No... LAX doesn't come close to the dumpiness of LHR. While TBIT is a pit, some of the other terminals aren't so bad (like T4), and some are even connected airside.

Oh, and try to walk away from LHR.

I should have been more specific to each airports: T3 - LHR & TBIT - LAX.

With that, I'd agree. Here's to keeping demolition crews employed.

In a word, yes.

May not be popular for this, but I can't agree with some of the criticism.


I cannot comment on those opinions regarding connecting at LHR as it is usually my point of O&D.

To comment on the above though:

• I like the 1 carry on rule. Allows for quicker boarding. Also, I don't feel, for safety reasons, that the cabin is the place for heavy carry-ons. I have always managed to keep what I needed within the confines of one bag

• Agreed re old buildings.

• Overcrowded. The airport, in terms of movements, certainly is overcrowded. The terminals I would just call "busy" - certainly don't feel more crowded there than many other airports.

• Expensive tax - yes. Is that soley down to BAA management?

• Rude customs staff. From my experience, no better or worse than many airports. I think a uniform sometimes brings an attitude with it unfortunately.

• Slow immigration - my partner, a US citizen, hasn't had to wait more than 15 mins. In the last 6 months, have waited 45 mins at LA, an hour at ORD and (get this) 3 hours at MIA.

• Long queues for security - Even in the non-fast track, longest I have queued is 20 mins. Can't comment on the other terminals though - usually fly from T3 and T1.

• Too many airside shops - too many better than too few IMHO. Try shopping for something at T7 LAX. Very poor.

• Expensive duty free - compared to.....? Prices seem slightly cheaper than UK High Street. Agreed that other airports seem to be cheaper. Perhaps part of this is the high value of the GBP?

• Insufficient seating - as someone mentioned, unfortunately BAA do want you in a shop or a restaurant, so seating can be limited. Having said that, LHR is no worse than many other airports I use regularly. Watch a 777 flight departing from IAD and see people standing and sitting on the floor waiting.

• Short gate announcements - I haven't experienced this. Also,why would you want to be waiting at the gate longer than 30 minutes? Nothing to do there!:) If someone requires more time to make it to the gate, the airline will happily arrange assistance as some walks are indeed long.

• Central coach station - seems sensible to me. Using a central point reduces traffic, and hence congestion as the coaches don't need to visit all of the terminals.

• RE T5 - why is this selfish? Didn't NW do something like this in DTW? And AA in MIA? Many airlines are desperately trying to consolidate their operations into fewer terminals.

Someone also mentioned T3's "one - way" system. This is down to new (UK or EU?) rules that will require the complete separation of arriving and departing passengers. The signs are huge, yellow and lit up. Do many people not see the?:confused:

I do feel that the Hoppa bus charges are a disgrace though - as someone mentioned, I know of no other airport that does this. Having said that, the airport also subsidises and provides free public transport on the London buses into the airport. Only good if you are near a bus stop though!

LHR certainly is far from perfect. Some of the criticism seems to stem from the world famous Great British welcome!;) In an ideal world, much should be done to improve it. The building and infrastructure are old, and it is like it is today mainly due to the British way of "muddling through." I am sure that if LHR was in another country, it would have been razed to the ground and re-built years ago. Slowly, it happens....!

There does seem to be a long term plan in operation. Unfortunately, LHR will remain a building site for some years to come.



Mark

I'm a bit rushed, but have some 'inside' info that may be helpful :).

Last week was my 1st time in T3 without lounge access since I wasn't flying *A. Then my flight was delayed for almost 3 hours (with NO notice, except that I looked it up on the internet and the inbound was 2 hours late). My dad always told me that the main use for 'status' was lounge access, and I believe him :).

There is a partial solution, though.

If you follow the duty free around to the left, about 100m before exiting duty free, you will see a sign on the left for 'additional seating' and 'Internet access'. It's incredibly quiet and has some terminals available for £1/10 minutes. In the 3 hours that I was there, I only saw about a dozen people.

I then went to duty free and bought a few of the 'mini' bottles and a bottle of diet coke.

Voila - lounge access on the cheap :). Even if you don't want the drinks, it is a nice quiet place to work.

Dr. PITUK

The only thing in LHR that I like was lying on a reclining chair after passing security line. That was really good since I had took a transatlantic flight in economy before. I had the best sleep ever in an airport :)

The security que was about 1km long and penetrated from the departure area through to the arrival lounges area last time I flown out of LHR. And I thought BAA was "investing" more in staff and x-ray machines!

There are escalators or lifts to the train platforms at LGW. You are correct that there is only one flight of stairs. Trains to Victoria or London Bridge take about 30 minutes and it's 15 minutes to Croydon.

For me, the main sucky thing about Heathrow is the congestion. Horrendous queues when checking in, security, imigration, departure taxiing, takeoff slots, landing slots, baggage reclaim. :td:

I find most airports are bad. What drives me nuts is the need to go thru security again when transfering between terminals on a connecting flight - even when not going thru immigration.

Otherwise, most airports are the same. At least there are more food options than McD's or Burger King.

I have always found that if you need to be anywhere on the Piccadilly, taking the Heathrow Express is usually a waste of money, and often there are no time savings yet increased hassles. I tried it once and will never do so again. Whereas with the Piccadilly you board the Tube and have no further changes, getting to Knightsbridge via Paddington involves two stops (Paddington itself and either South Kensington or Piccadilly Circus). This is hardly an appealing option when one is tired and/or weighed down with baggage.

That is another problem with LHR: poor transport links to anywhere except the heart of London, although it seems to be improving. AMS also has LHR beat here: trains take you practically everywhere in the country with no changing, and at minimal cost. One can even go as far afield as Belgium and Paris (with no changes), and Germany will soon be served by direct ICE also. And the train station at Schiphol is monumentally convenient and practical, with lots of shops too!!!

But one has to be amazed LHR works at all, given the tremendous demands on its aged and dated infrastructure. The airport seems massively constrained and updates only happen with excrutiating deliberations, and of course BAA hardly is a paradigm of how to manage a steller airport either. Their singular focus on retail seems to be to the detriment of everything else. Shops are great, but that not great.

I remember during one of the many recent distruptions, it could 1.5 hours to get through transfer security. Only 2 out of 4 security stations were manned despite the increased alert levels, and the staff were utterly useless and had their heads in the clouds. The shops, on the other hand, "were operating as normal" and fully staffed and manned and ready to empty your wallets! :mad:

But whereas AMS has six runways, LHR manages to handle twice as many passengers with only two runways. This also becomes a problem, however, as any problems ripples throughout the entire schedule. But it still is a feat to wonder at.

I hope one day I can shake my addiction to BA, and then maybe I can more fully utilize the much better services at AMS.

One pet hate I have is the "food village" at T3 or whatever its called. A relative insisted on seeing me off and declared his hunger. (Normally I just check-in and go through security asap.)

An attractive entry area, halogen spots etc. Spacious and brightly lit. You choose your food from the various suppliers... then get funnelled to the check-out. Only then you see the horror of where you have to eat your meal. Tiny tables and chairs - lucky if you can find one free. Litter everywhere, tables not wiped. Everyone crammed in - no elbow room. Just want to get out as soon as possible - which is what they want - they've got your money and you probably won't be coming back, will you? After all if you're a FF you'd know better.

Bag Nazis are awful.

Waited 1.5 hours to go through security last week. Will go anywhere to avoid LHR on my next trip to Spain.

Like the signs that direct people to the wrong terminal? It seems BAA thinks that Morocco is in Europe; if you went (in 2004 at least) to the terminal for BA "Intercontinental" flights (instead of "European") you'd be in the wrong place... it seems CMN is somehow in Europe.

I guess BAA is just encouraging people to take a bus tour of LHR.