Arriving Heathrow, what to expect

We will be arriving to Heathrow airport from the US. Arriving at Terminal 3. Can anyone tell me

1) how customs works here?

2) i need to get to the Heathrow Express ticket office. Is there one in terminal 3?

3) is it easy to find baggage and then find the Heathrow Express train platforms?

thank you,

Patty

Hi Patty,

Formalities at LHR are much the same as the rest of the world. Plenty of directions signage, but generally we just follow the herd.

From aircraft to Immigration Control - join the line for non-EU passengers. Lines here can be extremely long, luck of the draw it can be anywhere from 10 mins to well over an hour. But it's the only time you'll be in a line.

From Immigration to Baggage Reclaim. Check which carousel for your flight on the monitors. There are plenty of baggage trolleys, they're free & you don't even have to insert a coin.

There are several exits from Baggage Reclaim, all close to each-other, to go thro Customs.

Unless you're bringing in more than your duty-free allowances

https://www.gov.uk/duty-free-goods/arrivals-from-outside-the-eu

or over €10,000-worth of cash (I wish :D), go thro the green exit ("Customs. Nothing to declare"). Most folk go thro' without being stopped - you might be unlucky but most folk they stop are for targeted reasons.

If you have any goods or money in excess of the personal limits go first to the red point "Customs enquiries. Goods to declare"

From Customs you go straight into the Arrivals Hall.

If you pre-purchase your Heathrow Express tickets on-line (that's the cheapest way to do it, and seriously cheap if you book months ahead) you don't need to visit the ticket office - you can print-off, or save to your phone.

JB :)

Well done JB

Hi Patty,

Formalities at LHR are much the same as the rest of the world. Plenty of directions signage, but generally we just follow the herd.

From aircraft to Immigration Control - join the line for non-EU passengers. Lines here can be extremely long, luck of the draw it can be anywhere from 10 mins to well over an hour. But it's the only time you'll be in a line.

From Immigration to Baggage Reclaim. Check which carousel for your flight on the monitors. There are plenty of baggage trolleys, they're free & you don't even have to insert a coin.

There are several exits from Baggage Reclaim, all close to each-other, to go thro Customs.

Unless you're bringing in more than your duty-free allowances

https://www.gov.uk/duty-free-goods/arrivals-from-outside-the-eu

or over €10,000-worth of cash (I wish :D), go thro the green exit ("Customs. Nothing to declare"). Most folk go thro' without being stopped - you might be unlucky but most folk they stop are for targeted reasons.

If you have any goods or money in excess of the personal limits go first to the red point "Customs enquiries. Goods to declare"

From Customs you go straight into the Arrivals Hall.

 

If you pre-purchase your Heathrow Express tickets on-line (that's the cheapest way to do it, and seriously cheap if you book months ahead) you don't need to visit the ticket office - you can print-off, or save to your phone.

 

JB :)

Thank you JB, That was helpful. We have Brit rail passes that we need to get activated to ride the Heathrow Express, so i need to find the ticket office before finding the train.

Thank you JB, That was helpful. We have Brit rail passes that we need to get activated to ride the Heathrow Express, so i need to find the ticket office before finding the train.

Sorry, can't help you on that bit.

The forum you're on here, UK cruisers, has much lower footfall and is rarely visited by international travellers

Best to ask about that on the Britain ports-of-call forum, a much busier forum

https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=-1&f=233

JB :)