JIW

Is this a pain to do or is it fairly simple? I see this a lot in my search for airfare from Calif to Venice. Land at LHR and then go to LGW for connecting flight.
I'm wondering if I should just avoid looking at these flights?
Thanks in advance for your help.

ira

Hi J,

You will need about 6 hr to get out of LHR and get to LGW by bus before your flight departs.

I do not recommend it.

P_M

I would avoid it if there's any way possible. Keep in mind that if you change airports, you must collect your bags, go through customs, take a bus to the other airport, then check in and go through security. This is costly in terms of both time and money. If you keep looking, I bet you can find something using only one airport. Good luck.

obxgirl

It is kind of pain but people do it all the time. Six hours should be plenty of time to make the connection.

nytraveler

Not sure if only flights through London are available to you from California - but from NYC you are much better off flying through one of the major one-airport cities - like Frankfurt - to get to Venice.

Changing planes takes only a brief time - since they will check your luggage all the way through and you don;t need to go through immigration or customs until Venice - which is quite painless.

Christina

well, I would prefer not to, but sometimes there is little choice.

I've never taken 6 hrs for that, but would prefer to leave about 3:30 for it. The last time, I think I had a 3 hr gap and made it, barely, but that was because the first plane was about a half hour late. Perhaps I'm a dunce, but the directions on how to do this (where to get the bus, etc) did not seem to be posted that well from where I landed, so I wasted a little time. Also the bus stop to Gatwick was not clearly marked and things were a little more amateurish out there than I would have expected. Things had changed in-between the last two times I did it, though, as the bus company changed.

Gardyloo

Just pick a carrier that flies to LGW; American or British through Dallas, for instance. The time spent having a beer at DFW will be way more pleasant than sitting on a bus circling outer London.

Or, as the other poster says, pick a different country than the UK for plane changes. AMS or CPH would be my choices, CDG last of all.

JIW

Thanks for the info and suggestions!
One of my other choices is US Air but I'm afraid to purchase tickets in case they go out of business. They have SFO to Philadelphia to Venice. And at a decent price. (Just a little over $700 per person). We're not going until Oct 2, 2005 so maybe I'm looking too early for flights?

LAwoman

JIW-we are looking for similar route in same period (late Sep - early Oct) as you. Would NOT book with US Air. If we end up with LHR to LGW will try for bigger window and spend a few hrs in London. Also, there is still plenty of time to get a good deal, no hurry to book now IMO.

janis

Hundreds of people do the LHR/LGW transfer every day. Routes w/o the transfer are easier of course, but the direct coach makes it a piece of cake. I would usually plan on 4 hours just in case there are long queues at immigration at LHR or security at LGW.

If my choices were USAir or a LHR/LGW connection -- I'd take the connection every timi.

LAwoman: be very careful about going into London on a LHR/LGW transfer. Unless you have 8 to 10 hours it really isn't worth it. And even then it would be a huge hassle because you would have to schlepp all your luggage since you can't check them through between the two airports.

If you'd like to go into London, it is better to stay over night. You could get a hotel near Victoria Station and then jump on the Gatwick Express to the airport the next day.

LAwoman

Thanks, Janis. We would leave 10 hrs window or more. I love London, so wouldn't mind going over to LGW, booking a priceline rate at one of the hotels attached to the airport, going into town for Thames walk, pub & dinner, back to hotel for few hours sleep and on to Italy on easyjet or similar early in a.m. Just a wild fantasy at this pt.

lisa_b

Just a note for you, depending on which day and time you arrive you can queue up to 2 hours to clear Immigration at Heathrow, then you need to allow min 2 hours travel time between the 2 airports, plus you must check in at least 2 hours before your flight, this should leave enough time to clear passport control before your flight. So in total 6 hours (approx) I am in the UK and work at the airport, and i would agree with anyone who says try to transfer at the same airport, or why not stay overnight in London, then continue your journey?

Christina

My experience isn't that of the above advice. First, you don't have to check in two hours ahead of time for local flights within Europe. ALso, I've taken that bus several times and it never took close to two hours -- it never took even one hour, but around 45 minutes.

suze

My opinion is... why do it if you don't have to?

This past summer flying British Air from Seattle thru London onto Geneva the transfer was the first option shown on the BA website when I chose "show lowest fare". When I clicked a different option to show all flights, found similar routing but with a LHR/LHR transfer for only a few dollars more.

My frequent-traveling London-living friends warned me against doing it.

On a West Coast USA to Italy trip, (arriving after a sleepless overnight flight, jet lagged, time changed) why bother with the hassle when you don't really need to?

yk

JIW-

I've done it before, and I wouldn't do it again. I did it because it saved me maybe $100 or $150 on plane ticket, but in retrospect it was not worth it.

I flew from PHL-LHR, then LGW to FCO. I ended up wasting an entire day traveling. Instead of arriving in FCO around 11am (if I flew LHR-FCO), I arrived in FCO around 6pm and dead tired.

Obviously, it depends on how much $ we're talking about. To me, I thought it was worth the hassle when I bought the ticket to save $150. Having done it, it wasn't worth it at all.

WillTravel

I just took the National Express bus from LGW to LHR on Sunday night. The bus departed at 10:50 PM and traveling straight through without any stops (other than for the other terminal at LGW) we arrived at Heathrow Central Bus Station at 12:10 AM. There was little traffic at that time of night. I really doubt the trip can be done any faster other than by a speeding taxi.

The main problem with such connections is if the first flight is late. Every international flight I've been taken has been either a little or a lot late. Even if it does arrive on time, you may have to wait a long time to get off the plane, particularly at LHR. If you have a protected connection, the airline will get you on the next flight but you may lose a lot of time waiting for that next flight, and you may or may not have to pay for a hotel room overnight. So that's why I advise extra time with such connections, because I fully expect Murphy's Law to apply.

oceans66

Well, personally.. I wouldnt take that flight.. I would get the direct one if it was available. I recently, went to Tenerife, Spain...from San Diego to Atlanta.. to Paris to Madrid and then to Tenerife North. Coming home,.. I went from Tenerife to London.. LGW and it was New Years Eve... and even though we saw fireworks coming into London.. there was a 10 hour layover before the flight took off for Cinncinati, Ohio.. and then a 2 hour layover.. and then a 5 hour trip to San Diego.. and then another hour to home. I tell you.. I didnt understand why that there was a layover in London.. I checked the hotels.. and the only one available that night was going for 235 dollars a night. I was flabergasted.. So, I checked my email on the phones there a couple times.... and walked and walked and walked.. until it was time to check in.. I was up all day and all night.. and all day.. and extremely tired since I was only in Europe for 6 days.. and my biological clock was screaming.. I was a zombie.. and afraid to put my head down in the air port like the others... I was travelin alone.. by myself...for fear that everything would be stolen. Boy, I wasnt happy at all. Maybe a little more planning would have helped. For you, take a direct flight.. and yes with going to pick up your bags.. and going through customs.. and stuff does take time.. and making sure you are on the right bus going to the right airport as well. Sorry, I'm from the USA.. and feel very comfortable with traveling within the country.. However, traveling outside the country is a different story...it was quite an education. Also... PLan Plan Plan really far inadvance.. and look at all the details before you start your itinerary!!! beat of luck to you.

lisa_b

Message: Christina: My experience isn't that of the above advice. First, you don't have to check in two hours ahead of time for local flights within Europe. ALso, I've taken that bus several times and it never took close to two hours -- it never took even one hour, but around 45 minutes.

Further to this, the bus can easily take an hour and a half and frequently does so, so a 2 hour allowance is simply sensible, 45 minutes is the fastest you could do it in off peak, have you travelled the M25 at 8.00am on a Monday morning?. In actual fact you should check in 2 hours before any European flight as you have be at the gate 40 minutes before the flight and minimum check in is in fact 45minutes. I have queued for 1hr to check in and then 40 minutes at passport control so i have had to go straight to gate before. When you are thinking about transferring you can not and should not be cutting as fine as possible, as per most of the posts here try and fly from the same airport.

nevcharlie

JIW, Note that there are roadworks on the stretch of the M25 from Heathrow to the M3 from January for two years.
Paste this into your browser.....http://www.highways.gov.uk/roads/pro..._jan_04/en.htm