Heathrow Layover

I had a 2-hour layover in Heathrow some years ago, and the time allotment was enough.

However, Heathrow is a city in its own right with people movers, miles-long concourses and other intricacies. I recommend going to the Heathrow website and plotting everything you need to do to ensure a seamless layover.

Have fun in Athens.

I’d stick with the flight you have given you already have the tickets. You won’t go through immigration at Heathrow, just security. If your flight arrives on time, 2 hours is enough time to connect.

If your inbound flight is delayed, it will be the airline’s responsibility to get you to your destination.

I’ve missed connections twice at Heathrow; both times my inbound flight was significantly delayed at the point of origin (e.g., flight departed several hours late) so I knew I would miss my connection before the plane even landed. In both cases, I went straight to the airline agent and got rebooked. In both cases, I arrived the same day at my final destination.

That is a legal connect time and you should be fine unless your incoming flight is very late.

When you deplane at T3, follow the purple Flight Connections signs that indicate the path to T5 ( rather than the path to stay in T3). They will,take to to the boarding area for the dedicated bus that transfers passengers airside to T5. When you enter the terminal at T5 you will go through security to reach the main departures area, where you will find the light boards listing gates for the departing flights. Your may not be listed until 30 minutes before the flight. Head to the gate as soon as the gate is posted.

T5 actually has three separate buildings, connected by an underground train that runs every couple of minutes. You will be in T5A. If your gate is one of the higher-numbered gates in 5B or 5C, follow the signs to head down escalators to the appropriate train for your gate.

It sounds complicated, but as long as you pay attention to the signs it is easy. There may or may not be a lot of walking involved.

You'll also almost certainly get to Heathrow earlier than your scheduled time of you don't leave too late. I've gotten to Germany and Italy an 30-60 minutes ahead of time most flights (over 10 years) because of help from the wind.

Thank you all so much for the quick replies and information!

Go to this website, fill in the flight information and you will get step by step instructions:

Http://www.heathrow.com/flight-connections

We connected at Heathrow last May, on our way to Denmark (2.5 hour layer, also switching terminals). My husband did carry-on, I did not. As mentioned, once you take the shuttle from T3 to T5, you will have to go through security. As you approach security you will pass through a section (with work counters, garbage cans, extra clear bags) where you can reorganize yourself before sending your things through the scanners. I'd suggest pausing here and making sure you are adhering to all the security rules. Dump any drinks you may have forgotten about. Put all your (small) liquids together in ONE clear bag (I'm not sure of the exact size limit). If you are used to TSA pre-check rules (I never put my liquids together in one bag) it will be stricter in the UK. Some of my husbands liquids (e.g. contract solution) had to get trashed. In fact, there were many passengers doing quite a bit of off-loading right before the scanning belt. During scanning, any bag that gets flagged as needing further inspection gets pulled off to the side, to a very long queue, with a very long wait. That's what you want to avoid!

Good point above. I will add that you must take iPads, Kindles, or other tablets out of your luggage and put them in the bin separately.

Barring a delayed flight, 2 hours should be fine. And trubeth makes a good point to be ready for security - lines move quickly for those who are prepared. Last week, though, I went through behind a woman (who spoke no English) who apparently had never heard of the liquids rule. I helped her with some of her stuff (accessible in her purse) but I saw her carryon was also flagged for delay.

However I just went back and checked TSA regulations for here and they officially still require all liquids under 100 ml in one quart size clear baggie (with medications being exempt). So I think that is still a standard, even if not enforced somewhere.

Put all your (small) liquids together in ONE clear bag (I'm not sure of the exact size limit).

We have transited at Heathrow four times in the last six months and each time there were staff handing out plastic bags just before security for people to put their liquids in. We didn't take up the bag offer as we already had ours in a sandwich size bag which was fine.