For years I’ve been flying through London on my way to some other destination in Europe. In 2016, over 71 million international passengers passed through LHR, a number only second to Dubai.
The first time I connected through London it wasn’t too bad. I stayed over for a few days, visited the museum and parks, and it was worth the train ride. The second time I met some new friends through a mutual introduction and got to experience the local city life. The third time I went to the suburbs to hang out with some old friends. I’ve tried all the different accommodations – hostels, Airbnb’s, a friendly couch, a cramped bedroom, a fancy hotel, an airport hotel, and of course, the airport itself. While I am by no means an expert, I think I’ve traveled through this city enough to have a viewpoint.
The immigration officer
I hate the immigration process at Heathrow. The line is usually long, possibly due to the extensive questioning everyone goes through. For the most part, going through immigration feels like an interrogation, but the officers at LHR seem to take it way more serious than others. Having been through immigration no less than 100 times in my lifetime, I’m prepared for the most common questions:
“Why are you here?”
“Tourism.”
“How long will you be in _______?”
“X days.”
“Where are you staying?”
“Y hotel.”
For most of my trips I don’t get more than these 3 questions. Sometimes the officer will look at my tattered passport, flip through a few pages of stamps showing all the times I’ve come in and out of the EU, and wave me through with no questions asked. I’d like to think of it as a privilege of the frequent traveler, but it’s probably just an officer tired at the end of their shift. When I pass through Heathrow though, the conversation often go like this:
“How long are you in the UK?”
“Just one night, I’m on a layover to Greece.”
“Why are you here?”
“… I’m on a layover. I’m flying to Athens tomorrow.”
“Are you traveling alone?”
“No, I’m traveling with a friend.”
“Where are they?”
“Oh I’m meeting them in Athens.”
“Why are you not traveling together?”
“(Because I’m too cheap to buy a direct flight to Athens?) They are flying from a different airport.”
“Where are you staying?”
“I’m just staying with a friend for the night.”
“What’s the address?”
“Oh let me look that up… oh wait I have no internet… give me 2 minutes… here you go.”
“What’s your purpose of your trip?”
“In the UK? Layover?”
“No, in Europe.”
“Tourism, I’m going to Greece.”
“What’s your itinerary?”
“In Greece?”
“Yes.”
“Um… a few days in Athens, a few days in Santorini, possibly some other islands?”
“And where will you go from there?”
“…I’m going to Istanbul (and please don’t ask me about my itinerary in Turkey, I haven’t even figured it out yet!).”
……
The last time I was in London I waited in line for over an hour to get through customs. As an Asian female with an American passport, I’m pretty sure I get off much easier than others. The couple in front of me were from Russia, they were still being questioned when I got through.
The security line
OK, I know the drill. Take out all your liquids blah blah blah. TSA is pretty lax about this to be honest, and I’ve long given up on the plastic bag thing, especially when I have Pre-check.
I did do things the right way for international travel though, all my liquids were in a plastic bag as required, but I still got stopped by The Machine.
After the stern looking agent opened all my bags, he finally found what triggered the alarm — a hotel sized bottle of lotion, half empty, accidentally left in my bag with some USB wires.
No wonder the connection took an hour even in the same airport.
The airports
Did you know London has 6 airports? The first time I did a layover, it was between Heathrow and London City, and I was able to get there via Underground + Train in about an hour and half. I’ve also connected to Gatwick, which was a little bit further but about the same time.
So when I booked another connecting flight in London, I didn’t even bother to check the airport. Well, Luton Airport is a whooping 34 miles from Heathrow, and you have to take main line rail + Underground + Heathrow Express to get from one to another, costing over 40 pounds. To be fair, there is a bus which I did not know existed, or the time didn’t workout, but it ended up being a four hour journey for me due to bad planning and lack of WiFi.
Even without the connections, getting from the airports to London takes forever and costs a lot of money. God forbid you arrive too late for the tube and end up having to take a cab. I mean it was cool to sit in a true London cab but also I highly regretted not booking a slightly more expensive flight earlier during the day.
Conclusion
I definitely should not have exchanged my Amex points for British Airways miles 🙁
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