cochie

All on BA. I'm arriving LHR, from SEA in Business Class at 7am. I connect to Johannesburg in First, at 7 pm...
So... would assume i can use the Concorde Room since i leave in First, but thought I'd ask....
So, can i go to the Concorde Room at 9am ? reserve a cabana for a shower etc?
Can they hold a bag there if i decide to go into town for lunch ?
Thanks for any thoughts on this.

Steve in Olympia

Yes, you will have access to the CCR.
You don’t need a cabana for a shower. You can also get a shower in the Arrivals Lounge.
There is a Left Luggage room airside in T5.

binman

mall true but if you go to CCR on arrival it will be difficult to return landslide. Not impossible but the may not let you leave a bag.

UKtravelbear

If you want to go landslide there is a process to be followed and they only escort people out once an hour.

they won’t store a bag if you are going to leave the airport but there is a left luggage store that will. I think it’s located in arrivals but check the LhR website for location and cost.

Steve in Olympia

The left luggage room is in the main concourse of the Arrivals Hall, fairly close to the elevators for the tube station.

starlight

And when I did this in December, HAL staff were absolutely insistent that only six people every hour could be escorted. It caused huge arguments but the staff stood firm: that is the maximum number they will put in the lift which needs to be taken as part of the route travelling from air to land side.

Apparently though, there is a way around this by going to T5B and then returning as an arriving passenger???

UKtravelbear

Yes I believe you can land yourself that way but it can mess up your ready to fly status when you present your BP at T5 security to get airside again.

LondonElite

Don’t make life complicated. Have a shower in the Arrivals lounge. Leave your bag at the landside left luggage place at the south end of the terminal. Go in to town and when you come back enjoy an hour or so in the CCR.

corporate-wage-slave

In essence, the easiest way to go into London - or to take a day room at a hotel - is to do so immediately after the SEA flight and to enter the UK via the UK Border. The OP can then use the landside Arrivals lounge for breakfast and a shower, it's open to 14:00 hrs, with hot food served until 12:30 hrs. They can then go about their business until the South Africa service is closer to departure and re-enter airside via the First Wing and from their access the CCR at a time of their choosing. They can follow this route too if they want to stay at T5 (on the basis that there are over 90 showers in Arrivals) or they can go via Flight Connections and repair to the CCR immediately. The one thing which is more hassle than its worth is going to CCR and then deciding to go landside.

Oaxaca

To land yourself (as opposed to being taken out by staff) after getting airside in departures, you’d need to take the shuttle to T5C, stay on, and return on it via the arrivals channel.

It would cause problems with ready to fly status at conformance in return, you need to get your status reset. Will wait for the experts like cws to confirm the minutiae of this process.

if intending to go into town, it might be easier to go landside immediately on arrival, use the arrivals lounge for a shower and breakfast, then head into town. Of course, you’d lose the morning in the CCR, though a couple of hours there later would be plenty. Not sure if you can use the Concorde breakfast room in arrivals lounge if you’ve arrived in CW and are going onwards in F, maybe someone can advise.

Edit - ha, I see cws got there while I was typing

starlight

I don’t think you can stay on the shuttle: isn’t that the point of the ‘security check’ we all watch while waiting for the shuttle doors to open?

In my case, I was doing an ex-EU when I landed back from HKG but my onward flight to OSL cancelled while I was in the CCR so I opted to just go home to London. That is what prompted the debacle of trying to go land side. However, it was the HAL staff who mentioned getting the shuttle in an effort to appease the more than six people trying to leave the airport but she never explained the details how.

Is it possible??

crazyarmadillo

Yes you can land yourself but it can be a hassle getting back airside as the computer may still think you are airside. It did take me once 30 mins of hassle before . So be prepared in case. I'd do what CWS says in your case.

KARFA

yes you can stay on the shuttle at T5c and there isn’t a security check there. The only check is at T5a once the arriving passengers have got off.

starlight

Thank you! Very useful indeed to know!

Swanhunter

Arrivals lounge, drop your bags at left luggage, day in London and then an hour in the CCR would be the best plan.