Anyone been to Heathrow T5 the past week or so?

SideWinder · 2 May 2022 at 10:52

Is it mad with delays still or all good?

I apologise to those who thought this was an airport joke thread.

BongoHunter · 2 May 2022 at 13:27

Went 2 weeks ago and it was the worst airport experience of my life (and I travel quite a lot).

Check-in and bag drop were shocking and security wasn't great either. If I have to fly from Heathrow again I'll be arriving at least 4 hours early.

Raymond Lin · 2 May 2022 at 13:41

I guess the delay is due to all the negative covid tests paperwork at the check in desk and people not having the correct paperwork or confusion no longer able to do self bag drop because you now have to see a person?

Went to Singapore in November and was exactly what happened, I arrived 4hrs before the flight and waited in line for bag drop/check in for 3hrs.

Jimbeam3678 · 2 May 2022 at 14:23

I went 10 days ago and arrived back 2 days ago. No problems whatsoever was one of the best experiences of T5 I have had. Don't read too much into the media they only report the bad experiences

Jimbeam3678 · 2 May 2022 at 14:24

Raymond Lin said:
I guess the delay is due to all the negative covid tests paperwork at the check in desk and people not having the correct paperwork or confusion no longer able to do self bag drop because you now have to see a person?

Went to Singapore in November and was exactly what happened, I arrived 4hrs before the flight and waited in line for bag drop/check in for 3hrs.

T5 = BA so everyone should be using the veriFly app so they there should be no Covid paperwork at all or minimal

SideWinder · 2 May 2022 at 16:17

Jimbeam3678 said:
T5 = BA so everyone should be using the veriFly app so they there should be no Covid paperwork at all or minimal

The what? You can use the NHS app surely?

Ty all so far esp @Jimbeam3678 as it was the most positive.

Diddums · 2 May 2022 at 16:17

SideWinder said:
Is it mad with delays still or all good?

I apologise to those who thought this was an airport joke thread.

I'd try and save it for you but your lack of humour is terminal

M1k3H · 2 May 2022 at 16:35

Huge delays to check-in and go through security. Arrive 1 hour 45 minutes prior to flight, and had to run the last 5 minutes to reach my gate.

Jimbeam3678 · 2 May 2022 at 16:38

SideWinder said:
The what? You can use the NHS app surely?

Ty all so far esp @Jimbeam3678 as it was the most positive.

If you are flying BA and there are covid restrictions download the VeriFly app as instructed with your booking and there are no issues with checking docs. Honestly get there early of course but don't stress. However if you were flying from Manchester Airport :eek:

pimper · 2 May 2022 at 16:43

Its luck of the draw really. I've flown out of T5 quite a few times and some its manic and other times its a breeze. I've found more issues flying into T5 from another UK airport and connecting on than arriving at T5 for an outbound flight.

M1k3H · 2 May 2022 at 17:04

Jimbeam3678 said:
If you are flying BA and there are covid restrictions download the VeriFly app as instructed with your booking and there are no issues with checking docs. Honestly get there early of course but don't stress. However if you were flying from Manchester Airport

I downloaded the app, nobody even asked me for it... had no issues going through. Delays weren't due to docs, but due to under-staffing... queueing for 1 hours just to check in on an automated desk...instead of BA manning their proper desks.

bm_999 · 2 May 2022 at 17:30

heard of delays there espeicaly with the ba staff issue

so funny first they got rid of all the older workers now want to recruit new and low low pay, way of the world

pimper · 2 May 2022 at 17:34

bm_999 said:
heard of delays there espeicaly with the ba staff issue

so funny first they got rid of all the older workers now want to recruit new and low low pay, way of the world

Oddly enough one airport thats always seemed worse for staffing / logistics issues with BA is JFK... I've always found the experience of JFK rather poor, so much so that in recent times i've elected to land at other airports in the US..

Jimbeam3678 · 2 May 2022 at 21:54

M1k3H said:
I downloaded the app, nobody even asked me for it... had no issues going through. Delays weren't due to docs, but due to under-staffing... queueing for 1 hours just to check in on an automated desk...instead of BA manning their proper desks.

No one asked you for it because the App is linked to BA's system so they already know you good to fly before you get there

Automated desks make sense if you have staffing issues surely? A lot more automated desks than manual desks as well.

Cryfreeman · 2 May 2022 at 22:07

Landed at T5 a few weeks ago, had a nice hour+ sat on the runway. Back to using T2/3 for me!

pimper · 3 May 2022 at 08:52

Cryfreeman said:
Landed at T5 a few weeks ago, had a nice hour+ sat on the runway. Back to using T2/3 for me!

What was the reason for that? only thing I can think of is the gate not being available? I would say that could happen at any terminal. I've always found T5 to be a decent terminal, worst being T4 back in't day!

Terminal_Boy · 3 May 2022 at 09:36

pimper said:
Oddly enough one airport thats always seemed worse for staffing / logistics issues with BA is JFK... I've always found the experience of JFK rather poor, so much so that in recent times i've elected to land at other airports in the US..

Have you been through Newark, NJ? I transited through there in the early 1990s and I thought I’d been dropped into the set from Dawn Of The Dead.

pimper · 3 May 2022 at 09:55

Terminal_Boy said:
Have you been through Newark, NJ? I transited through there in the early 1990s and I thought I’d been dropped into the set from Dawn Of The Dead.

Only the once and that was bad enough. Both domestically JFK and LaGuardia... **** me, never again... come to think of it, just avoid flying into NYC at all! :cry:

tlrBeta · 3 May 2022 at 11:31

M1k3H said:
I downloaded the app, nobody even asked me for it... had no issues going through.

Funnily enough, I had this October time for a trip to Norway. Downloaded the app, no real instructions given on why it's required. Low and behold, not asked for it and no delays.

One place I did have delays, going to and coming back from Geneva with Easyjet - what a mess (stuff for another time)

Cryfreeman · 3 May 2022 at 14:37

pimper said:
What was the reason for that? only thing I can think of is the gate not being available? I would say that could happen at any terminal. I've always found T5 to be a decent terminal, worst being T4 back in't day!

Not sure, guy sat next to me said he was a regular T5 user and it seems to happen a fair bit to him. Admittedly was my first try at T5.
30 trips at T2/3 and never a problem