Heathrow??

[Speedbird48]

A question for those knowing how to deal with getting around at LHR.

Yesterday, August 18, I stayed at the Rennaisance on the North side of LHR and having been ripped off to the tune of 26 UK pounds for two breakfasts ($50+) in the buffet restaurant I tried to get a partially disabled wife and 2 bags to Terminal 4??

I ended up getting ripped off, again, to the tune of 6 UK pounds for a ride in a bus to terminal 3. Then was told to fight my way through the crowds at the check-in lines and get a train to Terminal 4.

With heavy luggage and a person with disabilities that is really too much to ask. There must be a better way that I didn't find??

I don't intend to stay there again or to try the transportation but how do the locals do it??

[Mark Lewis]

Don't get me started on Airport Hotels and breakfast charges! Even at rip-off Heathrow you can still get far better deals in the terminals than in the hotels.

Heathrow does actually have a very good internal bus network. In theory you are supposed to be able to get on any bus for free as long as you are travelling within the airport complex. However some operators like the Hotel Hoppa will still try and charge you for a service you can get for free.

The trick is to leave the hotel, and walk behind it onto the Bath Road. From there you will see a constant stream of red London Buses, of which after waiting for no more than 5 minutes you can be guarenteed to find one heading to T4.

[WHBM]

Speedbird:

Sorry for your poor experience, unfortunately it's all at the hands of British Shopping Authority PLC (trading as British Airports Authority).

The local hotels all used to provide direct free buses to the terminals until someone at BAA saw an unexploited revenue opportunity, banned the hotel buses from the airport, and introduced their own so-called "Hotel Hoppa" service, which charges £3 each way. Having got this monopoly revenue stream they then contracted out the operation of the service to a local bus operator for the cheapest rate they could find - which implies the poorest service. I hope you didn't have to wait too long for it - there are stories of people waiting nearly an hour at the hotel and then finding when a bus finally arrives it is already full !

Please don't blame the bus company, by the way, they just do what BAA contract them to do.

The buses provided are of course modern disability-compliant ones with a low floor, as now required by legislation. The fact that the resulting overall arrangements are completely disability-hostile is of course quite irrelevant.

Of course it was all dressed up in terms of "reducing congestion", "reducing pollution", and any other politically-correct phrase they could think of quite unconnected with the real reason. In fact you could tell it was going to be a pig's ear when details of the new arrangements used the word "enhancement" in the title.

Then they realised that there was a lot of movement between the Central Area (T123) and T4 on the south side. They also realised there was a train service (the fact it was deep in the bowels of each terminal area and a long way from the terminals was completely irrelevant) connecting the two areas. So they stopped all the bus services they could and diverted people to the train. It adds on average half an hour to the previous time taken to get to T4. Indeed, the train only runs every 15 minutes.

Many people now get taxis from the hotel to the terminal, which is completely counter-productive.

One word to the wise is that the standard red London bus services in the immediate vicinity of the airport (which is out as far as the Renaissance) are free. So you can get a London bus from the bus stop outside the hotel into the airport at no cost (the driver just does not collect any fares). Possibly not practical in your case but useful for others. There's no publicity for this feature, which BAA hope will only be taken advantage of by regulars like airport workers, because unlike the Hoppa it costs them rather than gives them revenue. BAA pay an annual amount to London Buses for the facility.

If BAA had really wanted to reduce congestion and pollution they would have put a cap on passenger numbers. Which would of course hit their bottom line. So they have to pretend, while doing the opposite.

[TightSlot]

Fascinating stuff WHBM - Don't you just love it when the corporate rock gets lifted for just a moment and you can see them all scurrying around in the sunlight?

[BusyB]

On occasion it has taken more than an hour to transfer by bus from the Central Area to T4 (as long as driving LHR-LGW). There used to be a transfer bus that ran through the cargo tunnel to/from T4 which was very quick and avoided any congestion as well as picking pax up from each Terminal. I think it was halted due security but it is still much needed as a service.

[Final 3 Greens]

Speedbird48

The only practical way for your circumstances is a cab ride. The hotels can fix them for about £12-15 each way, which adds up.

IMHO, as a FQTV, Heathrow is a disgrace and "integrated transport" an exercise in spin.

I wholeheartedly support WHBM's analysis.

[PAXboy]

It follows that the opening of Terminal 5 will only complicate the situation. As the railway link has now 'proved to be so successful' (we can all imagine the management report :rolleyes: ) all the inter-terminal movements will be expected to be via the rails.

On the only occcasion that I was in transit at LHR, the time and effort required simply between T1 + T3 was high enough. If I have friends in transit (usually to/from South Africa) and changing terminal, then I try my best to make the time to pick them up and drive them to the next terminal. After 11 or 12 hours they do not need to wrestle with the railway and they are able bodied. So a taxi is the only sensible answer.

WHBM Thanks for the bus tip-off.

[KiloMIke]

There is actually a help bus between the terminals for special needs passengers. Info can be found on the BAA website.

The free bus service around the airport doesn't apply to Hotel Hoppa Services on public transport.

I think that when the new pier for A380 is finished there will be a connection to Terminal 2 so in theory you can walk airside between all 3 terminals. However would be quite a stretch from gate 90 in T1 to gate 22 in T3.

[FlyingV]

On my most recent stay in the Heathrow area I stayed at Jurys Inn. Not quite as nice as the Renaissance, but perfectly OK and right beside Hatton Cross tube.

Much easier to get to any of the terminals from there than from Bath Road. And a free bus to T4.