Airports
 

Hi

Can someone advise?
I am planning to book a flight which arrives into London Gatwick Airport at 420pm. I have a flight leaving Heathrowe terminal 4 at 9.25pm.
How much transit time should I allow betweek Gatwick and Heathrowe. Is this do -able???
Thankyou

1) From where are you flying into Gatwick?

2) Will you have checked luggage?

3) Where are you flying to from Heathrow?

You have better information than we do.

This is an exceptionally tricky journey. There are very, very few buses from Gatwick to T4. There's one at 1715 that you'll probably just miss, and the next isn't till 1945. So you'll need to get one of the very frequent buses to T1/3 (aka LHR Central Bus Station), then get the free, 5-min, every 15 min, train to T4 (see the National Express website, and plug in a trip from your Gatwick terminal - which only you know - to Heathrow. The bus journey itself is about 80 mins, and - even at rush hour this time is rarely exceeded.

If the plane's on time, you'll probably get to the checkin desk around 1915-2000 . Does this fit with what your airline requires? And what'll happen if you're too late - possibly because of traffic: far more likely because of delays in getting to the bus.

If the airline says this is legal, you'll be rebooked if you miss the flight. But if you're on a cheapo into Gatwick, and you miss the flight from Heathrow, you might well forfeit what you've paid for that flight. Sri Lanka Airlines or whoever take no responsibility for your Easyjet turning up late.

I suggest that you look at the rails. There is a train from Gatwick to Victoria Station every 15 minutes which takes 30 minutes. Then an Underground on the Circle Line to Paddington. Then a train from Paddington Station to LHR. The Heathrow Express runs every 15 minutes and takes 15 minutes to terminals 1,2,3 where you make a connection to terminal 4 every 10 or 15 mintes. I guess that this plan would take about two hours.

Getting this series of grotesquely overpriced trains costs over twice what the bus costs (the only above-ground train on earth that costs more per mile than the Gatwick Express is the Heathrow Express. But neither match the £4 for the two miles between Victoria and Paddington: the most expensive metro ticket anywhere, ever) and takes almost twice as long.

<b> The problem with connections between Gatwick and Heathrow is never the time taken on the bus. It's the complete unpredictability of when you'll actually get on the bus or train, and the immense financial penalties if you're late and doing this on two separate plane tickets</b>

Even in rush hour, buses are reliable and - from Gatwick North to LHR 1/3 - amazingly frequent. You'll probably do it: but can you afford the consequences of the real possibilty you might not?

The BA flight from Dubrovnik arrives at Gatwick at 4.20pm. I am not sure which terminal at Gatwick.

We will need to collect our luggage.

The next BA flight leaves from Heathrow terminal 4 at 9.25pm to Singapore.

We are travelling with 3 children!!!!

Doesn't the Speedlink bus still exist between Gatwick and Heathrow???


We took it 10 years ago. Took about an hour and they served tea. Signs all over the place for Speedlink. Somebody get me up to date about this.

With 5 people, car service?

Are your 2 flights booked on ONE SINGLE ticket?

One option is follow flanneruk's advice - take the National Express coach that goes from Gatwick to Heathrow <u>Central Bus Station</u>, not the coach that goes to T4 (which runs infrequently).

The Gatwick <-> LHR Central Bus Station coach runs 6x/hour. Assuming your arrival flight is on time, say it takes you 1 hour to get through immigration and retrieve luggage, you should be able to catch the 17:40 or 17:50 bus, which gets you to the Heathrow Central Bus Station by around 19:00. From there, you need to catch the Heathrow Connect train to T4, which takes several minutes. You *should* be able to arrive at T4 by 19:30, which is enough time for you, assuming you are already checked-in for the Singapore-bound flight when you check in for your flight in Dubrovnik.

However, the National Express coach isn't cheap, and certainly isn't that convenient for you because of your T4 departure. I think adult fares is £19.50 pp, and children age 3-15 is half-price.

Therefore, alternate option with 5 of you, is look into arranging for a car service. That way, you don't have to hassle with changing terminals at Heathrow, and perhaps will be faster than the Nat Express coach.

Good luck.

(BTW, if both flights are booked on one ticket and BA determines that this is a legal connection; if your inbound flight from Dubrovnik is late and you miss your Singapore-bound flight, you are "protected" as in BA will get you guys on the next available flight to Singapore.)

It is no longer Speedlink???

Thankyou for all your comments. I have decided that I will organise a car service.