Heathrow Airport: A Travel Companion Guide

Dedicated to Aimee who wants to be super prepared for arriving in London in a few weeks. 

The monitors on the plane had an option to track your flight across the Atlantic

My plane hit the runway around 9:45 AM, London time, which gave me around two and a half hours to catch a bus.  I didn't get off the plane until about 10:00 AM, and that was only because I was pretty close to the boarding door.  One great thing about Heathrow Airport is that the signage is spectacular.

I followed the yellow signs all the way to baggage reclaim.  Also, it helped to pick a few people out that you know were in your flight because I also followed them to baggage claim as well.

Now, my program said that I would have to present my visa information to the people working at customs, but the Heathrow Airport website said I would go through border control first, then go to baggage reclaim, and finally head through customs.

I get to border control and the only people in front of me were people from my flight, which was awesome because it meant I didn't need to wait in line that long.  The man asked me for my passport and landing card, then asked me a series of questions.  I told him I was studying abroad for the semester and he asked to see a letter from the school, so I showed him the visa request form Arcadia had mailed us.

He let me through pretty quickly, but the poor man next to me was almost being emotionally tormented by the woman checking his passport.  I guess it depends on who was letting you through the border (although Aimee, I probably wouldn't worry about it too much, it was pretty simple and straightforward).

One cool thing about the time change was seeing the "sunrise" from the air

Then I headed to baggage reclaim which was immediately around the corner.  This took me what felt like a slice of forever because my bag was one of the last bags out of the plane and onto the carousel. I waited for almost thirty minutes for my bag to get through.

My program made it sound as though customs was going to be a hassle, but it was literally just walking down a designated pathway and under a green sign and through a passage way into the terminal.

Finally, I was through and ready to make my way to Terminal 3.  According to my arrival guide, I was supposed to meet Arcadia staff at the International Arrivals section of Terminal 3.  This meant that I followed more signs to the Heathrow Express Train stop which was under ground.  (Aimee, take the elevators, they will save your life)

(Also, get a trolley, because I didn't get one until ten feet before I met up with my group but you should get one as soon as you get to baggage reclaim because you will be walking EVERYWHERE around the airport, it's just a lot easier and I wish I had done that sooner.)

The Heathrow Express Train either takes you to Terminals 1, 2, and 3, or it takes you directly into London, so make sure you get on the right track.  It's the right track if you don't need to pay to get through.

When I got off the express shuttle, I followed more signs to Terminal 3, and ended up taking an elevator (or lift, in London) to outside of Terminal 3.  The Arrivals section was the farthest building away from me but it was clearly labeled, and I met my group pretty close to the door.

All in all, Heathrow Airport is humungous and frightening but not the least bit confusing.  They do a fantastic job of telling everyone where to go.

Casually flying over Ireland