Sleeping at Heathrow Airport – A regrettable night

Unfortunately, I am writing this post while I’m sitting wide awake in the middle of the night in London Heathrow.  As I start this post, it’s 2:53 am at my original destination (Bulgaria) and 0:53 am in London.  I’m so tired, and really wish I were sleeping at Heathrow Airport right now but instead I’m writing about this awful night.  A more appropriate name for this post would be “Not Sleeping at Heathrow Airport” or “Staying Overnight at Heathrow Airport”

Decisions, Decisions

Once upon a time, I purchased flights to the Balkans by using Frequent Flier miles.  Now, rather than give us more direct flights with shorter connection times, my friend and I end up with awful connections and long layovers – the longest being a 12-hour layover in London from 8:30 pm to 8:40 am.  We discussed whether it was worth leaving the airport or not, perhaps go into the city, or hit a nearby pub, or book a hotel, but I’m a frugal traveler and I thought we could spend some time in the lounges that were open until 11 pm and then again starting at 4:30 am, and just find some quiet corner of Heathrow airport to get a few hours of sleep in between.

 Arrival at Heathrow Airport

Our arrival was right on time.  There was only one other guy on our transfer to Terminal 3, so we knew the airport was going to be quiet.  There was no line at security, so we breezed through.  Despite these quick movements, it was 9:30 by the time we arrived in Terminal 3.

 Lounges Denied

I have Priority Pass, a free perk of my Chase Sapphire Reserve Card.  The Priority Pass grants me access to nearly 1000 premium airline lounges around the world.  I had previously done some research and found two of the free lounges were to be open until 10:30 pm, so I figured we’d have time for a quick bite and some wine before trying to sleep.  But when we arrived at both lounges at 9:30 pm, they both had stopped serving any food, and were basically cleaning up for the night and wouldn’t allow up access.

 Finding Our “Bed” for the Night

The last time I was in Heathrow (7 weeks prior, when I was headed towards the Balkans), I had scoped out a few benches that didn’t have arm-rests.  We found a couple such benches in Gate 3 of Terminal 3.  It wasn’t the best spot, as the people movers (automated walkways) were screeching constantly.  But, I put on some music to drown out the screeches.

 No wi-fi

On top of all of our troubles so far in the night, the Heathrow wi-fi wasn’t working.  It didn’t matter what device I was using, it gave us an error message of “Your cookie settings are wrong”.  Life is rough without wi-fi, so it was time to go to bed.

 Awoken and Corralled like Cattle

Just as I fell asleep, a woman awoke us and told us we’d have to move to Gate 7.  We arrived in the brightly lit Gate 7 a little before 11 pm as other sleepy travelers were gathering from their previous places of slumber.  In all, there were about 35 overnight transit passengers looking for shelter and they tried to find one of the benches without arm-rests so they could stretch out a bit. 

A Moment of Silence

At 11:10, we were interrupted by 3 announcements to observe a moment of silence for those lost in the wars – ironic is breaking our silence to tell us to observe silence.  

The Interrogations Begin

I awoke again around midnight when I heard someone abruptly asking for passports.  A woman and man with “Border Protection” uniforms were waking everyone to check their papers.  The woman looked at my American passport and moved on.  But she questioned those with third world passports – Why are you here?  Where are you going?  She asked a Turkish guy why he flew to UK one day and returning to Turkey the next day.  I didn’t hear the answer.  Another guy quietly walked the room and took a count of everyone there.  

They Tried to Freeze Us Out

I tried to sleep in Heathrow on the 4^th of November, so it was fairly chilly outside but I swear they turned off the heat.  As the night passed, Gate 7 got considerably cooler.  I had to put on all of the clothes I packed in my carry-on. 

The Snoring, Oh the Snoring

I’m a light sleeper and it doesn’t take much to keep me awake.  Snoring is one of my pet peeves – I cannot sleep thru loud snoring.  But there was a chorus of snorers at Gate 7 sleeping in Heathrow.  There was lots of other noise including a group of IT geeks from the US that talked all thru the night, coughing, and pacing.

Wake Up Call

At 4:40 am, the security guard started yelling.  Everybody up!  If you’re going to terminals 4 or 5 get on the bus there, if you’re going to Terminal 3, you must go back to the waiting area.  It was then I discovered this was the place for staying overnight at Heathrow Airport for all Terminals.  A Heathrow cleaner ran around the room waving her broom and yelling “Good Morning, Good Morning”.  Everyone cleared out in 5 minutes, and end to a surreal night.

The Aftermath

In total, I got about an hour of sleep.  Now I’m sitting in the comfortable No. 1 Lounge enjoying a free breakfast, juice, and coffee (thanks Priority Pass!).  Hope you enjoyed this story.

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My Advice for Sleeping at Heathrow

If you can afford to get a hotel, don’t try to sleep at Heathrow.   In other words, don’t be “penny wise and sound sleep foolish”!   If you have a much shorter connection time or can’t afford a hotel, make sure you bring the following to make your sleep more comfortable:

• An Inflatable Pillow

  

• Ear Plugs

  

• Sleep Mask

  

• A Sleep Sheet

  

  (this packs up really small and adds 5 degrees of warmth)
• Warm clothes

If you’ve read this post and decided sleeping at Heathrow airport is not for you, check these rates and availability for hotels near Heathrow.

If Anyone From Heathrow Airport Is Reading This

Yes, you do provide an area with a water fountain, vending machines, toilets, and charging station – thanks for that!  And due to all the nooks and crannies of the airport, it’s reasonable and safe to consolidate all the overnighters into one protected space.  But why do treat the folks that are stuck with bad connection times in such poor conditions?  Could you not keep the area at a more comfortable temperature?  How about dim the lights, just a little bit?

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