The hassle of Heathrow
Posted on July 30th, 2007 by Jackie Danicki
You mean the government has only just noticed what a gigantic pain in the backside Heathrow is? Jesus wept.
Filed under: Life
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C'est moi
VP of Marketing & Communications for Rackup, but nothing here reflects what my employer or colleagues think. In fact, they probably think it's all cray-cray.
I’m guessing they don’t have to stand in line with the rest of us, most of the time…
Personally I think the most horrible place in the world is the Non-EU nationals line at Stansted. I have stood in it for as much as 90 minutes on occasion. That Heathrow, Gatwick, and Stansted all belong to the same company (BAA) is a scandal.
In about six months we will get Terminal 5 opening at Heathrow. This will be a huge, modern state of the art terminal that should be easy and pleasant to travel from if everything is run correctly. None of the “There is no space / the building is really old” excuses will apply. The question is whether BAA can find a way to fuck it up anyway. I bet they can.
Michael, I’ve flown into the UK via Stansted twice - once (coming back from Bratislava) I breezed right through that line, the other time (coming back from Grenoble) I was there for at least 90 minutes. Queues at Heathrow are almost ALWAYS insanely long. Even though I have permanent leave to remain, the ’special’ queue for people like me has nine times out of ten been given over to all non-EU nationals. I have a trick for bypassing the big line and getting through ASAP, but I’m reticent to share it (especially since the last time I used it, things got a little dicey with the a-hole passport control officer). Let’s just say that I hope Terminal 5 will have twice as many passport control officers working as the other terminals usually have.
I go through Heathrow probably three or four times a year, usually when I fly long haul, and mainly using Terminal 3. I go through Stansted about once a month. The immigration lines are bad at Heathrow, but as I say, I generally find Stansted to be worse. I usually get through in half an hour at Heathrow, but Stansted usually takes longer, and sometimes a lot longer. This may have to do with the time I fly though - I often come back into Stansted on Sunday evening. Basically, though, both airports are horrible. (I find Gatwick a little better).
My immigation status is the same as yours - I have indefinite leave to remain but a foreign passport. I think I know the trick you are talking about, but I have also had the “things get a little dicey with….” experience, so I am never sure whether I should try it.
The other thing about Heathrow is that it is such a horrible airport to leave from. It is long lines, crowded and disorganised queues for check in, absurd queues in which thousands of people queue for two X-Ray machines, and seemingly endless walks and tiny departure lounges. (Huge amounts of space is devoted to duty free stores, and very little to things that are actually useful to me like bars and restaurants). Stansted is at least better in this regard.
BAA the owner of the airports has a big problem. If I suggest to you that when a plane lands, its time to greet the customers, you might think this is basic stuff. BAA has a different view. When a plane lands - drink tea.
Oh yes… and if you complain loudly as I do, you get an extra 1/2 hour added to your trip through. But its worth the wait.