As a disabled passenger flying long haul from T5 recently my experience was horrendous. I had booked Special Assistance but on arrival no one was available! The queues at Security took over 45 minutes... See more
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Official Heathrow Airport website - live flights & times, arrivals & departures, news & advice, and parking at Heathrow Airport. From BAA Airports Limited.
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United Kingdom
- www.heathrowairport.com
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Drop off fine
It would be very sensible if you can pay once you exit drop off with ramp, than having to remember to pay online. But then they would not be able to charge fines if someone just forgets to pay.
Disappointing experience
Just returned from a trip to Scotland and London for vacation. Both coming and going, we experienced air travel delays which was to be expected these days. What was unexpected (and very disappointing) were both times (connecting flights to Scotland and return flight back to the US) we had to wait for coaches to take us to the airplanes. This resulted in further delays. I'm not sure why the coaches were not waiting for us at the time of boarding but we must have waited at least 20-30 minutes each time for them to arrive then it took another 15-20 minutes of travel time to the plane and to be let off from the coach to board the plane. Communication was also poor. While we were waiting for the coaches, it should have been announced that we would be boarding the coaches as we would a plane which is by group number. As this was not understood, everyone just tried to be ready to get on the coach and the delay in this announcement led to frustration in the process and the fact that we were already delayed in leaving. Again, the fact that this occurred twice during my trip indicates a fracture in airport operations.
Poor as an airport.. good for harrods
I'll be fair here. We expected it to be rubbish but even we were surprised at the complete embarasment that T5 was... we were flying in BA from usa then owards with BA to Newcastle... no issues with the flights or flight staff. But .. OMG ... terminal 5.. we walked for ages along unfinished and grubby corridors.. where floors and walls had been finished they were dirty.. then we met security who seemed to excell at being curt and officious with the people skills of a ..locust .. seriously some of those people must have been on courses to be so rubbish at their job... we found a toilet down a small corridor that had a drinking fountain in it packed with people trying to fill water bottles. Into the urine soaked cubicle... spent some time cleaning it and making it useable only to come out to find a cleaner who was more of a trip hazard than a cleaner and seemed only capable of moving a squeegee type mop backwards and forwards with one hand... it was generally crowded and dirty with groups of staff hanging around having a good old chat. Im sure there are good staff here but they are overshadowed by the awfull place and the obviously poor staff.. and whats more the "state of the art" passport scanning boarding pass checking baggage checking procedures is lengthy .. doesnt fill me with confidence and takes ages.. compared to customer services in the USA we are a total embarassent...
Im still sitting here A gates T5 ... the same cleaner has now pushed the same cleaning trolley past me twice in last few mins (same direction like she's done a circle).. completely ignored the litter, pieces of food and dirty stains on the floor ..
Terminal 5 North end Fast Track…
Terminal 5 North end Fast Track security
3 of the 5 lanes were closed. Naturally, no one warned us before we entered through the gates that normal security could be quicker. The queue moved at a snail’s space, often stopping for minutes.
Staff did not say what had to be taken out of the luggage, so lots of luggages were set aside for manual checks. At lots of airports nothing needs to be taken out nowadays so yes, security staff needs to say something. Then of course luggages were not checked in order, so we ended up spending more than 40 minutes at “fast” track security.
I raised a complaint with Heathrow, was told that that they were very sorry to hear that we had “experienced longer than usual wait times in security screening” and the delay “ must have been frustrating for” us. They ignored most of the points I raised, admitted no mistake, suggested no ways to improve.
Tl;dr Fast Track at Heathrow is not worth it, DO NOT ever pay for it, just use normal security.
security was horrendous, worst experience in the universe
security was horrendous. as a type 1 diabetic frequent flier, i can safely say ive never had as much hassle as i did today at heathrow. every bag pulled - which i get is process, but the customer service is vile. A chinese member of staff snatched a bottle of water out my partners hands after telling him he had to finish it instead of pouring away (?), they withheld my essential devices to check my blood sugars, and made us feel like complete criminals for having diabetes! Vile treatment
Their security has mixed policies
Their security has mixed policies, very inconsistent. I went through with duck tape in my luggage. They detected it, checked and verified to see what it is then let me through.
The following week I went through again, same thing. They detected it, checked and verified it was duck tape, but this time it was confiscated. The guy said it wasn't allowed.
Absolutely shit hole of an airport
Absolutely shit hole of an airport , place looks stinking , more people in there than the centre of London and BA are completely useless , don’t come here if you can avoid it
Some Indian-Arabs working at the…
Some Indian-Arabs working at the checkpoint harassed my wife by making signs to her to take off her dress. Then they took my 4 year old son's water cup and scanned it for drugs. Then, laughing and joking, they let us go.
Terminal 5
Terminal 5 - newest terminal at one of the world's largest airports. Dedicated to BA which may explain why the facilities are so bad. Air side departures - charging points are a disaster area - most don't work, some not even connected to anything. Wifi is a joke. 20 minutes to get my laptop hooked on to the wifi and even then the speed was 0.1MB! Utterly useless and treat you like as if you are not a paying customer. Only interested in building more runways
This airport is now just for the rich
This airport is now just for the rich, £17.50 ULEZ charge £6 drop charge. Be careful it is not obvious it’s in the ULEZ zone and their is no flexibility. Also rules out Aegean airlines now aswell. The new security machines actual increase the security process with far more bits to it now than before.
If I could give them a ZERO
If I could give it zero, I would. The manager and his manager says that Heathrow security has old machines hence they can’t allow 75 mL liquid (less than that for sure) in a 150 mL bottle cuz it’s not the actual quantity of liquid but the quantity written in the bottle that matters! How dumb is that!!!
And to top that, they say “if we had the new machine as gatwick” we would have allowed that but since the label in the bottle says 150 ml they can’t let it be taken in the plane even if it was visibly less than half. Their logic is to get the 100 ml bottles in the plane and that’s it. Bottles shouldn’t be bigger than 100 ml??? No that’s fine! You can take the bottle but after emptying it!!! I will empty it and litrally refill it again with water. So what’s the concern??? Why the liquid issue soaring this high???
Are all Heathrow security personnel and their managers and THEIR managers this dumb????
Saying whatever they want to suit their narrative??? No wonder these guys are depressed about others taking their job!!
Too small
Too small, badly laid out, not enough toilets… just like a overcrowded market. Laptop checks unnecessary and making the whole experience a nightmare
Improving!
We arrived a little late, walked off the plane down stairs onto the tarmac to the bus to the terminal. Helpful staff, and they are definitely making improvements on their processes. We received our luggage quickly upon arrival to transfer to our next terminal. Carts very readily available as we had several pieces of luggage. The instructions to transfer via train were a bit vague, but a staff member helped us make sure we were on the right track. Got to the next terminal via lifts and long halls. If we had had a tight connection, we might not have made it. Security was much improved. All in all, an incredibly busy airport doing the best they can, considering. Patience and flexibility are required and please be friendly to the hard working teams.
I would rate this airport a 0 if I…
I would rate this airport a 0 if I could. We were traveling to Rome to board a cruise. And Security Check was a disaster. They have ineptitude idiots working there. They flagged my carry on for too many liquids. When I explained that some of those liquids were prescribed medication I had to show them proof on my phone. They forced me to throw out half of my toiletries. Over $200 worth. I have never had this issue come up in any other airport. Their Supervisor was as clueless as these men. The stupidity that they displayed shows how dumb these employees in Security are. They are all stupid bullies.
T5 BA North Lounge
I've traveled through this airport for 3 decades. In the old days it was great, before they introduced laptop checks. Then came stricter controls greater costs on your ticket and bigger queues. Today T5 was around 25'C. So, to all the inconvenience and treating passengers like cattle (not all the time), are the engineers treingnto save money on the HVAC. Also, couldn't redeem my heathrow rewards card. Does anyone care that much in this airport these days? Seeing Schipol runs like a dream, I thought the CEO would have his finger more on pulse.
Getting through border control is a nightmare
Getting through border control is a nightmare, even for us Brits, especially if someone is on the autism spectrum. Staff do nothing but shout and one member of staff said they have to shout at people, even if they are on the autism spectrum and it is causing the passenger distress. Staff were unhelpful and lacked any understanding and my wife almost had a complete meltdown due to staff. Having been to the USA 4 times, I have found them to be far more polite and passenger friendly.
It was about the worst special…
It was about the worst special assistance I have ever experienced at any airport. There was no wheelchair waiting at the aircraft door - 10 minute wait! then taken to a cart - another 10 minute wait and then left at a collection point for another wheelchair which never arrived. No information given. I was ashamed of what visitors to my country must have felt. I wasted over 40 minutes so had to give up and try to make my own way.
I would give this 0 stars
I would give this 0 stars, the airport was dirty and the assistance who were dotted around were as helpful as an elephant on heat. My partner and I finally went through security only to be told we had liquids ove a 100ml. Fair enough I told them as this is the rule they can take them out. The rest of my liquids were tested only to be told they needed our passports. I was then taken and searched 3 times infant of a crowd of people and swab tested twice. I am a Muslim an my partner of white caucasian was left alone and told to sit and wait for me. Pure racism!!. I was told if I refused I would be escorted out if the airport. This is an experience that I will never forget. The humiliation of being a Muslim. All because my liquids were over the 100ml, which I was happy to leave behind and follow the airport rules. Absolutely disgusted at the staff.
Rude and racist staff
I was flying to Dubai with my son, whom has special needs. He was wearing the sunflower lanyard, as BA had suggested. I soon realised that wearing the lanyard was of no help at all. A male staff member watched and did nothing when the lift door closed on my son. When we started to walk through the lane marked special assistance, a female staff member shouted at us to use the automated check-in. We tried this, but it wouldn't work. I turned to the rude woman who'd sent us there, I politely said I was having trouble, she shouted "well you're doing it wrong ". I then went to speak to a different person, but then realised my son was upset, so I returned to him. While I'd gone for a minute, a male member of staff had shouted at my son "it won't work as you don't have a British passport " . I'd had enough by now, so walked out of the automatic check-in and went over to the special assistance queue. We'd been waiting a while, when I realised the staff were taking Asian people from the general queue to go in front of us. We'd waited over 30 minutes and my son was getting uncomfortable and anxious, so I spoke to the woman directing people and said how disgusting this was. She then sent us to the front of the general queue.
It took us over an our just to check in our cases, and that was with a disabled lanyard. I haven't enough space to list all the staff that deliberately bumped into us.
We came to the conclusion that we were treated badly because we are white. Not one of the staff members that shouted at us, was rude and walked into us, was white British.
I would rather drive up to Birmingham or Manchester than fly from this racist airport again
This airport is a disaster
This airport is a disaster. Always miss my connections due to the ineptitude of the security staff. Baggage not on the connecting flights. Returned from USA which is getting a bad rap travel-wise but UK is neanderthal in comparison. Avoid like the plague -it is a hellhole
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