National Express coaches run between Heathrow & Gatwick, journey time is approximately 70 minutes.They run at 15-20 minute intervals in the morning & 30 minute intervals in the afternoon.The train options(Heathrow Express & Gatwick Express) require changing stations in central London (Paddington to Victoria)but the journey in theory should be shorter.

Yes it IS a hassle but well worth it IMO for 3 free tickets. There are 2 different bus shuttle cos. that travel this route. The problem is how much time to allow between flights as the traffic can be horrible. There are a number of fairly recent threads here on the subject if you do a text search (try transportation Heathrow to Gatwick).

Another option to look into is (assuming you're flying from the US) using the free tickets to Heathrow & then getting another carrier for the Heathrow to Italy part (BMI flies Heathrow to Venice now).

We flew BA from Gatwick to Venice last summer after connecting from Heathrow. We opted for a car because we'd been flying all night, hit horrible traffic, then got stuck with a 5-hour air traffic delay out of Gatwick! Granted, this was extreme, and can happen anywhere, but I still think you may be better off with a two year old in tow hanging on to your miles and grabbing a discount flight from Heathrow to your Italian destination.

Good luck!

I think the transfer to Gatwick from Heathrow will depend on where you're going in Italy. We have been flying BA for some time now and on our trips to Italy have only had to go to Gatwick for our flight to Naples. When we go to Rome, we only have to change terminals at Heathrow for our connecting flight.

It's been several years since we went to Naples, but at that time BA paid for the bus transfer. I think I read somewhere they no longer do that, but I'm sure they would still be helpful in directing you to transportation.

Agree that the trip from Heathrow to Gatwick is not great fun, but certainly the three free FF tickets should sweeten it considerably.

If you take another airline (perhaps no frills) to get to your destination, you will have to collect your luggage at Heathrow (we always check ours straight through because we go BA all the way) and if you opt for a no frills airline would still have to transfer to Stansted or other airport, which I understand are at least as difficult if not more so to get to than Gatwick. Additionally, since you are flying free, this would entail paying for that leg of your trip.