Switching planes at heathrow

[sr5242]

My mother and I are scheduled to fly into London and then switch planes to Barcelona this weekend. We arrive at terminal 1 and depart terminal 5. We have a 90 minute layover. My mother is mobility challenged and takes three times as long as others to get anywhere. We have requested wheelchair assist. I have heard that it is very difficult to get through security and change terminals. Has anyone recently experienced this type of situation at heathrow and how did it work out?

[fabnfortysomething]

My mother and I are scheduled to fly into London and then switch planes to Barcelona this weekend. We arrive at terminal 1 and depart terminal 5. We have a 90 minute layover. My mother is mobility challenged and takes three times as long as others to get anywhere. We have requested wheelchair assist. I have heard that it is very difficult to get through security and change terminals. Has anyone recently experienced this type of situation at heathrow and how did it work out?

 

if you have requested wheelchair assistance you will be taken the short cut route and will be able to be taken through security quickly

 

as you get off the first plane there will be an employee with a wheelchair and they know how to get you through the airport

[KirkNC]

Actually with the assistance you should go quicker then those without it.

[Keith1010]

Be sure to request assistance.

 

Keith

[sr5242]

Thanks for the replies. Does anyone know at which number row on American 777-300 Boeing they start boarding for economy?

Thanks!

[skisteamboat]

Wheelchair Pax go first no matter where they are seated. Or at worst, after First Class has boarded

 

Cheers

[sr5242]

Wheelchair Pax go first no matter where they are seated. Or at worst, after First Class has boarded

 

Cheers

 

Thanks- I'm more concerned about getting off in a timely manner- thanks

[Globaliser]

I'm more concerned about getting off in a timely manner

Wheelchair passengers are usually disembarked last. But as you have assistance which will enable you to jump all of the queues, this should not matter.

[Alberta Quilter]

This past June, my mother and I flew into and out of Heathrow. We did not have to change terminals so can't speak to that.

 

I had requested assistance for my mother. When we arrived, the wheelchair was waiting for us. Well, we were whisked through passport control, picked up our luggage and were at the taxi in the parkade in 20 minutes! It was so fast, we didn't have time to have a bathroom break! And, yes, the attendant pushed my mother in the wheelchair, right to the taxi in the parkade. (I had pre-arranged the taxi for our transfer to Dover.)

 

On the way home to Canada, we were picked up at the business class lounge in what I called the pope mobile! It was a golf cart with plexi-glass sides. We were taken to the front of the line-up at our gate, the attendant checked our passports and boarding pass and then we walked right on to the plane.

 

So, definitely request assistance. One thing I will warn you about, that I learned in Frankfurt is that, sometimes, in Frankfurt (don't know about Heathrow but I'd imagine it's possible), they bus the passengers to the plane and load passengers via stairwell. When I asked at the desk while we were waiting for boarding, I was advised that they only had notice that my mother couldn't walk long distances, not that she couldn't do stairs. Therefore, my mother had to do the stairs.

 

I'm just warning you to mention all of your mother's challenges to ensure that she has safe and smooth transitions to each plane. When I booked our upcoming flights to Rome; the agent was surprised that I requested the stair assistance but understood when I explained what happened in Frankfurt.

 

I hope it goes well for both of you! It's nice to be able to travel with a parent for as long as you can.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[Globaliser]

When I asked at the desk while we were waiting for boarding, I was advised that they only had notice that my mother couldn't walk long distances, not that she couldn't do stairs. Therefore, my mother had to do the stairs.

This is good advice. There are different categories of wheelchair assistance. This Wikipedia list includes these examples (although obviously every airline is liable to do things slightly differently):-

• WCOB - Wheel Chair On Board - Pax requires on-board/in-flight Assistance
• WCHR - Wheel Chair to Ramp - Pax can ascend/descend steps and make own way to/from cabin seat, but requires wheelchair for distance to/from aircraft
• WCHS - Wheel Chair to top of Steps - Pax is able to walk but unable to ascend or descend stairs
• WCHC - Wheel Chair in Cabin - Pax is paraplegic/quadriplegic, requires an on-board wheelchair and must be carried to/from cabin seat

Some of these categories also have restrictions on where in the cabin they can be seated.

[UKBayern]

This is good advice. There are different categories of wheelchair assistance. This Wikipedia list includes these examples (although obviously every airline is liable to do things slightly differently):-

• WCOB - Wheel Chair On Board - Pax requires on-board/in-flight Assistance
  
• WCHR - Wheel Chair to Ramp - Pax can ascend/descend steps and make own way to/from cabin seat, but requires wheelchair for distance to/from aircraft
  
• WCHS - Wheel Chair to top of Steps - Pax is able to walk but unable to ascend or descend stairs
  
• WCHC - Wheel Chair in Cabin - Pax is paraplegic/quadriplegic, requires an on-board wheelchair and must be carried to/from cabin seat
  

Some of these categories also have restrictions on where in the cabin they can be seated.

 

All airlines I have ever worked for used the same codes, basically it is IATA-code. Some airlines do not use the WCOB. WCHR these days will very often be the golf cart, so the passenger must be able to get on the car, and be able to walk in the aviobridge. Never request WCHC unless you are really a paraplegic, because you will be questioned if you are fit to fly (can you sit in an airline seat, can you fed yourself, do you have somebody to take you to the toilet), you might lose your reserved seat because you have to sit in a designated seat with clapsable armrests on an aisle (good point Globaliser) and the airline brings in a special "carrying crew". Alberta: it often depends on the type/size of aircraft and not the airport if stairs are used (at least in most of the western world). If your booking says the aircraft is a Boeing 747, stairs are unlikely, whereas in the case of a Fokker 50 or Embraer ERJ it is fairly likely.

[Cotswold Eagle]

Alberta: it often depends on the type/size of aircraft and not the airport if stairs are used (at least in most of the western world). If your booking says the aircraft is a Boeing 747, stairs are unlikely, whereas in the case of a Fokker 50 or Embraer ERJ it is fairly likely.

 

This is, of course, generally true. However, the OP is flying out of T5 on a European flight. Despite building a huge shiny new terminal and having now opened the 'B' and 'C' piers, BA still does not have enough gate capacity at T5 and it appears to be a bit of a roll of the dice as to which flights get a bridge and which are parked out at a stand requiring stairs. I have certainly been bussed to or from various flights there, including Cyprus, Brussels and Edinburgh, recently.

[sr5242]

An update: heathrow was a NIGHTMARE! Never again!!! They were very unresponsive to my mothers mobility needs and our short transfer window. They wheeled my mother off the plane, then left us sitting in the hallway waiting and waiting for the little car. Then they'd drive us to the area where we would catch the transfer bus and they'd spend several minutes "studying " our boarding passes until finally putting us in the elevator to go down to the transfer buses. Then when we finally got to the next terminal they'd put my mother in a wheelchair and leave us there for a long wait for someone to push her. On the way home they told me if we wanted to make our connection I'd have to push her wheelchair. So I wheeled her through security and to the gate!

[Cotswold Eagle]

I'm sorry to hear about your poor experience. Hopefully you actually made your flights.

 

The thing about Heathrow is that it is to all intents and purposes three airports (T1/3, T4, T5) sharing two runways. Connecting between terminals can be a nightmare, especially if you are not familiar with the place. This is why they try as far as possible to put the various airline alliances in one terminal, but with the increasing dominance of BA that's not always possible.

 

Of course, that is no excuse for the shoddy treatment your mother received, having requested assistance.