A Coffee and the Coach back to Birmingham
There and Back Again
Right. Time to head to the UK Border, get my luggage, grab something resembling a mug of coffee and grab the coach home. This should be simple…
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
With the Boeing 787-10 arriving at a gate comparatively close to the terminal building, it was a short walk off the aircraft and into Terminal 5 C Gates.
Welcome to the C Gates. The end of the world…
Of course, being on an aircraft for so long there was only one place I was going to head first – the UK Border could wait for a few minutes.
With my mind and body clear of a few things, I headed to the transit connection between Terminal 5 C and Terminal 5 A, snagging a spot near the front of the transit system.
With the ride only taking a few minutes (and these transit trains are full, no matter the time of day), I soaked in the past few days and experiences.
As usual, when arriving, I took the lifts to the UK Border – as it’s the quickest way there (a quick reminder: escalators are for those who enjoy taking their time at Terminal 5, especially when arriving on the transit system).
I headed through the UK and ePassport queues and towards the rejects section before I could be stopped by a random person. With the chip in my passport having stopped working, its just easier to skip through the annoying parts of the formalities and skipt to the end.
Welcome to the UK “Choose your own adventure” border.
Thankfully, the rejects queue was short and a UK Border agent saw me promptly.
Let’s skip this ePassport mess.
After a quick Q&A from the border agent, I was let into the country.
From here, I started the short walk to baggage claim… and saw a bunch of people being fleeced. Yes, they were using the Travelex cash machines.
Please don’t use these ATMs unless it’s the end of the world. Your wallet will thank you.
I’ve gone through why this is a rip off – and I encourage you to use an ATM away from the airport unless you desperately need cash (considering most of the London black taxis, trains and even coaches will accept credit card or contactless payments… please, find a bank ATM rather than these fleece machines).
Heading down to baggage claim, there was a wait, as priority bags were treated at the usual distaste they’re normally treated at Terminal 5.
To the luggage belt.
The good news? Instead of an hour’s wait for my luggage, both of my bags popped out onto the belt in under 30 minutes.
Well, you all made it. Delightful.
That’s a big improvement for Terminal 5 luggage handling.
With the bags retrieved, it was time to head to the exit and through UK Customs. They had a big presence out at the exit at the Green Channel – but weren’t stopping people as such. I just carried on through and to the exit, past the Heathrow Express and Duty Free Sales.
To the exit!
Once in the public zone, I desired coffee. I also had 30 minutes to spare – plenty of time obtain and sink a mug of the black stuff before boarding a coach home.
Do I have a ranking of coffee shop brands? No. I just want the power coffee grants me when I need to wake up, work or type.
Some of my best loyalty redemptions have been at Coffee shops – with both a Costa Coffee and a Caffe Nero on the ground floor at Terminal 5.
Both accept their loyalty vouchers as a valid payment method at Heathrow Airport. So for that day, I used one of my many Caffe Nero vouchers.
Hey, a £4.50 saving is a £4.50 saving. One I’ll take any day of the week.
Time to head outside.
With coffee in hand, I headed outside to cool off in the morning air at Heathrow. I was still running hot after dealing with the airport.
A Nero bucket of coffee is always welcome, no matter the time of day. A free bucket? Worth a lot more.
A chance to cool down before the 3-hour and 40 ride back to Birmingham.
Soon enough the 210 Coach pulled up at the National Express stands at Terminal 5. I made myself present and checked my bags through to Birmingham.
National Express 210 Heathrow Terminal 5 to Birmingham Digbeth Coach Station
Price Paid: £63.10 (return ticket)
Heading aboard the coach, it was pretty busy as it had come from Gatwick Airport, with a reasonable passenger load. Nonetheless, I found a pair of non-reserved seats for the journey back to Birmingham.
I’ve got the power
Good enough.
I settled in, and plugged the phone into some power, as the coach began its trip around the Heathrow complex, picking up some further passengers at Heathrow Central.
More Speedbirds.
Wasn’t I here around six days ago? Yes. Yes, I was.
Off we go. Until next time…
Under the runway to the Motorway network
From there, the coach made its journey down the M4, around the M24 and back onto the racetrack that is the M40.
As this was a daytime service, the coach split from the M40 at Oxford to pick up and drop off passengers. I also made the mistake of using the on-coach small room.
I should had held on until I got home.
Towards the bus station
And heading out again
And no, I haven’t gone through here to the camera shop. I need to be tempted to see what second-hand stock the camera shop has.
As we headed back to the M40, the coach encountered its first traffic snarl-up. It’s life. It didn’t help that it ran into a rolling roadblock as the coach neared the Birmingham box.
Sigh. More delays. The perfect end to a coach journey that took two-thirds of the time it took me to travel from Chicago to Heathrow.
Eventually, the coach made it to Birmingham Airport to pick up a few passengers and switch drivers.
The temporary security queue tents are still up at Birmingham Airport. What a hot mess.
Finally, it was time to head into the central Birmingham area and to Digbeth Coach Station.
The back streets of Digbeth.
Arriving at Digbeth, it was time to get out of the coach and retrieve the bags. With both the suitcase and the ski bag making it safely, it was time to wheel the new toys I had through the station and out into the road.
It was also the perfect time to get an Uber for the journey home – with the driver following the oddest route to go around the edge of Birmingham. Traffic will always get you no matter what.
Eventually, I made it to the flat and its front door.
A slightly more successful trip was done and dusted.
Finally:
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