Where to meet outside Heathrow T3?

Question

Although I am not travelling, I expect this question to benefit other travellers, and that's why I am asking this in Travel SE!

So where can I meet my family at Heathrow T3? They would be coming in by EK5101 Emirates operated by Qantas at T3, and I would come from central London in the Piccadilly line.

I really don't want to travel all the way from central London to Heathrow a day or two beforehand to study the landscape.

1. My family will not be having their UK sim cards - I have the sim cards
2. Is there a public meeting area immediately outside T3, or does T3 directly connect with the Piccadilly line?
3. Is it more easy to designate one of the T3 arrival gates to be our meeting area, or designate the tube's ticket-barriers as our meeting area?
4. Do all the arrival passengers leave from one single T3 gate, or several gates over vast distances?
5. Google Maps and even the interactive map is really confusing! Can I go into the "Arrivals Public Area" from the Piccadilly line, or is that only accessible to arrival passengers?

Similar question: Where to meet another traveller at Heathrow T5

Answer 1

When they come out of the T3 baggage collection area into the main T3 arrivals area, directly in front of them in the centre of the floor will be a large "Information" booth. To the right of that, there's a large sign that says "Meeting Point". In the absence of any other information, it would be the logical place to meet.

The signs are yellow with a dark circle and four inward pointing arrows. They are either stand-up as shown in the indicative photo, or they hang from the ceiling.

For your other question: there is a single exit from the baggage claim area. It's on the ground floor of T3. And yes, you could wait for them at this exit also. Last tip: if you are taking the tube, have a backup plan in case there's a signal failure enroute...

Answer 2

What you probably want to start with are the official Heathrow Airport maps

From those, you'll see that terminals 1, 2 and 3 are arranged in a semi-circle, with the underground + bus station + railway station in centre between them.

I really wouldn't suggest meeting by the tube gateline. It can be quite busy at times, and there's no-where to really to sit or wait.

Instead, as you'll see from the Terminal 3 map if you scroll to the end for the arrivals level, you'll see there's an AMT Coffee cafe very close to where arriving passengers come out having cleared customs. Tell them to meet there, first group to arrive buys the coffees for the others. There's also a pub there too, if your family would rather something alcoholic rather than caffeine based!

(Another option is to meet at the cafe in the Central Bus station, which is directly above the tube, IIRC it's a Caffe Nero. More sunlight, and closer to the tube, but might be busier and would be more of a walk for the arriving passengers)