London Heathrow Airport

Terminal 3 and Terminal 5 in December 2010. Transiting was fair from Terminal 3 to Terminal 5. T5 was huge facilities not that well and building layout horrible. Return flight through Terminal 3 waiting time was fair due to snow. Facilities not as good. Very clean though.

Great airport! Had a great time passing a four hour layover in Terminal 1 and then again Terminal 3 on the way back. (As happy as we could be considering a death in the family) everything was very efficient very clean and actually pretty reasonably priced! The only thing I would suggest is that at security if you are a woman and you 'beep' through the metal scanner and they have a female officer pat you down I would suggest that there be a little area aside where the women can be checked. They do this in other airports and I find that it's much more comfortable. Just a little curtained area just right there would do. Something to think about.

It was hard to fault Terminal 5 on this arrival. From plane to transit to arrival hall was completely painless. IRIS worked as advertised and there were no immigration lines anyway. Baggage arrived almost immediately. A two minute walk to the short term car park reunited us with our car which had been driven for only 2 miles in our absence. T5 has settled in well.

Over the past couple of months I've had to use Heathrow a number of times - used to hate Heathrow but what a joy Terminal 5 is. Hardly any queuing lots of open space and great views of the runways.

There was little to say about Heathrow on our latest departure to Los Angeles. The valet parking staff were charmless and weary. BAA do themselves no favours by taking many details on booking which they do not pass on in the form of complete documentation for ones arrival. Thus information which has already been given has to be repeated. Security was a little more pleasant than usual. They know in their hearts that the end is coming for some of the more ridiculous processes. Queues were not long.

Last trip through T5 was better than previous visits but below what should be expected from a brand new facility. Had to wait for steps then repeated standing in line for people to look at boarding passes then for passport control. This time security was better and Fast Track was fast for the first time. The whole thing looks cobbled together and is not a good example of British organization.

Flew from LHR Terminal 3 late October on flight to Madrid. Checked in within 5 minutes of arriving and went straight through to the well equipped airside with plenty of good shops and eateries to entertain. Security queues minimal and staff were generally friendly too.

I travelled through Terminal 5 on a BA domestic flight in the early morning and experienced greatly improved standards. The security process is quick and previous rudeness of the staff seems to have gone. There are excellent shopping facilities and no bussing to the gates which was often the case at TN1. On the way back the flight arrived before time and the bags were available in 10 minutes. No complaints at all.

Having checked-in online the day before our flight to Vienna it was a simple painless task to go to the bag drop then through immigration and security. Considering it was peak time on a Thursday morning we would have expected the pre-boarding processes to have been a lot slower. Security and immigration fully staffed by pleasant people. Good options airside at Terminal One for food and shopping. The return ten days later was equally slick. Long walk from the gate to baggage reclaim but Immigration took a matter of seconds and we were on our way within 40 minutes of landing.

Arrived from MAD on BA at terminal 3 last month. Bus transfer not a pleasant experience but at least as a BA branded operation they seem to try to keep it efficient. Bit of a trek around a typically maze-like run of Heathrow stairs slopes and corridors to get to passport control where I was confronted with thousands people waiting in long lines at a dozen or more desks - and thankfully two lonely desks completely deserted for EU arrivals. Through in 10 seconds! Luggage turned up fairly speedily too - although an "arrival time" estimate on the monitors would be a handy addition. Not too bad then but airbridges not buses for BA flights would be very welcome.