How to Make a Connecting Flight at Heathrow Without Losing Your Mind
My my, London Heathrow (map), how you have changed.
I distinctly remember my first Heathrow experience. I wasn’t living in the UK at the time, so it was a connecting flight. I had heard all the horror stories about mis-connects, sweaty sprints down claustrophobic corridors and the like, but I wasn’t prepared for the chaos. First was the lengthy walk to the connections area. Then there was that long wait on a cold bus, and an even longer drive to my second gate once the bus finally left. And then, wait, security check? Oh no. And then another long wait, and a security check again at the gate? But my plane is leaving, right now!
Thankfully, that was Heathrow of years gone by. Today, Heathrow is a well oiled machine – for the most part. I’m sure by saying that, everyone who has had a misconnect there will step forward to air their grievances, but as for me, having made connections on a regular basis in Heathrow for the past five years, I’m here to say that things have improved by leaps and bounds.
I’m going to walk through a few tips and suggestions, but if you’re feeling pretty nervous about Heathrow and have a connecting flight coming up, I suggest you pop over to the Heathrow website and watch this snazzy connections video – it’s quite helpful and shows you exactly what you go through now.
Introducing Co-Location
Heathrow has been spending about a £1 billion (yes, with a “b”) a year for upgrades to the aging airport. One of the things that I think has made the biggest difference, and must have been an utter nightmare to orchestrate, is the program called “co-location.” This means shifting airlines so that the airlines that codeshare or belong to the same airline alliance are in the same terminal.
So, if you fly United Airlines to Heathrow, and have a connecting ticket onto a BMI flight, you wouldn’t have to take a bus to connect between terminals. Shaving off that cold bus ride and at least a half an hour of time.
The process is far from complete, but many of the larger airlines have shifted, so they’re getting there. Connecting in the same terminal means about a 15 minute walk or so, depending on which terminal and where you’re headed. Much much easier. I can’t wait for the rest of the shifting to finish, but this won’t be totally complete until terminal 2 is re-opened - they are tearing it down and rebuilding it, since it was in pretty poor shape last time I was there.
Terminal Improvements: Spending Time Is Not So Bad
Part of that £1 billion per year is also going to some massive terminal upgrades. Here are just a few of the new features of several of the terminals:
- Wifi: Is it possible to build an airport these days without Wifi? Unfortunately, it isn’t free.
Some restaurants and lounges offer free access, and you can try and use if you want. - High-Res Displays: Those creaking old television monitors are gone, and now big, bold, easy-to-read monitors are throughout the terminal, so it is clear to see where you’re going and what you need to be doing. Be sure to look at the monitors and maps – the gate numbering isn’t always clear, and it kind of skips around, which can be confusing. The signs are always right on though.
- Windows: Some of the old Heathrow terminals felt like you were in some old office building…underground. Small windows, no windows, low ceilings, bad florescent lighting. Blech! Now, there is a lot of natural light coming in, and plenty of seats near windows so you can feel a little more alert. After that long flight, you’ll need it.
- Amenities: Used to be you were lucky if you could find anything but a newspaper and a candy bar in this place. Now, you can partake in a spa appointment if you’ve got the time, followed by a duty free shopping spree and a gourmet lunch. The amenities vary per terminal (Terminal 5 being the best, I think), but every time my bag and I roll through, I just think, “wow – that wasn’t there before.” It makes such a difference in connecting when you can sit down and have a proper hot meal, or get that nice latte and a scone you were craving in flight.
As well, I just feel like the terminals are a lot cleaner than the used to be. Maybe it’s that light-and-airy feel. I don’t know. But it’s better, that’s all that matters.
Other Tips and Recommendations
Hiccups can still happen at the best of times, so I leave you with a few other suggestions to make your Heathrow connection a little less nightmarish.
- If you’re connecting, be sure to check the Heathrow website to look up your airline terminals. Knowing where to go is half the battle.
- Tweet ‘em. Heathrow Airport is on Twitter, and they can be a super useful resource during irregular operations at the airport, as they’ll tweet what is going on and what you should do. (Don’t use Twitter? That’s ok – you can still go to the link above and see their latest news posts. You only need an account if you want to reply to them.)
- Pace yourself: Like any airport, you might have extra security screenings, a long walk to a gate at other end of the airport, etc. Mentally pace yourself. It’s a small price to pay for a great vacation, right? We’re all lucky to be able to afford to fly, so take a deep breath – you’ll be there soon.
Photo Credit: Roland
