travelsis

I need your expert recommendation on the connection time I've allowed. I will be traveling from Venice to Stansted on a Monday morning in June. Arrive at Stansted at 10:40am and to catch a BA flight at Heathrow leaving at 3:00pm. That leave 4 hours 20 minutes between flights. I have hired a car to drive us between airports because I thought that would get me to Heathrow faster. The driver thinks this is enough time. I also called BA, their standard recommendation is 3 hr between flights for these 2 airports. When I made the reservations I felt confident 4hr 20 min was enough time, but now, after reading old posts, am doubting my decission. My only option at this time would be to cut one night out in Venice and try to get a flight out the night before and spend the that last night in London. Do you think this would be necessary - honestly I really don't want to cut the Italy vacation short, but will if you all think I should. Help!

AAFrequentFlyer

You must be flying RyanAir. It's a tough call. If something were to go wrong with your flight, RyanAir will not put you on any other airline just because you will miss your connection. On the other hand, most flights do make it on time.
The transfer time is ok, especially since you will have a private car transfer.
Again, this will work if your first flight is on time, but any delay, and you are looking at possible problems.
It's hard to say yes/no with the budget airlines involved, but the reality is that you get what you pay for with the budgets, so you will have to make an executive decision on this one.
Have a great trip!

111op

Where are you flying from Heathrow?

I don't know enough about Stansted transfers, but it seems like the question to ask would be what you would do if you miss the BA flight? If it's not a disaster, then just take a chance.

AR

In theory, 4 hours and 20 minutes should not be a problem. However, Stanstead is notorious for taking absolutely ages to reclaim your luggage. I personally have waited well over an hour.
Then you have to hope that you are going to arrive at Stansted on time. I assume that you are travelling on EasyJet (or one of the other budget carriers) and there is a good chance that you will leave Venice late.
Then(!) you will have to negotiate one of the UK's busiest roads - the M25 which may or may not have congestion. Add to that picking up and dropping off the car and you will be cutting it mighty fine at best!
I presume that you'll be travelling to the USA from London? There are reports of long check-in delays due to many factors - including the USA's own demands to receive faxed confirmation of all the travelling passengers (and their private details) on the flight up to 2 hours before planned departure. Check in for transatlantic flights are recommended 3 hours prior to departure (with a 5 hour check-in planned!).
On the whole, you may do it but it'll certainly stress you out needlessly.

Andre

I agree with AR - you have a greater than 50% chance of making it, but you'll be very stressed out and there's a significant possibility you'll miss the BA flight with all the financial and other consequences.

Have you checked BMI's fares? They fly into Heathrow and fares can be very low as well:
www.flybmi.com

Hope this helps,
Andre

AAFrequentFlyer

BMI has one flight only from Venice to LHR and it's an afternoon flight so not much help there. Also, I believe the OP is hiring a private car transfer, not hiring a car.
The OP is flying RyanAir. It's a tough call. My best guess is that 90% of the time this will work, but there is always that 10% chance it won't and if it doesn't the OP will be at the mercy of BA if she misses the original flight.
Maybe that's all the OP wanted to hear.

Once again, have a great trip!

travelsis

Thank you all. Okay I've decided to cut Venice short and leave a day early and spend one night in London.

Now I will change my RyanAir flight or book a BMI flight on the day before. If I book BMI it flys directly to Heathrow (I wish I knew about that in the first place!) it would save me the limo fare - that would be a good thing, since I'm losing the fare I bought already. But where do you suggest staying that night. I'm not crazy about airport hotels and my flight doesn't leave until 3:00pm so I would have a few hours in the morning and of course the evening before in England. Anywhere close to Heathrow but not airport hotelly(!)?

WillTravel

Windsor has been suggested on other threads.

Andre

travelsis,

Don't know your budget or what the rates are when you plan to travel, but the Hilton Paddington would be an excellent option if it's affordable. The Heathrow Express train is right in the building, so it's faster to reach Heathrow than from most of the so-called "airport" hotels.

Perhaps you can already check in for your BA flight the day before when you get in from Venice (should you be flying in to Heathrow on BMI) - I would call BA to find out. If so, you could easily stay anywhere along the Picadilly tube line and just hop on to catch your flight the next afternoon. This would be a pain with lots of luggage though.

Hope this helps,
Andre

janis

In the last few weeks many airlines have upped the advance check-in time at LHR for Transatlantic flights to 3 hours so you made a good decision.

Now - where to stay? In central London would be the best choice for you. And near Paddington Station even better. (Connections from Stansted to Windsor would be even worse than Stansted to LHR) Take the direct rail link from the airport into London and then stay anywhere near Paddington station. The next day take the Heathrow Exrpress directly from Paddington Station to the LHR terminals in 15 minutes.

This would give you the evening and next morning to wander around London.

AAFrequentFlyer

<b>WAIT</b>

Now that you decided to come in a day early, you have many options to think about.

First, I would still cosider RyanAir or EasyJet. Venice-London route seems to be somewhat expensive on the other airlines. With the money you will save and the time available, you could easily fly into Standsted, take the Standsted Express to London, enjoy a nice evening in the city and take the tube or Heathrow Express to the airport next day.
Take the moorning flight with RyanAir on Sunday, get a hotel in town through Priceline or www.londontown.com. RyanAir will have some fares around $20 one-way as opposed to BMI or the other majors, with something around $200.

Andre

AAFF does have a good point about taking an earlier flight out of Venice to maximize your time in London, BUT:
a) I did a random check for BMI in July and their fares start at EUR 57.- all in, so hardly that expensive. And potentially, there's the added bonus of checking in for your BA flight the next day when you arrive at Heathrow, thus allowing you to maximize your time in London on the day you leave.

b) In any event, I would prefer BMI or EasyJet because they leave from Venice airport vs. Ryanair which actually leaves from Treviso, which is quite a trek from Venice.

Hope this helps,
Andre

AAFrequentFlyer

Unfortunately, the OP needs to fly on Monday in <b>JUNE</b>, but we don't know which Monday. The BMI fares range from E$43 to as high as E$235, depending on which Monday she needs. If it's the middle of the month Mondays, it's the high fares, only the first and last Monday has the lower fares.

AAFrequentFlyer

I just realized she needs to fly on Sunday. Forget about the post above.

Still E$50 is a lot more than E$10 which she should be able to get with RyanAir. The difference will pay for a nice room in central London.

Andre

AAFF, I don't want to get in a pissing match with you, however the cheapest fare I could find on Ryanair was about EUR 22.- all in (base fare of EUR 4.99), so depending on what fare is available on BMI only a savings of approximately EUR 32.-... I kinda doubt that &quot;the difference will pay for a nice room in central London&quot;, as you put it ;-)

Anyway, that's more than enough from me on this thread.

Andre

Gardyloo

My only comments are that when we went from LHR to STN mid-morning a couple of weeks ago (Thursday) the traffic eastbound on the M25 was a breeze; however the traffic going in the other direction (the one the OP mentioned) was simply ghastly looking. Easily it would have used up all the available 3+ hours for a transfer. Roadworks on one of the N/S motorways near the M25 interchange (M1 maybe?) evidently will keep the M25 extra congested, if that's possible, in that area for the bulk of the spring/summer.

Second, although it's definitely an airporty hotel (and how) we got the Sheraton Skyline at LHR for US$60 on Priceline, v. the &pound;150-200 rack rate quoted by the hotel. That can soothe a lot of nerves.

If you <i>do</i> stay at one of the airport hotels at LHR and if your departing flight happens to be out of T4, do NOT rely on the Hoppa Hell Bus; have the hotel call a taxi for the &pound;8 ride to the terminal.

AAFrequentFlyer

I read the original post again and it seems like the OP is traveling alone, in which case, you are correct, the savings will not amount to much. Still, if she is going to do the London thing, the savings will pay for the tansfers. Taking the HE both ways, or splitting it between the SE and HE, the fare will be about the same. The SE will take little longer, but again, time is what she will have if she comes in a day earlier.
If she decides to stay around Heathrow, then yes, I agree with you, she should consier BMI.

travelsis

Thank you to all who have responded to this post. I took your advise and booked a bmi flight into Heathrow for 3:00pm on Sunday. 42 euros each. I won't get the Ryanair fare back but the piece of mind is worth it. I'll cut out the limo service from Stansted and one night in Venice for one night in London and taxi to the airport the next day. I do feel a great sense of relief esepeically when the above poster told their observations of the traffic problems. Thanks again all!

Andre

Glad it worked out, travelsis!

Again, I would check with BA if you can already check in for your next day's flight when you arrive from Venice.

Hope this helps,
Andre

janis

Good decision travel sis -- BUT -- don't take a taxi to LHR from central London - it will cost more than your flight from Venice.

Take the tube (cheapest), Heathrow Express (next in cost), or a car service (more expensive but still &pound;20 less than a cab)