6 Hours at Heathrow

L

LonghornLawyer

500+ Posts
So I decided to do Egypt next year for the big honeymoon, and we've booked a couple of first-class tickets on British Airways using miles. On our way to CAI, we have a six-hour layover at LHR (arriving around 6:00 PM and departing around midnight).

My experience is that LHR is a ********--it's a terribly designed airport and the experience of waiting in the connecting area until they assign your flight a gate (never more than one hour until departure time) is strongly suggestive of what Purgatory must be like. With that being said, I've never had access to BA's first class lounge at LHR, which I suspect is pretty nice.

My recollection is that the train to Paddington Station takes about 15 minutes. But I fear once we clear customs, get the train into London, and get the train back to LHR in time to clear security, we'll have only a very limited amount of time in London. Of course, that is time that could be spent having a nice dinner or possibly seeing a play.

Thoughts? Should I try to make it into London or should I just go hang out at the first class lounge, get a shower and a bite to eat, and cool my jets for six hours?
 
Buddy of mine just had a 6 hour layover at Gatwick and went into London for several hours with his wife, no problem. Have no idea if it's easier to get in and out of Gatwick than Heathrow, since I've never done it before.
 
You could take the Heathrow express to Paddington and run around London for a bit - with a first class ticket you get to go to the "express" security line so shouldn't have to wait when you get back to the airport.
 
It's risky.

Let's say that you have a 6 hour layover from the time that the plane lands. We'll give it 1 hour for you to gather your belongings, exit the plane, pick up your luggage, go through customs, store your luggage in a locker, make your way to the Heathrow express and wait for a train to arrive.

It will take you roughly 30 minutes round trip for the Heathrow express.

It will take you roughly 30 minutes round trip to walk back to Paddington station provided that you don't venture out far. (And you get there when a train is waiting for you)

You will need to be at the airport at least 2 hours in advance for an international flight. As you know, Heathrow is **** at getting people in/out of security and it is one of the busiest airports in the world. I wouldn't arrive much later than that.

1 hour + 30 minutes + 30 minutes + 2 hours = 4 hours

So, potentially, you can have 2 hours to "sightsee" London at best. 1 hours if you want to be extra cautious.

Not worth it.
 
Spanky,

I'm with you on your timeline. My understanding is that we can recheck our luggage immediately upon clearing customs, so we should have boarding passes and luggage checked before leaving the airport. But even with that, I agree that I would want to be back at LHR a couple of hours before the scheduled departure just to clear security. I would hope that they would have a dedicated first class security line to speed the process, but I don't want to bet on that.

LonghornLawyer-ette and I have both been to London, so we don't need to do too much sightseeing, and in any event, there's not much to be done that time of night. But I'm thinking that would be the perfecting time for dinner at a nice place in London (suggestions appreciated).

My only concern is whether we're both going to be too antsy to get back to the airport to enjoy dinner, and whether we'd both be better off getting dinner at the first class lounge, which wouldn't be as good, but would be (1) free and (2) more relaxed.
 
that clock-watching feeling would kill a nice dinner for me. maybe if it was just a casual- hire a drive in advance and find the best fish and chips place and go for a nice ride.
 
I've flown to London First Class to both Heathrow and Gatwick. (American and Continental) Both times I had to reclaim my luggage, go through customs, and wait in line with the masses to recheck my luggage. (Both flights were en route to Russia and 1 was an overnight stay) BA may be different, but I would certainly check beforehand.

If true, tack on another 30 minutes to recheck your luggage. That gives you an hour and a half of play time for dining. Every nice place in London that I have been to either accepted reservations or had a nice wait for a table. (Mostly tourist zones) By the time you receive your entrees, you may need to get a take away carton.

Also hope that the trains don't get delayed on any leg of your trip...

As said above, clock-watching doesn't equate for a nice dinner to me. Since you've already been to London before, I'd go for the free meal and avoid the headache. It may not be as nice as a night out, but you will enjoy it more.

As a point of reference, the Admiral's Club (AA) had lobster, steak, scallions and a fine selection to choose from. It was enjoyable for the Mrs. and I. I assume BA is comparable.
 
Couple things

1. The BA lounge in Heathrow is very nice. It will not be near as horrible as LHR normally is.

2. If you do take the express to the city when you get back, there is a special first class line for BA. You get your own special security gate and its very quick.
 
I have flown through Heathrow once, Gatwick twice- I never had to claim my bags- they were checked through. Now I did have to go through customs and security again. All three times were on AA with BA connecting flights.
 
(Posted from "purgatory" at LGW)

Don't leave the airport. Enjoy your honeymoon in the first class lounge. If you are traveling in April or later, you'll get to sample BA's brand new facilities at Terminal 5. That would be a much rarer and stress-free experience than rushing to central London for a greasy kebab.
 
I just flew BA/First Class last week (Thanksgiving in Paris!)... and have done so many times in the past. We've always been able to check our bags all the way through to our destination (as long as you're flying BA the entire way). You will have to go through security again when connecting, but with First Class tickets just follow the lines that say "BA Fast Track" and they'll whisk you straight through. The First Class Lounge in both Terminals 1 and 4 are both exceptional. You can get a good meal, relax, and you even get a complimentary 20 minute spa treatment at the Elemis Day Spa (located just directly adjacent to the First Class lounge) - just be sure to check in with the receptionist to book your time as soon as you arrive in the lounge. The shower facilities are also nice. Those rainshower heads feel great after a 10+ hour flight.
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6 hours will go much more quickly than you realize. Personally - I wouldn't waste the time trying to head into London.
 
and by the way, there's not much to see around Paddington. To get to somewhere you'd want to go (Covent Garden or touristy stuff), you'll have to hop on the tube. Adds another 20-30 min each way.

I'd lounge it.
 
WARNING!!

When flying through HEATHROW to Ireland in February, I had to go through security again. And that's when I learned that London airports allow ONLY 1 CARRY ON!! PERIOD!!

I had to check either my $2,000+ worth of camera equipment (in a tiny backpack) or my briefcase with my laptop computer. The computer was old and heavy packed with other things in the bag, so I decided on that...

It was the right choice, but the computer only worked about 6 more days!
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I have since bought a backpack that can hold BOTH my new laptop and my tiny backpack with my camera equipment. A pain in the *** way to learn.
brickwall.gif
 
London is the city other than Mumbai that is the most prone to being stuck in some sort of god awful traffi and heathrow is hell.

Stay in the lounge, th BA FC lounge is nice
 
No one is mentioning how tired you'll be. Think of the run up to the wedding, the actual wedding events themselves, the jet lag, etc. I wouldn't want to add to that with the stress of trying to get back and forth to Heathrow.

Also, I live in London, so I can tell you that the Tube operates on Murphy's (Sod's) Law. If you have to be somewhere on time, it will do everything in its power to deny you! And I really can't think of anything nice near Paddington, though I'm not as familiar with that neighbourhood. You can buy 5 scarves for £10 though.

Lounge it! Save your energy for Cairo.
 
I second what momoleelee says. Traveling is stressful, even if you do it a lot and you're flying first class. I personall don't sleep well on a plane and sitting down that long sucks. Getting out of and back into a major airport to the city is a lot more hassle. Just hang out in the first class lounge, walk around, eat good food, and watch planes land and take-off.
 
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