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My mom has a flight to Seattle from New Delhi tomorrow via Virgin Atlantic and has a long layover at Heathrow airport terminal 3 (19 hours). Will it be possible for her to sleep at one of the attached hotels or sleeping pods? I'm getting conflicting information with some sources saying she'll need a visa even to get to the hotels attached to the terminal and others saying that if she has a valid onward visa to the US and flight the next day, she will be able to use the hotels.

Willeke
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Rohit Pandey
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    What is her nationality? – Willeke Feb 29 '20 at 19:10
  • Which terminal does she arrive / depart from? Does this https://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/34106/is-there-a-way-to-find-out-if-i-need-a-transit-visa-for-a-layover-in-the-uk answer your question about whether she can transit airside? There is an airside hotel in T3 https://no1lounges.com/service/pod-bedroom/london-heathrow/terminal-3 – Traveller Feb 29 '20 at 19:17
  • @Willeke She is Indian. – Rohit Pandey Feb 29 '20 at 19:29
  • @Traveller - it does, thank you! – Rohit Pandey Feb 29 '20 at 19:53
  • @Traveller - I'm not completely clear on what "direct airside transit" means. The hotel we're thinking about is "Aerotel" and it's located in the "Arrival Hall" (terminal 3). It's after security but within the airport. Will the "direct airside transit" requirements enable her to pass through security, sleep at the attached hotel and then go back through security to board her flight the next day? – Rohit Pandey Feb 29 '20 at 20:40
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    @Rohit Pandey ‘DATV’ means the traveller must remain airside ie cannot pass through immigration. – Traveller Feb 29 '20 at 20:42
  • @RohitPandey She will not need a visa even if crossing the border, thanks to her US visa. She should present her passport at the visa page as well as both boarding passes – Crazydre Mar 02 '20 at 21:38
  • @Crazydre where does it say that in UK immigration law though? How does a US visa matter? Everytime I go through Heathrow, they go by their own local rules and tell me they dont care where I came from. Where can I read this information about US visa in Brittain? Just curious... – AussieJoe Mar 02 '20 at 22:03
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    @AussieJoe If you're a non-visa national in the UK that doesn't apply to you. But visa nationals transiting by air and holding certain documents (e.g. a US visa and travelling to/from the US) can clear the UK border and remain up until 23:59 the following day. Stated both in the GOV.UK visa checker and in TIMATIC – Crazydre Mar 02 '20 at 22:10

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On the presumption she'll need to remain airside, although if not, this is helpful too, the SleepinginAirports page on Heathrow will be the best guide for this.

The key paragraph:

As a whole, Heathrow is reasonably accommodating of airport sleepers. While the airport is very busy during the day, it does quiet down ever so slightly in the evening. If you are going to overnight at Heathrow, know that different terminals do have different comfort levels and sleeping protocols. In T2, there is plenty of sleep-friendly seating. However, there aren’t very many places that are private or dimly lit, making an eye mask an asset here. In T3, there are designated rest zones with sofas and lounges. However, overnight, it seems like security tries to round people up into one central area. In T4, the best sleep options are landside, and it sounds like the airside section may close overnight. If you’re trying to sleep landside and you are not an EU resident, you might be sent to T3. If you do end up at a terminal that you are not departing from, be sure to check the inter-terminal bus departure start times so that you get to the right terminal in time for check-in. Explore our guide to sleeping in London Heathrow Airport or read some traveller reviews for more tips. For uninterrupted sleep, there are sleep cabins in Terminal 4, hotels connected to Terminals 4 and 5 and many other hotels nearby, connected by shuttles. See Airport Hotels in the airport guide below.

But depending on her ability to get a visa, there is a lot more on that page too.

Mark Mayo
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