aceflyer2

Connected this week through LHR. Must say the worst experience ever at an airport. Airport and security personnel were extremely rude. Had reserved a wheelchair for my wife. Had to wait 30 minutes, just as we had the last time, and when the buggy arrived, there wasn't enough room, and people were arguing with the driver as to who would get on. People arrived at the security lines without gels, liquids in plastic bags (in fact bags are provided here). Very, very inefficient security personnel. Was planning to go to the Concorde room, but could not since it took almost 3 hours to clear security. Will not connect through LHR if have another choice.

blakepilot

Sounds about right...

duvin

Thanks for the advice. Being London-based I'll have to look for flights from LGW or STN in the future then.

UncleDude

Could you give a breadown of what took 3 hours, especialy as you appear to have been in a Wheelchair flying First Class, so would be Fastracked to The Front of the Line at Security.

Also if you are flying First Class you have virtually no choice other than LHR for OneWorld TATL flights.

Mark_T

You can substitute virtually any international airport into the description and it would be accurate from time to time.

Arrive mid-afternoon and you can queue that long to get through immigration in DFW for example then have another long queue just to get passed customs.

I'm also applying the usual translation filters 'extremely rude' staff are usually just doing their jobs and refusing to make exceptions that people feel entitled to.

Quite how individuals failure to have their liquids packed properly is a LHR problem I do not know.

I travel in/out of LHR a lot and see none of this rampant inefficiency and rudeness, but I do see a lot of people failing to make life easier for themselves and having unreasonable expectations not met.

Carolinian

LHR is IMHO the worst gateway in Europe, and if flying to London, I have long prefered Gatwick, Luton, or Stansted. Since doing a challenge to AA Plat, however, I find the BA lounges make even LHR quite tolerable. If not for those BA lounges, I would be trying to figure a way to fly through other OW gateways like HEL or MAD.

I will also say, that it was connecting through LHR that put me off switching to AA when I bailed out of DL during the www.saveskymiles.com fight, and then out of NW when DL took it over. Little did I know that BA's lounges were some of the very best around.

JDiver

So, you must have been travelling BA First for Concorde Room access, but perhaps you can tell us which connections you were actually making so we can place this in the proper thread (or Forum, even?)

irishguy28

Quite funny to see the term "gateway in Europe" in the same sentence as Luton, or Stansted...

GEXPO

Surely CDG is worse.

superscot

I can sympathise with OP. I experience this regularly - two hours in line for immigration, interrogated by surly and nearly rude immigration officer, queue for customs snaking through bagge hall, transfer to anoter terminal, security staffed by downright rude, hectoring officials shouting at passengers like they are morons........

Only thing is, this isn't at LHR but at ORD.

I'm no LHR apologist. It isn't perfect but it's no worse than most. I would expect, admittedly as a UK passport holder, to be able to do plane door from AA TATL to BA lounge (including the T3-T5 transfer) in less than an hour (it was 40 minutes on Wednesday).

altaskier

As a US citizen, I've had nearly as quick transits through LHR most times. The worst has been arriving at 11 pm; long and slow immigration lines. The BA lounges in T5 are really great, and make it much more tolerable.

beerup

Me too. About 35 min the last couple of times. The passport check is so minimal on the transfer that is doesn't significantly delay non-EU passport holders either.

Clearly the wheelchair fiasco added some time for the OP, but without knowing the OPs connection (presumably to/from a BA longhaul in F because of Concorde room access. Presumably to T5 rather than from because the delay prevented him from going to the Concorde room. Presumably from AA as posting in this forum), and details of the specific components of the cumulative delay, its difficult to assess how extreme the situation was.

jpzeller

+1

I also fly to LHR from Chicago, several times a year, and have for years - I've never understood what all the fuss is about, at either end.

By the way, British immigration agents are "rude?" Are you serious?

TheAAdmiral

+1. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.

booji

I have to mention that on a recent experience with LHR, I was quite dissatisfied with the security personnel at T5 who I thought were both rude and arrogant. First, as an EXP, I thought we were allowed to utilize the fast track line at T5 (came in on an AA flight TATL in J, transferred onto a domestic UK flight with BA with no CE). The BA gatekeepers on the lower level allowed me into the fast track lane, but when I got upstairs, the security personnel informed me that since I am not traveling in J or F, that I am not allowed to use the fast track lane and tried to send me to one of the other lanes. I informed them that I was an EXP and arriving on a J ticket and transferring to Y since there was no J on this UK domestic flight; and in the process was accused of being "arrogant". Obviously, I was quite irrate at that point, spoke with the supervisor for this agent, and got his name and badge number to file a complaint with BA/BAA. Nevertheless, this has been only one poor security experience in over 10+ years of transiting in LHR.