Heathrow airport overnight layover

I arrived Oslo on the 4th of August, after a long 30+ plane ride. I think it was the most depressing ride I have ever been on. Don’t get me wrong, I love travelling and even long layovers at airports, but there was just something off with this trip. First of all, the British Airways BA010 from Bangkok to Heathrow is OLD, the screens took me back 15 years when I used to travel with Aeroflot. If you want to watch a movie, you have to fast forward through the commercial and also, they were out of chicken. How sick is airplane fish? I survived the trip on snacks and wine… which wasn’t too bad, but left me with a bad impression.

Then I arrive Heathrow airport trying to enter my terminal when I get the message we are not allowed to do an overnight layover. I mean seriously there had to be another option. I then ask another lady that tells me to go on the train to go to A gate, which is in terminal 5, and you can’t stay overnight, then I get advised to cross the border and stay a night in the city. It had already passed like 2 hours, and I was not bothered seeing it was already 8.30pm and my flight left at 7am in the morning, and I had to be back at the airport a lot earlier, as the security check is the slowest I have ever been part of.

I then talked to a brighter human being who said I could go to terminal 3 which was my original plan, but a lady at the border said there were a minimal amount of restaurants there and that if I got sleepy I would have to sleep on the floor. It sounded like the worst terminal EVER..

After I had a chat with the bus driver he made it sound like an awesome terminal, and it sure was, they have a large tax free, lots of shops and many amazing restaurants, actually, I think it was better than the British airways terminal 5.

The only annoying part everything closes around 10 pm, but if you have work to to, or series or movies on your computer this is no problem. This is absolutely the best option if you land in the evening like myself, and have to leave early in the AM, as you won’t have any time to go sightseeing in the city anyways. If you do have any time though, or want to check in at a hotel this is a nice lists of things to do.

PS! My return trip with British Airways BA009 from London Heathrow to Bangkok was a lot better experience though, the food was quite different, and I didn’t have to have the crazy long layover, but all in all the planes are way too old and I don’t think I would chose to travel with them again unless it was really cheap or I had no other option. Before I leave you guys with only bad impressions I do want to say that the service is excellent. The crew is very polite and helpful, very British, hehe.

The security in Heathrow is also something you want to avoid. It was fine by me since I had such a long layover, but every time I went to terminal 5, someone lost their plane because it took them 30 minutes to go through security. But then again, people NEED to read the instructions before they go through and not put water bottles with liquids or not take out their liquids before they go through.

I think I have become spoiled from travelling with Norwegian airlines. I know it is a low cost airline and the leg space may actually be smaller than British Airways, but I appreciate the options. I like how you can charge both USB and computer. How you can buy food and drinks mid-air by swiping your card on the screen, and how you can choose if you want to bring your luggage, have your in-flight meals and buy earphones and blankets if you need it and manage to save in on the ticket if you don’t. The screens are also a dream and so easy to watch movies at great quality.

Hope this helps others out there being in the same situation xx 

-A