Heathrow Delays
Sep 5, 2021 | 7:36 am
#16
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
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Do these long queues and delays impact only arrivals at LHR, or do they impact connections as well? And is it at all terminals? Because a family member needs to connect at T5 international to domestic (MAN), theres currently a 2 hour connecting time - but concerned that the person would miss the connecting flight due to these horrendous queues!
Sep 5, 2021 | 7:36 am
#17
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Do these long queues and delays impact only arrivals at LHR, or do they impact connections as well? And is it at all terminals? Because a family member needs to connect at T5 international to domestic (MAN), theres currently a 2 hour connecting time - but concerned that the person would miss the connecting flight due to these horrendous queues!
I understand the lengthy queues impact arrivals at LHR and connections are not affected to anywhere near the same degree.
Regards
TBS
Sep 5, 2021 | 8:27 am
#18
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Anywhere
Posts: 6,850
Sep 5, 2021 | 9:02 am
#20
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
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Location: Leeds, UK
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I have an arrival on QR in J into T5 and then onto BA with split tickets. 3 hours 35 minutes and its T5 to T5 so should be masses of time. But should I experience the delays mentioned above then its not achievable.
Where do I stand if I have to leave the UK arrival immigration queue and then move to connections and have to leave my luggage at LHR on the reclaim belt? Can I get to my destination which is ABZ and request the bag to be sent there? I dont mind collecting from the airport. And if this was a possibility would I report that to QR that my address is Aberdeen or to BA bearing in mind I never checked a bag?
Thanks in advance for any insight.
Where do I stand if I have to leave the UK arrival immigration queue and then move to connections and have to leave my luggage at LHR on the reclaim belt? Can I get to my destination which is ABZ and request the bag to be sent there? I dont mind collecting from the airport. And if this was a possibility would I report that to QR that my address is Aberdeen or to BA bearing in mind I never checked a bag?
Thanks in advance for any insight.
Sep 5, 2021 | 9:04 am
#21
Ambassador: Emirates Airlines
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Manchester, UK
Posts: 18,894
Ben (Lucky) from OMAAT described it as a complete clusterf**k https://onemileatatime.com/insights/..._jspC020VWEYjo
Sep 5, 2021 | 9:08 am
#22
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Aberdeen
Programs: BA Gold, IHG Diamond Ambassador
Posts: 665
Do they? Even if they are totally different PNRs? Its not 2 separate tickets in the same booking so unless I showed them the other booking they would have no knowledge of onwards flights.
Sep 5, 2021 | 9:10 am
#23
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
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Yes. Even on separate bookings. Just show them your bp or ticket for the onward journey.
some more information here Bag interlining issues and OW policy changes (Combined threads)
some more information here Bag interlining issues and OW policy changes (Combined threads)
Sep 5, 2021 | 10:05 am
#25
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: UK
Programs: BA Blue, IC Spire Ambassador
Posts: 5,287
Well Ive certainly stood in a corridor at JFK for more than 90 minutes in the past. But that doesnt make it acceptable. Ive never queued for so long at world class airports like SIN. UK plc is capable of much better. If we want tourists to keep coming, businesses to invest etc then we need to make sure the first experience people have of our country is a positive one.
Sep 5, 2021 | 11:40 am
#26
Join Date: Mar 2015
Programs: BA Gold, Hilton Diamond
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Yes but the joke is on UK citizens, as Americans would never wait 90 minutes to get into their own country. US-entry for non citizens has customarily always been hit-and-miss and could be hours at a time at some airport entry points; but what is disgraceful about the current situation at LHR T5 is that it impacts UK residents returning home to their own country as much, if not more, than non-residents arriving into the country. We never seem to prioritise our own citizens over others, unlike 99% of other countries.
Sep 5, 2021 | 11:52 am
#27
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: JFK/LGA
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A few years back when i was commuting to London more than once i gently chided fellow Americans waiting at the UK border and making comments on what international visitors experienced arriving in the US. When traveling back with a colleague without a US passport I would routinely clear immigration, get my ride, and make the 45 minute journey home, whilst my colleague was still in the queue at JFK.
Sep 7, 2021 | 2:08 am
#28
Join Date: Apr 2019
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 228
I flew back into T5 yesterday morning. (International arrivals)
Arrivals for UK/EU & US nationals all allowed to use Biometrics - time to get through 10 minutes. (Mainly becasue the chap had to keep shouting for people to take their masks off
Arrivals for non UK/EU/US nationals - that was one big queue, looked like anyone in it was in for a long wait, I decided not to hang around with a stop watch though
Arrivals for UK/EU & US nationals all allowed to use Biometrics - time to get through 10 minutes. (Mainly becasue the chap had to keep shouting for people to take their masks off
Arrivals for non UK/EU/US nationals - that was one big queue, looked like anyone in it was in for a long wait, I decided not to hang around with a stop watch though
Sep 7, 2021 | 2:24 am
#29
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: London
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 458
I think the annoying part of this is that is entirely predictable. Border Force know more than they ever have about our travel patterns. Shock horror...lots of families with kids return to the UK during the last weekend of the holidays! I also appreciate that Heathrow is handling more bucket and spade flights than before. Again, the consequences are not unpredictable.
Coupled with reports that other UK airports (like MAN) have fully staffed desks with people sailing through in minutes, why can we not deploy resources to where they are needed most for the (entirely predictable) spikes at Heathrow? And guess what..it will happen again at half term if we don't learn the lessons.
Coupled with reports that other UK airports (like MAN) have fully staffed desks with people sailing through in minutes, why can we not deploy resources to where they are needed most for the (entirely predictable) spikes at Heathrow? And guess what..it will happen again at half term if we don't learn the lessons.
Sep 7, 2021 | 3:12 am
#30
Join Date: Feb 2019
Location: UK. West Sussex
Programs: BAEC. Gold
Posts: 790
Surely if you are flying internally within the UK, there is no reason to go through immigration, border control etc
Eg flying back from say Edinburgh, are you not just funnelled straight through to baggage reclaim and the exit?
Eg flying back from say Edinburgh, are you not just funnelled straight through to baggage reclaim and the exit?