Terminal 3 handles a large share of Heathrow's long-haul arrivals, which makes collections here particularly common and particularly worth getting right.
The forecourt is drop-off only
You cannot wait outside Terminal 3 arrivals to collect a passenger. The set-down area is for dropping off, limited to ten minutes, charged per entry, and camera-enforced. This applies whether or not you have paid the charge.
Where collections happen
Use one of the car parks serving the Central Terminal Area — either Terminal Parking, a short walk from arrivals and charged by duration, or the Long Stay Park and Ride, which is free for a short initial window with a shuttle bus to the terminal.
The long-haul timing problem
Terminal 3 arrivals are frequently long-haul, and the gap between a flight landing and a passenger actually emerging can be considerable — immigration queues, baggage reclaim and customs all add up, and none of it is predictable. That is a genuine issue if you are paying for parking by the half hour, and the main reason collections here overrun.
How a pre-booked transfer handles it
An operator tracking the flight absorbs that uncertainty. The fare is agreed at booking regardless of how long the queues take, and your passenger is met inside arrivals rather than navigating to a car park with luggage.
See our Terminal 3 transfers page, or our Terminal 3 drop-off guide for departures.