Heathrow Terminal 3

Heathrow is one of the better international mega airports. It is really a small city with shopping, restaurants and what appear to be homeless people sleeping on benches. Turns out they are global travelers waiting on flights hahaha…
If you want a break from the noise that is the main waiting area take a short walk to the areas between gates and you will find empty benches with quiet areas and no kids coughing on you.
Best area in terminal 3 is near gate 25 in the corridors.

Lots of options to walk around and kill time. I had a 6 hour layover and spent it walking around all of the shops, grabbing lunch, coffee, and having a few pints. It is very clean and there are a decent amount of power options to recharge devices.

Leaving London to return to Miami, I made sure to arrive early at Heathrow T3 (9:00AM for a 12:35 departure). It was a slight bit of a walk from the car service drop-​off area, but there were an ample number of FREE trolleys (carts) for our considerable amount of luggage. Check-​in at American Airlines went very smoothly and the agents were very nice and didn’t stress out about the bags being a little heavy (unlike ANAL Miami Int’l). British security was a little different than how it’s done in the States, but they were very patient. I got secondaried because of a small metal zipper on my boots, but the Brits were bend-​over backwards polite and apologetic about the added search, unlike some (not all) TSA agents. After security, we walked through what seemed like an upscale mall that you could really spend some time in. The lighting was intimate, and it smelled like you were walking between a male and female model wearing the latest high-​end fragrance. There were ample places to eat and buy essential sundries. Power stations had many USB and plug outlets readily available. Seating could have been more plentiful and comfortable, but overall the wait in T3 went quickly, it’s a lot nicer than other terminals I’ve been in (especially MIA)

What a long airport to walk through! OMG… you just keep walking and walking… There are many shops when you are leaving Heathrow, but not many when you arrive.
Security line was very long but moved relatively quickly.

Better than 1 and 4, worse than 2 and 5.
Sitting right in the middle of heathrows frankly bonkers range of terminals sits 3…
Not the cathedral like majesty of T5, nor the dismalness of T1… It sits somewhere in the middle… not quite fit for the 21^st century but would have looked good in 1999.
Tip, if flights are delayed there is not a surfeit of seats here so make sure you bag one quickly… and likewise power points, which outside of the executive lounges are as rare as hens teeth.

Terrible terminal. Fly out terminal 5 if you can. The connection will require another 30 minutes and another round of security check, which I don’t know why. Big airport like Frankfurt allows you to switch terminal without going through security, why can’t the Brits figure this out?

Airports are bittersweet places to be in… but this is one of the nicest (even though I cannot afford to buy much here, except food and books).
I always stop by WH Smith to buy a book or two… you know, every time I come here books are always buy 1 get 1 half off. I find this strange… or maybe it’s the effect I bring to WH Smith (who knows?).
I tried to get into the lounges with my Amex and that didn’t go well… one was completely booked (you had to do reservations) and the second one was cramp and small… I’m canceling my Amex this year in June (actually i’m down grading from platinum to FREE because I prefer FREE better).

I had to make a connecting flight through terminal 3. I flew in from the LAX and on to Spain. I was shocked and surprised by the securing screening. After leaving our plane from LA and landing at Hearthrow we had to go through security screening. All of our bags were x-​rayed and belts came off for body scans.
What was surprising to me was the rules on liquid carry on items. The same 3 oz rule applies, its 100 milliliters in the UK. The kicker is that all of your liquid items must fit into a quart sized zip lock. This zip lock must be taken out, and be placed into the tray for the xray machine. If you cant fit your liquids into the quart sized bag, they will be trashed.
This motivated us to make sure to place all toiletries in our checked baggage as the supplemental security screening in London was time consuming and unnecessary had we known the rules and been prepared.

No where near as good as terminal 5. The restaurants don’t serve lunch until after 11 which was also annoying.
Slow traffic too due to roundabouts

Definitely one of the better airports with affordable consumables and lots of last minute presents. It has all of the gourmet, large chain food options (pret, nero, EAT, café leon, costa etc), and there is a shed load of shopping (such as Zara and Harrods and lots of the british brands). You can get a sandwich without mortgaging your home and a bottle of water is around £1.
Duty free is large and you can seriously entertain yourself for a couple of hours if you need to do some shopping or hangout. If you’re after duty free booze their gin selection is excellent.
In fact, their booze selection is excellent although their champagne will never match the euro price even with duty free.
I have never had a huge wait through security and there is lots and lots of power points and places to sit. Toilets are clean. Place looks good and has good lighting. Free wifi if you need.
No too crowded.

There’s nothing in Terminal 3 in terms of restaurants, stores, or entertainment and this terminal definitely seems older than the others. There isn’t enough seating, there are only moving walkways going in one direction, and the boarding passes are checked in a strange way — you show the boarding pass/​passport to get to the gate, but then there isn’t even a bathroom at the gate, so you have to stand in line again if you want to leave and return. You also have to leave your passport, which made me feel uneasy.

You know, I like Terminal 3.
It’s never going to be flashy like Terminal 1 (oooh, terminal 1 thinks it’s so good), but do I get in and out? Yes! The lines tend to move here and I’ve never had a problem with crowds. There’s also a nice mix of stores for things you might need. Wish there were a little more food option and a few more plugs for people who want a plug, but what can you do.
There are way worse airports out there for sure, this one is fine.

I didn’t really have a bad experience here. I had a morning flight back and so it wasn’t too crowded and security was a breeze. Wasn’t a huge fan of not knowing which gate I was flying from right away, but they assign that an hour before flight time. They do have free wifi which many airports don’t have and that is definitely a plus. It is quite clean for many airport standards. Transit to the airport isn’t bad either.

From this terminal the transfer to terminal 5, by bus, took us more than an hour, time was mostly spent waiting in line in front of a sliding door. No airconditioning here, of course.
So, transfer at Heathrow is not recommended if you don’t have a lot of time between your flights.

Very clean facility. They have water bottle filling water fountains. Plenty of food choices. Free WIFI!!!

can’t believe how much better they have gotten at this. From arrival check in to customs it only took 30 mins. what the hell have they done? what ever it is well done

Bit dated, too much shopping taking over the whole place. There are better terminals at LHR. Has a decent selection of food and cafes.

I guess I could have given Heathrow 3 stars but Holy Cow! Tons of walking, literally in circles, spiraling down to wherever I was going. If they could somehow make movement more efficient it would be great.
That being said, I dug the caviar bar!

It’s an airport terminal with travellers, staff, shops and planes.
Does what it’s supposed to so I have no beef with it. I only wish there was a Marks & Spencer or Gordon Ramsey Plane Food outlet here.

Love/​hate with this terminal. I’m OK with walking, but not 20 min and having to drag a carry-​on. This is my usual terminal because Delta and Virgin Atlantic land/​depart from the states to here. Another plus is the post office =)
Make sure you grab all your snacks, charge your electronics, and use the restroom before heading to the gate. Once you pass the walkway with all the glass, that is it. No bathroom, no outlets, no food, no anything, unless you’re OK with crappy vending machines food. It feels like a sterile holding room.