Letter to the Travel Editor
Heathrow leaves assisted travellers hanging Dear Sir, With reference to A. Kidd’s letter [ Travel, January 9] extolling the virtues of assisted travel, my own experience was mixed. Late 2016 I requested assistance for my journey to the UK as I had recently had knee-replacement surgery. The service in Auckland was excellent, as it was in San Francisco. It was a little intimidating in Washington DC with the demands for tips — okay, but how much?
However, the absolute worst was to come at Heathrow. First, there were no wheelchairs at the plane door, they were sent for and eventually arrived, however, they only took us to the top of the air bridge. There, we (another lady and myself) were told to wait and a buggy would be along to take us further. This eventually turned up and took us to the next holding pen to wait for another buggy. Yet again, this eventually arrived and carried us to the final holding pen. There we waited, and waited, and waited. After three quarters of an hour, I inquired how much longer and was told it could be another 45 minutes. We decided to limp to the Immigration area where the queues were very long and the “Special Assistance” exit was way down the far end of the hall.
Fortunately, one employee took pity and took us to the front of the queue. On the other side, there was no lift so we struggled down the stairs to the luggage carousel, which by this time was empty. We were told to go to the airline office, which was closed. However, our cases were dumped outside the office. So by the time we finally exited, two hours had passed and waiting relatives were extremely anxious. I have since heard of many similar experiences at Heathrow, even a report in the Daily Mail referring to the reporter’s elderly mother’s similar experience arriving from Canada. However, I have heard excellent reports of assistance through Gatwick so I would recommend going through Gatwick or a regional airport if needing help going into the UK. Cheers, Margaret McDonnell, Glenfield Got something to say? Send your letters to the Travel Editor