anneinmanhattan

My sister and I are on a crossing arriving in Southampton on May 10. I have to be at St. Pancras no later than 1:00 for a non-refundable trip to Paris on the Eurostar. My sister has to be at Heathrow for a 4:15 flight to New York. The car service I ordered said I should be at dock by 9:00 to insure we have no problem getting to London by 1:00. This seems long from what others have said. How long in normal traffic is the trip from Southampton to St. Pancras in London. And how long is car trip from St. Pancras to Heathrow. Any information will be appreciated. Is it best to go to St. Pancras first and Heathrow second. Car service seems reliable.

Rastaguytoday

It takes a good 90+ minutes from LHR to Southhampton. I imagine that it would take longer to get to a train station in London itself.

I would trust your car service's opinion on this. Train station first.

You are also traveling on a Friday morning. It's going to be a tad busy.

If I were you, I would check my train options, as embarking by 9AM might be difficult.

flanneruk

It's the car company's first priority to make sure you don't miss your train, so it's inevitably going to be excessively cautious.

But a car is a really inefficient way of getting from Southampton to central London. Not quite as daft as going from Southampton to Paris via London: get a flight from Southampton airport and you'd be in central Paris while this car's still only half way to London. Even if you can't get the money back from Eurostar, a new plane ticket will almost certainly cost you less than this car's going to. Even if you add the £18 a National Express bus ticket from Southampton to Heathrow will cost your sister for the 2 hour journey.

The "others" you're referring to are probably describing the sensible option for getting from Southampton to London: in a train, which takes 75 minutes (plus 15 mins for the cab to St Pancras). The silly alternative of driving will take somewhere not far short of 3 hours to St Pancras depending on traffic, plus another hour for the even sillier idea of driving back to Heathrow, which the car probably passed to get to St Pancras. In fact my route when I lived round the corner from St Pancras was to pass the Heathrow T5 access road to get there from Southampton, but it's unlikely a taxi company would know enough about London navigation to twig that.

If you're determined to waste time and money on your current plans, do what the car company says, dropping your sister off at Heathrow on the way. Given the awfulness of driving, leaving Southampton at 0900 would - well not make sense of course, but be the least awful option under the circumstances.

anneinmanhattan

Thank you both for your response. I was assured by Cunard yesterday that if I use their transfer coach to St. Pancras I'll make my train, so I've decided to trust them and their experience. If I miss the train, I'll take another, later one. And claim on my insurance when I return. Only hope I will find a seat if I have to take a later train. Just wish Cunard had advised me to take a later train so I could have avoided this worry. I am never determined to waste money--time does not worry me so much as I waste plenty of it. Unfortunately, my carry-on bag is heavy (staying in Europe for another 50 days), so getting the train and switching mid-way and then finding a taxi in London to St Pancras is not a good option for me. And my sister is disabled so a car service or transfer coach makes sense for both of us. Also, I understand the taxi queue at the docks can be quite long. Thanks again for your kind replies.

janisj

>>If I miss the train, I'll take another, later one. And claim on my insurance when I return. Only hope I will find a seat if I have to take a later train<<

Not necessarily possible. The Eurostar is almost entirely pre-booked. There may not be any tickets available. And you don't 'find' a seat' on the Eurostar - it is entirely reserved seating.

You'll <i>probably</i> make it, but I'd have a plan B just in case.

anneinmanhattan

"Find a seat" means at least to a New Yorker "find a reservation." I'll work it out on ship with the Purser, whether disembark early and take a car service or use Cunard's coach transfer. Thank you for information.

Avalon2

Cunard S'hampton bus service takes about 2 hr. But you have to find your luggage first and that can take some time as all the luggage on the ship is in a large area. Their bus goes to Victoria Bus station and you'll have to gat a taxi to St Pancras You're are cutting it close!

anneinmanhattan

Wow, you mean their transfer isn't directly to the St. Pancras bus station. This gets more complicated by the day, and this is after spending hours on the phone with Cunard trying to find out how I manage to send my luggage back by White Star if I have to get off early (before my turn) to be ready for the driver at 9:00 a.m. I will probably stick with Smith's, and if the traffic isn't too bad that day have them drop my sister off first at Heathrow. The driver should have a good idea which is best. I hate to have her spending time in the car, going back and forth. Next time, if there is a next time, I'll book at train at 3:30 p.m.

I have a non-flexible ticket but I wonder if I called Eurostar a month in advance if they'd let me change the time? Anyone know?

thursdaysd

Not only may you have trouble finding a seat on a later train, I see no reason why your insurance would pay up if you miss the one you reserved. Have you read the fine print?

Also, you are aware that you need to be checked in 30 minutes before the train leaves, right? I would listen to flanner and fly.

anneinmanhattan

I'm ten times more nervous since posting this question than I was when I began. Just called Cunard and was informed the transfer is direct to St. Pancras, not to Victoria, and that I will be off the ship by 9:00 barring storms or strikes. Two hours to London without traffic, three is always possible, but I should still be at the station by noon. And if by chance it's four hours I'll still be there by 1:00. And yes, I did read the fine print and if something holds me up, i.e. storm, labor strike, terror threat (God forbid), etc. non-refundable fare will be reimbursed.

Since I have a non-refundable fare why would I now book a flight to Paris and pay additional money, particularly since I was looking forward to taking the train? Things happen--once when pregnant I had to sleep all night on a bench in the Madrid airport during an attempted military coup. I survived then and I'm sure I will this time.

Thanks again to all who responded. I'm done obsessing and have decided to trust Cunard to won't be back on this thread.

julia_t

www.flybe.com fly direct from Southampton to Paris (orly)

Flights on May 10 are £128 departing at 14.25 and £83 departing at 18.00

On skyscanner.net AirFrance have flights at £90 from Southampton, at 14.25 and 18.00.

If you get the 14.25 to Orly, you'll still be in Paris around the same time, yet with a lot less hassle, faff, and fuss than trailing all the way into London and possibly missing your train.

anneinmanhattan

Julia, Thank you very much. I wasn't aware until I posted this question that Southampton had an airport. I wish I had known earlier. If it appears from talking to the purser on board that I can't be off by 9:00 or 9:30 at the latest, I'll try to get an air reservation at that time. That was kind of you to do this. Apparently, I can also get from Orly by RER to my station at Notre Dame. Well, this is something I'll remember for next time.

Gordon_R

Julia_t: Those Air France flights are operated by FlyBe (codeshare agreement). AF <i>used</i> to compete with FlyBe on this route but sadly not any longer. The FlyBe fare will be significantly higher when the OP's heavy bags are taken into account, however I'm with you and Flanner: this is a <b>much</b> better way to get from Southampton to Paris than a totally unnecessary race against the clock to get all the way up to London.