Separate tickets: check the actual route
Heathrow treats separately booked flights as an arrival followed by a new departure: immigration, baggage collection where applicable, check-in, bag drop and security. Check your departure terminal and allow for a landside transfer. Published minimum connection times for a single booking do not apply to separate tickets.
Confirm bags and boarding passes
Ask each airline whether bags are checked through and where the next boarding pass is issued. Have the bag-drop, check-in and boarding deadlines for your onward flight.
Allow for the full route
Include arrival delays, border control, baggage reclaim, terminal travel, bag drop and security. This guide does not calculate a safe connection time or promise missed-flight protection; check your booking terms.
Visa & entry
Collecting bags, using public check-in desks, or leaving for a hotel can require entry into the country. Permission for airside transit is not automatically permission to enter. Confirm your actual route with the airline, then check the official requirements.
Check entry and transitOfficial sources & review
Sources reviewed 11 October 2026. Requirements may change; confirm your travel-date rules with the authority.