Few things get a holiday off to a worse start than delays at the airport. At some point in their travelling lives, almost everyone has faced a lengthy wait because of poor weather, technical problems or industrial action, but whilst we are almost attuned to expect delays when we leave a country, it was a new and unusual situation that faced arriving passengers at London’s Heathrow Airport this week.

A combination of poor weather, staff shortages and an increase in the numbers of arriving passengers all combined to give some travellers from outside the EU, a two and a half-hour wait before they could enter the UK. The consequences of the delay at immigration went beyond passport control with suitcases piling up on the baggage reclaim carousels.  It’s not hard to imagine the frustration of those who will have missed onward connections or those concerned that the car hire desks will be closed before they get there.

The situation is all the more disconcerting with the London 2012 Olympics fast approaching. There can be few people, waiting for their trip to the greatest festival of sport on the planet, who aren’t dreading the delays and their consequences. Extra flights have been laid on into London’s airports further increasing the passenger footfall and exacerbating the problem.

Beyond baggage collection there’s the perennial problem of the wait at the car hire desks, but Rhinocarhire.com believe they have a solution that will help reduce waiting times when frustrations are at their greatest. Car hire at all London airports; Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted can all be pre-booked online. Many of your details are entered from the comfort of your home meaning that when you get to the desk, your choice of hire car will be ready for you and much of the information that takes forever to relate is already there. In most cases, the only extra details will be sight of your driving licence and your credit card and you’ll be ready to go. Pre-booking also means that you can take advantage of the great savings which are only available by booking online. Rhinocarhire.com offer cheap car hire at all major UK Airports, follow these links to get an instant quote on car hire at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted Airports.

Rhinocarhire.com also suggest that if you’re travelling in a group, you send the main driver through to the car hire desk whilst the remainder of the group collects the luggage, an idea that has proved to be a big time saver for its clients.

The government and IAG, the group which owns Heathrow Airport, have promised to get the problem sorted out promptly by supplying extra border staff but sports fans in many countries around the world will be watching the situation closely over the coming weeks.