Not sure whether BA have employed a company to monitor their T5 online reputation recently, but I’ve had a load of referrals, probably 500% more in the last month or so from folks searching for insight into the new terminal and landing on this page.
I’d never had a comment in six months before now and then suddenly, like London buses, 2 come along within days of each other.
Maybe it’s people wondering if all the fuss has died down and seeing if it’s safe to go back there – it sure is fishy though!
Anyway!
I’ve been in and out of T5 twice in the last couple of weeks and have seen a marked improvement in standards and service.
Firstly I learned from a commenter to ask the taxi driver dropping me off to drive to middle of the terminal set-down so walking to security doesn’t take forever.
That worked!
The first flight was a late one – 10.30pm – to Tel Aviv and check-in went smoothly – other than the bunching up and chatting BA employees seem to do when they’re over-staffed.
There were three around my check-in guy all discussing when they were back in the next day – bit annoying when I’m trying to sweet-talk an upgrade! 🙂
Security was very quick!
Having worked at Harrods for six years in a former life, I know that “cashing up” at the end of the day so you can leave “on time” is crucial to ones sanity, but a glance up now and again from folks in the stores wouldn’t have gone amiss as I did a bit of pre-Christmas idea shopping.
The lounges are great too. Nice decor, moody lighting and decent enough food and wine on tap to ease any flying nerves or assist with the desire to sleep through the journey.
My only complaint would be that I was unlucky enough, on both trips, to be held up at the pasta bar by servers probing the meat sauce with a two-foot metal temperature gauge – a little off-putting to say the least.
The second flight was at 2pm on a Sunday to Seattle and the airport was much more awake.
Buying some Prada (dontchaknow!) aftershave from the duty-free shop I was staggered when the assistant pointed out I could get a gift-box for the same price with the same amount off smelly thrown in for free!
Great customer service! Many wouldn’t have bothered…
I timed both return trips from landing, getting through immigration and baggage claim to exiting via customs and neither took more than 22 minutes!
At Terminal 4 I’d have to tell the taxi driver to turn up 45 minutes after the scheduled landing and more often than not it’d take me an hour to get out into fresh air.
All in all it’s been a much improved experience.
BA have pulled out all the stops and passing through Terminal 5 is now more than a pleasant one.
I’m just curious to know how Virgin manage to get such huge advertising spots throughout the terminal.
I shudder to think how much they’re paying for the privilege!
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[…] Update Nov 2008: Click here for Part 2 of my Heathrow Terminal 5 Review […]
Mel
I have had the misfortune of flying through T5 last visit and I was totally disappointed! Here is my miserable experience for what it is worth.
Arrival from Seattle (Oct 22nd) into T5. Long(ish) flight but not too bad. Landed, no probs. Bus to terminal. Odd but I though “OK, probably a busy morning”. Luggage waiting for me at claim even though I was No.2 in the passport lane. Very impressed. T5 was doing well.
Leaving from London to Seattle from T5. HORRIBLE. Dropped off by AVIS bus. No signs as to how to get to terminal. Guessed correctly. Up very tardy lift into large check in area with no signage. I am BA Silver (and was travelling Club) so looked for ages to find right area but found the quick check in area by mistake. Checked in OK. Then sent to what was supposed to be fast track, but nobody monitoring so I was with everyone else. Sneakily checked other peoples boarding cards for validation. Security was a mess with automatic buckets that didn’t stop so I had to physically grab my box to stop it running away with my property! Totally screwed up system as I was carrying an A3 sized print that I’d been given but it wouldn’t fit into a box so at one point they said, sorry you’ll have to check this. After a bit of grumpyness on my part, they rammed it through.
Even though it was only 1hour until my flight, no gate info so I wasn’t sure which lounge to go to. Went to South lounge and after walking for what seemed like about a mile, then up about three escalators I reached the lounge agent who was mean and up her own arse. Told me I had to get a bus to my plane and I should turn around. She did agree I had time for a quick visit to the loo.
Got to gate. Huge queue, no fast track and then rammed onto a bus to go to the plane. Told by gate agent that T5 doesn’t have enough gates in the terminal and now they are building more. So, let me get this straight, BA and BAA builds this monster terminal with every possible shop and service yet they forget to build enough gates to “cope with the number of BA flights”. Does anyone else think this is retarded.
Anyway… all I can say is “BRING BACK T4”
J.
Mmmmm – maybe I got ’em a good week. Maybe they’re better on the whole on getting customers out and not so hot on getting them in and on.
Now that you mention it I had a bit of trouble with the runaway security recepticles.
And I wish there was a global policy on shoes and taking laptops out of bags – that lack consistency!
Ok, I’ve been through T5 quite a few times now this year, and I have to say I loath the place. Arrivals works fast if you don’t end up on a bus like I did on my New York flight this weekend. You need to know to use the lifts to get to and from the B terminal shuttle, but other than that, arrivals does seem pretty well figured out.
Departures though is an unmitigated nightmare. Where is premium check-in? I don’t want to have to queue for ages with the coach travellers when I’m travelling in business. The security is just a disaster. Can someone explain to me what was wrong with handing the trays back over the machine? The auto-tray return just makes it impossible to get your stuff. You have just got something out of the tray, then all the trays move and you have to chase it down the conveyor.
Probably the single biggest annoyance though is the walk to the lounge. You come through security and the lounges are on the right, yet BAA insist you have to walk past pretty much every shop to get there, and BA just meekly bend over and take it. This time I got to the lounge, and asked where the VAT refunds desk is – you guessed it, back by security – so I had to do the trip 3 times. I would have gone directly out to the B-gates lounge (which at least reduces the walking), but they hadn’t announced the gate of my NY flight when I arrived, and I was advised not to head out there.
The other thing that really bugs me is the lack of announcements in the loungs. This means you have to sit somewhere near a TV to see when your flight is boarding. A big retrograde step. I asked in the B-gate lounge (after my flight had been announced to be going from the B-gates and I moved over there to check the lounge out), they told me that they didn’t want to announce because there would be too many announcements. Wait a second, there were 20 flights on the screen in the B-gate lounge, far less than you used to get in T4.
Overall T5 is just too big for it’s own good. Bring back T4 is a message I will definitely echo.
Exactly, How the hell have BA built Terminal 5 and expect you to accept taking a bus between plane and terminal. What are they are trying to be easjjet or ryanair…. idiots.
Business travellers arriving on the last flight back from stockholm the other day, knackered, fullyloaded flight, took three busses one after another to get them back…. oh and guess what SAS who don’t have their own terminal drop you right at the gate; emmmm guess which i’ll be flying next time to stockholm…
BA sort it out! They should have to declare stuff like this pre-boarding.
I’ve just been to Atlanta and backby BA from terminal 5. This service used to go from Gatwick so living close to Heathrow that’s good for me.
Checking and baggage check were good and pleasant staff.
On arrival back baggage was there when I finally arrive in the baggage hall.
Now for the moan, what are these buses too and from the aircraft all about? I thought that this was suppsed to be a modern terminal. In this day and age I expect to onto the aircraft direct from the departure gate. What a shambles.
Alan – Agree about the buses! Very odd considering the amount of money spent on the terminal.
Last week though my plane landed at 12.30pm and because of a technical hitch there was no gate. We waited 25 minutes on the tarmac and disembarked at 12.55pm. After a fast walk, no queue at the Iris booth, my bags were already on the belt and I got out to meet my cab by 1.15pm
Not bad eh?!
I have just sent the BBC news covering the Euro Tunnel for passengers stuck for 15 hours, yet there is nothing at all covering the distress and complete disaster at Terminal 5 Heathrow last night, why?
I travelled from Brussels to Heathrow, we were supposed to fly at 8pm, we didn't board until 10pm, we then had to wait for a gate to be assigned, wait a further 20mins for ground staff to physically turn on the outside lights so the plane didn't crash into the terminal, then another 40mins for someone to control the attachment to the jetty to the plane. We then arrived into the baggage section where there were thousands of bags on the floor, thousands of people gathered round Customer Service.
T5 was in absolute chaos, people going crazy in there, trying to get some answers, everyone being told different things. We were told to go to carousel 11, waited 2 hrs with the same bags going round, and noone collecting any of the bags. We were then being given yellow forms to fill in by BAA and BA, the feedback was that if we filled them in, BA would deliver the bags to your address. BA staff on the floor said this could take 3 days. There are literally thousands of bags on the floor, thousands of people at Customer Service (only 2 desks/people would you believe) and people crowded round waiting at the carousels for bags to come off but the same bags keep going round. The Managing Director of BA came down to get feedback from everyone, (which wasn't very helpful, as he didn't actually do anything. A Manager worthy of being in this high profile role would have gathered everyone round and addressed the entire base of customers to explain the honest situation.) BAA staff said it was BA's issue and they couldn't help and BA staff said there was no tannoy system to make an announcement! How ridiculous – because at 3am there was an announcement to advise passengers should go hone. We heard from BA staff that BA crew have gone home and they have 30 flights worth of bags with everyone waiting for their luggage. A woman collapsed on the floor near me so I had to get the Medics over, there are people crying, sleeping in the middle of the floor.
I am shocked and embarrassed to be part of a Country running what is supposed to be BAA's main Airline who can't cope in the situation of snow that was forecasted weeks ago. The aircraft are old, tatty and dirty, staff motivation is abysmal, operational issues. They are not deserving to run this airline and the staff don't deserve to have jobs in the way they coped with this last night. We had worse snow in Brussels. We are hosting the Olympics here and yet our public transport can't cope when it comes down to it.
This morning there is no information on their website. You have to hold for 20mins to speak to an advisor. You then have to log a claim for lost baggage as obviously these yellow forms have not yet been processed. There is no apology – nothing. I am also surprised this is not on the news – we were treated disgustingly. No access to water and small children crying/tired and disabled people left with not so much as a customer service advisor supporting/checking they were ok.
I would like an official response from BA and I would like my bag back today, it is totally unacceptable.
I was flying in from Nice, and gate A2 had a technical hitch. After a ten minute wait, we got off and took a bus to immigration. I have an American passport and we had just got in after a flight from hong kong and a flight from dubai. 2 and a half horu wait in immigration. My bags had arrived. I had missed the last national express bus to york. As a result, i had to check in at the sofitel. That cost an absolute bomb. T5 needs more immigration officers, its worse than t3 immigration!!