deangaffney

Dear all,

I've just spent some time searching the forum for details about flying from LHR T2 but cannot see anything that answers my question.

I'm flying with children and elderly from Heathrow T2 to Bankok with Thai next week and I'd like to know if there's any good reason why we might need to arrive 3 hours before as suggested by some sources. I find airports very uncomfortable and would prefer to limit time spent on site. Any local travellers knowledge about terminal 2 and how long it might take to get thru security would be really helpful.

Many thanks

Dan

stut

Unfortunately, I can't really give you a straightforward answer.

When I travel from T2, I'm generally alone and flying short-haul, in economy, without status, so tend to aim for 90 minutes.

But there are so many factors that influence it. T2 is an efficient terminal, with good, free-flowing security. There is quite a long walk to the long-haul gates. However, travelling in the run-up to Christmas, with luggage, you're going to be waiting with people checking in rather a lot of stuff. And then going through security with a lot of infrequent travellers. With children, it depends on their age. I learnt the hard way how long the queue for the baby change can be during peak season, for example!

If you're flying business or have a gold card in your pocket, things change again. And then there's the joys of the M25, the M4 and the like.

The cynical answer is that it's to get you to spend more money at the terminal. There's probably an element of that, but it's not the whole story.

deangaffney

Dear Stut, what a thoughtful and helpful reply. Genuinely much appreciated. My son (9) and I suffer from transitional anxiety so the more detail the better for us! We're flying economy all the way to Perth WA via BKK so it's a slog but aircraft are modern and large so should be bearable. We're arriving at T2 by Heathrow Express rail service, perhaps we need to add walking time to T2 from the station?

Anyway, I think we're going arrive 2 hours in advance of take off though I notice from Flightradar that the BKK flight rarely leaves sooner than 25 minutes after it's scheduled time.

Thanks again.

Silver Fox

Because the United lounge has free alcohol, free food, and is the jewel in the crown. 3 hours is not enough imho.

But, I would rather be in situ at the airport no matter how uncomfortable than running towards the gate with seconds to spare before they close the doors. If you have fast track then security is a breeze. Christmas is always a busy time with lots of "disputes" over luggage, seating, and just seemed to take me much longer than normal when flying Thai/Singapore Air than other airlines.

Anyway, for the sake of an extra hour at home I would rather be at the airport.

stut

I can't tell you how to cope with anxiety, but I can only suggest that you look for ways to reduce it. You're balancing the fear of being in the airport (whatever it's related to) with the fear of being late. How to manage this?

First of all, you're correct, you need to factor in walking time from the Heathrow Express to T2. It's quite a way, as you have to come up from the platform, through the tunnel to the Tube station, then along from the Tube station to T2.

T2, however, is a nice, new, well designed terminal. My personal suggestion (again, I don't want to try and tell you how you're best going to handle it) would be to allow more than 2h at this time of year. Maybe 2h30. But then look at what T2 has to offer, and how you can use it. Heathrow is good at being a shopping centre with aircraft, so even if it's just playing about with laptops at Dixons, there's time to spend there. It's got a lot of places to eat and drink, so maybe schedule in some time to grab some coffee and/or food, safe in the knowledge you can always take something away, or wait for the in-flight meal, if you end up running short on time.

The Heathrow website has all the details:

https://www.heathrow.com/airport-guide/terminal-2

Hope this helps.

deangaffney

Thank you both, you both make a lot of sense and your replies are much appreciated. I think your view will please my mother in law who is travelling with us too and is more than happy to turn up 3 hours in advance.

Cheers.

lhrsfo

As a regular T2 user, generally solo but sometimes with adult family in tow, I echo previous comments about how efficient and nice T2 is: it really is a cut above most other airports.

Although I fly twice a month, have status and thus shortcuts, I still get slightly anxious about delays en route to the airport and within the airport. I generally tube it, as driving is far too uncertain because of traffic. Twice in 20 years of doing this, the tube has been up the spout, which has caused a degree of panic - but both times I could fall back, once on Uber to the airport and once on Uber to Paddington for the Heathrow Express and both times I arrived in good time, but emotionally drained!

Whilst T2 is really very good, as stut says things can go slowly on peak holiday travel days. Regularly flying United, I can tell immediately how crowded the plane will be by how crowded the check in area is. Normally it's deserted (especially at this time of year) but occasionally, when all the flights are full, there are hundreds of people milling around. With Thai, which only has one flight per day, I should imagine that it's more difficult for them to cope on peak days. Whilst if you turn up with two hours to spare you will get on the plane (they're not going to take off if they know that they haven't checked everyone in because of check in delays), it will be stressful if you are still waiting to check in at T-40 minutes.

Security is pretty well always free flowing and efficient at T2.

Where T2 really shines is that the area after security is big, bright and open and a very pleasant place, for an airport. The restaurants are good there. I would plan to arrive early and eat at one of the restaurants - there's a Heston Blumenthal upstairs if you turn right after security. You can get ensconced in there and it will be a pleasant and low stress way to kill an hour or so. They also have cheaper, more fast food places - the Leon downstairs is excellent. So, if you have lots of spare time go to Heston's place, if only half an hour or so, go to Leon. Boarding will probably start 40 minutes before departure and bear in mind that it will take 20 minutes from the main part of the terminal to Thai's gate, so you should be looking to leave the restaurant or cafe an hour before your flight leaves. Once you reach the satellite terminal there's only a Cafe Nero but the area is huge, uncrowded, very light and there's plenty of seating by each gate.

In short, T2 is about as unstressful as it's possible for an airport to be. I would suggest that the stress points are travel to the airport and check in. To me, that all points to early arrival.

Safe travels.

NWIFlyer

It may be worth adding, given the wait at security was one of the OP’s concerns, that all Heathrow terminals now offer the option to purchase Fast Track. I’ve never, as a *G, experienced more than a few minutes’ wait there and it’s probably less likely to contain inexperienced travellers who need extra time.

It’s not a cheap option for a family, sadly, but it would probably mean the three hours could comfortably be reduced by 45 minutes without worrying at all. The other good thing about T2 (and please correct me if this doesn’t still happen because I never check luggage at LHR) is that you can self-tag your bags and drop them, which ought to mean shorter check-in queues.

https://www.heathrow.com/airport-gui...es/fast-track/

LondonElite

I would turn up at T2 at T-90 minutes for this, but the group traveller, without status, and with a bit of anxiety would be well advised to aim for the two hour mark. T2 is easily the best terminal at LHR. LHR-BKK-PER in TG economy with children and elderlies in tow...chapeau.

dddc

I would aim to arrive 2.5 hr before hand, simply because of the time of year. People are now on the mass move for xmas so check in queues could be longer as well as the one for security. One xmas at T3 I spent 20 minutes outside security before I even got to the boarding pass reader. Being xmas time you will get more families and people not regularly familiar with the security processes.

Could I also suggest at BKK, time permitting and depending on how much cash you wanted to through at comfort you look at a paid lounge to relax in. In particular can I recommend having a shower to help destress you and your family. Might be difficult depending on the ages of the children and mobility of the grand parents, but it's something I do when in transit to/from Oz even if I only have 50 minutes.

Swanhunter

Badenoch

Air Canada is in T2 and I fly through it often. 2 hours is plenty of time for me even if don't check-in on line and check bags. Everything is well-signed, security is efficient and I usually have time for lunch on the air side. But I have not travelled during the holiday season nor with children and an elderly person. I don't know which gate the OP might be flying out of but for Air Canada at least it is a fairly long walk to the gate which may make a difference in your planning.

USA_flyer

This is a great thread and quite timely as I will be travelling with United on Thursday from T2. I am planning on getting to the airport 3 hours before so I can have a decent lunch before flying, I don't like to rely on the (any) airline to feed us anything remotely edible! I've factored 2 hours to get to the airport even though it should only take 1hr5m because of the M25. My goodness I hate that road!

How far are the United gates from the main terminal?

Silver Fox

About 10-15 mins depending on whether you are in hare or tortoise mode. If you have lounge access then the lunch offerings are very good.

USA_flyer

Thank you. Will have wife and 8 year old daughter will me so, it'll be an amble to the gate rather than a rush!

No lounge access. Not that I mind, I fancy trying out Wondertree or Heston Blumentals place.