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A great day out—at Heathrow Airport
Apr. 2nd, 2014 10:47 pmYou might think that the title is contradictory. How could you have a great day out at Heathrow? Normally it's a place of heightened security, exhausted travellers, overpriced meals, and misery.
Today I took part in the first of four tests of Heathrow's new Terminal 2. The Queen dedicated the old one in the 1950's, so it was called "The Queen's Terminal". However, unlike Her Majesty, it was showing its age. Five years ago it was closed and torn down to make way for a new Terminal 2. It will be opened (by the Queen, I suppose) in June, but first its personnel and systems need to be tested. So I was one of thousands of people who converged on it this morning.
We got our ID on a lanyard, then queued to get our scripts. I was a British woman travelling United first class from Cincinnati to London. I had to go through security, be bused to the arrivals area, go through immigration, then collect "my" bag from the carousel, and then make my way out (nothing to declare) and back into the terminal to ditch the luggage and fill out a questionnaire.
There was breakfast stuff in the departure lounge where we congregated before the test began. If you are familiar with Terminal 5, it is a similar design: once you're through security you are on a "balcony" above the departure lounge. Lots of the shops are still behind plywood barriers, but most of them are complete and waiting for the hordes to arrive. We got breakfast stuff while we were waiting to begin, and I could admire the design. I think it's a bit too near the runways, as the plane noise, which is not usually perceivable in the other terminals, was very loud. Once we were briefed, we were told to make our way to our "arrival gate", which was down an escalator (which stopped mid-trip; I don't know whether someone was told to hit the button in their script or it just spontaneously stopped). There were water bottles and Twix chocolate bars for those who would get hungry or thirsty.
I was sitting at Gate A04 and the gentleman next to me asked whether I'd been skiing. As you may have guessed from a previous blog entry, I have little patience with people who ask me (because of the aircast) whether I'd been skiing. I kind of brushed him off, but he was one of those people who can't take a brush-off for an answer, so we got to talking.
It turned out that he works for UK Borders and was Chief Immigration Officer at the old Terminal 2. He took retirement but has now come back and works at Luton Airport several days a week. So we discussed immigration, my dual citizenship, various other things about moving across borders, and he was a quite delightful companion as we finally got on the bus and moved toward arrivals. We parted as he was "taking a connecting flight" whereas I was simply ending my "journey" at Heathrow.
I got through Immigration OK, where the officer was much sunnier than they normally are. She admired my passport photo (undoubtedly a first in the history of passports with photos in them) and I told her that I get my passport photos done professionally, not behind a tiny screen at the chemist's.
The baggage reclaim area is confusing, and you can't see all the carousels from the entryway. I had to walk around a bit before I found it. Then there was a considerable wait before the luggage started coming out. There is an illuminated LED computerised sign at each carousel, and there is also an LED clock above the sign. The clock above the sign showed GMT, while the clock on the LED sign was correct. A minor glitch, I hope. My bag (as I was "in First class") came out first. I suspect that every unclaimed bag left at Heathrow in the past 5 years was in the trisl. I got it, went through Customs, and out to Arrivals, where I was directed back to Departures.
When I got there I filled out the after-script questionnaire. They had set up stands, each with an iPad locked inside: a line of them in front of each check-in desk. There was a bit of a scrum as it was difficult to tell when there was a free iPad. Then it was walk to the luggage deposit, take your lunchbag (I got a BLT), soda, and cupcake, and leave. They gave out a present to each tester. Mine contained a Heathrow pen, a travel clock, and a nested universal electric plug adapter. Then back on the Tube for the ride back home. Door-to-door it was 8:30am to 1:45pm.
I really enjoyed it. I am down to do the other three trials as well. The next opportunity to do this will be when Terminal 3 is torn down and rebuilt in a few years, opening in 2022.
Here's an article I Googled about T2 and how the industry is cautious about the opening, even with the testing. If you travel to Heathrow by any Star Alliance airline, after November you'll end up here. United will be the first to arrive, in June, with the rest staggered until they are all here.
If you ever have the opportunity to do this, I recommend it. For someone who is retired, it gave focus to my day. And I would never in a thousand years have met the UK Borders guy anywhere else and had such a pleasant conversation. I enjoyed it immensely, and I'm looking forward to the next one.
Today I took part in the first of four tests of Heathrow's new Terminal 2. The Queen dedicated the old one in the 1950's, so it was called "The Queen's Terminal". However, unlike Her Majesty, it was showing its age. Five years ago it was closed and torn down to make way for a new Terminal 2. It will be opened (by the Queen, I suppose) in June, but first its personnel and systems need to be tested. So I was one of thousands of people who converged on it this morning.
We got our ID on a lanyard, then queued to get our scripts. I was a British woman travelling United first class from Cincinnati to London. I had to go through security, be bused to the arrivals area, go through immigration, then collect "my" bag from the carousel, and then make my way out (nothing to declare) and back into the terminal to ditch the luggage and fill out a questionnaire.
There was breakfast stuff in the departure lounge where we congregated before the test began. If you are familiar with Terminal 5, it is a similar design: once you're through security you are on a "balcony" above the departure lounge. Lots of the shops are still behind plywood barriers, but most of them are complete and waiting for the hordes to arrive. We got breakfast stuff while we were waiting to begin, and I could admire the design. I think it's a bit too near the runways, as the plane noise, which is not usually perceivable in the other terminals, was very loud. Once we were briefed, we were told to make our way to our "arrival gate", which was down an escalator (which stopped mid-trip; I don't know whether someone was told to hit the button in their script or it just spontaneously stopped). There were water bottles and Twix chocolate bars for those who would get hungry or thirsty.
I was sitting at Gate A04 and the gentleman next to me asked whether I'd been skiing. As you may have guessed from a previous blog entry, I have little patience with people who ask me (because of the aircast) whether I'd been skiing. I kind of brushed him off, but he was one of those people who can't take a brush-off for an answer, so we got to talking.
It turned out that he works for UK Borders and was Chief Immigration Officer at the old Terminal 2. He took retirement but has now come back and works at Luton Airport several days a week. So we discussed immigration, my dual citizenship, various other things about moving across borders, and he was a quite delightful companion as we finally got on the bus and moved toward arrivals. We parted as he was "taking a connecting flight" whereas I was simply ending my "journey" at Heathrow.
I got through Immigration OK, where the officer was much sunnier than they normally are. She admired my passport photo (undoubtedly a first in the history of passports with photos in them) and I told her that I get my passport photos done professionally, not behind a tiny screen at the chemist's.
The baggage reclaim area is confusing, and you can't see all the carousels from the entryway. I had to walk around a bit before I found it. Then there was a considerable wait before the luggage started coming out. There is an illuminated LED computerised sign at each carousel, and there is also an LED clock above the sign. The clock above the sign showed GMT, while the clock on the LED sign was correct. A minor glitch, I hope. My bag (as I was "in First class") came out first. I suspect that every unclaimed bag left at Heathrow in the past 5 years was in the trisl. I got it, went through Customs, and out to Arrivals, where I was directed back to Departures.
When I got there I filled out the after-script questionnaire. They had set up stands, each with an iPad locked inside: a line of them in front of each check-in desk. There was a bit of a scrum as it was difficult to tell when there was a free iPad. Then it was walk to the luggage deposit, take your lunchbag (I got a BLT), soda, and cupcake, and leave. They gave out a present to each tester. Mine contained a Heathrow pen, a travel clock, and a nested universal electric plug adapter. Then back on the Tube for the ride back home. Door-to-door it was 8:30am to 1:45pm.
I really enjoyed it. I am down to do the other three trials as well. The next opportunity to do this will be when Terminal 3 is torn down and rebuilt in a few years, opening in 2022.
Here's an article I Googled about T2 and how the industry is cautious about the opening, even with the testing. If you travel to Heathrow by any Star Alliance airline, after November you'll end up here. United will be the first to arrive, in June, with the rest staggered until they are all here.
If you ever have the opportunity to do this, I recommend it. For someone who is retired, it gave focus to my day. And I would never in a thousand years have met the UK Borders guy anywhere else and had such a pleasant conversation. I enjoyed it immensely, and I'm looking forward to the next one.
