Keepupwith

I stayed at The Park Inn in November and my only real complaint was the long distance I had to drag my case to my room as there seemed to be miles of corridors. The room was clean and warm. The window blinds did rattle a bit as the window seals were not tight but I managed to get a reasonable nights sleep. I've been staying in Heathrow Hotels for over 20 years and find the standards can really vary even within the same hotel. I've never had a really dirty room but have at times even in 4* been disappointed with service and cleanliness. If the room and service is unaceptable do complainand ask for a change.

I travelled to Terminal 3 from the hotel with the Hoppa and it was half empty. Two weeks later I travelled to Terminal 5 from another Hotel at 7am and was the only person on the bus.

Snow threat forces Heathrow to cancel almost a third of flights

Heathrow Airport has cancelled 30% of its flights for Sunday following a weather warning from the Met Office.

Heavy snowfall is expected in the southeast of England overnight and Heathrow said a reduced flight schedule had been agreed to minimise disruption to passengers.

A revised scheduled showing which flights will operate will be published on http://www.heathrow.com at 18:00hrs today.

A further revised schedule with additional cancellations may be made on a rolling basis, it said. Latest forecasts show snow is expected to start falling at Heathrow from 17:00hrs on Saturday until 06:00 tomorrow, with heavy snowfall between 21:00hrs and 03:00hrs.

As much as 15cms of snow may cover the southeast and visibility on Sunday is likely to be reduced with freezing fog from 18:00hrs.

Heathrow chief operating office Normand Boivin, said: "This decision ensures that the greatest number of passengers can fly with the minimum amount of disruption. It also means that those passengers whose flights are cancelled will know in advance, and can make alternative arrangements or rebook in relative comfort."

British Airways said it will publish details of flight cancellations later today, meanwhile Virgin Atlantic is offering all passengers due to fly tomorrow the option to rebook to travel on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday next week.

Gatwick Airport is also warning of possible disruption to flights on Sunday and promised to update passengers on its website and via Twitter.

With permission from Travelmole

Hi Everyone

Sorry for the late update...I emailed both the hotel and holiday extras. To their credit the Park Inn were very quick in getting back to me and have put a note on our file as to our concerns. Holiday extras confirmed that they knew we were in contact with the customers services manager and felt sure she would make sure our stay was a success. So we have kept the booking, all airport hotels seem to have variable reviews...I still have the emails, so should it be horrendous, we can follow it up, but I'm reasonably happy it will be OK. Will report back after our stay. Pam

I am due to fly from glasgow to heathrow tonight but flight is delayed for a couple of hours. I have checked in online can I go to the airport later or will I still have to go at the original time. I am flying with BA.
thanks

Hi bigmamtam ... which flight are you booked on ? Most of the GLA/LHR flights are already showing as cancelled.

David

Sorry my mistake Glasgow to Gatwick. I was looking for Gatwick forum couldnt find it and stuck it on the Heathrow forum as I thought the answer would amount to the same.

Unless your airline is specifically stating that you should not report until a new rescheduled time, then I would say that you must adhere to the original timing. Any delays at this stage might only be estimated, the situation at LGW could (hopefully) have improved by tonight.

David

Thanks can always rely on this site for great info

Heathrow warns of further disruption

London Heathrow has re-opened but has warned of further disruption following the cancellation of flights.

Airlines expect to operate about 50% of the 1,300 flights originally scheduled for today (Sunday).

The airport, airlines and air traffic control decided yesterday to reduce flight schedules in advance following bad weather warnings from the Met Office.

"By cancelling flights in advance airlines have been able to rebook some people onto flights that are departing, and passengers have had better quality information about whether they can fly or not," said a Heathrow spokesman.

The airport said runways, taxiways and stands have been cleared of snow and extra staff have been drafted in to the terminals to help passengers whose flights have been cancelled.

There is no further snowfall forecast today, but there is a forecast of freezing fog from 18:00 this evening.

BAA, Heathrow airlines and NATS met this morning and agreed that based on current weather forecasts, there is no need to reduce Heathrow's flight schedule tomorrow.

"Heathrow's usual flight schedule will operate," said the spokesman.

"There may still be some cancellations as a result of today's disruption with aircraft and crew needing to be repositioned. Passengers should check the status of their flight with their airline before travelling."

Gatwick and Stansted are operating as usual but passengers were warned they might face some disruption.

The runway was closed temporarily at Luton Airport after snow fell overnight. Three departing flights were cancelled but Sunday schedules are operating as planned, except for some delays.

With permission from Travelmole

OH needs to drop off DD at Heathrow to pick up a BA flight to Geneva.

Does anyone know where the best/most economic place to park is for a 30 min or maybe one hour stay as he may wish to go into the terminal building with her as although she has flown numerous times it is the first time she has flown alone.

Any idea on price ? I remember not pre-booking parking there years ago when leaving the Country for two days and I'm sure it was jaw droping £15 a day even then.

If this isn't possible is there a pick up, drop down zone anywhere (is that what they are called) I guess this would be our second option?

doe,

Have you tried Heathrows website? There's details on short and long stay parking options. A short stay car park will probably be your best bet, £4.70 for up to an hour.

Darren

Sorry Darren I tried here first.

I will have a google about, a fiver sounds OK, it will be better than me getting out of bed at the crack to go with them, so he can then drive round in loops while I go into the terminal building.

Could someone please give me a list of decent but reasonably priced hotels close to Heathrow (pref terminal 1) with rooms that will sleep 3 & do parking. never flown from Heathrow before & live in the North so haven't a clue where to start really! Thanks

Hi Twinkletoes , I don't personally know of any hotels but would suggest looking at a site like http://www.holidayextras.co.uk. They do hotel and parking packages and have info about hotels and suitabililty for the terminals . Hope this helps

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Nivsy

Recently went from t5 for the first time , very impressed . We had also booked a package through holidayextras with up to 15 days parking and a night on return at the sofitel , I have to say that it was all excellent , easy to find and park up , quickly "checked in " the car at reception and walked through to the airport checkin in minutes , the greeting and service at the sofitel were fantastic as they loaded our cases onto a trolley to make it easier , on our return we checked in and were upgraded to a luxury room , which even has a tv in the bathroom ! We had a lovely breakfast , very well cooked and a fantastic range of food , and then on check out we were in our car inside 2 mins as the lift takes you down into the secure covered car park which has big bays and bright lighting . By accident we were charged for our breakfast by mistake as I later found out when I checked my email confirmation , I checked with holidayextras and they were extremely helpful and offered to contact sofitel , I said I could do that and spoke to Melissa in accounts today who resolved it all in less than a couple of minutes and has processed the refund , absolutely first class customer service and no stress or hanging on etc .
So here's a big shout for the sofitel at t5 , a beautiful hotel with wonderful and friendly service , if you need parking and a stay you just can't go wrong with using them .

Sounds good andy66 If you don't mind me asking, what was the cost of this package please?

We had up to 15 days parking even though we only used 11 days because the 8 day package plus 3 days extra would have cost more !!! And one night stay in classic room ( cheapest) plus breakfast for 2 cost a total of £220 , the breakfast were 17 each pre booked as opposed to 19.95 , and we got 10% off our full price by going through my wife's work reward scheme bit like a cash back site , so the top line full price was 255 and we got 25 discount , it was through holidayextras. , we have got an even better deal when we go from gatwick next year as they had a 15% off special and I got room only at the sofitel at the NT for 85 for the night RO .
I'm not sure if people think this is cheap etc but the ease and convenience is great and the hotel rooms are really nice , I also like the fact that the parking was very secure and undercover and located underneath the hotel , no lugging cases around on transfer buses , or waiting at bus stop pick ups etc.

Thanks for the info andy66