Heathrow Airport

This review is for Terminal 4 Heathrow Airport which I used to fly with Air France by. It includes my outbound and inbound flights. It serves European and international flights. The terminal has step free access and offers passenger assistance.

Booked 4 tickets with BA from Term 3 Heathrow to Toulouse. France. Also booked wheelchair assistance for 3 of the 4 travelers. Special assistance is a long way from bag check, in terminal 5 they are together. When we got to special assistance it was out of the way with no cafes or anything. Made to feel an inconvenience by the woman on the desk. Eventually 3 helpers arrived and loaded my 3 relatives into wheelchairs but didnt tell us what was going on. We ended up in a long queue with everyone else for customs. No seperate line for people with special needs. It was very slow, chaotic and noisy. For anyone with autism etc it would have been a nightmare. The lady in front of us, also with special needs was crying! The wheelchair helpers were saying that they had been asking for a special lane for wheelchair users because they get tied up waiting in the queues and then other passengers cant get the help that they have booked! My relatives with special assistance were checked first and one had to have her bags inspected, she had a tube of something that she had forgotten but they let her keep it. I had the bags for my daughter and I and in all the chaos of getting 4 people ready I had forgotten a tube of hand cream which was nearly empty and a brand new pot of hair cream which had never been opened. Every item of mine and my daughters was inspected and it took ages. They were checked by 3 different people and my stuff was in 2 different places. When I tried to go and get my stuff from one place when it was finished I was told off by the other person. It was terrible and all the time my 3 relatives and 2 helpers were waiting. I was made to feel like a criminal. The tube of hand cream was binned by the checker but the hair cream was not put in the bin! Eventually we got through and were parked in a drab room with no toilet, food, drinks etc and no explanation of what was going on. Two of my relatives needed food to take medication and so I went to ask for the nearest cafe. 2 wheelchair assistants kindly took my relatives and brought them back. An elderly lady on her own sitting near us wanted food and I directed her to where we had gone. Eventually she came back having got lost! There was no signage and no welfare checks etc. People were afraid to move in case they missed their flights. Eventually some helpers said that our flight was ready for us and "could we all walk?" There were about 7 or 8 wheelchair users who were all made to feel like they had to walk as "the gate is only a 2 minute walk away". Yes it was but then they had to wait on the other side and there were no seats then they had to walk to the plane. It was disgraceful. When we landed in Toulouse it was a whole other story, much better and well organised. On the return flight my 2 relatives who were travelling alone were passed from pillar to post and even split up, her husband has dementia, they had extra assistance booked for this too. There was only 1 person to escort them and my cousin was asked if she could push the trolley, she said no so then she was asked if she could push her husbands wheelchair! I am disgusted by the treatment that my family have received and have complained but the replies were, to say the least, pointless. I wouldnt recommend special assistance at terminal 3 to my worst enemy. Special, I dont think so! To be honest it felt like we were an inconvenience from the moment that we arrived with special assistance to the moment that we got on the plane and then off again on the return flight. Heathrow you need to scrub your current arrangements and start again, this time try treating special assistance travellers as if they are special and not an inconvenience. You needed a dedicated special assistance line at customs, preferably away from all the noise and chaos, welfare checks, to explain what is going on every step of the way, to offer all passengers toilet, food and drink facilities, to have wheelchairs and helpers for those who have booked them, to not stick people out of the way as if they are an inconvenience and you need to consider and make provisions for passengers with things like autism, dementia etc. Next time I fly I will certainly have Heathrow at the bottom of my list.

I was travelling by air for the first time since using a wheelchair. I was helped to the airport and helped to check in by my sister and was meeting the person I was travelling with at the airport. The check-in staff (Virgin Atlantic) were very helpful and directed to an area upstairs for disabled people, I was allowed to use my own wheelchair at all times. After my friend arrived we were escorted to another area so we had priority boarding. The Virgin Atlantic staff were very helpful and kept me informed. I didn’t need assistance to get to my seat as seat backs gave me enough support. My wheelchair needed to be put in the hold but on both legs it was waiting for me when I got off the plane. I was given assistance with hand luggage, as I had a medical device we had more than most so needed an extra person as just one other person could not push the wheelchair and pull/carry the hand luggage. Security was very quick and easy. I can’t got through the security scanner even if I could walk as I have a pacemaker. The staff accepted this and just gave me a normal pat down, much better than Miami Airport where they made me sit for half an hour before making the slightest effort to let me through. I realise quite a lot of this was due to the airline staff but the staff at Heathrow wee excellent compared to Miami in the way back. The worst point was that parking is charged for, I can’t use public transport and have a blue badge. There is no other option for me to get to the airport.