We never have to worry about LHR. Most of our flight connections here from Florida are to Gatwick
. Really had a pleasant experience last trip to Gatwick - flying Virgin Atlantic upper class on a Continental reward ticket.
I think the problem one encounters with someone like my father is he has no experience traveling independently outside the US (has only been out of the country once - not counting WWII
- on a big group tour to Israel). So I'm not sure he can "roll with the punches" in terms of what might happen when traveling independently. Although how much can happen if you're talking about a nice flight - a limo pickup at the airport - and just staying in a single city? Which is why I recommended this mode of travel to him.
I've found that when problems happen - mostly all it takes to solve them is money. Although my best friend had to bail out her elderly parents when they got stranded in the UK after 9/11 - they missed their flight and couldn't deal with the reservations mess after. But that happened to one of my cousins too (she got stranded in Italy) - and us as well (we got stranded in NYC and wound up having to rent a car to drive back to Florida). And - fingers crossed - 9/11 was one of those once in a lifetime events/travel messes.
With tours - well they do everything for you - but you do have to do everything at the pace the tour sets. Which would be too much for my father. Robyn (I'm not that old - but the older I get - the slower I travel - and the more I see)