Avoiding Heathrow
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The first time I went to London Heathrow was in 1994 and at that time, I thought that this was one of the world’s best airports (and it probably was). That was a transit trip and I had a four hour layover. There was enough to keep a novice traveler occupied for that duration and while I remember it as being definitely crowded, it wasn’t overwhelming. Subsequent trips in 2000 and 2003 were to the U.K. and I still found the airport good (but not great like Incheon or Changi). A few months ago, I had the misfortune of going through Heathrow again (transit) on a trip to Europe. I realized to my dismay that Europe’s busiest airport had descended into the dirty, chaotic mess that fits a developing or under developed nation rather than “Great” Britain.
The airport, which is now owned by a Spanish firm, handles close to 67 million passengers yearly even though it’s designed to handle only 45 million [source: The Economist]. The security lines snake for hundreds of yards and even if you have gone through excruciating security (”Spread ‘em Mr. Tafkap“) in other airports and you are just transiting, you still have to go through another humiliating check here. This means that any liquid you purchased in JFK (after clearing the security there) has to be thrown out before going through Heathrow security. People were clearly frustrated with this and I saw piles of discarded beverage containers next to the security line. The passengers were cursing in various exotic languages. The cost of buying anything after going through security is just preposterous here. A black coffee cost me around US $5 if I remember correctly. I didn’t even bother checking the prices on the Single Malts at the Whisky store. The toilets were crowded, stinky, and not well maintained (trails of toilet paper was all over the floor in the toilet close to the security check area).
The worst thing that I found about Heathrow though, is the delay in letting passengers know their gates. You, like hundreds of others, mill about the shopping area watching big monitors until close to half an hour before the plane is scheduled to depart when they finally tell you which gate yours is. You’ll have to then hike a long distance to get to your gate on time. Good luck if you are disabled in some way. When I asked a customer service rep why it took so long for them to do this, they said that they don’t have enough staff for opening the gates on time. No wonder that a third of Heathrow’s flights to Europe leave late. The recent security scares in the U.K. and the frequent strikes by the staff (mostly of South Asian descent) at Heathrow just causes more problems for the airport.
Here’s my advice to you if you are headed to Europe: Avoid Heathrow at all costs. I’d rather pay a few hundred dollars more to transit through Amsterdam, Paris or Zurich rather than this hellhole again unless of course I am going to the U.K.
The best airport that I have ever been through is Singapore’s Changi Airport. Amazingly efficient, pleasant and a place where you have so much to do that a delayed flight over there might actually bring a smile to your face. Heathrow is one crowded, chaotic place and my memories of the airport from several years ago were bad but not as much as your recent one was. Other European airports where I have had pleasant experiences were Frankfurt, Zurich and Amsterdam.
My only recent experience with European airports was in 2005, when I flew through Heathrow to Berlin, and then again to get to Dublin (and then again to return to the U.S.). Berlin Tegel airport and Dublin Airport seemed neither better nor worse than I recalled from my last trips to each in the ’90’s. Heathrow, on the other hand, was a disorganized mess that I would only wish on my worst enemies - and even then I’d have pangs of regret.
I like Changi too and despite long layovers on trips to India from the US (normally 8 hours when going from San Francisco), the time flies by. But I actually like Seoul’s Incheon airport better. It’s not as big as Changi but it seems cleaner and for lack of a better word, hip.
Today’s Journal has an article about the baggage nightmare in Heathrow especially by its dominant airline, British Airways. So, avoid the airport and the airline for now.
Amsterdam Schilpol airport has the same rules that you mentioned above.. if you are carrying any liquid with you.. other than the allowed limit.. you will have the same fate of the passengers at Heathrow. If you are planning to buy something in Amsterdam.. it is about 25% more expensive.. and if you end up using one of the credit cards, teh prices go up by another 3%.. you are in for a price shock…
Amsterdam is more expensive than London? I seriously doubt that.
Credit cards will cost you extra money no matter where you use them internationally. That’s the price of convenience.
Today, I changed the route of a future trip to Europe from London Heathrow to Munich and the airline representative laughed commiseratively when I made the request.
The horrors continue at what is obviously the worst airport in the developed world:
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gkZgf9GvchF1eMvhVXhLzF0Qz8SAD8UU8PVG0
We flew through Heathrow last month because we were connecting flights there. Thank God that our flight connection was at the same terminal because I have heard that switching terminals and having to go through all the crazy security is a nightmare in itself. Even in the same terminal, after disembarking your first flight, you first need to go through metal detectors and carry-on bag screening. You also have to prove that you have a connection which is fun if you are e-ticketed and don’t have a paper itinerary on hand. Luckily we did. And yes, it is a pain that they only open your flight’s gate 30 mins before departure. I must consider ourselves lucky that all our bags made our connections too.
Maybe this [NYT] might help… if you fly to Heathrow on British Airways (I won’t).