Does anyone know if you can go from Terminal 5, ride the pod, and depart the long term parking area on foot, without going through the Thistle Hotel and incurring the 6 pound fee? Hate to be cheap, but it looks like a neat experience. I am not staying at the Thistle, and will not have a car.
Posted by
Portsmouth
5554 posts
The only way to use the pods other than via the Thistle is to use the pod parking area. Park your car in the car park (at a fair expense) then take the pod for a journey of around a minute to the terminal. It's not really that exciting, I've used it simply because it's so close to the terminal.
Theoretically you could ride a pod to the car park and exit on foot (under a manned barrier) and trek on foot to the long term parking area but I really wouldn't recommend it, you'd quickly regret the idea.
Posted by
10 posts
Is it possible to ride a pod to the parking area, then ride a pod back? I won't have a car, much less one parked at Heathrow, but I kind of want to ride in a pod.
Posted by
OP
258 posts
I am still not 100% sure if I can do what I want, which is to leave without paying the fee, but I am pretty certain you can go and come back to Terminal 5 for free, as long as you don't go through the gate at the parking lot. I MAY be wrong...
Posted by
Portsmouth
5554 posts
Yes, you can take a pod from the terminal to the car park and take a pod back to the terminal but to be honest it really isn't anything special. To me it would just be a waste of time and effort. You need to take the lift to the car park level where the pod terminal is located, wait for a pod to arrive (a minute or so) and take the very short journey to the car park. You then exit the pod and wait for the next one coming from the other direction for the return journey. No need to exit the car park or pay a fee.
Posted by
10 posts
Thanks for humoring me, JC. :-)
Would it be worth it, as an experience? Hard to say, but I still want to do it if I ever have free time while coming from or to Heathrow. I've gone out of my way before to experience a specific transportation mode. De gustibus non est disputandum? Lol
I hope you figure out what you need to, phoffen2001. I'll be there in a couple of weeks. If I glean any info about the possibility of departing long term parking on foot, without paying, I'll report back.
Posted by
OP
258 posts
It might be worth it to go to the parking lot and back to T5, because it does give you a perspective of where you are, and you get a great view of the runways. It is very hard for some of us, not from the UK, to situate ourselves geographically. It is not easy to find your way around on foot. The streets are narrow, never straight, they change names all the time, the buildings all look the same. You come out of the tube and go "where the hell am I now???" As far as wasting time, well, you say tomato and I say tomato...
Posted by
Portsmouth
5554 posts
The car park that is served by the pods doesn't have a view of the runway, you would have to exit it and cross the road to the perimeter fence for a view of the runway. You can view the runway from the pods themselves as the track crosses over the perimeter fence towards the terminal. You can view a video of the journey here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnu2nO3pxNk
Personally I see no point in leaving the car park on foot, just catch another pod back to the terminal and carry on your journey from there.
Posted by
OP
258 posts
Well it is a lot further to walk down Bath Road to the hotels from T5 than it is from the parking lot; or ride a bike...
Posted by
Portsmouth
5554 posts
Well it is a lot further to walk down Bath Road to the hotels from T5 than it is from the parking lot; or ride a bike...
But it's easier to take one of the buses that serves the hotels on Bath Road from the terminal than it is to walk. The perimeter road isn't really designed for pedestrians, it does have a pavement in certain sections but it's not somewhere I'd want to walk along to get to Bath Road.