SanDiego1K

Things that make me go hmmmmm:

Why is T5 fast track on arrival open til 1pm whereas it is open til 6pm in T3?

Where is F signage outside T5? Our driver attempted to drop us off at the first door, whereas the F check in is at the extreme far end of the terminal. We got him to drive us down there but still did not spot any F signage. Other airports/airlines sometimes make it very clear as to where to check in at their home airport. For example, SQ does a very good job in making this clear in Singapore.

pennineuk

The signage issue probably goes back to the time when BA said that T5 checkin would be such a great experience that you could use any desk. I think the F checkin was planned (?), but CW/CE was certainly an after-thought.

The only hint that premium checkin is at the far end of the departures drop-off area is the fact that the valet parking desk is there.

ThatT1Feeling

Good point. Never considered the lack of signage by class before because T5 is effectively my home terminal. As a first-timer I agree I wouldn't be impressed if dropped off at the wrong end if I were travelling in F...

OPebble

This is a bit like the adage on shops with no price tag - "if you have to ask you can't afford it."

So, if you don't know where F is, you shouldn't be travelling in F. In reality you can use any T5 checkin desk, so if you see an A zone desk free then use it.

rossmacd

Any good driver should know this surely?

dubbin

Being paranoid, I always fear that the regular checkin desk attendants will forget to mark my bags as priority, or that I'll miss some recherché accessory, or be less likely to be upgraded, if I check in there. I'm sure there's no basis to this but I am prone to over-reflection.

Short Final

dubbin,

Let's address each point in turn shall we ?

Have you not learnt by now (either by experience or reading FlyerTalk) that the priority bag tags are mere ego inflating devices for DYKWIA types. They serve no useful purpose whatsoever.

If there is such a thing as an electronic priority flag, this will be very probably be automatically recorded by a stored function on the database when your PNR is created at the time of booking.

Last time I checked, checkin staff don't give out free gifts.

This thread was about F checkin. If you're already flying F and using the F checkin, what exactly are you hoping to be upgraded to ??

Just face the facts. F checkin at T5 is pointless. The place is so big and they've got so many standard desks that there are hardly ever queues for checkin and bag-drop. FastTrack - or should that be "Fast"Track ;-) - and the lounges is what you're really paying the premium for.

BlackBerryAddict

Cockpit

LTN Phobia

I have a sneaky suspicion that BA doesn't want to publicise the F check-in too much so that they don't have the constant task of turning away those who are not not entitled to use it.

I don't bother with F check-in even when in F. I don't see the point in walking all the way there unless I happen to be dropped off at that end, which is rare. I have used it once or twice and that was only because a mass disruption caused the CW/CE queues to be really long. I happily check in at WT/ET queue if there is no queue, although I refrain from lengthening their queues any further (I believe I have a bit of an obligation not to lengthen their queues) if there is a bit of a queue and move onto the CW/CE desks which are often without any queuing.

As for T3 fast track arrival being available for longer, I suspect it is due to other airlines also using T3 and not just BA and different airlines might have wanted the FT open at different times and so they ended up with long opening hours. T5 FT is based on BA's expected arrivals (and IB's as well now, I suppose) only and in the afternoon it should be pretty quiet, in theory, although it hasn't been the case lately.

Just my uneducated guess on both points though.

corporate-wage-slave

Well I also don't see the point of F check-in either. Just go to the shortest queue would be my strategy (would be, since I don't bother with checked bags). It's rare for there to be long queues in T5 check in and often the WT queues are the shortest.

Fast track at T5 really should not be needed in the afternoons. There have been problems recently, which seem largely to have been addressed, but the queues in T5 are primarily between 7 hrs and 9 hrs when the longhaul birds arrive, disgorging huge numbers of passengers. There's another peak at about 18 - 19 hrs, but these passengers typically are European travellers, with EEA passports. Whereas at T3 there are a range of other airlines operating there, and the peaks and troughs go on through the day. Fast Track T5 has been known to stay open longer when there are queues.

In the medium term, "Old Commonwealth" passport holders (which includes the Japanese, for some reason that was presumably explained whilst I was asleep in the relevant school history lesson) will be getting their own queue soon, since their passport entry is allegedly faster than for other countries.

UncleDude

HEX drops you off at The Wrong End..Tube drops you off at The Wrong End..Hilton Shuttle drops you off at the Wrong End..Hoppa drops you off at the Wrong End..Pods drop you off at The Wrong End.

GodAtum

Luckily I go by taxi so get dropped off at the right end

Moomba

This is purely a guess on my part but it seems T3 airlines are mostly non-EU hence there will be more people arriving during the whole day that would make use of an expedited arrival.
There are also more of them to burden the cost of keeping a fast track arrivals open for a longer period during the day.

A P Yu

There are never any queues to check in at T5 as it was designed to be queueless throughout

T8191

Only wrong if you are part of that tiny %ge who are (a) flying F and (b) determine to use the F desks