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July 03, 2007
Why Heathrow Is Considered Poster Child For Hassled Fliers
If you are flying to and from Europe this summer, try to avoid London's Heathrow airport. Not because of fears of terrorism but because of strict carry-on luggage rules and long security lines.
Even if you're just changing planes at Heathrow, you'll have to go through a security line. And in addition to long lines (check out this amusing video made in June for dramatic proof), but alone in the world, British security officials limit passengers to one carry-on bag. And I mean ONE. That means if you have a purse or computer case as well as a carry-on bag, you better be able to consolodate everything into a single bag.
Maybe when the new Terminal Five opens next spring, things will improve at Heathrow. And much as I love the shopping in the terminals and perks such as Virgin Atlantic's very cool business class ("Upper Class," in Virgin-speak) lounge in Terminal 3 (as above), the lines and hassles make it worth going an extra mile or 200 to avoid the airport right now.
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Oh man that video of Heathrow was scary. I usually fly direct from Philly into Gatwick on USAirways and my big complaint has only been the $30 trainride into London.
Posted by: iConJohn | Jul 8, 2007 5:23:50 PM
Even with just one (1) IATA-compliant piece of hand luggage, security kann still harrass you in best Stasi / GDR tradition if they have a bad day:
http://baa-scandal.blogspot.com/
Quote from their website:
" We are responding to rising customer expectations about the quality
of the services we provide." Stephen Nelson, Chief Executive Officer
Yeah, right.
Posted by: FrankR | Jul 23, 2007 7:57:40 PM
If you price round-trip flights on United from Stuttgart (where I currently live) to the states (and probably the other way too) they're significantly cheaper if you fly through LHR than FRA. The short hops are both on Lufthansa, so that's not the factor.
Simply put, you're paying a premium to fly through Frankfurt and avoid the LHR nightmare.
Posted by: Kevin | Sep 23, 2007 4:52:40 AM
