I recently booked a last minute trip from Europe to Washington D.C. I don’t purposely select any airline based on their reward programs, usually my decision is based on price and travel time. I do sometimes pay higher for few hours of travel and fewer connections.
This trip had me going through London’s Heathrow Airport. I was not that familiar with this airport and if I had been, I may have been more selective of my itinerary.
I purchased a ticket on British Airways. The planes and crew are outstanding. The crew was very friendly and welcoming, almost as if they were happy that they were there to share your flight with you. It did seem that way, which sadly is often the opposite of U.S. airlines (correct me if I am wrong).
There were two legs to the flight, transferring at Heathrow Airport. I had 90 minutes to get to my next flight in Terminal 5 from Terminal 3. This is where the rat race started and the blood pressure increased. I disembarked at Terminal 3 and followed the signs to the connecting flights. Luckily there was no passport control as I was not entering England.
Racing around the Airport
I was directed to a bus line that transfers passengers from T3 to T5, these come once every 15 minutes so time was ticking. I waited about 6 minutes for the bus to arrive. It was packed full and it took about 10 minutes (it seemed longer) to get to T5. The transfer buses drive on the same roads as the airport service vehicles, having to stop at red lights. After arriving at T5 I looked at the departure board and saw my flight status was GO TO GATE, which I read as, “we are leaving without you”.
Realizing I was not going to have a leisurely wait until my next flight and my connection was boarding in a few minutes, I rushed through the other calmly walking passengers looking for my gate. I spotted my gate number and felt relief as I arrived. I was wrong. I had to go down a long set of stairs to yet another transfer point. This was a tram that moved between the A, B and C gate and arrives every few minutes I had to wait for about 3 more minutes. Luckily this tram, also packed full of people, stopped at the B gates first and then moved onto the C gates.
Finally – the departure gate
After disembarking the tram, I saw my actual gate way down at the end of the terminal. Thinking I would miss my flight since it was now 25 minutes until my flight was scheduled to depart, I took off running and arrived at a long line of waiting people to board. The flight hadn’t even started to board. Out of breath, disheveled and sweaty, the very friendly British Airlines’ employee joked that “where would we go without you, of course we didn’t leave” when I commented I thought I was going to miss my flight (trying to justify my appearance).
I got in the queue, still adrenaline fueled for no reason now that I was actually where I was suppose to be but anxious to get on the plane. I scanned my boarding pass, again walked down a long flight of stairs to – a waiting bus. This bus took us to the plane. But of course this wasn’t a direct route and the packed bus drove around, again it seemed longer that it was, until we arrived to the waiting plane on the tarmac. I think the plane was just outside my original location where I go off the bus from the T3-T5 transfer (before the transfer tram, the stairs and the sprint across the airport).
Finally – the plane
At the tarmac, there was another set of stairs to actually board the plane, and a fellow passenger commented that there was no way her elderly mother would have been able to do this. I fully agree, it would be quite taxing for persons with immobility issues.
After finally getting to my seat, sweating, shirt tails hanging out and tired, the ever friendly employees greeted me and offered me a drink. The rest of the flight, flawless. The flight crew welcoming, happy and very helpful. Again, I felt like they were happy that they were there and traveling with me, even if Heathrow airport didn’t feel the same.
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