Hi, what's the cheapest way to get to Heathrow for an early flight? It's a Monday, and the flight leaves at 7. I think the first train on the Piccadilly line doesn't get in until 6:40 am or something (unless I read the schedule wrong).

The Heathrow Express starts around 5 am, so that should be enough time. But I still have to get to Paddington. So would that be a taxi or a night bus? Any other ideas? Thanks!

Never mind, I found a flight that leaves at 8:55. But please feel free to answer for future reference, thanks!

For early morning flights we always book a car service www.justairports.com I think they are about the same as 2 tickets on the Heathrow Express and you dont have to worry about schlepping luggage.

As jamikins says, use a prebooked car service or alternatively stay overnight at or near Heathrow. If you get a cheap deal it may work out the same price. There is the Yotel inside the airport as well as others and numerous chain hotels nearby. I'd book one near the tube station to save having to pay for the Hoppa bus.

We've stayed at the Yotel inside Gatwick, the Premier Inn which is 15 mins walk from Gatwick and the Jurys Inn, a short tube ride from Heathrow at Hatton Cross (?) and it does make the next morning very easy and stress free.

Kay

I'm in the camp that would rather spend extra time in an airport terminal, having arrived a bit early, than cut it close, panic in traffic or a long queue at security or check-in, and run any risk of missing those not-exactly-frequent transatlantic flights. So don't underestimate the time it involves getting from London to LHR and to your gate. They aren't kidding when they suggest at LEAST 2 hours after you simply arrive at LHR to allow for getting through everything. And it takes at LEAST an hour via tube or car service. So unless you like the adrenelin rush of that dash to the airport, I'd urge you to leave London before 6 am if you booked that 8:55 flight. And I'd also recommend justairports car service, although we also "did" the Tube one time, but it wasn't for a real early flight.

Alternatively, as KayF suggests, spend that last night somewhere near the airport (I've twice stayed at the Jurys Inn mentioned above and it's fine; plenty of others, too, to check prices of if you find yourself in similar circumstances in the future.)

Usually when I have a really early flight, I priceline a LHR hotel for the last night and head out there after dinner or a show. You don't lose any usable 'London time' since you'd have to leave so early no matter which mode of travel in the morning. LHR hotels on PL are a major bargain.

If I must stay in London the last night for some reason,I book a car service since there is essentially no traffic in the early AM.

Jumping into this thread, we too have a 7 AM flight from Heathrow. Being in texasbookworm's camp regarding early arrivals at an airport, we are splurging on the previous night at the Sofitel at Terminal 5. (I'm not a morning person. Being able to just walk into the terminal is a great relief.)

But is Heathrow all that busy at 5 or 6 AM? Do you really have to be there 2 hours early?

Heathrow is usually incredibly busy, we used to live within view of the flight path and it was about one flight coming in every minute. But you could strike a relatively quiet period. We have spent an hour waiting in an immigration arrival queue and another time walked straight to the head of the queue (we kept wondering what had happened to all the people). I would definitely allow plenty of time and get through security early.

Kay

<b> First, remember that the Hammersmith Flyover's currently closed, and that's likely to hit alternative road routes as well. So be very, very careful (adding at least an hour, I'd say, as long as the closure lasts, though you might get away with just an extra 15 mins westbound before 0500) about how long ANY road journey from the centre to Heathrow takes</b>

Under current circs, in 111op's shoes I'd get a cab to Paddington, then the HEX, unless I were happy about wasting the previous evening in an airport hotel (which I wouldn't be, but...)

For departing flights, from 0600 is about as busy as Heathrow ever gets: if you're going to the Continent for the day, the time difference means you really need to be on a flight out before 0730 to get a day's work in - as you do if you want to be in a Glasgow or Dublin office at the same time as local colleagues.

The mix between European and intercontinental flights is pretty similar in all terminals, so the early morning crush is almost universal. But queues move quite a bit faster than later on since almost all travellers are regulars: you don't seem to get the confused families with three prams or the dunderheaded tourists claiming not to know about liquids that hold up security queues by midmorning.

Unless your airline insists otherwise, I wouldn't bother getting to the checkin desk more than 75 mins before departure for a European flight. But, if travelling by road, getting from the end of the M4 to a terminal dropoff can be agonisingly slow even at 0500 (those regulars are typically averse to public transport or live in suburbs where buses and trains don't penetrate): one more reason for always going out by train or tube.

Oh -- I didn't know about the Flyover being closed (is it for construction). How long is it planned to be shut?

That definitely would affect drive times . . .

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/medi...tre/22225.aspx

They claim it will be re-opened for the Olympics...

Wow -- that must be a mess!

"They claim it will be re-opened for the Olympics"

Read very carefully, and you'll see they don't.

Boris (who's got an election to win between now and the Olympics) actually said "work is already beginning on strengthening the flyover so that it is fully operational well ahead of the 2012 Games." Boris did both epistemology and Greek composition for his degree, a course designed to enable its graduates to compose prose that'll confuse the plebs.

The Hammersmith Flyover is scheduled as part of the Olympic Route Network, with - according to TfL - Games Lanes (the euphemism for the Zil Lanes, a concept previously found only in unaccountable dictatorships) operating from mid-July till mid-September. "Fully operational" doesn't mean open to the taxpaying public: the official plan is that the IOC scum (and the contemptible journalists at their coat-tails) get the road to themselves during the Olympics (Can't possibly be expected to use the Tube, can they?)

What Boris is actually promising is that he's sure we'll get the road back by mid-September - four months after he's had his election.

Thanks for everyone's replies. I'll know where to look if it ever comes up!