kay

Has anyone flown British airways, or any other airline that goes out of Italy and stops at Gatwick airport, then you fly out of Heathrow back to the US?

I wonder how tricky this concept of connecting in and out of two different London airports may be, given a layover time of only 2 hours.


thanks for any advice...

Russ

Good luck! 2 hours will be cutting it close. . . better to have 3-4 hrs. The best way is by direct bus for which you can get vouchers from the British Airways travel desk at Gatwick. The bus takes about 45 min to 1 hr. However, it could take you 30 minutes just to get from the plane (most have to park away from the gates) to Gatwick's terminal by shuttle bus.

elvira

I did it the other way, land Gatwick, fly from Heathrow to Italy. You cannot do it in two hours. The bus take about 1 1/2 hours, and that's if there's minimal traffic. As Russ pointed out, by the time you get off the plane, through immigration, get your voucher, turn it in for a bus ticket, and get on the bus, you're looking at *minimum* 1/2 hour, and that's if everything goes like clockwork. If you have to change terminals, you're dog meat. I chose to check my bags only to London, so I'd know if they were waylaid, where they'd be. I had 5 hours between flights, and I was very glad I did. You need minimum 3 1/2 hours between flights to be on the safe side.

russ

Kay, since you've probably already have your tickets and can't avoid the 2 hr connection, try standing by for an earlier flight in Italy with direct connections at Gatwick to your US(?) destination. I did this in Oct from Verona-Gatwick-JFK . . . originally had the Heathrow connection and was able to leave Verona 2 hrs earlier (without any additional charges) and connected at Gatwick to JFK.

kay

okay- I'm really glad I asked! I don't have my tix yet - am deciding between two flights- one with the heathrow/gatwick connection (which departs out of Naples where I'll be) and a separate flight that connects in Paris but departs out of Rome. I think I'll opt for the latter and just deal with getting to Rome, given the opinions posted here.

thanks for relaying your experiences!