Connecting through Heathrow

Z

zag

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Does anyone know the story with connecting flights in Heathrow where the inbound flight arrives at T4 and departing flight is from T1?

Given previous experience with transfers in Heathrow, I guess coming out to the landside, getting the train across and checking back in might be faster than the official route (whatever that is).

Anyone have comments on transfers from T4 to T1 ?

Cheers,

z
 
I flew to LA via London from Dublin in 2002. I don't know what terminals were involved, but the standard bus was fine.
 
Same here think I was going from T1 to T3, bus was fine, very well sign posted throughout airport, no panic whatsoever
 
Zag

I do the t4 to t1 transfer often. The bus used to be fine but over the last year, on the advice of a couple of travel professionals I have started using the train. Its fine and seems quicker and easier than the bus.

the only snag I see is that you have to pass through customs control in t4 which could delay you if you are searched.

by the way I usually have about 3 hours transfer time. Dont know what your constraints are.
 
You are CRAZY if you do the transfer by going through customs etc! Stay airside and go through the flight connections centre (I think thats what its called). Its incredibly well signposted and the buses are very regular....Have done it many times and it is usually all achieveable in 20 minutes. Occasional queues add about ten minutes on but nothing major.
 
Hmm, thanks for the replies. Looks like the jury is still out, but leaning towards the airside version.

My previous experience (from T1 to T3 & return) involved an incredibly silly amount of walking (we had two small kids with us), followed by a wait for a bus, followed by being dumped out into a tiny transfer processing area along with about 100 other people. It just wasn't pleasant. From my knowledge of the distances between T1 & T3 it would have been faster to go landside and walk across.

z
 
Going from T1-> T2/T3 or vice versa I would usually go landside and walk across ... tends to be quicker ... both terminals are a fairly short walk - and you have to walk a huge distance from the 82-90 gates to the Flight connections centre (FCC) in Terminal 1 anyway .. so avoiding that is good.

Going through the FCC doesn't mean you can miss security - you still have to pass through security and the queues in the FCC can be just as bad.

For going to/from T4 it's probably not so clear cut ... the train (Heathrow Express free service) between the two only goes every ~15 minutes ... so you might get lucky or you might not ...

If you've plenty of time coming from T4>T1 and have plenty of time to kill I would advise going landside and taking the train as you won't have to end up stuck in the 82-90 gates in Terminal One with their limited facilities... other than that it's probably not that much in it.

Whatever you do if you are travelling with hold luggage make sure it gets checked through all the way - if you don't do that you'll will definitely have to exit and go landside to re-check in at departures.
 
EvilDoctorK - I have worked out how to avoid being stuck in the incredibly awful 82-90 area when coming back from LHR - just walk down the corridor to the domestic BA/BMI area where you can find tons of space, actual windows to the outside world, a cafe with food (well, Paninis anyway) that takes credit cards, and more free seating than you can find in the 82-90 area. Oh, and air conditioning too. As pleasant a place to be in T1 as you can find I think.

I now know it takes 5 or 6 minutes to walk back from there to the gates, so this is where I spend my idle time in Heathrow when waiting for a flight home. If I could work out how to avoid the cattle-to-the-slaughter feeling approaching the XRay machines (and the lottery regarding which queue splits around the corner and so goes faster) it might actually be an OK experience to pass through LHR some day.

I have 1h40 to get from T4 to T1, so I should have enough time both ways, but I guess I might just opt for the airside option.

z
 
I connected last week from T1 to T4 connecting with a BA flight to Phoenix. I would recommend using flight connections route (airside) on the outward leg more especially if you have a boarding pass for the connecting flight. Transfer time, including security check, was only
25 mins.
The return trip from T4 to T1 is tricky as you can be held up at the security check in the flight connections centre for 30 mins or more. On the return trip it took me 70 mins to transfer from T4 to T1 and nearly missed my connecting EI flight - last pax to board. I was pleasantly surprised to see my checked baggage at Shannon on my return.
 
I find that if you have checked your bags thru and have your onward boarding card your better off going outside and going by bus or train to T4. The FCC is a joke at times. T4 to T1 is always faster via the train.
 
I made it back last night and it went relatively smoothly through the flight connections route. Due to me forgetting to change my watch back I was somewhat stressed going through the FCC thinking I only had about 10 minutes left as the single x-ray queue churned slowly through the queue I was in. When I got through I overheard someone mentioning the time and suddenly I realised I still had an hour to go.

It took about 20 minutes in all to walk from the furthest possible airbridge in T4 to the bus and for it to drive around to T1, but the bus left within a minute or two of me getting on it so it could have been a good bit longer if I arrived a little later.

The worst bit was simply the amount of walking involved. Getting from the Irish gates to the FCC is a *very* long walk. Given a little more time I think next time I would go the train route as the walk elements are somewhat shorter.

And finally, for some bizarre reason EI called my flight a full 60 minutes before it was due to take off. I was just about to buy myself a coffee in the spacious BMI boarding area when I heard my flight called and reckoned that even though I was 99% sure of the time I had better head to the gate as requested. I duly went there and saw the plane wasn't even there yet, and sat at the gate for 60 minutes.

z
 
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