London Heathrow Airport

Flew Heathrow to Frankfurt to connect to Sao Paulo flight. Flew from new Queens Terminal and loved it. Obviously the investment is paying off. Light airy and no queues to speak of. Well done Heathrow.

I have flown into almost every major airport in North America Europe and Asia. Heathrow is the worst major airport by far. Terminals are a maze lack moving walks info screens at gates and any amenities other than restrooms until you have passed through Customs and security. You must pass through customs even if not entering UK. Information provided is last minute confusing or simply repeatedly incorrect. Changing terminals involves lengthy bus rides steps and lack of assistance to anyone not in a wheelchair. Terminal transport trolleys sit unmanned and unused. For city with extensive efficient Tube and transport system the airport is a navigational joke. Don't get in the wrong line or you will start over probably in wrong line again since information is reluctantly provided by indifferent and sometimes rude airport staff. Security personnel are either the friendliest and most polite or nastiest individuals you will encounter during your airport "holiday". BA staff are dismissive or condescending. Be prepared to lug carry-on and yourself up and down steps long distances onto the tarmac and on/off numerous buses where you are treated like cattle. We even had to board and carry luggage up the gangway (about 30 steep steps) to a 747 parked on tarmac after an "equipment change". Do not know how persons older or less fit than we were able to do so as no help was offered by staff. Avoid Heathrow at all cost. Is worth paying a little more for an airline that does not use this airport for connections. British Air service and attitude mesh perfectly with the airport.

Terminal 2: Connecting from an Aer Lingus flight to an Air Canada flight (no terminal change) just before Christmas and missed the Air Canada flight due to incompetent security staff. Waited 45 mins at security (there were no queues!) to get my bag dropped on the floor and then pawed through by a rude operator while the manager refused to apologise for the slow service. After managing to make it through passport control I then faced a long walk/run to the B-wing gates where I discovered I had just missed the flight. To be fair the Air Canada staff at the gate were incredibly helpful and booked me onto the next available flight immediately.

I have now used terminal 2 several times now and each time I return dreading the experience. Queues everywhere at check-in empty counters the usual bling shops and too few eating and seating places. Designed by committee and approved by the usual BAA overpaid elite who care not a jot about their travellers only revenue. Then on your return - the long walk to freedom! Endless corridors which tax the fittest and god help anyone suffering with leg problems. It is ludicrous to expect people to endure this with no seats anywhere and few toilets. Have these people not listened to anyone? Yes I know they be ordered ahead but should they not be there already? At least a wheelchair!

Terminal 5 is a nightmare for intercontinental transit passenger. I have passed through many other airport but this is the worst designed airport terminal. My first flight got delayed by 3 hours and my 4 hour transit become 1 hour. I could not connect from gate C to gate A within the terminal. Reasons were: 1) Stupid design of gates A B C and security check between them takes hours. 2) Before entering gates A for transit BA checks the boarding pass and passport. Why do you need to check as the in-transit passengers just tell them the gate and passengers will manage. 3) Number of escalators up and down: I have to take 8 escalators to move from one gates to others. Who designed this.

As one of the busiest airports you would think customs could do a better job getting people through. There is always a slow moving line with never enough agents. In the future I will do my best to avoid Heathrow.

T2 - Shopping ridiculously high end - if you want cheap and cheerful food - forget it. EAT is the cheapest thing there (which says it all). Most restaurants have a name attached meaning its like you're fine dining and overly expensive. The shops are mostly high end designers. Barely anything to do. All in all really unnecessary and poorly thought out. Queue for the ticketing/check-in was a joke. Machine didn't work for us meaning we had to use the desk. We were 3rd in line straight away as there wasn't a big queue (doesn't sound too bad) however we were 3rd in line for about half an hour! So slow not very friendly or helpful.

Terminal 5 - traveling via London with a layover of hours in both directions. December 19th - January 4th. The passport check and security check are disorganized confusing and a pure nightmare. The wait and standstill was unbearable. Passengers were missing connecting flights stress tears and arguing. The lack of WiFi connection in this area was ridiculous. Hundreds of people just stood in lines moving one step forward every 10-15 minutes. This has been the worst experience that I've had in years.

Arrived into Terminal 5 from Houston and was transferring to Dublin in same Terminal. The flight connection signs do not refer to transfers to UK and Ireland. We were told by ground staff to join the main transfer line on two occasions! These instructions were totally incorrect ! We eventually were told to join a different line. A waste of about 20 mins and we would have been about another 30 mins if we did not keep asking the ground staff. Flight to Dublin was delayed 1 hour but did not show on the information screen until original scheduled time had elapsed.

Terminal 2 - 2 consecutive Thursday evening flights in from Munich there were delays of over one hour and over 90 minutes respectively whilst waiting on baggage. Reasons such as "2 planes came in at once" don't cut it. It's one of the busiest airports in the world why should planes landing at the same time be a problem or a surprise? Having to wait for plane doors to be opened (staff went to wrong end of terminal) and delays because all the biometric passport gates were closed are not good enough. No-one is ever there to take responsibility.