NOW CLOSED Travelled through Heathrow recently with your family? How was it for you? If not, do tell us what you think about families and airports - £500 of vouchers up for grabs

[NewGirlHelenMumsnet]

Please note we are talking on this thread about experiences in the terminal rather than on flights or regarding holiday reps or tour operators.

Heathrow have been working on the facilities and services they offer families at the airport and would like to find out from you how they are doing and what could still be improved. They say "We want your holiday to start the moment you arrive at Heathrow. Travelling with children can be stressful and we want to try and reduce the stress and make family journeys through Heathrow more enjoyable. So, this summer there are new dedicated family security lanes, children's play areas, kids' meal deals, giveaways and much more.

Even if you haven't been through Heathrow you can still take part...The team at Heathrow are also interested in your impressions of the family facilities at other airports and would like to know about any shining examples of great family friendly facilities or staff (anywhere in the world). In addition please do share your tips for coping with children in airports - your tips will be used by Mumsnet for future work.

So, if you've already experienced the more family friendly Heathrow - that is you've been through the airport with children since 11 July 2011...then please take a look at the website and then answer the following questions (these are just to start you off - please add any other comments you have too):
a) When did you visit the airport? Which terminal did you use? And who did you travel with?
b) How well does what's offered on the website match up with your experience of the airport? Did you use/notice the services and facilities they offer on the website? e.g. play areas and kids eat free offers. What did they do well and what was missing?
c) Was there anything at the airport that you thought was particularly family friendly that isn't mentioned on the website?
d) What do you think could be improved at the airport to make your experience of travelling through as a family easier/better?

If you haven't been to Heathrow Airport with your family since 11 July 2011...they'd still like to hear what you think of the facilities, services and offers on the website as well as your previous experiences at Heathrow and any other airports around the world. Please answer the following questions (and also add any other comments you have):
a) Which (if any) of the things highlighted on the website as being for families do you think you would find useful if you visited the airport? Which (if any) would you be unlikely to use when with your family?
b) What would you say is the most important thing airports could do to make them more family friendly?

In addition, everyone is welcome to tell us about any bad experiences of travelling through any airport with your family or indeed any particularly brilliant family friendly experiences. Please also share any tips you have for travelling through airports with children - how do you cope with the queues, security, etc?

Everyone who adds comments to this thread will be entered into a prize draw to win one of five £100 vouchers - winners can choose between a £100 Heathrow and a £100 Amazon voucher. The Heathrow voucher can be spent in any Heathrow shop or restaurant within the next year (if you're not planning to fly, you're welcome to pass them onto a friend/relation with your shopping list!)

Thanks and good luck with the prize draw
MNHQ

a) We flew Air Canada through T3 on July 20th. Two adults, one 9 month old.

b) We noticed the play area immediately, but were disappointed that it was advertised as only for age 2 and up. Still, we decided to try it because there is practically nowhere to let a wriggly crawler explore safely. (T3 always seems incredibly overcrowded and stressful.) The first time we went there was a hyperactive 8 year old bashing around so we found the quietest corner we could for crawling practice. When we went back, we went in and had a safe space for exploration. Another under-2 was in there as well.

We were able to use the family line at security. This was a nice touch as it was relatively quiet.

c) I was happy to see that there was a "Baby Room"/nursing space, but it smelled of nappy bins/cleaning agents, was fluorescent lit, hard chairs, etc. Still, better than nothing. (I nursed in the main seating area by all the shops.)

d) As others have mentioned, a departures board near the play area is essential. Would like a bigger play space too - the play area quickly became overcrowded. A play space split for various ages.

I fly at least twice a year with my family from T5. I only fly BA, in order to use T5 as the other terminals are a nightmare.

Normally, I have a fairly easy time going through security but the last time I was at T5 I approached the security queue nearest where I checked in and was told that as my flight didn't leave in the next hour I would have to walk to the other end of the terminal to go through security. I was 6 months pregnant and travelling with a toddler and no other adult. Needless to say I was very annoyed.

We'll definitely check out the play area next time, but I will be expecting a departures board within sight. We probably won't use the free kids meals as my DD has a thing about giraffes so we have to visit those, but I would tell other people about this.

a) Which (if any) of the things highlighted on the website as being for families do you think you would find useful if you visited the airport? Which (if any) would you be unlikely to use when with your family?

i think everything that you mentioned is useful, and with smaller children very useful and likely to be used. its older children that i think are not catered for.

also i cannot find the definition of a child. i think you need to make it quite clear - are we taking about under 12's eating free at the designated restaurants? under 16's? 18's?

b) What would you say is the most important thing airports could do to make them more family friendly?
for older children some kind of internet access would be great - heavy on the parental controls - somewhat like a library computer access

I have flown via Manchester a few times, with up to 3 children.
Manchester airport is bad enough, but if you get stranded there for a couple of hours with toddlers, God help you.
There is nowhere comfortable to sit and what about lying down when you get stuck for longer? Tough.
The cafes are all horrible over-priced rubbish.
I remember being TOTALLY SHOCKED at how family-unfriendly it was. An argument there with my ex helped us well on the way to divorce. Thankyou, Manchester airport.

a) When did you visit the airport? Which terminal did you use? And who did you travel with?
We fly frequently and went through LHR T5 at the beginning of July. We were flying with BA.

b) How well does what's offered on the website match up with your experience of the airport? Did you use/notice the services and facilities they offer on the website? e.g. play areas and kids eat free offers. What did they do well and what was missing?
Didn't notice any of the facilities mentioned on the website.

c) Was there anything at the airport that you thought was particularly family friendly that isn't mentioned on the website?
The changing room was OK but everything was a bit of a stretch while keeping one hand on DS to stop him rolling off the changing table.

d) What do you think could be improved at the airport to make your experience of travelling through as a family easier/better?
Family lines at security. More help with the pushchair/DS//bags/etc. Why was I made to taste all DS's food? It wasn't liquid.
Having gone through Lisbon a few weeks previously they set the benchmark for family friendliness. Helpful and pleasant security staff, baby food and medicines accepted without any need for tasting/prescriptions/etc. I know all this stuff is DfT controlled but why are we so paranoid in the UK?

Pushchairs for hire in the airport would have been very useful for both arrivals and departures.
Earlier notification of gates to prevent mad dashes through terminal.
Some small play areas by each group of gates would be good.
Less distance to walk generally!
Family lines for any place where you need to queue.

I flew with 18 mth old through Belfast City airport recently, flight cancelled, re-routed etc - then they insisted on taking DS's balloon off him at security, not helium filled just normal balloon that he had got from the coffee shop. That was a nice touch. And I haven't yet found the section in the airport information that explains the dangers of balloons in the departure lounge.

I agree wholeheartedly with The Queen of Denial so won't type it all out again!

we went through T5 last week

The walk between plane and baggage is a real pain if you get the wrong gate. Most other airports I go to are able to bring them to the plane relatively quickly - would this be so hard?

I think terminal 5 is the only immigration I have been to where the locals get worse treatment than the non-locals! xref Newark (another extreme!) where they had 12 official for US citizens and 2 for non, and this was when flights had just arrived from London, Malaysia and Spain! It needs balancing up.

the last few times i have flown from european airports they have all had kids play areas - basic stuff but enough to keep them entertained. Because they also had food courts (rather than scattered restaurants) it made it a lot easier to sit back and relax with food of our choice whilst the kids burnt some energy. And the restaurants are all too poncey. I want to spend as little time at the airport as necessary and I'm not really planning a fancy meal!

I think the baby change areas are good and clean

Security were much more reasonable wrt baby food and milk - made me taste 2 of 5

We are not in the target audience in that we have not travelled from LHR in the last four weeks with children.

We used LHR with children in 2009 (T5) and 2007 (T3). A big focus of the airport is eating and shopping and I don't think families are particularly catered for. We had breakfast in Huxleys (T5) but parted with almost £50. We were only passing time rather than filling up on calories, so it was an expensive pastime. Children aren't really catered for either in eating or shopping.

We have used T5 without children many times in the last two years and love it. Would not think of using another terminal.

We have used Gatwick South terminal in July 2011 with children. The worst part was navigating through the prepaid in-terminal parking. Check-in and security was fine. Airside dining was all adult prices and menues. Nothing special for families.

I don't expect my children to be entertained at every step, although I would appreciate children's portions and prices in restaurants.

A) T5, 14 July, BA
b)I didn't research anything on the website and can't say I noticed anything specifically for children while there. I will look on our return flight on Friday though.
c) not that I noticed
d) more visual place to pickup Buggies for tired legs, especially as ours was sent through to our destination (I remember BA hostess telling us to ask for one, but not sure where). Playrooms stationed between gates so that kids can let off steam before onward flights without disturbing other passengers.

I traveled to NZ in January with my two boys with Air Nz via LA. We had a 10hr layover (eek!) and was welcomed into the koru club for a charge ($50) I was able to wait there the whole time, staff provided kid friendly snacks, a small play area, helped me to the gate and were generally helpful and cheery. I'd be happy to pay for a service like this again. It was a good chance to get way from the bustle of the terminal and I knew that my older son could play safely there when I had to attend to the baby.

Forgot to mention, at T5 there was a special immigration line for families with dinosaur posters and a rainbow over the scanner and a sticker for the kids. It was a nice thought, bu they could make much more of this idea.

We travelled through Heathrow T1 in July of this year with 3 children (ages 1, 3 and 6).

The airport was great - swift check-in and had utilised business plus parking which was fab and very reasonable as booked in advance.

So to answer the questions:

a. Travelled the second week of July via T1 through Exclusive Escapes and was a bmi flight
b) The play area at T1 opposite Hotel de chocolat was great for my 2 youngest. They played there for an hour and had a great time. DH and I took it in turns to sit and watch them.
c) No
d) Nothing particularly - I love Heathrow Did help that the company we travelled with had their own priority check-in so there were no queues

I avoid airports because they are hideously unpleasant places and the last thing I want to do is have to worry about ds as well as me being harassed/late/stressed/left to deal with a crisis without any information and support. So I only fly for work, don't do family holidays by plane. I have to put up with the odd flight for work, a holiday should be relaxing.

What would help to persuade me to hand over my hard-earned cash? The certainty that if there were any delays or problems, I'd be helped, not hindered. That if there was a landslide stopping all train journeys to the airport (as happened earlier this week wrt Gatwick), I could get hold of someone who could help, not be left with no idea what on earth was going on and when I finally got to the airport, greeted with 'you missed your flight, pay thousands of pounds for a replacement or don't go at all'. The certainty that if a delay was longer than one hour, we'd get food and drink and somewhere comfortable to sit. That if the delay was lengthy, we'd be put up in a proper hotel overnight, not left to bed down on the floor.

Oh, and when I'm travelling without ds, somewhere to nip off for a fab would be nice. It could be outside, that's fine. But there should be somewhere.

Or even a fag. A Fab's not a problem, I assume they sell ice lollies somewhere at Heathrow.

Last time I took children through Heathrow (T3, last year) it was grim. The food options were limited and there was nowhere for them to let off steam before a long haul flight. Anything would be an improvement. I have seen BAA's ads, I think the idea of more family friendly airports is great.

JFK staff couldn't have been more helpful when I went through there with a small baby two years ago - they called me out of the immigration line, took me to the front of the queue and found my pushchair from the belt.

But Changi airport remains the most family friendly airport - my kids would spend a week there if they could. Miles of wide hallways to run along, play areas, cartoons and, above all else, ground crew who rescued my son's favourite teddy from the bathroom where he left it and sent it on to Tokyo for us.

Well we used Heathrow just a week before they launched this family friendly initiative.

I've only ever once booked in at an airport lounge, and that was only because we had extra money left over from holiday vouchers, courtesy of a competition run by the fabulous MN !

We flew from Gatwick and as our flight was delayed by several hours I was extremely glad that my heavily pregnant self plus husband and wriggly toddler had somewhere decent and stress-free to hang out. However, I was conscious that DS was a little on the noisy side at times, and airport lounges are typically quietish environments (apart from the blaring tones of one extremely chatty traveller, who gave 3yo DS a run for his money in the noise department!). So dedicated facilities for wriggly kids are a great idea - if only to keep them away from sleep-deprived folks trying to get some shuteye!

I haven't travelled through heathrow with children. But of the features listed...

I love the idea of a space for children to play. I am always pleased and relieved when in airports they have little things for children to do, even if it is a bead thing, you can spend 5 minutes looking at it with an old baby or young toddler. Little climbing frames or slides or stuff like that - which is what I imagine you have put in - fantastic for older children and they need more entertainment than babies, so, great!

I wouldn't use the free kids meals, because I - by choice - don't ever arrive early enough for flights to sit and have a meal in the airport.

Characters or staff giving out crayons, not really bothered about to be honest. You get crayons on the flight anyway.

The latter two might come in handy if you were delayed I guess.

I have had an irritating experience in an airport in the UK. There was one place to change your baby, but as a woman had locked herself in there to breastfeed, and was taking a very long time, there was nowhere to change your baby! That was quite annoying.

I travel to and from Heathrow once a year when I come home from Australia for Christmas. I have two children age 2 and 6 and have done this trip every year since my firstborn was a baby. I usually do one leg of this trip on my own with the children.

The most helpful thing for families with small children would be to be able to go to the front of the security queue (or any queue). Standing in a queue, trying to keep hold of hand luggage for myself and two children, and stop the children from whingeing/complaining/running off/crying etc (and my children are pretty well behaved) is awful. Sometimes it makes me want to cry (I have cried). I always get brought to the front any queues when I travel through Singapore airport. The same applies for queues at passport control. Other airports will take you through the business class lane if you have small children. I asked to do this at Heathrow once when I was struggling and was told no, it wasn't allowed.

The second thing would be to have a decent, enclosed (v important) play area with a departure board within sight. Somewhere you can just sit and let the children let off steam without having to fret about other people (which you have to do the whole time you are on the plane) or losing the children.

Also, getting baggage off the carousel with small children is a nightmare. If you fly with singapore airlines they will send staff with you from the plane to help but you are on your own with qantas. It would be great if there were a few patrolling staff that were able to help. When my first child was 18 months he managed to have an accident with the luggage trolley as I tried to get my suitcase from the carousel and no one helped me, just lots of disapproving looks. Not serious but a lot of tears and a bruised head.

I would be prepared to pay to enter a (clean) lounge for children with some tea/coffee facilities, cbeebies on loop, play equipment etc.

I've always thought it was amazing how awful Heathrow was for families (compare to Changi for instance). It will be fabulous if this changes. I know some people think you shouldn't travel with small children and so shouldn't get any special treatment but if I didn't I would never get to see my family. I hope to see an improvement this December!

To be positive as well, the staff are often friendly, which makes such a difference. I love it when sometimes the immigration staff say "welcome home". And when I packed smoothies in my carryon for the children (my brain said not liquids) no dramas were made at security.

I go through heathrow every couple of weeks for work (business travel) and fairly often with the kids (to visit family).

My comments (and this largely relates to T5)

1. The valet parking is brilliant for families. Right by the door and not that much more expensive than short term parking. I think they should push that more.
2. I agree with whoever said pushchairs for use, especially for those in transit. Friends of ours from America with little ones said heathrow is now one of their least favourite airports to transit because of how far the distances are to walk with little ones.
3. Please god do something about the queues at passport control. And I'm not even talking about Other Passports. I had to wait 45 mins the other day and I've got a British passport. I've travelled to African countries who still do the whole process where fingerprints are taken and even they can do it quicker.
4. I'm not interested in play areas as mine are older but I can see the value in them. However, I would like to see more lounges where you can pay for entry. I can use a lounge for business travel and would love to be able to use it with the family.
5. I like T5 and my children like it too. It's airy and if you know where to look, there's always space to sit down. I think the shops are good and the variety of places to eat is good too. Would prefer a book shop other than Smiths but can live with that!
6. I think when you disembark, it needs to be clear how far you have to go to get back to passport control. Sometimes I've landed and we're right by the train at the b gate. Sometimes I've landed and you have to walk a long way. I'd love to be told how far away it is so I know at the start. This even more so if I have the kids.

Can I also make a point that picking up people from t5 is a nightmare for a couple of reasons...

1. You can't get to the pick up zone so if you don't want to park, you have to go to the drop off zone and keep driving round in circles until you see the person you are picking up and security hate you using the drop off like this
2. If you park to pick someone up, often the queues for the lifts back to the car park are long (I normally travel in peak hours).

Please put in a proper pick up zone. I know it appears to be for security reasons that there isn't a proper one but it's a pita! The drop off zone is getting used more for this and as a result, getting busier!

I can't remember if Heathrow has these things or not as different airports kinda get muddled up in my head, but things that have helped.

(i) water fountains (although the UK as a whole is bad at providing free water) or restaurants/cafes offering free water so you can fill up emptied water bottles due to security.

(ii) changing facilities that are in a separate family room i.e. family changing room

(iii) security - yes it's going to take longer to sort out your bits and lay them down when carrying a toddler, a bag for you and a bag for them. Maybe some help to transfer things to one of the tables as I can't do it myself with holding the toddler or less pressure to rush through.

(iv) customs, most other places have people directing those with children to lesser used lanes once other 'priority' users have filtered through and staff offering to get your buggy for you from baggage (although US customs does take a while to come through so chances are the baggage has arrived).

I tend to find Heathrow really grim whether I am flying with children or not. This could be as i compare it to Changi in Singapore which is wonderful.

A lot of the things which would really improve Heathrow would help ALL travellers, not just families with children. TBH, i find it really annoying that Heathrow has gone with the "adding a bit of tinsel on top for a particular travel period" approach (such as having people dressed up as children's characters) rather than sorting the basics used ALL YEAR ROUND.

Things that would help- lots more seating and not just clustered in the super-busy, noisy areas where they try to sell you duty free rubbish. Some seating in quiet areas where you can sit with your family and get the children quieted down prior to a flight rather than worked up and excited would be great. Changi has plenty of seating everywhere, and lots in quieter areas which even have banks of plants and fountains to make it even more tranquil.

Lots of water fountains.

Decent signage and lots off it- MAPS of the terminal!

Keeping the queues at security and immigration as short as possible, and prioritising families and people with difficulties. Open more lanes when the current lanes have huge queues.

Make baggage retrieval more efficient. It can take ages for bags to go through to the carousel to be picked up. If I've managed to wrestle a toddler who is hacked off after 20 hours in the air through hundreds of metres of corridors, waited 40 minutes at immigration and our bags STILL aren't at the carousel, there's something wrong. Sure Heathrow is a big airport, but other big airports have got this better sorted.

Somthing Changi does really well is that it has plenty of tiny little trolleys airside. These are handy for all tired travellers, but when you have a toddler in a strop who needs to be carried, it's great to be able to pile the hand luggage on a tiny trolley while carrying DD. This might even be better than pushchairs as everyone uses them.

I am not asking for all the fabulous stuff that was designed into Changi from the beginning, such as a swimming pool, cinema, a hotel airside, a gorgeous butterfly enclosure etc.,etc., but there are reasons I deliberately arrange my long haul flights to always go via Changi and there's a lot of basic stuff Heathrow could copy.

I drop off relatives at Heathrow regularly with two small children in tow. Biggest problems we experience are:
(1) Shortage of trolleys at busy times/no way of pushing a buggy and a trolley. Now my kids are 3 and 4 they don't need a buggy necessarily but if my youngest has fallen asleep it's difficult. Could you have some luggage trolleys with seats?
(2) Website with travel info very helpful but actually it's the last bit which is a nightmare, please can you change your car parks to indicate where there are spaces (i.e which floor). Or issue guidance when you arrive: 'lots of spaces on three' would be good. Obviously I know this requires some technology or people but so does rechecking passengers who've been trying to park for an hour!
(3) Food for kids - I cannot state this enough. Please make sure food is readily available to buy for small people and not just chips please.
(4) Loos. Small people loos. Ever tried holding a toddler on the loo, while holding three cases and one other child. Fun isn't it?
(5) Holding areas - where you check in there is nowhere really to park one husband and two children while I check people in. They just hover in the way. I know they need to be in sight of the desk so the staff can visually check they are the people on the passport but they either crowd the desk or sit in a cafe and neither really works for anyone.
(6) Arrivals: could you please sell an arrival box for children with juice, a small snack etc. in because frankly they get off a plane ravenous and are grumpy by the time we get to the car whereas we, as parents, want to get the hell out of the airport as quickly as possible and are not up for a tour of Costa Coffee!