Review: AirPortr – why should I carry my own suitcase to the airport?

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• Hingeless says:

  7 Jan7 January 05:22

  The HFP office?

  • Nick says:

    7 Jan7 January 06:24

    Hingeless – HFP stands for “Head for Points” which is the name of this website. Anika is referring to Head for Point’s office which is situated at 2nd Floor, 1 Fore Street, Moorgate, London, EC2Y 9DT. as clearly stated on the Head for Points website.

  • Rob says:

    7 Jan7 January 08:23

    You clearly don’t follow our Instagram feed!

• Axil23 says:

  7 Jan7 January 05:41

  Rob what are your thoughts on safety? Most locks can be opened now days in seconds so whats to say someone doesn’t open your suitcase and make you into a mule? Unless you are going to repack at the airport I wouldn’t be inclined to use their service.

  • Nick says:

    7 Jan7 January 06:10

    Axil23 – When AirPortr collect the bag, the operative uses a special form of tag to lock the luggage closed. This even includes ties that go through zips to stop them opening. Each tag is uniquely coded and the operative detaches an identifier and hands itbto the customer. Bar codes are used and everything must match at the other end before they return the bag. This system is pretty secure but I guess their could be a problem if the zips or clasps on the luggage are broken and prevent the operative from securing the bag when it is collected by AirPortr. I have used AirPortr several times and find it extremely satisfactory service which I would highly recommend to HFP readers.

  • Rob says:

    7 Jan7 January 08:19

    Not much riskier than having a Heathrow baggage handler do the same.

    • Nick says:

      7 Jan7 January 08:41

      Significantly riskier than a Heathrow baggage handler. The vast majority of baggage handlers work airside and pass through strict security controls so considerably harder for them to place prohibited articles is a passenger’s luggage. In comparison AirPortr relies on secure tags and its customers and operatives at the airport checking these have not been tampered with – I would not risk sending damaged bags with broken zips and let st of deep,pockets etc with Airportr but am happy to use their service with luggage in good condition which is hard r to tamper with.

      • Callum says:

        7 Jan7 January 21:16

        Is it as hard as you think it is though? Most zips can be opened just using a ballpoint pen!

        • Fenny says:

          7 Jan7 January 21:53

          You sound like my ex-lodger, except he was talking about killing people!

• MD says:

  7 Jan7 January 06:11

  The pin near Nigeria is where the Greenwich. Meridian crosses the equator, 0 long / 0 lat. Lots of software defaults to using that position as the location of something when there is no other data stored.

  • Paul says:

    7 Jan7 January 07:58

    I was not aware the equator passed through Nigeria.
    Kenya, Gabon, Uganda, Somalia, Congo and one other but not Nigeria.

    • the real harry says:

      7 Jan7 January 08:04

      he said ‘near Nigeria’ & he was right http://i0.wp.com/headforpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/airportr-status.jpg

      • Paul says:

        7 Jan7 January 13:10

        Point taken, when I commented originally I was on a mobile and could not see that the equator and the pin were positioned below Nigeria.

  • Dave says:

    7 Jan7 January 11:01

    AKA “Null Island”.

    Silly Link: http://www.nullisland.com/
    Serious Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Null_Island

• Paul says:

  7 Jan7 January 07:53

  Devices such as this were available on Swiss rail 30 years ago and in Japan there have been services to move bags around the country at very reasonable prices for decades.
  Airporter sounds great but it’s not a service that would persuade me to switch back to BA. They will need to extend beyond the area inside the M25 and London Airways before I could utilise the service.

• Lavar56 says:

  7 Jan7 January 08:51

  We went on a big family holiday recently. My sister and her partner and young children met us at Heathrow. They are not frequent flyers and I vividly remember their faces as they emerged from their taxi… a thousand holidays would not clear that stress! And that was before they unloaded suitcase after suitcase and pushchairs and baby related stuff.

  I can think of no better service for them when we go again next year. Send off all your bags to be checked in and arrive light to the airport. In this instance it would be well worth the money.

  • John says:

    7 Jan7 January 09:42

    Perhaps travelling light for the entire trip would also reduce stress.

    • Andy says:

      7 Jan7 January 14:24

      Sounds like the only way they could travel light is if they left the kid at home!

• Talay says:

  7 Jan7 January 09:09

  How do they answer the question “have you packed this bag personally ?” at security then ?

  They don’t know if you have a jar of face cream or a jar of semtex in it.

  You don’t know if they swapped your jar of face cream for a jar of semtex.

  • John says:

    7 Jan7 January 09:49

    From their FAQ (I make no comment, just copied and pasted directly):

    ‘What happens when I get asked “could anyone have tampered with my bags”? ➖

    This question is actually no longer asked at the airport as all bags are scanned when entering the baggage system. However, we are an official partner of Heathrow, London City and Gatwick airports and as we scan bags before they enter the airport, AirPortr bags are recognised as being even more secure.’

  • the real harry says:

    7 Jan7 January 09:56

    (Talay) but it doesn’t really change anything. Anybody could pack a jar of semtex in their checked luggage.

    Airports essentially rely on you not killing yourself by travelling on the same plane as your semtex. I don’t think everything jar-like means at checked luggage Scan they open the bag to check.

    If you fail to show, the luggage is off-loaded.

• Mike says:

  7 Jan7 January 09:31

  “has this bag been with you the entire time since you packed it?”

  This service would not satisfy the security requirements of any USA flight.

  There is no way I would trust a third party company with my bag.

  Have you asked them how they vet their staff and what security is in place to prevent tampering?

  • TGLoyalty says:

    7 Jan7 January 10:00

    When was the last time you were asked the first question?

    • Mike says:

      7 Jan7 January 12:07

      2 weeks ago

  • Ian says:

    7 Jan7 January 21:56

    They stopped asking that question at check-in while I still worked there, about 10 years ago.

    Of course, they might still ask if there’s a suspicion, and Customs may definitely ask. But it’s not part of the standard check-in process anymore.

    Also, even if they do ask at check-in, you just tell them the truth. An official courier service carried the bag from home to the airport. The worst that happens is they ask you to open it and make sure nothing has been added.

• Fenny says:

  7 Jan7 January 10:55

  If they do pick ups from main train stations, I could see it being better value than leaving a suitcase at left luggage at Euston and having to go back and pick it up after a day in London on the way to the airport. If they pick up (from the station) the day before, it would save having to take the main suitcase to a hotel for an overnight stay.

  • @mkcol says:

    7 Jan7 January 11:57

    Funny I was thinking just that too – railway station depots would be a brilliant next step IMO.

  • TGLoyalty says:

    7 Jan7 January 13:47

    If they were to start that then I would probably use this and the train more to travel to the airports

    • Fenny says:

      7 Jan7 January 18:56

      For me, the issue is not getting to the airport via public transport, it’s getting home again after a trip. The price of a taxi home from the station on top of rail fares makes a meet & greet parking service cost effective! Waiting for buses, even when I don’t have luggage, is enough to raise my blood pressure. Last time I got a train home from London (the day after the HfP party), I could have driven home from LHR in the time I waited for a bus outside Northampton station.

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