A Luggage Delivery Mess and a Messier Coach Ride to Birmingham
TRIP REPORT: More Innovations in Hamburg
In this week of passenger experience fun:
- Back to Hamburg Again. And yes, keeping it simple
- To Heathrow Airport with FlixBus and Terminal 5
- British Airways Galleries South, Terminal 5
- BA964 London Heathrow to Hamburg (Club Europe – New Configuration)
- The joy of the European Entry/Exit System and into Hamburg
- The Ibis Budget St Pauli (Refurbished)
- A walk through the Hamburg Dom Fair (Spring Fair)
- What you might have missed from Aircraft Interiors Expo 2026
- Off the Camera Roll – Exploring Hamburg during the quiet moments
- Escape from the Messe and Return to Hamburg Airport
- Hamburg Airport Lounge and European Entry/Exit System queues
- BA969 Hamburg to London Heathrow (Club Europe – Old Configuration)
- A Luggage Mess and a Messier Coach Ride Home
- Continued Innovation
With the A320neo docking over the C Gates of Heathrow Terminal 5, it was time for the long journey back to Terminal 5A and the arrivals area.
Out we go…
Better get a shift on, as they say.
Whilst I had a 1-hour-and-30-minute wait for the coach, I know British Airways could easily eat into that time if I were unlucky.
Down one of the many long jetbridges at Terminal 5
Welcome to Royston Vasley, C Gates
Connections for the late-night owls
Exiting the aircraft into the terminal, I followed the signs to the arrivals level and to the transit level. Evidently, our flight wasn’t the only one to arrive at T5C, as there were enough people to pack out the transit vehicle when it arrived.
It didn’t help when another flood of people joined us at T5B.
Thankfully, it’s a quick enough ride, and soon enough, the transit deposited me at the main Terminal 5 building. As usual, I followed the crew and took an elevator upstairs to the arrivals level. It’s quicker than fighting with the sea of people on the escalators.
To the UK Border.
It is also a shorter walk to the border – something to be grateful for, after the kilometres racked up in the Hanburg Messe.
Approaching the UK Border, it was a much simpler travel experience for me than previous trips to enter the country, as I used my new ePassport and cleared the border in a few seconds, rather than waiting in queues.
Maybe that trip to Liverpool was actually worth it.
Now, it was time to play my least favourite game at Heathrow Terminal 5 – waiting for luggage delivery. Given that the aircraft had arrived at the C gates, I wasn’t hopeful it would be quick. Hopefully, luggage delivery would be quicker than last time.
Spoiler: It wasn’t.
Those bags are on the wrong side of the airport…
At the end of the world – Belt 11
It took nearly 50 minutes from disembarkation to the luggage being spat out.
All the bags… but none of them mine.
Stellar luggage delivery speed, British Airways. Absolutely world-leading handling of luggage, my backside.
I could have flown back to Hamburg for the time I was waiting for my backpack and suitcase to appear on the belt. At least they delivered it to the right belt for once – so that’s an improvement,
I suppose.
With everything in hand, it was time to head through customs and to the public area.
Through to Customs.
You know it’s late, when duty-free has shut up shop for the evening.
I grabbed an overpriced bottle of water at Marks & Spencer (the one I brought with me was long lost at this point) and checked the clock – time had moved on, with about 30 minutes wait for the coach to Birmingham remaining. I’m glad I had that extra time.
I took the time to cool off a little, hydrate and waited for the 920 back to Birmingham to arrive. Soon enough, the coach pulled up.
Fixbus 920
Heathrow Terminal 5 to Birmingham Great Charles Street Queensway
With my ticket checked, I was able to stow my bags in the small hold in the coach so they wouldn’t get crushed.
With that, it was time to board.
Nighttime in the Green Zone.
Boarding the bus again, I found someone in my seat who was having issues understanding seat numbers and how they worked on a coach. Except this time, a child and an adult were occupying the seats.
Wonderful. I sat in the seats behind and hoped no one would demand them instead.
People. This isn’t hard. On FlixBus, all seats are assigned, and the placards are above the seats. READ THEM AND SIT IN THE RIGHT SEATS.
Sorry. Rant over.
Evidently, I was in for the full experience that night, with the toilet blocked and out of use as well.
This journey is getting better by the moment… although it’s happened on other coach journeys before (and trust me, a coach toilet is the worst place to be on one of those things). I was tempted to get off at Heathrow Central and grab a hotel and deal with the whines that I wasn’t in the office the next day… but I decided to grin and bear it.
With an extended stop at Heathrow Central bus station to allow people to have comfort breaks, as well as the driver taking on extra people, the coach pulled out 10 minutes late from the Heathrow complex.
At this point, I just wanted to get home, so I was hoping for a fast motorway journey on the M25 and M40, then into the Birmingham box and home.
It didn’t work out that way.
Whilst the coach made it around the M25 and onto the M40, it pulled off at Banbury as there were overnight roadworks on the motorway.
What was a 2-hour 30-minute run had now turned into the best part of a three-hour adventure, given that the driver now had all the country roads to deal with, taking us up to the back of Coventry, then the A45 into Birmingham.
There’s not a lot that could be done (and I suspect going around the M25 and up the M1 wouldn’t have been a great option), but it just dragged out a journey when my mind just wanted to shut down.
My time vs FlixBus’s time.
At around 1:55, the FlixBus pulled into its stop at Great Charles Street Queensway, with the bunfight that followed to claim luggage – it was every person for themselves.
I got my two bags and lined them up. It was a little chilly in the city air, but since it was a mile to walk or to take an Uber for the short ride home, I decided to get my morning steps in and keep myself moving.
After all, what’s another mile walk at this point?
Looking towards Council House and “Paradise”.
My legs and muscles were used to it at this point.
One mile and 20 minutes later, my bags and I were at my front door, ending this AIX adventure.
Parked.
The office awaited me in the morning.
Finally:
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