travelingdrsuz

FT wise ones, despite 1) searching (I promise!) and 2) multiple UK visits, I’ve only flown into LHR once (which went swimmingly well, even in the summer 2022 meltdown), so I need your collective knowledge (and apologies if I'm offering too many details, but was unsure):

• Situation: Arriving to LHR on a Sunday, departing Euston Station for Manchester the next day (Avanti).
• My Preference: Immediately take HEX to Paddington, and grab a hotel (Hilton?) then take a taxi to Euston Monday.
• Potential complication: Time of LHR arrival and HEX’s last train, and ensuring I have enough time.
• Pertinent facts: Flying J on a US passport, AA, so T3. Scheduled landing is 22:41, and this seems to arrive on time or even early (but we all know it only takes one delay...). I will have a checked bag (staying a few weeks).

Questions: 1) How long should I allow from exiting the T3 baggage and immigration part to getting to the HEX. The train seems to stop running close to midnight? 2) The Hilton Paddington has mixed reviews and Hilton’s not been impressive of late, but arriving so late, is that still the best step, or shall I grab a taxi at Paddington and go somewhere between there and Euston?

Gagravarr

It's about 5 minutes walk from leaving T3 baggage claim to the HEX + Elizabeth Line station. It's about half way to the Underground (tube) station

rcspeirs

The Elizabeth line is cheaper than HEx, and runs slightly later on a Sunday night. Last train from Heathrow central to Paddington is 0011 (ie Monday early hours).

travelingdrsuz

Excellent, and great about Elizabeth too, which I have taken within London and found lovely. Sounds like I should make it fine, barring an unusual delay.

Appreciate the verification!

plunet

Worth checking the TfL schedule of planned works to ensure that there is no engineering work planned for when you arrive.

https://tfl.gov.uk/cdn/static/cms/documents/planned-track-closures.pdf
​​​​​
Similar for Avanti

https://www.avantiwestcoast.co.uk/tr...ineering-works

Also, in the week before you travel check the TfL and Avanti website for any updates as there is some ongoing strike action affecting the trains, the unions have to give at least a week's notice.

NWIFlyer

A minor correction to otherwise excellent advice - in the UK, unions have to give employers a minimum of 14 days' notice of any strike action. This extends, I believe, to not working agreed patterns, e.g. overtime. One of the the tactics currently used by Aslef is refusing to work overtime, and that is also a notifiable action.

UKtravelbear

Unions do have to give 14 days notice of their taking action.

BUT

Finalised timetables for strike days are only usually published a week before once the train operators have been able to ascertain which staff are striking and which aren’t and which non striking staff are rostered to work that day and so what sort of service can still run.

national rail enquiries website has informative pages and will list when a strike day timetable is due to be finalised for each operator.

travelingdrsuz

Thanks all for these reminders. I generally follow strike action/rail work, but need to check the updates just prior to leaving. As long as HEX or Elizabeth is running, I will be okay. I will watch closely. Thanks to someone on here, I actually do have a browser open with rail work (most of this learned here on FT over the years).

I also learned from FT about monitoring UK (and EU) strike action. I have also learned that firsthand, as I spent most of this past summer in the UK and several weeks prior to that, which means I am all-too-familiar with train action; I suppose if that happened, I would stay at a Bath Road hotel and buy a flight to MCR, but I'd rather not. I booked Hilton Paddington, which I can still cancel, unless I am just flat out warned it's a disaster, as it seems by then, I will just want to walk over and sleep.

Really appreciate the input. I used SWUs for the flights, so I knew that meant an oddly timed flight, but obviously worth it for the upgrade.

lhrsfo

The only two recent occasions I have arrived at that hour were both on BA into T5. On both occasions BA took well over an hour to deliver my bag which meant I missed the limited train/tube service and had to take an Uber. Moral: have a backup plan.

travelingdrsuz

I am definitely a fan of back up plans. I endorse this advice!
I am flying AA, which certainly isn't the best ever, but I have never waited an hour, and I sincerely hope this time is not the first, but good advice.

travelingdrsuz

Reporting back to say thanks. My flight was last night on AA90 and we landed 47 minutes ahead of schedule, thanks to strong tailwinds, the Captain said. ORD to LHR with only about 6.5 hours in flight. Despite it being a daytime flight, I managed to sleep through 4 hours of the thing. Those beds are quite comfortable for my petite self, and I curl up like a baby. Bag took around 20 minutes, and I was at the boarding area for HEX by the time the plane was supposed to land. I went with HEX because the idea of just getting on and off 15 minutes later was all I wanted at that point. Hilton Paddington was fine for a place to sleep. They did upgrade me, so that was nice. To top it all, my Avanti train ran on time. So I write this thank you from Manchester.

Side note: I am really glad I didn't take today's flight because I see it's delayed by almost 1.5 hours, which is not typical for AA90, but it was good to be prepared for that if it happened to me. So far Heathrow has been good to me. Since I am flying out of Heathrow, I probably just jinxed it!