To the 2:40 Coach and Heathrow Terminal 3
There and Back Again
Tradition says I need to leave home and catch a coach before doing anything else in life when it comes to flying. Who am I to deny tradition?
In this adventure
- Let’s have a Melancholy Introduction
- To the 2:40 Coach and Heathrow Terminal 3
- Lounging in Terminal 3 with Cathay Pacific and American Airlines
- AA99 London Heathrow to Chicago O’Hare (Main Cabin)
- Into the USA and The Holiday Inn/Staybridge Suites, Rosemont
- Airplane Art Extra from the Holiday Inn/Staybridge Suites, Rosemont
- Hyatt Regency O’Hare
- Airplane Art Extra from the Hyatt Regency O’Hare
- An Unveiled Bean – Seeing Cloud Gate after works at the Plaza
- Did I mention I hate suitcases? The Hunt for a Replacement
- Exploring The Loop from Above with the Chicago L
- Random Food Adventures in Chicago
- Off to O’Hare Terminal 3. Wait. T3? With the American Airlines Flagship Lounge
- BA296 Chicago O’Hare to London Heathrow (World Traveller)
- Coffee and the Coach
- One step forward
The Day Before
The runaround that we all do on trips a few days before culminates in packing, ensuring I have everything and finally getting going.
For me, it’s mainly dealing with paperwork, handovers and other crap, rather than looking after my things. Thus, when I closed the lid on the work Surface Laptop … I was more than done. However, there was packing ahead.
Sadly, my body refused to cooperate with that idea, and instead, I spent four hours crashing out on the sofa. I’ll take what I can get.
From there, it was a case of finding a working suitcase. I’ve pulled an old one out of storage, as handles extending out of… any of the other suitcases have been fun.
That’s a lie. It’s been a pain. Maybe I will have to get one, down trip this time.
Or maybe something else will happen. Now there’s foreshadowing if you’ve ever seen it.
Off to Digbeth
With the majority of what I needed to be loaded into the suitcase, it was time for a fast Uber to Digbeth coach station. Thankfully, being in the city, an Uber driver isn’t far away normally.
I’ll be taking questions on this image at the end of this trip report
Whilst the driver was no Speedy Gonzales, he certainly did put his foot down to get me to the coach station with 10 minutes to spare.
The glorious wonder that is Digbeth Coach station at 2:30 in the morning.
Heading in, my coach was boarding already. It took me a few minutes to get to the right door – mainly as I was paying attention to which one I needed to be at. Thankfully, there was still a small queue.
With my barcode checked, I was led aboard, with both of my bags accepted for travel.
National Express Coach 210
Birmingham Digbeth to London Heathrow Central Bus Station
Price Paid: £63.10 return
Boarding the coach, it seemed rather busy. No matter, as there was a pair of seats a couple of rows behind the driver.
That would do.
With only a few others getting on the coach, my pair of seats looked pretty cosy to Heathrow.
Our route would take us the local route to Birmingham Airport, then back towards the city of Birmingham before taking a sharp left to cut behind Solihull to access the Motorway network.
Considering how much of this airport is a “hot mess”, I’m still skipping departures from here unless I have to…
From there it’s a straight run on the M42, down the racetrack that’s the M40, onto London’s largest car park – the M25 and the M4 to Heathrow.
The coach seats were fitted with USB-A ports on the seat back – good enough to keep a phone topped up for the 3-hour ride to London Heathrow.
Whilst I managed three hours of sleep before I finished packing… Well, poorly as I realised I left more than a few things behind, I dozed where I could. And where I couldn’t, I scrolled. The Internet can deliver proper quality brain rot when needed.
Around 5 am, the coach pulled off the motorway and began its approach to the Heathrow Central Terminal Area and Bus Station.
Getting off the coach, it was a little bit of a bunfight to get my bag (as the driver loaded the suitcase towards the back of the cargo bay.
With both bags in hand, it was time to begin the first great push and suitcase pull. Now, for this trip, I had a larger classic suitcase. This was. Older… but the rest of the spinner bags I have I couldn’t pull the handle up on – this one I could.
Except the handle started jamming here. Oh boy. NOT NOW.
As this isn’t a spinner-style suitcase, I was setting myself up for failure later on.
With the stuff on a trolley, I headed into Heathrow Central Bus Station, I took the lifts downstairs to the underbelly of the Central Terminal Area and began the great push to Terminal 3.
Down into the beyond…
Keep on pushing…
Heathrow Terminal 3
At least when I popped out of Terminal 3, the light colours had changed for once. Instead of the pink and purple, it was green.
You’ve got to love RGB LEDs and how they can change the atmosphere of a place.
Checking the signs, I would need to head to Check-In Area D to complete all the formalities that one needs to do before heading through security.
There was only a short wait for the check-in desks to open at Terminal 3 today – with them operational by 5:20 – which is good considering the first Chicago flight goes at 08:10 in the morning.
You should be able to count at least five airlines in this picture. Go.
Thankfully, the queue was nice and short, so I was processed quickly enough. There was a query over one of my bags – not its contents, but more importantly, how was I paying for it. After explaining the ticket was booked on BA Codes, with a BA Silver attached, both bags were accepted for travel.
With the bags dropped off, the next task was to head up to security. Sadly, Heathrow Airport has been busy removing the escalators that took you up to the Security Level. They prefer you use lifts to get between the two levels of Terminal 3.
From here, it’s a short walk to Fasttrack security on the next level up. Heathrow has seemingly disposed of the escalators, with banks of elevators taking their place.
. At this time of the morning, the queues are normally short and move fast. More importantly, these are the CT-Style scanners, meaning laptops can stay in bags.
One bag was pulled for secondary screening and wiping, but with it done quickly enough, I could clear security.
I indulged in a Duty Free gift for a friend, as well as a bottle of water for the flight. I suspected I would not be able to move during the flight, so having options at this point of the game is a good thing.
However, please, don’t get currency at an airport. It’s very poor value for money.
With the basics in hand, it was time for the lounge run – and given it was early, it would be a two-lounge visit.
I think we know which ones, don’t we?
Next:
Noodles, please. Time to lounge at Heathrow Airport.
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