Heathrow not that bad

[ianjlloyd]

I've seen a lot of negative publicity about Heathrow. I know from personal experience that the experience can be dire and I have complained in the past.

Last week, because of a family emergency I had to travel through Heathrow last wek with sole custody of our two children aged 8 and 5. Our older son is autistic and I was dreading the trip. Without exception, all the staff we dealt with at Terminal 5 from check in to boarding were pleasant and helpful. The system may be awful but there are good people there. And the flight home was on time.

[AdamFrisch]

Terminal 5 is the one exception. All the others are terrible.

[radeng]

The best I can say for T5 is that it generally is better than T3, but still pretty awful.

[Ancient Observer]

I am no longer a frequent traveller. I came back from Turkey through lhr T3 on Sunday morning, and there was no queue, and there was a surplus of both customs and passport folk.
I guess it is times like Sunday - with zero waiting, that make the averages look good.

The passport lady was pretty, funny, and happy to chat. . That is a first.
(SWMBOs passport is different to mine, and I asked why)

[Gulfstreamaviator]

The transit for BA Exec passengers, between check in and lounge and then back to the gate area, is unacceptable.

I will demand a motorised Zimmer frame next visit.

Glf SLF mode

[radeng]

When they know I'm flying from LHR on BA, they always make my departure from a gate at the other end of the terminal to the lounge!

[Andy_S]

I am no longer a frequent traveller. I came back from Turkey through lhr T3 on Sunday morning, and there was no queue, and there was a surplus of both customs and passport folk.
I guess it is times like Sunday - with zero waiting, that make the averages look good.

The passport lady was pretty, funny, and happy to chat. . That is a first.
(SWMBOs passport is different to mine, and I asked why)

Similar experience for me in T3 at about 2.30pm on the Thursday before Easter; no more than 2-3 minutes to reach the front of the queue, a bit of friendly banter with a good natured passport control officer, then I was on my way.

Is Heathrow really that bad, or are passengers expectations just a bit too high? Most of my recent travelling has been on overnight flights from T3, so early evening check in. The check in areas are gloomy and cramped, and security can be hatchet faced, but I've never been unduly held up by either and I've found that provided I arrive in good time and get the formalities dealt with ASAP it's a reasonably painless process. Considering the age and constraints of the place, it actually works pretty well.

[Gulfstreamaviator]

Arrived, on stand, walked to Immigration, number 10 off the aircraft, went to IRIS, she told me to get closer, then further away, then lower, then decided I was not her type, and rejected me.
So to the very back of the real Q.
Did think that the E gate or whatever it is called would be quicker, but it closes at 10pm, according to my informer.

Eventually was processed, and told never mind.

I use T4 about every 4 months: is ones data held forever, is Miss Iris being retired, and she only talks to her more recent dates.????

Glf

[LondonPax]

I arrived at T5 on Sunday afternoon a week or so ago. Sudays can be pretty busy so I was dreading it. However, queues for both EU and non-EU passports were reasonable (I'd guess 15 mins and 5 mins max, respectively), and thankfully IRIS was working, though I thought it had been discontinued.

Then - and this was the really surprising thing, based on my previous experiences - despite only having spent about 5 mins in immigration, and despite the flight having arrived at the C gates, when we got to the baggage carousel, bags from our flight were already arriving.

This doesn't mean that LHR can't be hell on earth, but it shows that it can work.