fishee

I have a flight out of London Heathrow next week at 3:25 pm and will not be leaving Paris until 10 am in the morning. The Eurostar is scheduled to arrive in Waterloo by 11:59 am and I've heard it takes another 45 min to get to LHR -- so it *seems* that I have enough time to make my flight, getting to LHR by 1:30 pm. But how reliable is the eurostar with respect to time - are one hour delays commonplace? Would I save time by jumping into a cab at Waterloo or is traffic terrible around 1-ish on a Tuesday afternoon? Do you think I should I change my train ticket to an earlier time even though it'll cost me another $70? thanks in advance!

david_west

It will take longer than 45 mins to get to Heathrow.

TFL's own journey planner says it takes 45 mins:

http://journeyplanner.tfl.gov.uk

And that's without any hiccups. Believe me - there will be hiccups.

A cab is very pricey and might just about make it - it depends on the traffic (which shouldn't be too bad at the time you're travelling.)

I would try and change your ticket.

As for the Eurostar - in england it travels on the normal rail network and as such is a bit of a hostage to other conditions - It's reliable most of the time, but there are no guarentees.

CU

Have you checked on the price of a flight from Paris to Heathrow?

margyb

I just got back last night from London had had two eurostar trips...the first one on Sunday 11/20 from Paris to Waterloo was on time and no problem. The second one was yesterday morning..my husband was booked on the first train out of Waterloo to Brussels on Friday morning. After he got to Waterloo, he found out the train had been cancelled due to equipment problems. He ended up getting to Brussels about 3 hours late and had to change arrangements at that end.

I took a cab to Paddington, also yesterday morning, so that I could take the Heathrow express. As I get into the cab at 6 AM, the driver tells me that Paddington is closed due to a security problem and that no trains are running. She can't take me all the way to the airport because of her territory restriction. So I went to Paddington anyways and ended up getting to the airport on time.

Anything can happen! Just be sure to give yourself as much time as possible and be prepared for coming up with a backup plan.

Have a great trip!

margy

janisj

My first question is WHY are you taking a train that goes into Waterloo when Heathrow is where you want to be.

If the Eurostar was your only option - then sure. But a direct flight to LHR makes much more sense and possibly would even be cheaper.

If you were stopping over in London the train would definitely be my first choice - but NOT to get to LHR. The journey out to the airport from Waterloo International will take about an hour IF everything goes like clockwork.

if the Eurostar is delayed even just 30 mins and there is any sort of security alert in London or big snarl out on the A4/M4 or the airport approach road (one time it took me 35 minutes to travel the mile from the M4 to terminal 3) a car service or Cab would get you there about the time your flight closes.

Is it a transatlantic flight? If so, some carriers are requiring a 3 hour check-in

AAFrequentFlyer

I don't know of any airline that <b>REQUIRES</b> a 3 hour check-in, but other than that, I agree with the rest of your post. Why not just fly to LHR? Many cheap options and a lot easier on the body and mind........

janisj

Maybe &quot;requires&quot; was too strong -- but the last two flights I took out of LHR to the states (VS and BA) suggested 3 hours.

Gavin

They ask for three hours. I aim for two hours and have never had a problem (Air Canada T3). In a pinch one hour would likely be enough though I would not like to test it.

AAFrequentFlyer

<i>As posted by janisj</i>

<b>Maybe &quot;requires&quot; was too strong -- but the last two flights I took out of LHR to the states (VS and BA) suggested 3 hours.</b>

and then you end up sitting in the tax free areas for 2 hours

I honestly think the airlines have a deal with these shops and that's why the <b>suggestion</b>

I just came back from Dublin. My AA flight to Chicago was scheduled for 12:30pm. Granted, DUB is so much smaller than LHR, but I showed up at 11am and I still had time to have a light lunch and couple of glasses of wine at the AerLingus lounge.

BTW, the AerLingus lounge in DUB is next to impossible to find. It's an adventure of it's own.

janisj

Yeah - who wouldn't want another shot at Harrod's, Burberry, Liberty and Boots

But back to fishee's question -- it is really convoluted to take the Eurostar to Waterloo to catch a flight from LHR. And w/ all the possible hitches that might pop up, it could be a frenzied dash across town.

fishee

One of my problems is that I'll be with my boyfriend who is travelling on business and his company has changed plans on us three times -- hence the circuitous itinerary that puts us in Paris the day we're flying out of London into Chicago. (Another problem is our limited funds combined with my cheapness that becomes near-pathological with all this internet research...) Unfortunately, I purchased these Eurostar valuefare tickets (60 GBP total) last week which don't appear exchangeable/changeable in any way. So our options seem to be 1. purchase two one-way flights to LHR (maybe a few hundred total for us?) 2. Pay another 60 pounds to Eurostar and leave Paris at the crack of dawn for a tedious 5 hr jaunt to LHR airport 3. Pray that I can book a last minute-flight through United Mileage awards directly from Paris-Chicago. This last option would have solved my problem wonderfully for only $100 but this flight has apparently been booked through December for those with award tickets. I'm not making any decisions for the next few days so all your opinions (even the disdainful ones with useful information!) are greatly appreciated. thanks all for the input.

fishee

thanks to your insights, I'm now trying to book a flight from Paris to London (as you stated, o/w tickets are only $55-85 USD) arriving in LHR at 12:50 pm for a 3:25 pm transatlantic connection. Is this British Air connection to London notoriously delayed or is this a safe bet? hmmm, it appears that I have a problem with cutting things a little too close -- this site is much more revelatory than therapy...

flanneruk

fishee:

No flight into LHR is any more prone to delay than any other. But do be aware that BA don't allow baggage to be through-checked onto a connection with a non-One World airline on a separate ticket. BA are also pretty strict about enforcing the carry-on limit on intra-Europe flights. ALL flights into LHR are liable to delay.

So if you've got luggage, you'll probably have go through immigration, wait to collect it at T4, get the (free, only 5 mins journey but only every 15 mins) train to T3 and check in again if you're on Virgin or United. Apart from possible delays, expect close to an hour in that case from getting off the plane to getting to the T3 checkin desk.

If your transatlantic flight is on United, you should book bmi to LHR, who certainly won't put you through all this nonsense (and, in my experience, won't if you're connecting to VS either, even though VS isn't a Star airline) so you can just go straight through security, onto the T1-T3 bus and walk to your gate.

david_west

Your tickets aren't exchangable - that's why they're so cheap.

I see it as my role in life to stop people indulging in the idiocy of flying to London from Paris. However in your case it makes sense.

Is it not possible to come to London the evening before? You could do some fun things in London and easily make your flight?

fishee

Hi -- thanks for the information! I cannot travel into London the day before due to my boyfriend's schedule but even so, with my non-exchangeable tickets wouldn't that impossible? Do I mis-sunderstand what &quot;non-exchageable&quot; means on Eurostar exactly?

I'd love to fly bmi (only $63) but this requires getting to CDG for a 9:45 am flight. A 12:25 departure on British Air allows time for a nice breakfast. Ugh, I hate being in airports hours early, eating a McGriddles abomination for 10 Euro while my boyfreind enjoys a nice croquette and coffee in Paris.

Sounds like the 12:25 flight is cutting it too close, however, if B/A forces me to re-claim and re-check my luggage for my United flight. WHYYY?????!!!!! horribly inconvenient policy.

fishee

O.K. Sorry -- last scenario:

The Objective: get to LHR from Paris to catch transatlantic 3:25 pm flight on United (without sacrificing last breakfast in Paris).

1. Fly British Air to arrive at 12:50 pm but must switch terminals, re-check luggage, customs. flanneruk believes this will eat up an hour, before delays.
2. Fly bmi airlines to arrive at LHR at 2:05 pm but luggage goes striaght through so no customs hassle, just security and go straight to my gate. Is it crazy for me take this flight to connect to a 3:25 departing? Which option would you take?

flanneruk

The bmi at 0945.

And some serious attention to the insight in &quot;this site is much more revelatory than therapy&quot;

janisj

definitely the BMI 0945 (and they will serve you b'fast)

111op

First, regarding your Eurostar connection. I've done the Eurostar between Paris and London twice. I checked my notes for the July trip. I took about 75 minutes to get between Waterloo and Heathrow, and I had a carryon. This is basically door-to-door. Without delays, spend about 1h on the Picadilly Line (but I've not been since the bombings -- is everything back to normal?) to get the airport.

If I were in your position, I'd be tempted to attempt the Eurostar/tube connection (cheapest option), if the train arrives on time. But you'd have to move very quickly. I know that I'm good at running from place to place, and I'd only have a carry on.

If the train doesn't get in on time, you can attempt to use the Paddington Express. It's supposed to take 15 minutes and runs every 15 minutes. The one time I took it it took about 20 minutes. You could potentially shave about 15-20 minutes off your travel time to Heathrow. But I'd check the Paddington Express schedules ahead of time (as 15 minutes is a lot when you've a tight connection).

Now: Don't forget -- you may need to clear passport control at Waterloo. This will add at least 5-10 minutes to your touchdown time.

Next, your flight options. I can't say which one is better. The one time I flew BMI between LHR and AMS, they were fine, on time and I made my connection. I can't recall how much time I have.

If you're curious, take a look at
http://www.heathrowairport.com/

This allows you to monitor live arrival times. You can do this for a day or two for your flights and see if one flight may have a pattern.

For a tight connection in Athens last year, I did similar exercises by monitoring live arrivals online for a few days.

111op

By the way, if I recall, my trains to London from Paris were delayed both times.

So you should factor in a delay.

In that scenario, maybe Paddington Express or flying is your best option.

But I'd call your connecting airline to ask when the last checkin time is for your flight. It's been my experience that you can cut lines when your flight is about to depart.

Of course, this all depends on how much of a risk taker you are and how much money you want to spend.