10, 2006 at 9:45 PM
Arriving Mumbai, India (BOM) Saturday, Nov 11, 2006 at 12:10 PM

But on the Virgin-Atlantic website, I don't see this as an option. Instead I only find three options:
1. VS026 OR
2. VS046 OR
3. VS010 (all from JFK)
to reach LHR and then connect to VS350 to reach BOM.

Please advise if VS018 & then connecting t0 VS350 to reach BOM is no longer a feasible option. Is this route de-commissioned or something?

This may be due to a minimum connecting time at LHR. The Newark flight only allows you 1 hr 45 minutes.... the JFK flight allows more.

When I contacted the agent sites, they say 'The flight combination for the city pair is provided to us directly by the airline and we cannot alter them'.
There has to be something official about minimum connecting time at LHR. [?]
Confused now.

All airlines have a minimum connect time that they go by, which is sometimes increased in the hub cities to compensate for additional traffic. For example, at DL you'll see at least a 20 minute connect time booked on all itn's to CVG, in ATL they are usually at least 35 minutes. I'm not sure what VS' policy is on online travel (that is travel consisting of more than one VS segment), but I'm pretty sure that has to be the reason it's not giving you the EWR flight as an option.

Have you tried phoning VS res? A call to res should be able to tell you pretty quick what the connection requirements are, these people book flights all day.

I have to run into work later; I'll see if I can pull any of VS' booking requirements out of the Delta computer system. I'm sure we have notes about their connection time somewhere to go with our interline eticket agreements, it's just a matter of finding the information for you.

Originally posted by SandeepFlyingVA
Confused now.

I just noticed that. If you're confused about what minimum connect time (MCT) is, maybe I can clear it up for you a little.

All airlines have a MCT policy to ensure that a passenger can't book something like a 15 minute connection. A tight connection like that in any major hub would probably result in the passenger not making the flight, thus the flight leaves with an empty seat, and the airline has to accomidate the passenger on the next flight, which could essencially oversell the next flight.

My previous post covers what DL's MCT's are in CVG and ATL. Keep in mind that these are bare minimum, and are what res agents are told has to be there in terms of actual "on the ground" time.

MCT's are often not based on how long it takes a passenger to get from concourse A to concourse D, terminal B to terminal C, etc., but rather how long it takes for the airline to transfer luggage that may be checked. That being said, I'm here to tell you that if you check a bag through ATL with only a 30 minute connection, chances are that your bag won't make the flight. Despite what people say, airlines do care if you get your luggage, and we won't allow you to book a trip that we're positive we can't transfer your luggage.

Hopefully that helps somewhat.

Thank you ppl for your views. The connect time in this case is 1 hr 45 mins. Should be good enough. What say?

No expert advice yet...[:(]

[honey lamb]

Originally posted by SandeepFlyingVA
No expert advice yet...[:(]

The problem is that most of us will be flying into or out of LHR but not transiting there on to another VS flight so we have very little experience to pass on to you. Generally if we are transiting it is to a different airline and probably to a different terminal and certainly in that scenario 1 hour 45 minutes is not enough especially if we have to collect luggage and re-check.

In your case the advantages as I see it are that you are arriving and departing from T3. I presume that you will have a through ticket from VS which will mean your bags will be tagged all the way through to BOM. These certainly will be timesavers. What I can't answer (and probably others can't either) is how you transit in T3. I don't know if you have to clear immigration or if you have to check-in again at LHR with VS. However on the BAA website it says:

Connecting from one Terminal 3 flight to another
Your connection will take approximately 50 minutes, from landing to departure gate. On arrival, you'll be directed to security and then to our airline desks. Follow our signs to the Terminal 3 departure lounge and from there to your gate

If you have to checkin again this could be a problem as check-in closes 60 minutes before departure and it is going to be very tight - especially if the inbound flight is delayed. I suggest a call to VS to see if you will have boarding passes all the way through to BOM which will certainly help but IMHO it is too close for comfort

Hope this helps

Can't comment on timings, but there is a transit path in T3 I think. As you approach the main building, normally you would bear left and start to descend a slope into the immigration hall. IIRC, the transit path carries straight on and to the right?

I think the fact that VS wont give you the option to connect from the 18 to the 351 is an indicator as to the experiences they've had in the past with the conx time at LHR.

I'm pretty sure VS give themselves 2 hour min conx, half an hour extra than the min conx time stipulated by IATA as they know that in reality LHR can be a complete nightmare to conx through and it's better to be safe than sorry.

Travel agents will sell you the conx at it meets the 90min criteria, they want your business, and it's not them who will have to deal with you if you miss your conx, it's VS.

Also, you must make sure your handluggage complies with the new UK standards. Only one bag - no bigger than a laptop bag will be allowed through FCC. If you have a big too big you will forced to land and check it in at main bank, then re-join the huge security queue. In this instance you would DEFINATELY miss your flight. Don't even chance taking large hand luggage, it's not worth it!

If '1 hr 45 minutes' is too close for comfort what about the even less '1 hr 35 minutes' in my return journey (BOM-LHR-EWR) which shows up on the VA website?

VS351:
14:00 Depart Mumbai (BOM)
18:35 Arrive London (LHR)

VS017
20:10 Depart London (LHR)
22:50 Arrive New York (EWR)

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