Avoid Heathrow's Terminal 3
 

My wife and kids just got back... They landed in T4 and transfered to T3 to catch a AA flight to the US.

WHAT A MESS! It was a nightmare (and my wife has been flying quite a lot, she's traveled to many countries...), the place is horrid, no A/C, not enough personnel, people are late for their connecting flights, people are really losing their patience, people are suffering.

We were unaware actually that her flight will be leaving LHR from T3, and that she will have to transfer from T4 to T3.

So, before making a rservation -- CHECK IT OUT. AVOID T3.

Avoid LHR altogether...

LHR is not my favorite airport, especially when transfers are involved, but unfortunately you have just described a great many airports in this world. Sorry for the hassles.

I avoid Heathrow altogether :D!

Gardyloo posted these links a few days ago:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4xba_YFHj8
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwB4G7XxyRI

Well, so far LHR was T-H-E worst of them all. And we've been changing planes and/or terminals in: Atlanta, Chicago (4 times), Frankfurt, Paris (3 times), Milan, Newark (twice), Kennedy, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Seattle, Phoenix and Las Vegas. NONE has been as bad as LHR, or even close.

2 years ago we stayed at T4 for hours (BA to BA connection). They kept CHANGING THE DEPARTURE GATE, and we found ourselves running like crazy from one side of the terminal to the other... From gate 9 to gate 23, or something.

Goodby, London. Enough is enough. LHR no more.

Mamamia is right. The transfer to terminal 3 is a nightmare. I fly through London about 4 times a year and have to change planes going through this terminal. You are literally herded into a room with winding lines that move very slowly because they do not fully staff the security stations. There is practically no ventilation. This situation has gotten worse in the last year since the big "liquids" scare but it doesn't seem that the LHR airport authorities are doing anything to improve the situation. Yes, most major airports have issues with security but Heathrow is in a class of its own!

Just got back home (Chicago) from LHR a few hours ago. I got to terminal 3 at 5:20 am for an 8:00 am flight. The line to United economy was long, filled with a VERY large (200?) student band group - with accompanying instruments. ((8))

The line at United Premier was non-existent. Not a soul. I had my boarding pass within a few minutes. If I wasn’t a Premier customer, it would have been a mess.

Security took about 40 minutes. It wasn’t that the line was especially long and there didn’t seem to be any particular delay in processing people. It’s just there was only <b>one</b> lane open! JohnK is exactly right.

After going through security, I still had an about an hour to kill waiting for my gate announcement.

All of my fellow passengers seemed to have made the flight, despite the appearance. Of course, I don’t know that for certain, but the plane was full.

Avoid LHR altogether? I could if I didn't fly United, and for a variety of reasons that isn't going to change and that's my choice. I just plan on getting there early. True, I have the benefit of Premier status, so it’s not nearly as bad for me as some may experience. Still, there is that “whew” feeling after getting to the gates!

...Just imagine the SUPER-MESS they're having there since yesterday, and especially today, with all the Islamic terror &quot;activity&quot; going on there in London and Glasgow........ Hmmmmmmm..... Ymmmeeee....

Does this mean that when traveling to London we should go with Gatwick if we can?

Has anyone had any positive LHR experiences?

Gatwick, yes. Bt if needing a connection to another Europenan city, fly to DUBLIN... Much nicer.

Went through LHR yesterday for flight from LHR to JFK (AA105 departure 1155)..

Arrived at 0830...AA check in line was miles long but at least I have an AA gold card....check in took only about 8 minutes.

Security? Well let's see long queue and they take away all liquids (expected that, had a bottle of water for trip to LHR on tube).

Next you know the usual..inspection of boarding pass...put everything in basket on conveyor belt...through magnotometer (1 bag of course all that is allowed)...then a passport check (looking for terrorists leaving the country no doubt) and then after that off come the shoes for a shoe check.

Then of course there is the wait till they post the gate number and for flights to the USA, after all the checks, the insulting random check (don't they trust their British cousins)

All in all while I got through it not a pleasant way to fly and of course we all know the security is meaningless.

Last time I used T3 (about 2 months ago) it took 35 minutes, around 0800, from the platform at Paddington to get the train out to the airport, drop my bags at the BA desk (having checked in online first), go through security (even though I was in cattle class), find the Servisair lounge and pour myself a cup of tea.

Several tens of thousands of people that day had the same experience. If they were foolish enough to use one of those Luddite airlines (like AA) that don't do online checkin except in one country, it would probably have been messier.

None of those tens of thousands of people have bothered recording their reasonable experience because it's easier to whinge - especially if (like the poster) you've been ill-advised enough to choose an airline that doesn't have the faintest idea how to operate international services.

Oh, give it a rest, Flanner. It's not amusing or even clever.

I went through T-3 last Thursday on American Airlines in Biz class, thanks to AA's civilized mileage plan which gives full miles even on lowest coach fares.

Absolutely no problems checking in or going through Security. I love LHR. Never had to change terminals so that might change my opinion. My only complaint is the seemingly miles long walk after arrival in London.