Bit of a Longhaul Question

[Goldryder]

In December/January I am off on my dream holiday which entails 6 aircraft...3 in each direction.

I am wondering, as I have never flown with BMI or Iberia before, what safeguards there are in respect to getting from one flight to another in different terminals and if a delay on one flight means the next would be held.

I am flying BMI from Leeds/Bradford to Heathrow, Iberia from Heathrow to Madrid and Madrid to Santiago de Chile outbound, and Buenos Aires to Madrid, Madrid to Heathrow and Heathrow back to Leeds/Bradford return.

Oh and I have 2 nights at Santiago de Chile before joining a cruise for 14 nights, then 2 nights in Buenos Aires before flying home.

In the past I have only ever flown direct, never changed planes til this trip and have to admit that this part is making me a little nervy. There is about 2-3 hours tween flight times but in December/January the weather ain't great and delays do happen.

So in the event of such a delay, will the next flight along be held for connecting passengers or not, please?

[KiloMIke]

The short answer is no the next flight will not be held for you.

However with 2-3 hours between flights you should be ok barring any major problems.

You & your baggae should be checked all the way through.

A word of warning though. IB do not have individual inflight entertainment systems so bring an extra book!

For a really nice meal in Buenos Aires try 'La Bistecca' in the Puerto Madero (sp) area.

One other point, are you on through tickets or have you bought seperate ones?? By that I mean LBA-LHR-MAD-SCL or have you bought LBA-LHR-LBA and then a ticket on IB??

If you got through tickets then its the inbound carriers responsibilty to rebook you if you ae delayed and miss your connection.

[Goldryder]

The flights have been booked via NCL, so effectively they are from Leeds thru to Santiago and Buenos Aires to Leeds.

Originally I was told the flights would be with BA/Lan-Chile but in the end they are with Iberia, not sure if this is a step up or down in relation to how the flights will be, as a passenger.

The BMI flights are on Embraers, the Iberia are on A321 and A340 a/c.

Thanks for the recommendation regarding places to eat too, have never been to South America before, so really looking forward to everything.:D