London Heathrow Airport

Arrival at T5 is quick and painless. Bit of walk a to immigration through in seconds today (5am arrival) bags out in about 20. Good coffee places etc outside. They do charge for people dropping off and picking up in cars though!

Check-in at T5 was easy. Security was another matter. Almost all of the lanes in the south security area were closed. An airport employee refused to let me use the Fast Track although I was eligible as it was "very busy". I was sent to the north security area where there is no Fast Track. It was absolutely packed. I asked one of the staff why it was so busy and just got a shrug of the shoulders. The person on the security scanner was taking an age to check the bags as he was asking a colleague about almost every bag. The system seems to have a weak spot as two bag check lines feed into one body scanner so if a person sets off the alarm which happened frequently everyone of the same gender has to wait until that person is frisked. The rest of the airside area was extremely busy with a lot of floor space taken up with designer label shops. Fortunately I had access to an airline lounge although even that was short of seats. I shudder to think what this place would be like if a lot of flights are delayed.

Shameful is the only word to describe the experience of security at terminal 3 on 1st July. The staff who were in control at the fast track that morning had a serious attitude problem and would make a guess some were working to rule. If not so whoever trains manages supervises and is responsible for them is operating a total basket case. The worst experience in a long time and a promise to myself I will never ever transit through this airport again. The whole episode was in contrast to an arrival today in Hong Kong were young men and women doing the same job not only gave a professional service but looked the part as well. Shame on whoever is responsible for such a shambolic mess.

I had to travel through London Heathrow on May 24th when they had the fire on another BA flight and the whole experience was not only chaotic but extremely frustrating. I will never travel through this airport ever again. Not only did we not get any instructions from staff when we landed as to what we were to do next with lines in the thousands but the airport is not disability friendly at all. I ended up having to stand at that airport in line to rebook my flight for over 8+ hours. When getting off of the plane we had to get off on stairs because the ramps were not available then when you actually get inside the airport (Terminal 5) there are escalators and you could hardly find an elevator anywhere. It wasn't just the fact that we missed our connecting flight that made the experience so bad but the fact that there was such little communication about what we were expected to do next after that and the fact that there was not anywhere to sit down nor enough elevators or moving ramps etc. As far as I'm concerned they need to revamp this Terminal even further to make it more disability friendly and train their staff better to handle delays and emergencies and provide more assistance to travelers who may need a little extra help.

Used this airport to transfer a number of times this year so far. In short as a transfer passenger I will be avoiding it at all costs. Deplaning Immigration buses more security and more pre departure checks make this one irritating stressful experience. AMS/CDG are a dream in comparison to transferring through. Security staff are apathetic slow and rude. I asked the time from one of them and the answer I got was "time you bought a watch mate".

After getting off the aircraft up 3 escalators down 3 escalators train to next terminal up 3 more escalators and then past immigration with only 2 officers working. Terminal 5 is a real mess of a terminal. Not very disabled friendly. So many people rushing off and on the transit train makes it hard to get on. Also I found terminal very hot.

The worst airport I have experienced for transfers. While traveling to Budapest I had to transfer through Heathrow while traveling British Airways. I had to take 3 different buses and go back through security even though it was just a transfer. I had to get in a bus from the plane to a station to wait for another bus to a different terminal. Then go through security again even though we never left the airport. Then take another bus to the plane! Returning through Heathrow was just as bad. This time it was two different buses a train and security check with an added carry-on search. My bag sat waiting to be searched while employees ignored it and were just standing around. When I enquired after ten minutes I was told it was next but I guess I upset someone as it sat for another 5 minutes. I understand security procedures but the person was miserable condescending and rude.

Suffice to say I shall be avoiding LHR in the future. My outward and inward flights both connected in T1. So I mistakenly believed it would just be a case of following the signs for connecting flights perhaps a security screen and that would be it. I was wrong! On the flight out we had to get on a bus and were taken on a journey of the nether regions of the airport even though I wasn't changing terminal. But as I was connecting to an international flight it wasn't too bad just the expected additional security. However connecting to my domestic flight on the way back was a nightmare. It took 1hr 10min to get from one flight to the other in the same terminal! Passport control was a farce. Only 2 desks manned and no separate queues for EU and non-EU this just holds everyone up. So 30 min later I got through the passport desk (in about 5 secs). Then there was the biometric queue completely OTT for transiting passengers. Then the confusing way to get to security. Then the security screen. As noted before very rude inefficient staff. There is no reason the whole queue should stop because someone has been pulled over for screening but this is what happens. I will be avoiding like the plague. I'll transit through Gatwick in future. I transited through CDG in March and despite its bad rep it was a dream!

I use Heathrow on a weekly basis and find it a very easy experience. The terminals are clean and tidy easy to navigate through and security never seems overly busy. The Heathrow of 10 - 20 years ago is long gone and it is now generally a pleasant and easy experience.

I found Heathrow crowded confusing and chaotic. What should have been an easy change of planes became quite daunting. For some unknown reason the passengers seemed to be particularly rude. In some areas there seemed to be arbitrary random lines for everything without any airport officials paying attention so people were randomly jumping the lines. In other areas officials were cracking down so the lines were fairly orderly. I was very grateful when the ordeal was over and I was finally seated on my plane!