LONDON HEATHROW AIRPORT review :  14 June 2009 : by Robert Szocik  (UK)

Customer Rating :  4/5

Queuing

Cleanliness

Facilities

LHR-WAW-LHR with LOT Polish Airlines, to and from T1. Separate flights during the same week: LHR-MAN-LHR with BA, to and from T5. What a difference - at T1 the queues at check-in and security were always long and stressful, with a struggle to find time to even buy a coffee after security. No longer so! LOT and Lufthansa check-in is now at check-in area, which is away from the main check-in/security area, and has its own passport control and security. As a result, I was checked-in and airside by 0515, an incredible improvement! Staff efficient and friendly. The flight was delayed, but otherwise a surprisingly good and unexpected experience. Unfortunately, it took 20 minutes to get through immigration upon return, but my bag was already on the belt by the time I got to baggage reclaim, which has rarely been the case in the past, even after long queues. T5 check-in and security was also fast, friendly and efficient, despite the terminal looking very busy. The only problem being that North security was closed, so I was redirected to South security, resulting in a long walk to Gate A3, at the opposite end of the terminal. But otherwise, generally a pleasant and stress-free experience.

LONDON HEATHROW AIRPORT review :  10 June 2009 : by J Leung  (Hong Kong)

Customer Rating :  3/5

Queuing

Cleanliness

Facilities

T1 for transit but without codeshare, that means we had to pass the horrible customs to get our bags and then check-in again. This time the customs is a little bit improving because we knew the trick: get all the documents (air tickets, destination documents) and got through within 3 minutes (a record!). The luggage soon came out within another 3-minutes waiting. Then took a lift to departure floor to check-in again. The only delay is the Aer Lingus staff could not recognize our passport is visa-free to Dublin. The security station is no difficulty if you were well-prepared. Same shops and lounges after check-in.

LONDON HEATHROW AIRPORT review :  3 June 2009 : by Peter Harrison  (UK)

Customer Rating :  3/5

Queuing

Cleanliness

Facilities

T4 for Sri Lankan flight to and from CMB. This terminal seems to be the most remote to get to - in my case involving a Hoppa bus and Connect train service - taking nearly an hour from my hotel which was located within sight of the runways at Heathrow. A modernisation programme is underway - but this created little inconvenience. There are still many shops and restaurants open. I found the place strangely calming! Even able to find some quiet spaces to sit! Return was OK but as with most airports, the trek from plane to immigration to baggage collect is a bit of a marathon

LONDON HEATHROW AIRPORT review :  29 May 2009 : by S Blackburn  (UK)

Customer Rating :  4/5

Queuing

Cleanliness

Facilities

Terminal 1. A vast improvement on a year ago. Lots of space in check in, hardly a queue for security, and space in the lounge. On return, the space for queuing in immigration is much improved. There are still tatty bits like baggage reclaim. I hadn't noticed the links between T1 and T2 on the airside before, which makes me assume that the plan to merge them into Heathrow East is progressing. For now it works - though there was the sense that it was off- peak and it would only take a bit of fog or an incident to cause chaos. I expect there will be another horrible period here when they try and push two terminals flights into one while they rebuild the other.

LONDON HEATHROW AIRPORT review :  28 May 2009 : by D Silva  (UK)

Customer Rating :  2/5

Queuing

Cleanliness

Facilities

T5 is simply awful! Arrived at T2 and took train to T5. Had to go up, around and down to get to LU. At LU entrance only two ticket machines and 1 staff at ticket desk (only one ticket desk exists?). Massive queues. Very ill thought in my opinion. Don't like the blue metal structures. The other terminals are dated. No air-con yesterday and poor air circulation. No Underground at T2/T3 yesterday.

LONDON HEATHROW AIRPORT review :  22 May 2009 : by Kevin Tunnicliffe  (UK)

Customer Rating :  2/5

Queuing

Cleanliness

Facilities

Terminal 5 is disappointing. Big queues for the fast bag drops, quite long security lines and no invitation to, or any sign of, a fast track system for premium customers. Lounges ordinary with dull food options. On return although our bags were priority tagged we had to wait until the end of baggage delivery for ours to reach to carousel.

LONDON HEATHROW AIRPORT review :  18 May 2009 : by S Srinivasan  (USA)

Customer Rating :  4/5

Queuing

Cleanliness

Facilities

Arrived at T3 from an Iberia flight to connect with a BA flight to India in T5. Given the old horror stories about connecting at LHR, especially to/from T5, I have to say it wasn't that bad. A bus was waiting at the T3 transfer area, and got us to T5 within 15 minutes of landing. It then only took a few minutes to get through the passport/document check. Security was a little slow, but at least they had a lot of lines open. The personnel we encountered were reasonably friendly; the man at the passport counter was especially helpful. Signs to gates and lounges are clearly marked. Best of all, our bags made it successfully to our final destination. Definitely a better experience than my last trip transiting LHR.

LONDON HEATHROW AIRPORT review :  12 May 2009 : by J Bradley

Customer Rating : 4/5

T5 seems to work very well and has a spacious and airy feel to it. In bound, very quick baggage reclaim and transfer to Heathrow Express. Out bound, smooth check-in and security clearance. However I should point out that we were did not seem to be travelling at peak times

LONDON HEATHROW AIRPORT review :  7 May 2009 : by Bill Atkins

Customer Rating : 3/5

After numerous experiences and reading the comments of others, it seems that T5 is a tale of 2 terminals. It is fine when the journey begins and ends there or on quiet days. It is far from good when connecting or at a busy time. It seems that it simply was not correctly designed for the volume it will be required to handle when travel returns to normal.

LONDON HEATHROW AIRPORT review :  5 May 2009 : by A Makins

Customer Rating : 2/5

Air Canada to T3, layover followed by KLM in and out of T4 with a return connection to T3 for an AC flight. The good - surprisingly efficient connection between terminals (both the bus from T4 - no checked luggage - and security screening on arrival at T3); quick security check at T4. Far better than the last time I connected through Heathrow when the experience was massive queues and very slow screening. T4 looks like a building site (presumably a decent, refurbished terminal will emerge eventually), you complete a half marathon with the walk to catch the flight connection bus between terminals; we landed on the north runway and had to wait a long time to cross the south runway that was being used for takeoffs before the plane could reach the terminal. Fortunately my scheduled 80 minute flight from Amsterdam (yes really, 80 minutes!) landed 40 minutes early so there was no problem with connections. Finally had the chance to give the great Heathrow rip-off known as the Hotel Hoppa bus a miss. After some research on-line if turns out there are several local buses that serve the immediate area adjacent to Heathrow for free. I took bus 555 from the Central Bus Station to the Marriott and the next day took the same bus from the stop outside the Marriott to T4 - total cost zero, feeling that you weren't ripped-off, priceless.

LONDON HEATHROW AIRPORT review :  5 May 2009 : by O Odddgeirsson

Customer Rating : 1/5

Traveled yesterday through T5, coming from an international flight going to domestic. It was like a chock to the system to communicate - more like listen to - the security people, because they bark at the passenger rather than talking to them. These are some of the first people foreigners meet when arriving in this country, that does give a poor impression indeed. And one final question, why are they collecting photos from all passengers? I think to remember the excuse was in T1 that construction was taking place, but that is no excuse for T5?

LONDON HEATHROW AIRPORT review :  28 April 2009 : by A Turner

Customer Rating : 5/5

Recently used T5 for around the 5th time since it's opened. No queue for bag drop or security although the attitude of some of the security people to customers who weren't that familiar with the security arrangements left something to be desired. Inbound flight arrived early so found myself having cleared security and collected luggage and on the Heathrow Express before I should have landed - ideal!

LONDON HEATHROW AIRPORT review :  24 April 2009 : by Ross Clark

Customer Rating : 2/5

LHR T1, transferring from T3 (flight from SIN). While the transfer to T1 was OK, and border processing quick (am a nonEU citizen), that's when the problems started: the arrangements for international transfer passengers (T3) now that T1 is international are quite poor. It should be possible for transferring passengers to be sent straight into the departures area once immigration formalities are resolved and boarding passes are issued - instead, we got sent landside, which added several additional minutes from having to go through security again. On top of that, it was not straightforward to get the boarding pass, as the BMI service I was transferring to had closed, and I did have to argue to make it clear that I was off a late- running international flight. More positively, the security staff were showing a sense of humour.

LONDON HEATHROW AIRPORT review :  23 April 2009 : by E Mabley

Customer Rating : 5/5

We arrived at T5 from LAX. The total time between stepping off the jetway to arriving at Paddington Station was less than 45 minutes. My concerns about slow customs lines, huge crowds and inefficient rail connections never materialized. Departing from T5 was also a breeze. We arrived at the terminal 3 hours before the flight and check-in/security went by so quickly we were able to get on an earlier flight back to LAX than the one we were scheduled on.

LONDON HEATHROW AIRPORT review :  23 April 2009 : by S Smith

Customer Rating : 2/5

Terminal 3 for lunchtime Saudia departure twice in last month. Usual long walk from tube station but land side has improved significantly, quick check in and had a good breakfast in one of the outlets. That was about as good as it got. Lengthy queue for security, second queue to have passport checked, third queue to have shoes x-rayed. Seating area was totally packed and the balance between retail area and seating is totally wrong (I suppose people sitting down aren't spending money though are they). One of the bookshops has closed down as well. Another lengthy walk to the gate, short queue on entering the gate to have my passport checked for the third time and to avoid disappointment there was time for a final bit of queuing action to hand in my boarding pass and get on the plane due to only one attendant doing the job. A very average experience. Two questions - why are the staff all so miserable and why - despite so many notices about liquids in the bag, remove your laptop from case etc - do passengers behave in such a gormless way at the security point?

LONDON HEATHROW AIRPORT review :  19 April 2009 : by David Gartside

Customer Rating : 4/5

LHR T2. I never thought I'd ever write this about LHR (esp T2) but it was a good experience - effective and quick check-in and security outbound, with not too many folk in the terminal. Departure lounge (gate 2) a bit of a squeeze but OK for a short while. UK immigration and baggage retrieval quick on return.

LONDON HEATHROW AIRPORT review :  16 April 2009 : by N Barnsley

Customer Rating : 5/5

Departed from T3 a few days ago, and it has improved enormously. Refurbishment is still in progress, but the forecourt and check-in areas are looking very smart and are well signed and user friendly. On this occasion, security and passport formalities were fast and handled by polite, efficient personnel. Airside, plenty of seating both in the departure lounge and at the gate. Walkways to the gates are light and airy and it was great to see that BAA have finally seen sense, and decided to ditch the grotty, stained carpets in favour of clean, durable hard flooring.

LONDON HEATHROW AIRPORT review :  14 April 2009 : by Bill Atkins

Customer Rating : 2/5

Bus from inbound domestic flight which meant additional security check for connection, which should not be needed. Security area woefully slow as it is too small and the tray system does not work.

LONDON HEATHROW AIRPORT review :  8 April 2009 : by J Frobel

Customer Rating : 4/5

Check in at T5 was excellent, wheelchair arrived promptly and I could not have had better service anywhere. However, returning from a 9-1/2 hour delayed flight from Phoenix on 30th March, I was asked by the BA flight attendant to wait with five other wheelchair users inside the aircraft as wheelchairs would be another twenty minutes. Cleaners arrived and were working around us all. After waiting 1/2 hour we were given cups of tea and biscuits by the flight attendant who was constantly doing all he could to get wheelchairs for us. After 3/4 hour one wheelchair arrived to take a lady to a "connecting flight" which she had missed! After one hour, another wheelchair arrived for me. I don't know how long the other passengers - most of whom could not speak English - had to wait! The wheelchair pusher told me that his company had gone completely downhill after being the successful bidder for a multi-million pound contract and now had no interest at all in providing a good service to those needing most help. This service desperately needs to be improved.

LONDON HEATHROW AIRPORT review :  26 March 2009 : by David Thompson

Customer Rating : 4/5

We flew from T5 last week, it is a great improvement, plenty of space and a very fast check- in. When will BAA sort out the security process, we took over 40 mins to get through at a time when the terminal was not at all busy. There were only 2 points open, quite ridiculous.

LONDON HEATHROW AIRPORT review :  26 March 2009 : by Ross Clark

Customer Rating : 4/5

9th March departing T3 via the new (A380) wing. This addition to T3 works very well - airy and spacious, as it should be. The transfer from T1 is as time-consuming as ever - if we are already airside, do we need *another* security check on entering T3? One improvement on the last time I did this, is that the signage has been significantly improved, using a shade of purple you can't miss.

LONDON HEATHROW AIRPORT review :  10 March 2009 : by Rob Boyce

Customer Rating : 4/5

T2 out to Beijing via Paris, returning same route. Speedy check in and about 7-8 minutes to clear security on the way out. Usual shops with no problems. Arrival back slightly early and despite a long walk to immigration dealt with unusually quickly - and amazingly bag first on to carousel, with the result that was outside the terminal just five minutes after scheduled arrival!

LONDON HEATHROW AIRPORT review :  10 March 2009 : by J Marshall

Customer Rating : 2/5

LHR is too big for its own good. On flight from JFK-BKK had to change terminals at LHR. We landed in the "new" terminal and took off from an older one, all on BA. We had to take a train to a long bus ride (which we had to wait 15 minutes for and make multiple stops). There was also a little too much walking. Overall, I was unimpressed with the new terminal and the length one had to travel to get between terminals.