Heathrow Airport

[folium]

T3 does have some BA flights. These are almost all codeshare flights (Qantas for example).

Flew BA on BKK-LHR last night into T3 and was through the Passport e-readers, no wait for bags and through customs in 10 minutes from leaving the plane. Best ever Heathrow experience.

[rreddin]

Everything in the OP's is a crock of sxxx.....

Believe me I'm no lover of Heathrow but statements for example that T4 can be seen from T3 400 metres away border on I don't know what !!

Its signposted EVERYWHERE from T3 and you sure as hell wouldn't walk even without bags.

Its a good 10 minutes on a shuttle bus and a good 3-4 minutes on the underground train, Dumped at T3 ?? You mean you got off the bus at your intended destination ?? Shall I go on ??

I have to agree with you. If these events as described in the Op did happen, it was not recent. BA moved to terminal 5, which opened in 2008

[TobiasMattsson]

Double posted... Sorry.

Edited March 23, 2012 by TobiasMattsson

[TobiasMattsson]

Terminal 1 is closed, so it would have to be 2.

Terminal 1 closed? Eehm no! I came there and stayed between 9:30 pm wednesday and 5:15 am yesterday morning due to transit.

Travelled with Cathay Pacific HKG-LHR going to Stockholm, Sweden.

I arrived at terminal 3, disembarked the aircraft, saw two signs that said "Immigration" and the second purple "flight connections" (correct me if I remember wrong) so I walked on the "walkalators" all the way, down the stairs where the signs in purple informed me where I should go. Came down and waited for the bus to terminal 5.

How the OP ended up walking through some what I understand is Heathrow airport staff hallways and "operating a large cargo elevator" which only could be operated with a key card is crock and bull****.

Even the buses are clearly signed "T3 to T4", "T5 to T1" etc. and before you board the bus (inside the terminal buildings at ALL transit bus stops there at at least one airport staff) that help you if you ask and the bus driver opens the doors. Over the doors there is a digital sign which informs the passengers when the next three buses will arrive and where it will go.

Buses are operated between ALL terminals so if you're leaving from terminal 3 you can choose to take the bus to terminals 1, 2, 4 and 5, easy and within 10 minutes depending on which terminal you're going to.

I think in my personal thoughts and feelings regarding Heathrow as an airport it's great... Except for 1 thing.

HOW THE FRACK (!!!) can one of the busiest airports in the world close at 10:30 pm?!?! Sure, there are no other flights departing until 5 am but <deleted>, there are passengers that have to stay in transit over night and do not have a choice other than hanging around.

For example. I Travelled BKK-HKG-LHR-ARN (Stockholm) and arrived from HKG at 8:40 pm. At that time I have been travelling for almost 18 hours.

My flight to Stockholm was at 7:15 am yesterday morning.

I took the bus between T3 to T5 and asked a BA staff at their information desk if they were able to allocate me to a lounge over night but all terminals except terminal 1 would close at 10:30 pm.

He suggested a hotel near the airport or terminal 1 that had a small area for transit passengers.

I went over to terminal 1 with yet another transit bus (easy to find by the way) and through security screening.

Everything seemed opened but they were due to close 30 minutes later.

Rushing through a beer everything closed.

At 11:15 pm there were no food, no shops, nothing except for a convenient store that was closing a few minutes later. Bought a stock of water, coke, a few sandwiches for the night I then sat down with my laptop. Shortly after a bunch of staff gathered all of us waiting and shuffled us like cattle to a gate size room where we had to sit or try to sleep (in lie down chairs) and a couple of vending mashines over night.

At 5:10, exactly 24 hours ago, I went to the transit buses but what makes me the most pissed off is that we could not board the bus because the bus driver couldn't open the terminal doors. They were locked from the inside and no staff to be seen. Just a few minutes after the bus left a bi*** came and unlocked the doors. I asked her why we couldn't get to the bus because we just missed it and she told me there would arrive another soon and that the doors had to be unlocked from the inside.

I told her that it would be great if there was staff on time unlocking them because the bus were there on time on schedule. Her answer? We as passengers chose a flights with long connecting times so we had our own fault to blame if we had to wait over night at a closed airport.

This is in my mind the only negative about Heathrow. Transit over night and one staff that need a few courses in people handling and anger management.

All other staff including security who are friendly and that you can joke with (no bomb/Taliban/etc. jokes though...) and great transit through the terminals. Efficient security and immigration. Cheap shopping and dining concidered LHR being one of the biggest airport in the world.

Well, now I shared a bit more than I first thought.

I just don't know how the hell OP ended up wherever he did but compared to Swampy (always had good luck through immigration and security, last time 5 minutes in and 25-30 including check in, passport and security) Heathrow is great!

Cheers!!

[Wittywitty]

I have used Heathrow airport many times and there are no probs. I like its Terminal 5. Thail people feel funny when they hear about Sunvannabhumi Airport. There are stories that most foreigner don't know.

[tw25rw]

I have used Heathrow airport many times and there are no probs. I like its Terminal 5. Thail people feel funny when they hear about Sunvannabhumi Airport. There are stories that most foreigner don't know.

I have too. It's a bit old and a bit of a maze, but it's getting better all the time.

I have noticed I feel happy at departures and depressed at arrivals though...

[anterian]

All airports are hell, from parking, to immigration, security checks, flight delays, poorly placed signs, indecipherable announcements over the PA, duty free goods more expensive than the local supermarket, meals and drinks that cost as much as in a five star restaurant but are of budget quality. Above all the feeling opf being an ant in a nest stirred by a stick. Brownian motion at its best.

[blackthorn2005]

I agree it's a load of rubbish, between t3 & t4 going airside is impossible it's a long way!!

I had this problem last week; Manchester to Heathrow flight had to dump us on the apron, bus to the terminal, then another bus, to another terminal. Only about 40 minutes to get to the gate, only one security gate manned, which clearly pissed some people off. What pissed everyone off was the amount of Indians/Pakistanis in wheel chairs, who were all let in to the front of the queue, with their families. Absolutely pathetic, I just made my flight. Next time I will consider using my disability to get priority treatment!

[maxman71]

Having been through about 2 dozen airports in Asia, the EU and N. America over the last 10 years or so and over 1 million miles travelled, all I can about Swampy vs. London "Deathrow" is, it is a race to the bottom. The one critical item that makes Swampy so bad is the immigration queues, especially now. For Death Row, it's like the Catecombs on steroids + some pretty gruff security check officers.

My all-time favorite airports:

1) Singapore Changi

2) Hong Kong

3) KL

4) Beijing

5) Munich

6) Shanghai Pudong

7) Seoul Incheon

8) SFO/LAX/San Jose, CA (all three have improved greatly over the last couple of years)

9) Denpasar (if for no other reason than you're in Bali)

10) Seattle SETAC

[RabC]

Having been through about 2 dozen airports in Asia, the EU and N. America over the last 10 years or so and over 1 million miles travelled, all I can about Swampy vs. London "Deathrow" is, it is a race to the bottom. The one critical item that makes Swampy so bad is the immigration queues, especially now. For Death Row, it's like the Catecombs on steroids + some pretty gruff security check officers.

My all-time favorite airports:

1) Singapore Changi

2) Hong Kong

3) KL

4) Beijing

5) Munich

6) Shanghai Pudong

7) Seoul Incheon

8) SFO/LAX/San Jose, CA (all three have improved greatly over the last couple of years)

9) Denpasar (if for no other reason than you're in Bali)

10) Seattle SETAC

You comment on the attitude of security at Heathrow then have the audacity to include US airports in your top 10. Keep taking the pills.

[rotary]

Other than death noting is worse than SWAMPY

[beano2274]

BA flights do not use T5 only, some flights go from T3 (example to BKK) and not a codeshare.

[tw25rw]

BA use all the terminals. I think they would happily take over the whole airport if they could.