I would be arriving into London Heathrow airport in Dec and would like to go to Rome.
What are my options?
Which airlines offers the best deals?
Are there any airport shuttles between
Heathrow and Stansted airport?

Thanks,
Gopi

check out British Airways. Many flights a day to Roma from Heathrow.

I flew London Gatwick to Rome Ciampino on Easy Jet this past September for 36 GBP one-way.

Thanks for the reply.
Do you know how much would it cost
to transfer from Heathrow to Stansted/Gatwick? We are a family
of four.

You can take a coach from Heathrow to Gatwick. You catch it at the Central Bus Station and be prepared to find a long line to buy the ticket. I do not remember the exact cost, but it should be less than 15 GBP per person.

How reliable is the shuttle by National Express? They are asking
for 75 GBP for a family of 4 from
Heathrow to Stansted airport.

Ask your transatlantic carrier if they can tack on the additional flights to your original ticket. Many of them have programs that allow you to do this for a price that's much less than buying connecting flight tickets on your own. We have done this several times for our family of 4 through AMERICAN's ONEWORLD program, and it's saved us a lot of money.

As far as I know, they are quite reliable. At least, they were never late in any of the rides I took from Heathrow to Brighton. ANd I will be taking this coach again this coming Saturday...

I think by the time you tote up the cost of a transfer to another airport you are not going to come out all that much ahead of British Air or Alitalia.

PS: My understanding is that Easy Jet's baggage limits are now 30 pounds per person. That's pretty tight.

gopinathpc: Look at a map - stansted is quite a long ways from LHR, Gatwick a bit closer. Hundreds of people make these transfers successfully evey day by Nat'l Express. But they are VERY time consuming.

You need to allow at least 5 hours between flights - it used to be about 4 hours minimum but w/ the add'l security even 5 hours might be cutting it close. Plus the low cost carriers require you to be checked in -- not in line to be checked in but already past the check in desk, by their cut off time. If you miss it - then your tickets are worthless and you have to buy a full, walk-up fare ticket.

Solo, you might make it but having to herd 4 people and their luggage - it really is a false economy.

Just book directly from LHR on to Italy . . . .

janisj.

Very wise words.

I am just going to reinforce what has already been said. Look at BA and Alitalia fares first. Unless you can save hundreds of dollars by transferring, it really is not worth the extra time and hassle. National Express is very reliable, but the M25 motorway can sometimes be a carpark, so you would need to allow plenty of time.

I have just looked up Easyjet to Ciampino from Gatwick, and the fare was around £58. Looking on Opodo.co.uk, there were plenty of fares for £94 from Heathrow. Take out the National express fare and you are looking at all that extra hassle just to save around £20 a person. To me it would just not make any sense.

I would agree with Willit and just to set the record straight as far as I know the baggage allowance on EasyJet is still 20 Kg

Sorry if I posted wrong information!