Heathrow passenger pick up

[Chris Green]

idMobile still do fairly 'old-fashioned' PAYGO.

[Robin]

<snip>

I had both Tesco and ASDA SIMs with old-style PAYG. Tesco have closed the tariff to new customers but are still allowing top-ups to credit. ASDA were still selling them earlier this year.

[Robert]

O2 Classic PAYG credit rolls over, still available from eBay

for example

[wasbit]

That's handy to know. If only I had an online account.

[wasbit]

T-Mobile. Have to text or call every 180 days. I lost my credit twice before I set up reminders on my PC or by marking the calendar.

[Tim Lamb]

Right. Been there, done that!

Route /short stay signage could be better but it worked. Ticket on way in, pay on return to car and wave near reader on way out.

Major complaint! For a busy airport, why are toilets few and hard to find?

[Andrew]

Well it is fundamental to the GSM phone system that phones that are on, are in near constant dialogue with available masts and adjusting their output power to the minimum required to prolong battery life - hence the issue with using mobiles on planes.

[John Rumm]

ISTR you need to register for the account to order the SIM generally...

(although they did at one time like to send them out willy nilly in the hope that someone would give them away!)

[Robin]

Possibly the fact that toilets yield no income when they get £500 to £1,000 per sq M for space rented landside.

[Roland Perry]

In message [e-mail]>, at 12:35:17 on Mon, 16 May 2022, Tim Lamb [e-mail]> remarked:

Having been there fairly recently (since the Dartford_Tunnel|Congestion _Charge-alike payment scheme for drop-off started), the only way to do pick-up is by parking in the short-stay.) You get a standard paper ticket, which is paid at a kiosk just before re-entering the carpark proper on foot.

I agree that it's a hostage to fortune regarding delays and baggage claim etc, and I would always check a site like Flightstats to see when it was predicted to land (which for a USA flight will be pretty accurate as soon as it took off), then add perhaps 45 minutes.

Don't know of any obvious places to "lurk" outside the airport perimeter

- I suspect if they existed they'd be packed.

[Roland Perry]

In message [e-mail], at

16:32:38 on Tue, 17 May 2022, Robin [e-mail] remarked:

A T3 the toilets are where they've been for years, about as far from the car-park as it's possible to go. When I was there a few months ago virtually all the landside retail was still closed.

[NY]

Ideally they should run a cheap-as-chips park-and-ride service so people dropping off and picking up can leave their passengers somewhere that avoids congestion by the terminal, and the passengers then get a bus to/from.

"Lurking" outside the perimeter is only any good (assuming there are free spaces) if passengers are allowed to walk from there to the terminal, but I believe (I may be wrong) that Heathrow does not allow pedestrians through the access tunnels, so the only way to get in is by a car (pay even to drop off and set off within a few seconds), bus (pay to park long-term, and get shuttle bus included for free), taxi, or public transport (HEx, Picc or bus from Reading/Feltham). So whichever way you do it, you have to pay to get there.

[Theo]

By 'lurking', I was suggesting somewhere for the driver to wait until the passengers were confirmed to have (say) passed immigration. They would still have to pay for short stay parking, but only for a half-hour, not for more if things were slow.

For example, there's a Tesco in Feltham, just across the A30, which has a cafe. There are some pubs in Sipson and Harlington, there's a Tesco Extra near Stanwell, another in West Drayton, etc etc. Basically anywhere to park and wait, perhaps with coffee or other facilities available.

Your 'park and ride' service exists and is called the 'tube' - for example Hounslow West has a big car park. But I think Heathrow is under planning constraints to limit car journeys to the airport, so they would prefer it if people took public transport from a lot further away.

Theo

[Tim Lamb]

In message [e-mail], Roland Perry [e-mail]> writes

Serious problem for elderly prostate issue drivers!

For the late joiners.. the job is done! T3 short stay car park is moderately well signed although changing lanes might be a problem at busy times and you can't follow the road surface sign because of queuing cars! There is off airport parking with first 2 hours free so if the passenger can phone a few minutes before leaving arrivals, the short stay charge can be minimised.

[JNugent]

Some USA airports have free-to-use "cellphone lots" where drivers meeting arrival passengers can wait until summoned to the terminal by the air-passenger, who has now cleared the carousels and immigration (if appropriate). I've picked up relatives a few times by that means.

[JNugent]

...and anyway, muggers and knife-wielding robbers are as entitled to follow their trade as anyone else is.

[JNugent]

ooh! Where is that free parking for two hours, please?

[Tim Lamb]

Wherever this takes you:-)

[Theo]

That seems to be very out of date. Currently long stay is free for the first half hour:

but that's barely enough to get the bus to the terminal and back again. I suppose it might work as a cheaper way to pick people up if your passengers are prepared to catch the car park bus, but not for hanging around.

Theo

[Tim Lamb]

I think the idea is you park there while you wait for your passenger to clear arrivals and then drive to the short stay park to do the actual pickup.