Need help with complicated arrival at Heathrow.
 

We are taking a family trip to London in August, but arriving on 3 separate flights, into 2 different terminals at Heathrow. My husband is arriving from a business trip in Chicago on United, Terminal 3, at 11:15am. My 2 daughters and I are arriving from Los Angeles on United, Terminal 3, at 12:15pm. My son is arriving from Israel on El Al, Terminal 1, at 1:35pm. How easy is it to get from Terminal 3 to Terminal 1, especially with 4 pieces of luggage? Any suggestions on what to do with the hour between each arrival? Also, any suggestions on car services to take the 5 of us, with probably 6 pieces of luggage to the Northern suburbs of London? I've seen a few recommendations on this forum, but would like to hear if there are any others. Thank you.

There are thousands of (free) bag trolleys that you can use to shift your luggage from T3 to T1; there's a tunnel between them (plainly signposted) - the walk takes maybe 10 minutes.

Can't help on the large party transfer question, but someone will.

Try Hallmark Cars on +44 (0)1582722600, website www.hallmarkcars.co.uk
We've used them for years; I know they have 7 seater MPVs, so you should be OK. The price may seem a tad expensive, but it's cheaper than paying for 2 ordinary taxis.

Thanks for your help. Any other input?

Once you've factored in the possibilities of headwinds and tailwinds, queueing for the plane(s) to land, getting through immigration and collecting baggage, the gaps between the arrivals could be considerably more or less than the scheduled hour. Either way, the arrivals sides are not so good on things to divert people; but I'm sure there's a newsagent where you can buy a copy of Time Out to start seeing what's on, and a café to buy something to snack on while you're checking it out. If memory serves, these places are quite close to where people exit from the arrivals halls, in both terminals; though presumably the first arrival will need to be the most alert - next time you can share lookout duties. There are maps on www.baa.com/heathrow.

For transportation into London, try justairports.com. I'll be using them next week based on several recommendations on this site.

I also will be using justairports next week , I hope the recommendations of this forum work :)

We used justairports.com three times on the trip from which we have just returned, including the morning of July 7, when we arrived at Heathrow at 8:30 AM and were very grateful to have a driver waiting with our name on a sign. I have also used them on previous trips and been perfectly satisfied.