Heathrow terminal guide: where your driver meets you at T2, T3, T4 and T5

Heathrow is four terminals spread across a site the size of a small town, and the walk from your gate to the arrivals hall varies from five minutes to twenty five. Knowing which terminal you are landing at, and what the arrivals hall looks like there, removes most of the uncertainty from being met.

First: which terminal are you actually landing at?

Terminals are assigned by airline, and occasionally an airline moves. British Airways uses Terminal 5 for most flights and Terminal 3 for some long haul. Star Alliance airlines (Lufthansa, United, Singapore, Turkish and others) use Terminal 2. Oneworld partners other than BA (Qatar, Emirates, American, Cathay) are mostly at Terminal 3. SkyTeam airlines (Air France, KLM, Delta) and several others use Terminal 4.

Your boarding pass says which. If it does not, the airline website does. A pre-booked driver who has your flight number sees the terminal on the arrivals board, so a last minute change is their problem to notice rather than yours.

Terminal 5

The largest and the simplest. Arrivals is on the ground floor, one wide hall, with the meeting point area directly in front of the doors from customs. Drivers holding name boards stand in a line along the barrier. From a Terminal 5A gate the walk is around ten minutes; from the satellite buildings B and C you take the transit train first, and it is closer to twenty.

Terminal 3

The oldest terminal and the one with the longest walks. Long haul arrivals can involve a fifteen minute walk before passport control. The arrivals hall is smaller than T5 and busier, with the driver meeting area to the right as you exit customs. Allow the full free waiting hour here: a delayed baggage belt at T3 is common.

Terminal 2

Modern, well signed, and the meeting area is unmissable: a wide open space straight ahead as you leave customs. Some gates are in the T2B satellite, which adds a ten minute walk through an underground corridor with travelators.

Terminal 4

Quieter than the others, and the arrivals hall is compact, so you will see the name boards as soon as you come through. The catch is distance: T4 is on the far side of the airport from T2 and T3, so if a driver is waiting at the wrong terminal it is a fifteen minute drive to correct it. This is exactly why we track the flight number rather than relying on the terminal you were told at booking.

What the meeting actually looks like

You come through the customs doors into the arrivals hall. Along the barrier are people holding boards. Your driver holds one with your name on it. If you do not see them immediately, stop and look rather than walking on: the hall is wide, and walking to the exit makes you harder to find, not easier.

Your journey ticket carries the driver's name and phone number as soon as they are assigned. If you have been in the hall for a couple of minutes and cannot see them, call. In practice this almost never happens, because the driver has been watching your flight land and knows roughly when you will appear.

Timing, honestly

From touchdown to arrivals hall, with hold luggage: thirty five to fifty minutes is typical at Heathrow. E-gates help if your passport qualifies. A long haul arrival at a busy time can stretch past an hour. None of that costs you anything with a pre-booked transfer, because the free waiting period starts when the aircraft lands, not when you were due.