And to think we complain over here!

Not really, mate. If you pre-book a cab (so not normally a London black cab) you can get to anywhere within 30 or 40 miles of Heathrow for about £50 – you’ve probably guessed that Heathrow really isn’t well situated for a sensible Super Shuttle service. But I guess we’re stuck with it now :(.

During peak hours at IAD they’re like a cramped subway train. Not how to keep anyone happy either in past or present. They cost a ton to fuel, pay drivers to operate, and maintain…surely more than a modern automated train system (unless it is run by the same bureaucrats who have taken decades to get a train actually built at IAD).

Good riddance, I can’t wait to use IAD without one!

Agreed. Paddington is over-priced for only part of the journey that may still include taxi, bus or the Tube to get to the final destination.
WOW! Other end of the Picadilly? I thought it was a slog when I took it all the way to Russell Square where I was staying one holiday.

Do they have shared limo service in London similar to Super Shuttle in the US that might help with the expense and travel time?

From the BMI gates in T1 (1-10 I think) you get a great view of the runway – the UA gates give you a limited view.

BART form SFO is just brilll – as for the Heathrow Express, yet another item of embarassment for me. Ridiculously expensive. I live at the other end of the Piccadilly Line to Heathrow (some 37 stops away) so whenever I get the tube to Heathrow it takes nearly 2 hours! The EL is a great journey to downtown Chicago as well.

I’ve used all four of the originals in my travels around the UK, over to the Continent and overseas as well. I remember T1 on the east as being the best for eastbound takeoffs while T3 had the best views for westbound departures.

The other thrill to me before the Paddington Express was the Tube in to London. It was slow but rattled and rolled so much between Hounslow West and Hammersmith in some places I felt it would actually jump the track!

For me I found that the EL from O’Hare to downtown Chicago is even louder but doesn’t shimmy and shake as much as the Tube. The T in Boston is somewhere in that mix while my vote for best train in to the city is either (thank God they finally built it) BART from SFO or the MARTA from Atlanta. Both are whisper quiet and particularly fast. Same goes for the Airport Express from Hong Kong in to Kowloon and Central.

Any others?

Since they re-did T1, the new immigration hall there is much improved and I’m not embarrassed to watch visitors to Britain waiting to be abused by our officials (which was always the case in T3). I think I underestimated the walk from the UA gates in T3 to immigration – at least half a mile, probably more on most days! In T1, that’s cut down a lot.

I haven’t used T5 and probably won’t (BA only), but I’m interested to see what the new intra-terminal transport at T5 will be like.

As opposed to that experience, now when I fly thru IAD, I absolutely hate the moon buggies. The problem with IAD is that they don’t save you any time/walking. They’re basically glorified buses. You’re still walking 1/2 mile to your gate through a dilapidated terminal with insufficient seats/space.