The Olympic Rings at LHR
London's 2012 mascots, Wenlock & Mandeville, outside the Olympics store in LHR
Worldwide travellers have all been promised a seamless arrival experience at LHR for the Olympic Games, so I thought it would be a great opportunity to hop on Air Canada’s dayliner flight from YYZ and test it out. Departing at 0900 hrs. and arriving at 2100 hrs. means no jet lag and no waiting around for a hotel room. As the Brits would say, “Brilliant!”
Want to come along and see how it all turned out? Here we go:
0730 EDT: Departure lounge, Terminal 1, YYZ. The terminal is delightfully uncrowded this Friday morning – not even a line-up at Tim Hortons! But looks like the flight will be full, full, full.
0820 EDT: Customer service agent at desk requests on PA system, “Please do not push your way to the desk.” Oops. Sounds like the flight is really full or as the Brit would say, “Chockablock.”
0830 EDT: On board. Yes indeed, there’s not an empty seat. Sadly, no hunky Olympic athletes as far as I can tell, but there is one insufferably smug 5 yr. old in business class.
1000 EDT: Breakfast served, flabby omelet but it’s free. Movie time. I see many pax are getting into U.K. mode by watching Downton Abbey reruns.
1500 EDT, 2000 BST: “Dinner” – half a roast beef sandwich. Hardly a meal, but again the price is right (as is the price for bar service).
2115 BST: Land just 15 min. late – hardly unusual for an airport of this size. We all stretch, deplane and psych ourselves up for Customs and Immigration.
2140 BST: Customs Hall, about ¼ full, even those of us who are not U.K. and EC residents aren’t too backed up. Great thumping of rubber stamps fills the air. I take out my camera for a couple of snaps to share with you when something very interesting happens. A uniformed staffer shouts out to me, “Madam! Come with me please!” and proceeds to fast-track me past the other passengers to the head of the queue. “She was taking photos!”
Friendly-enough Immigration officer asked why.
“I’m writing an article on, um, how vastly improved Heathrow is,” I explain.
His reaction? He laughs! “I don’t know about that! Just delete them from your camera, please.” So sadly my career as a spy is over. (However, may have sorted out way to bypass long queues in future.)
21:45 BST: Into luggage hall which is busy but moving briskly and my bag appears after a couple of minutes.
21:50 BST: And out to the arrivals area where my friend awaits to whisk me off to rural Oxfordshire. As the Brits would say, “Cracking good!”
