Heathrow handles the population of a mid-sized city every day, and its terminals are effectively separate airports. Knowing which one you need — and where a car can legally stop — saves more time than any shortcut on the motorway.

Which terminal is yours?

Your airline decides, and it doesn’t always match what people expect:

• Terminal 2 — the Star Alliance carriers: Lufthansa, United, Air Canada, Singapore and others.
• Terminal 3 — much of the long-haul: Virgin Atlantic, Emirates, Delta, American.
• Terminal 4 — SkyTeam and a mix of others: Air France, KLM, Qatar, Etihad.
• Terminal 5 — British Airways and Iberia, almost exclusively.

Terminal 1 no longer exists, which still catches people out. If you’re unsure, the flight number is definitive — give it to your driver at booking and the guesswork disappears.

Where your driver actually meets you

There are two sensible options, and the right one depends on how tired you are and how much luggage you’re carrying.

Meet & greet is the calm version: your driver parks, walks into the terminal and waits at the arrivals exit with a name board. You walk out, hand over the bags and go. It costs a little more because of the car park charge, and after a ten-hour flight most people decide it was worth it.

Kerbside pickup is quicker and cheaper: your driver waits nearby and comes to a designated pickup point once you call or message to say you have your luggage. It works well with hand baggage and a clear head, less well with a family and four cases.

The bit that goes wrong: timing

The gap between landing and walking out of arrivals is the single most underestimated part of the journey. Passport control at peak times can take a long while, and baggage reclaim adds more. A driver who booked their time around the scheduled landing will either be waiting a long time or, worse, not there yet.

Any decent operator tracks the actual flight, not the timetable. We do that automatically from the flight number, and include generous free waiting time from the moment the wheels touch down — so a slow queue at the border costs you nothing.

Departures: which door?

Dropping off is simpler, with one wrinkle: Heathrow charges a drop-off fee at every terminal. It should be included and made clear in a fixed quote, not sprung on you afterwards. Ask when you book.

Give yourself two hours before a short-haul departure and three for long-haul, then add the journey time. From Bristol that means leaving very early for a morning flight — which is exactly why we confirm those pickups the night before.

The short version

• Give your driver the flight number, not just the terminal.
• Choose meet & greet after a long-haul; kerbside is fine with hand luggage.
• Check that flight tracking and waiting time are actually included.
• Check whether the drop-off fee is in the quoted price.

More detail on the terminals is on our Heathrow airport page, and fixed prices for the run from home are on the Bristol to Heathrow route.