I have a flight that gets in Heathrow at 10 pm, after reclaiming baggage and customs it would be going on for 11 pm. My next flight is 6:15am. Rather than have the hassle of booking a hotel and taxis it would be easier to stay in Heathrow rather than get a hotel for what would be about 3/4 hours sleep as I would have to check in at 4:15 am. I am arriving at terminal 1 and leaving at terminal 2. Anyone know if they let you stay or just throw you out!
I don't know how much help this will be, but when I flew through Heathrow in 1993 they allowed it. Obviously times have changed. I'd give the airport a call and ask.
JinUK
I have more than my fair share of experience going through Heathrow unfortunately :)
You will be fine. Just go to where the correct gate is for your connecting flight and campout for a few hours. Nobody will bother you. This is England not Beirut :)
By the time you change terminals take a little look around and maybe get something to eat and a beer you will easily be able to relax for a little while until your ongoing flight.
Best Wishes
Izi
Speaking seriously, Heathrow does get it's vagabonds but providing that you have onward flight tickets etc. then should be OK, terminals 1 & 2 are next door to each other but doubt that there will be much in the way of food & beverages available overnight, the place pretty much closes down overnight.
It's an international airport, of course you can sleep somewhere, as long as you got a boarding pass for the next flight out, your like a legal airport citizen. :)'
Just keep your valuables realy close. You'll be a mark the instant you close your eyes. It's how criminals make a living...
Bring a night shade, it helped me get to sleep fast. Heathrow is at its best when it is closed down. After your trip, you will probably do everything you can to avoid flying to it. Vienna, Frankfurt, anything but Heathrow. It is a 3rd world airport complete with drab surroundings and Soviet style cues.
The thing I hate the most about Heathrow is that you will not know the proper gate for your flight until about 15-20 minutes before the flight leaves. Then you will have to scramble to make the flight. This was the case as of Aug 2006. Might as well be Beirut.
Or JFK for that matter. Cold cement benches - not the best memory I had when I returned back from FSU after meeting a deceptive, gold-digger type with low morals in Odessa my first time out.
hi. just seen this well
i wanted to ask.
im going on a trip to dubai from heathrow terminal 4 at 9am but i have to be there by like 7 or half 6.
so i was wondering can i go there the night before my flight and stick around i know wont be comfortable but its better than rushing in the morning and delaying.
so could someone please tell me if thats okay or not?
You really need to call the airport to find out if it all right. I slept overnight on a bench at the Zurich airport so that it would be easy for me to catch an early morning flight, but that was twelve years ago. Times and security measures have changed.
I always spend the night and fly our in the morning. They do close the area of the Duty Free shops for cleaning and herd everyone to another area, but you can stay in the airport.
You fellows are pretty rugged! I've had some middle-of-the-night layovers for 2 or 3 hours, but spending the whole night in the terminal would be kinda miserable.
If you are flying with a carrier with a lot of flights then you can check in anytime and you can go in. If the carrier only has a few flights you can only check in a few hours before the flight. book into an airport hotel.
Where do you come from that you have to spend the over night? I leave from the NYC or Charlotte airports in the evenings. Drink about 6 beers, a sleeping pill and its Munich before you know it and its 7 am. A 2.5 hour wait and its time to get the plane to Ukraine, Russia... Where ever.