We have been to London 4 times and all times we have flown into Gatwick. This will be our first time flying into Heathrow from the US next week. Does anyone have any tips or suggestions we should be aware of to make it go smoothly? We are flying with carry-ons only and already have our transportation into the city arranged. We will be returning to the US from Paris (Charles de Gaulle) so I will ask the same question in that forum as well! Thanks.

Not sure what you are asking. You just follow the signs for arrivals - to immigration > customs (a non-issue) > ground transport. You don't have any options -- just follow everyone else (except you won't need to hover around the luggage carousel).

How are you traveling in to London?

I guess maybe I am just wondering how long to expect approximately from the time we deplane to the time we are ready to meet our driver? We will have only carry-on luggage. Gatwick is so easily manageable and I have heard that Heathrow is huge. Also, how long is the drive from Heathrow to Kensington, approximately at around 12-1pm.

completely depends on what is happening in town that day, why not let the train take the strain?

"Gatwick is so easily manageable and I have heard that Heathrow is huge. "

But LHR has 4 terminals whilst LGW has two. Can't really see what you are worried about as it's just a process of following the signs to immigration then to baggage collection then through customs into the arrival area where your driver will be holding up a sign - in short just like every international airport you've passed through for the last 30 years and certainly nothing different from LGW

I agree - really not much to worry about. I've flown into both and don't think they were that different in terms of arrivals. If you're using a car service, in my (singular) experience they just asked us for our flight number and they figured it out. In that case, we had a group and had to wait for bags, but this was no problem. I wouldn't dilly-dally, as my mother would say, but they know you'll have to deal with immigration.

It took us about an hour around 10:30am to get from LHR to St. Pancras.