Heathrow Carnage, so worried about flight next week!

[JolieJ]

I'm flying home to Canada finally after 3 years to see family, with DH and DS 7 (SN) and DS 2.5 (hyperactive toddler) and I'm genuinely scared after reading about the chaos at Heathrow especially today!

Flying BA from Terminal 5 mid week and I was thinking that it would be okay but it doesn't seem to be, people are having to Que hours to check in, security and then flights are all getting delayed and bags going missing.

How can people do this? I wish I had any other option but I desperately miss my family and want to see them after so long

Personally we've paid for fastrack on security and for the lounges- mainly in case there are delays. Only annoying issue we've had was an hour wait for luggage

We flew last Satutday, 3 children under 5, we dropped bags & were through security within 40 mins of arriving at the airport. Flight was delayed by 30 mins but it was fine. Flying back tomorrow so hopefully it will be the same.

Has anyone flown out on an 8am-ish flight on a weekday recently? How far in advance did you arrive? I appreciate that by the time of our flight it’ll be school holidays () so past experiences may not be the best guide…

I’m contemplating booking special assistance as I’m still recovering from an injury & standing for long periods is simply not possible. I’ll be travelling with DH so he hold take charge of the wheelchair if needed, we wouldn’t always need a staff member to accompany us.

DH flew to the US for work in the last school holidays and it was fine; all a bit busier than usual due to people arriving earlier but otherwise a pretty normal Heathrow experience. I’d hope things would be improving compared to them as more flights have been cancelled in advance.

We did T5 this morning (arrived at 5am) and it was busy for the time of day, but we were through pretty quickly - about 20 mins or so.

We did have a two hour delay which we weren’t told about/pilots now aware of until everyone was on the plane so we just sat on the runway which was frustrating. They were down to one runway when we flew as they had issues with overnight works.

Do allow plenty of time, air tag your luggage if you can and expect delays but you willl hopefully be pleasantly surprised! Most people are getting away ok.

I am just back from canada a few days ago. We are in scotland so flew domestic to heathrow and transisted to international. The only issue was the transit into terminal 3. There was one person dealing with all travellers transistioning form domestic to international. We had a 3 hour turnaround and made it to the the gate with 15 mins to spare.. but if you are going straight from heathrow you wont have that issue.
Apart from that it was totally fine..our flights were all on time (well we were delayed because someone didnt make their flight and they had to retrieve their bags but that can happen any time)

Our bags had to transistion as well which had me worried but they turned up in calagary and returned to glasgow with no issues whatsoeve

I am glad you flying BA because Air Canada's cabin service is atrocious "due to covid"
have a safe flight

@frasersmummy
Every single Canadian we met on holiday there said Air Canada is rubbish. They are. It’s not just a post COVID issue either.

BA might not be the best but they are better than AC. AC also have 3 price points. Signature Class seems to be more expensive than BA Business but their premium economy isn’t a close to a business experience. It’s more like BA premium plus. We find BA business a better priced product and has T5 lounge. So I’m planning to avoid AC if at all possible.

Transit times at Heathrow are longer then you think if changing terminals.

Flew from Heathrow yesterday morning at 8.25am from T5 and it was absolutely fine. We had checked in online the day before, no queues at check in (we were there three hours before), 20 mins to get through security. It was busy airside but fine. Plane set to leave on time but was a little late as there was a problem detaching the bridge but nothing major. Arrived in the USA 15 mins later than planned and our bags made it too.

BA have been consolidating flights with several weeks notice so I think are faring much better at the late cancellation thing. Also, most of the problems they have experienced are not due to BA themselves but Heathrow airport. I am not disputing that there HAVE been major issues but the press isn’t going to be reporting on “thousands of flights have left the U.K. this week with no issues”.

Well we found out this morning that our Virgin airlines flight from Heathrow to New York in early August has been cancelled. Went into travel agent today to try and find out what was happening and they had no idea about it. Currently in limbo waiting for the "holiday change team" - euphemism for can't fulfill what you've paid for team- to find an alternative and less convenient flight.

Has anyone used the overnight bag drop with BA at T5? We’re staying at a Heathrow hotel the night before our flight, so could actually use this & reduce the stress the morning of the flight. My main concern is it gives more time for our bag to disappear & not make the flight…!

I would definitely check bags the night before if it's an option. Have never done it at Heathrow but always do it at our equally chaotic local airport (mainland Europe) and will do so again when we fly on a family holiday in a couple of weeks. Worth the small risk I reckon.

Just posted on another thread.
Also we used Airport for £36 for 2 bags, they come to you and pick your bags up the day before and check them in.

I don’t think it’s as bad as people make out….I think 90% of passengers are ok.
We had our inbound cancelled, but just moved it another flight on the same day.
We flew out on Monday with a 40 minute delay.
We did the Verifly app, checked in online and printed our boarding passes.
we paid £36 for AirPortr to pick up our bags the day before and check them in for us, I was worried about long check in queues.
Security in T5 was about an hour.
we arrived at our destination with both our bags.
we are a family of 3, child is 4.