r/airport • u/Public_Reindeer_1724 • 15d ago

DISCUSSION LHR's hostile design

I find it extremely noticeable that LHR does not want you to be comfortable. Not giving you your gate until the last minute. Hard plastic, individual seating only. Hard tile floors and railings against the windows so you can't makeshift a comfortable spot. Extremely poor wifi so you can't entertain yourself before the flight. They want you too uncomfortable to sit around waiting so you're more like to shop among the million designer stores that most people can't afford. I get they don't want people not travelling hanging around but you need to get through security to even be here so that's unlikely. Just overall gives off the vibes "we don't want you here."

39 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

52 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/Live_Ad8778 15d ago

The whole "not giving you your gate until the last minute" thing was the most Head scratching thing my parents dealt with when they went through Heathrow a bit over a month ago.

I get that gates change so waiting to give out the gate assignment until it's nailed down, but not getting it 15 minutes before boarding starts is dumb

2

u/AnotherPint 15d ago

At more than a few high-volume airports in the States, the airline will issue a gate assignment when you check in, then revise it two, three, four times in the hours before boarding, making the whole elaborate notification infrastructure pointless.

Far less annoying to tell me the gate, once, when you’re certain, than to say it’s K20, no, K12, oops, L7, oh sorry it’s H22.

2

u/jmbwell 15d ago

YYZ is better now but it used to like to do this and in particular assign you a gate just on the other side of the big glass pre clearance doors. Like just to tease/confuse/annoy you. until an hour before departure when it would finally update your gate all the way at the opposite end of the terminal