If you check-in online and do that fast bag drop thing do you still need to be at the airport 2 hrs before a flight?

[msappropriate]

We are going BA from Heathrow terminal 5 early sat am and public transport won't get us there 2 hours before and don't really want to fork out on a taxi (no local ones do child seats).

Anyone have any recent epxerience of this?

bumping for you, interested too!

Yes! It took us at leat 45 mins to do the fast bag drop 2 weeks ago - not sure that it will get any better as it is getting to peak season now! We were at the airport at 7am!

It can then take about 30 mins to get through security!

Sorry!

bugger. Thank you though!

I just typed a really long post and it's disappeared!

It was about our horrendous experience of this - no such thing any more as fast bag drop, the queues are just as long as check in used to be.

And security queues are also lengthy

For the sake of your sanity definitely go early - and if it's long haul, the advice is 2.5 hours.

I don't think you can check in online if you've got a child with you anyway - haven't flown for a while so the rules may have changed.

msappropriate, are you going somewhere nice?

You can check in on line with a child. In fact absolutely do with BA otherwise your seat will be taken and you may not even be seated together by the time you do real life check in.

It is usual to be allowed on line check in 24 hrs before departure.

Print out yr boarding cards, which speeds stuff up.

I went out of Terminal 5 two weeks ago. It was really efficient. It has been created with security checks in mind. But at peak times who knows.

I think you d be OK if you d done on-line check in and got there 1.5 hrs ahead of flight. They will fast track you if you re late. But it might not be good for one's nerves...

We could not use online check in with Virgin last year as we have two DS's.

Although we flew to Portugal with Monarch in October and we used the online check in with the DS's no problem.

Think it depends on the airline.

Hey - have just done an on-line check in for all four of us. Last year it did not work.

thanks everyone. Public transprt will only get me there an hour and a bit before if it all goes smoothly! But I have found a taxi firm that has a child seat which I'm assured is a forward facing one (did the same thing 4 years ago with ds 1 and the company brought an infant car seat for my huge 2 year old!) so will go for that.

I hate being late so will do that. Off to Denmark hopefully it will be sunny.

oh damn just rang again to book the cab and the man said it wasn't a forward facing seat but a baby one. But am not wholly convinced he understood what I was talking about. I would get a black cab so I could have my younger one in his pushchair but that would really break the bank. I know carseats are not legally required in cabs but it gives me the heebie-jeebies thinking about not having one. But then again coaches/buses don't have them.