Comments on: Video: Stupidly long lines at London Heathrow Airport

By: 1stWorldDisaster

1stWorldDisaster — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 00:32:04 +0000

Heathrow is by far the worst 1st World Airport. The apathy of ground staff is mind-boggling. I wish Dubai would step up and let people fly through there….. LHR needs some competition.

By: Who knew making travel so painful would be so fun? « Thenotoriousmeg's Blog

Who knew making travel so painful would be so fun? « Thenotoriousmeg's Blog — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 01:08:45 +0000

[...] also the skip the line element: at Heathrow for one, we were able to totally skip a line like this. But beyond that, it's just a matter of pride. H will be damned if he flew 90,000 [...]

By: Reader mail: Where should I make international connections? » Upgrade: Travel Better

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 01:34:24 +0000

[...] I applaud your strategizing, Mara, and I think you’re well on your way, simply knowing that Heathrow is a place to avoid. (Don’t believe me? Watch the video.) [...]

By: TomS

TomS — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 11:31:28 +0000

Even as a transit passenger you will be forced to get off the plane in London and go through security. London security will go through all your personal belongings, and can potentially confiscate your belongings, including extra baggage, duty-free items, jewellery and cash.
For a few extra dollars, it would be better to find another airline that does not go through London.

By: Vagabondish | This Week in Offbeat Travel - June 9, 2007

Vagabondish | This Week in Offbeat Travel - June 9, 2007 — Sat, 09 Jun 2007 16:20:34 +0000

[...] The longest line you’ll ever see. Check out this video of the customs line at Heathrow Airport (Hat tip: Upgrade: Travel Better): [...]

By: TwoCrabs

TwoCrabs — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 11:36:12 +0000

WOW! I have flown out of Heathrow countless times and I’ve NEVER seen a line that long. What was going on that day? Are you sure this was February? Maybe it was August after the transatlantic bomb plot?

By: The Global Traveller

The Global Traveller — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 05:09:38 +0000

That line is for LHR T3 security not customs. Ask me how I know this

A recent London Heathrow transit through Flight Connection Centre took me 100 minutes to clear security, on a normal day (no weather or other disruptions, no holidays or major events). There was a pre-queue for the pre-queue for the main queue! The really annoying this is it is so easy to fix. I don’t recall ever seeing every screening station opened, and often only 2 or 3 are open. If they took some staff off the “shouting at the queues” duty and on to manning the screeners, the queues and angst would be much less.

By: Ben K

Ben K — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 01:05:52 +0000

I went through Heathrow twice in the last ten days. Inbound, I had to change planes. Will someone tell me the logic to coming off a plane where I had to go through the US’s TSA security theater and hike over straight to the line for the Brit’s version of same? Of the fourteen security people hanging around, only two seemed to be doing anything remotely constructive.

On the way back, I encountered the mess shown in the video. To make it worse, one agent tells me I have to go to the far end of the building, where I am told to go back where I started from, where I am again told to go back to the far end. At which point I screamed for a supervisor. When I finally got to the counter, took the agent 20 minutes to figure out how to issue a boarding card!

Worst managed circus I’ve seen in any first world airline.

OTOH, the cabin crew on the airplane was pretty good, except they were not checked out on the new movie system, so it kept crashing.

By: David Ourisman

David Ourisman — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 18:23:13 +0000

This is a great reason, also, to use airports like Bristol and Manchester which now have non-stop US flights. Of course, the security lines at Manchester were also incredibly long, but they seemed to move pretty quickly.

If you’re flying business class, be sure to inquire about how to find the “Fast Track” entrance to the security lines.

By: Irma

Irma — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 15:51:33 +0000

Only JFK is worse, at the moment. We travelled from Amsterdam to London in December and had to wait in line for over 1,5 hour to just change planes. We arrived at the gate panting and nervous because of the “last call” sign flickering.

And then we arrived at JFK, where we had to stand in line for a little over 2 hours, to have our picture and fingerprints taken. There were grandparents, small babies, people in wheelchairs and on crotches, business people in a hurry: just waiting stupidly in a snake like line. There was no opportunity to get out of the waiting line to use the bathroom.

There was NO way to get a drink somewhere. Of course no one cared that there were hundreds of people waiting without any water. Water that we weren’t allowed to bring on board in the first place. We felt very welcome. Not. Shame that we love to visit our NY family so much (and, to be honest: to spend our holidays in the US), or we’d never return!

This March we flew from Amsterdam to Hong Kong, and finally to Sydney. Back through Singapore and Frankfurt We paid an extra 150 euro’s so we wouldn’t have to fly through either London or the US.

I can’t believe why anyone would want to fly through Heathrow: it’s filthy and very dark brown & orange 1970′s. If you have to actually be in London, you’d better go to Stansted, Luton or City. Much cheaper also. For long distance flight: Paris, Frankfurt or Amsterdam.

*End of rant*