Heathrow Sucks
 

Just got back from 2 weeks in Europe and transfered through Heathrow both ways. I had such high hopes that this was one of the world's great airports...but it sucked. Came down stairs Outside then had to get on some bus and ride around for 20 min to get to the next terminal. Very crowded and old. <BR>Few bathrooms anywhere. And the worst part was this departure lounge concept where everyone crowds into one spot. Then about 40 minutes before departure the gate is announced and everyone sprints down there. Honestly 3 hours was barely enough to change planes! Next time I'm flying Virgin and going to Gatwick!

I'm in complete agreement with ya matey. <BR>The only time we use Heathrow is when we are going to London.

Could'nt agree more - definitely one to by pass at all costs.

Thanks a lot guys. Now you tell me!!!!

Whether I agree or not doesn't matter. What does is that you take the time to write to the right people at Heathrow, telling them that you have put this message on the Fodor's site and that it has got responses agreeing with you. I am sure if you look at the B A A website you will find out who you are looking for management-wise. <BR> <BR>Americans have a reputation (a good one, I might add) for being effective complainers. Do your country proud!

My main complaint [after the dreariness of much of Heathrow and the "corral" theory of passenger management] is the distances that must be walked/traversed to get anywhere. While the signage is passable, I often feel as though I am in an endless sealed labryinth. I feel like a rat and I start wanting cheese:) <BR> <BR>Art -- if you had only asked:)

Well, for your travel enjoyment, why not stop and see the Detroit (Michigan, USA) airport? Based on the description of H. they may have been designed by the same boob(s).

Although Detroit (Northwest) may well be the lost luggage capital of domestic US flights, it is nothing compared to my three connections at Heathrow. I fly out of ORD, and I now feel much better about my home airport, even Concourse C, after seeing Heathrow.

All together now, Python fans: <BR>"And I'm so worried about the <BR>Baggage retrieval <BR>System they've got in Heathrow." <BR> <BR>Personally, I consider the words "great airport" oxymoronic, anyhow--but I will agree that I've had some of my scariest times in good ol' Heathrow.

Yeeesh! I was tempted to post a similar complaint a few months ago! They unload a 747 out on the tarmac (which takes *forever*) load us into busses and drive around where planes are taking off, trucks are speeding around, etc. I'm surprised people aren't killed out on Heathrow's tarmac daily. Then after we traverse the aforementioned sealed labyrinth we must all go down an escalator into a very small area and wait for our bus to change terminals -- so people are being dumped at the bottom of this escalator on top of each other. We had to go through Heathrow and change terminals THREE times on our last trip and I will never visit LHR again if I can help it. Gatwick or Stansted must be better!

Don't bet on it! I've never had a problem at Heathrow, but I can't stand Gatwick. Of course, DTW was my home airport for many years, followed by ORD, and then LaGuardia...

Susan, I used to have a job in England that required me to go "into the bowels" of Heathrow at least monthly, sometimes more often. You're right! It is total pandemonium. The terminals are bad enough--but out on the ramp and moving around the shops and office buildings under and between terminals is one of the most frightening things I've ever done. I simply refused to drive there--made one of my subordinates do it. And I drove in Naples for 3 1/2 years and had no accidents! I too don't see how they get buy without at least one fatality a day.

Oops, that's "get by", not "get buy". (And I read it before posting, too. Am I really beginning to fall apart?)

Bob - <BR> <BR>I'm curious - what exactly were you told that raised your hopes so high about Heathrow? I rarely hear comments about it one way or the other - but when I do, they're negative.

we are watching you........you TWAT! <BR>

I love arriving at Heathrow. It means I just got to London! (and I get to get off that plane after 11 hours) <BR> <BR>I saw a documentary on some of the many the jobs that it takes to make Heathrow work. It's amazing that it's not a bigger mess than it is.

Bob - Who is a Twat? More importantly, WHAT is a twat?

Firstly, the bloke that posted the question. <BR> <BR>Secondly, a TWAT is on page 876 of the Oxford English. <BR> <BR>thirdly: Tne Queen Mum has just died so show some f***king respect!

Bob, you ARE kidding about the Queen Mum aren't you? There's nothing about it on CNN yet, nor on their web page. Please say you're adding to this troll.

Gawd luv,,, if you cant cope with Heathrow don't ever go through Paris Charles de Gaulle....10 times worse.

Having changed planes at Heathrow, Charles de Gaulle and Gatwick, Gatwick is by far the easiest airport for this. The other two involve long walks and confusing signs.

ok, heathrow's not the greatest. i just exit the plane as quick as i can, grab my bags (it actually came out first once, amazingly) and beat it out of there. the thing i hate most is the 20-40 min. circling of the airport waiting to land. it's my only dramamine time on the 11-hr flight.

<BR> <BR>I doubt most of us who live in Britain notice anything unusually daft, inconvenient, dangerous or confusing about Heathrow. That's just the normal way we do things! <BR> <BR>Why do anything the easy way when, with a little effort, you can inconvenience people? <BR> <BR>Just think of LHR as a microcosm of the UK. Then its character and challenges will be good preparation for the rest of your visit here - as well as a fitting welcome! <BR> <BR>

Will, interesting theory! I'm not sure it applies to the "hidden" Heathrow, but it sure seems to for the part the normal traveler sees every time they go through.

As Heathrow is my local airport I've got to stick up for it a little. <BR> <BR>I know there are plenty of things wrong with the airport and that things do go wrong just as at any other airport. <BR> <BR>However, it is the biggest international airport in the world and handles over 62 million people each year. It's also the second biggest cargo hub in the world and is regarded as the hub of the aviation world; over 90 airlines have made Heathrow their base. <BR> <BR>This means that it is a big airport and duh! Yes! That means long distances between gates and transfers. <BR> <BR>In a recent Conde Nast travel survey Heathrow was ranked 10th in the world for overall average satisfaction levels with facilities or services. Funny not one American airport in there! <BR> <BR>And in the Business Traveller awards Heathrow and Gatwick came in 4th and 5th in the worlds best airports league behind Singapore, Hong Kong and Amsterdam. <BR> <BR>Smaller airports will always be easier to navigate but if I had a couple of hours to kill at an airport during a layover I would choose the facilities of Heathrow over most of the other airports I've visited. <BR>

Well said London Lad!

I HATE HEATHROW TOO! I don't know about changing planes but the corral waiting is rage inducing as there are not enough seats! An airport I love is Copenhagen. Plenty of seats, shopping and, if I want to, a room to shower and sleep in.

Flier <BR> <BR>No need to shout! I agree Copenhagen is a great airport but you can only fly to limited destinations, 20 intercontinental I think, as londonlad said small airports will always be better and CPH is smaller than Gatwick! <BR> <BR>The problems start when you use the airport as a gateway. If your transatlantic plane arrives late at Copenhagen and you miss your onward connection there are limited onward flights and there might not be a later flight they can transfer you to. Then you are really stuffed! Or as in my case they then put me on a flight to Heathrow to transfer to Istanbul.

Heathrow is a nightmare, and an excellent example of British efficiency. In January, I sat on a plane at the gate for 90 minutes because we were told the runway was covered with snow. It had snowed ONE INCH EIGHT HOURS EARLIER!! To add insult to injury, I had schlepped (sp??) all the way from the gate down to the buses to take me to the other terminal for my connection, only to discover a sign that said the buses weren't running because of the weather (please remember: one inch of snow had fallen around midnight. This was 8 a.m.), so we'd have to take the tube to the other terminal. Apparently, the geniuses at Heathrow couldn't figure out how to put signs up near the gates! Nor could they figure out how to place signs at the TOP of the stairs/escalators! The signs were at the bottom! <BR> <BR>I've flown into Heathrow at least 17 times, and it's always a struggle to get to a connecting flight. It's the worst airport by far I've ever encountered, in any country.

We've dished Heathrow now how about CDG? That's really crap, dirty, crowded and sooo seventies it makes me feel retro and transport to the city!!!!!!

A nod to londonlad and others, yes LHR is the world's hub and granted that can't be easy. I was impressed as we were waiting in line to take off that the nine planes in front of us were from every continent in the world (except Antarctica, of course). But the income the city of London is realizing from this fact should make it possible for some updating and streamlining. For starters I'd get rid of the inefficient busses that transfer you from one terminal to another. LAX is a fairly big airport but the circular design minimizes much of the *walking*. LHR just gives the appearance of an airport that keeps growing and growing without any thought to overall planning and design.

This thread is not one of the most valuable I've seen. Good to know twaddle lives. <BR> <BR>Heathrow congested, crowded? Sure. There are lots of people flying to and from London, and there are scads of routes that pass through. This makes for great schedules and connections, and helps keep fares relatively low. <BR> <BR>Much less crowded at airports no one want to go to. Fares may be higher, schedules poorer, connections inconvenient or non-exitstent. <BR> <BR>Crowded airports are caused by your traveling. Stop traveling and things will be less crowded. <BR> <BR>CDG unfashionable. I'm not sure that's true. The solution, Mike? Double or triple your airfares so folks can afford to build a new multi-billion dollar airport every decade or so to make sure your sensibilities are damaged. <BR> <BR>

Try this for fun at Heathrow... 8pm flight delayed till 10pm, 9.30pm still not boarded and get told there is a problem because of the previous flight with that plane having come in late. Board very hastily at 10.30pm and get told we should hope and pray that we can take off by the Heathrow 11pm deadline. By this time it is pretty obvious to anyone with half a brain that it is not going to happen. At 11pm sharp we get told that our time is up and we won't be leaving till the next morning, but now the fun really begins. We are told that we cannot leave the plane until we are given permission to and that may take a while because the airport is now closed and staff have gone home. They decide to feed us dinner which is almost ice cold, then we wait and wait! 3am we get the required permission to leave the plane so out we troop into an airport where the only living souls are the few people left to deal with us and cleaning staff. Bear in mind that we have more than our fair share of babies and young children on our flight. One poor lady was trying to carry a sleeping baby and a very tearful 2/3 year old and a pushchair and everything else that comes with children. After this there is a huge problem finding hotels for all of us and we eventually get there at about 4am, without our luggage!!!! I could go on forever with all the little incidents but suffice to say that we eventually took off the following day at 4pm. Besides the flight delay the organisation was awful, but I must add that I have used Heathrow many times and this was the only time I had a really bad experience. I do realise that the delay was the airline's fault but the Heathrow part was pretty bad. <BR>Sorry this was so long winded but I just relived the whole thing :( <BR>Well I wish all the rest of you better luck. :-)

I'm sure everyone will be pleased to hear that BAA have announced that they are going to spend £7 billion ($10 billion)upgrading Heathrow over the next couple of years - unfortunately this most probably means even more chaos in the ensuing time!

Bob and all others: LHR is not bad at all. What airport is better? Gatwick is in the middle of nothing with no means of transportation to London except the train. LHR has taxis, buses and the tube. Most importantly, LHR is easy to get to from anywhere and the connections are great to all cities in Europe and the Middle east. That is why it is a great airport.

I was psyched last year when I was detoured through Heathrow love the duty free. Never had any problems at Heathrow on any trips over. All of the other stuff mentioned here I have had happen to me at JFK. Guess I am use to it. Planes regularly drop people off passengers on the ground to be later picked up by buses.

<BR>"British efficiency"? <BR> <BR>How oxymoronic is that? <BR> <BR>We don't do efficiency. That's a GERMAN thing. (They started two wars, you know - TWO! And for WHAT?!) <BR> <BR>And LAX might have been PLANNED, with future growth in mind, but we don't like to be too proactive here. It's not the done thing. I mean, it's so OPTIMISTIC to plan for growth! <BR> <BR>Not to mention overconfident, if not down right ARROGANT! <BR> <BR>After all, why do something right the first time when, with a little effort, you can do it twice? <BR> <BR>That's what built the empire! <BR> <BR>

Yes Heathrow is a dump, but Gatwick is just as bad. <BR> <BR>Too many shops , too many airlines trying to transit passenegers onwards (please fly direct). <BR> <BR>London's best most ,modern airport and one of it's best kept secrets is Stansted but only continetal use it to the uS. Even with the forty minute train journey this is London's premier airport.

Right on, John. I'd pick Stanstead every time if I could.