As others have explained well, this could get messy.

Best to either enter and stay in airside yourself, after requesting special assistance for your relative, or go landside for a few hours and then enter with your relative when they arrive.

I usually travel for leisure, but I agree the facilities in the F lounge aren�t great for working on the whole.

 

I can not comment on the specific experiences you mention, however, I have, on multiple occasions, gone in and out more than once in AMS, FRA, ATH, MUC, CDG and a whole host of airports in the US and have never encountered such a problem. I can understand it being more of an issue in airports with immigration issues, but in general, I would absolutely reject that there is a universal rule that QR/bar codes are valid only once.

 

Exit from departures needs an escort IIRC from an overnight missed connection.

Whereas in the US you can just walk out and back in.

Strongly recommend not trying to enter, exit and enter again.

 

you don�t need an escort in T5, due to a cancelled flight on Friday I exiting without an escort. However yes if you want to then go back airside with the same bp you do need some intervention by a BA staff member.

 

I agree. I think this "QR code only being valid once" concept is probably true, but only for a minority of airports and airlines around the world. One of those airports may well be Heathrow. But there are numerous other airports and airlines at the same-or-larger scale and profile as Heathrow and BA, which have a very different way of doing things.

The R2F concept isn't a bad one, but it should've been implemented to serve a specific purpose, serve it well, and nothing further. In an ideal world, it doesn't cause knock-on problems for passengers or staff, as it may for OP. For instance, how lovely it would be if it was simple to reset R2F, so OP could enter security a second time. After all, OP is clearly complying with the time frames of R2F. R2F should be a help, not a hindrance.

Back to the original topic: another vote for the Sofitel.

 

In LHR Terminal 5, domestic and international passengers ( as well as international to international transfer passengers ) are mixed while on the examples that other FT members provided ( CDG, BER, US Airports, etc... ) that is not the issue at all.

In the USA, someone who hasn't cleared CBP would never mix with departing passengers, thus there is no passport control leaving the country ( the airline sends your data to the CBP after your flight takes off ), and in the Schengen area, entries and exits are strictly monitored on both directions and at most stations Schengen departures/arrivals being allowed to be mixed.

Of course, the Ready to Fly logic makes it more complicated but unless Terminal 5 has a separate area for domestics as the demolished Terminal 1, I do totally get the logic of the process not being straightforward.

 

I had this exact situation 8 days ago. TeflonWoman (on a different flight) re-booked out of T3 due to weather mess and I, with plenty of time on my hands, decided to accompany her there.
It took a fair bit of explaining (Check-in agent: "You shouldn't have done that." Reply: "Well, you shouldn't have cancelled her flight.") and effort on the part of check-in agent and supervisor to get a second boarding pass issued to scan at security. Curiously, I had to use the original one at the gate.
It's doable, but think about whether you want and have time for the hassle.

 

I�m sure the check in agent didn�t personally cancel the flight but I get the jist.

 

Lol. No. And it was a "You" in the plural, as in "You, BA".
We actually got along well (I think).