I'm looking at a plan that has me landing at Heathrow (from JFK) at 6:25 am, then leaving Stansted at 11:15 am for Graz. Can I do this on the same day?

The time between flights is 4 hrs 50 min. I see that the National Express Bus between airports takes 1 hr 40 min.

How much time should I allow for getting out of Heathrow after I land, and how much time to check in for my flight at Stansted?

I wouldn't risk ! I suppose you are going to get a Ryanair flight at Stansted, they ask you to be there 2 hours before the flight and now, with all the security issues..you sure need that time. So that means you have to be at Stansted at 9 : 15 AM. I also suppose at that early hour you won't be too late leaving Heathrow, but anyway, you have to count on possible delays..but let's say you are in the bus for Stansted at 7 : 25 AM , sum the transport time..that's 9 : 05 AM. Too tight, if there's a plane delay, if there's some traffic at the motorway..you will lose the Graz plane.

I always try to talk people out of doing transfers between the London airports if possible. In most cases, they are time confusing and expensive. LHR to STN is one of the worst. I suppose you have no option since it's the only way to get to Graz.

You may be a while getting through immigration at LHR since this is a busy time with a lot of overnight flights landing at LHR around this time. Plus you're also doing this transfer when the M25 (the London orbital motorway) will be at it's busiest during the London rush hour.

Having said that, Ryanair do not expect you to be there 2 hours before (that's just the time check-in opens). From their website: "Standard opening of airport check-in desks is two hours prior to scheduled departure. Early check-in is highly recommended. Check-in closes strictly 40 minutes before the scheduled time of departure. We reserve the right to cancel your reservation and to deny you boarding if you do not comply with this Check-in Deadline indicated."

I think you should be okay but it depends how frequent the transfer buses are.

You might make this connection or you might not. If you don't make it, you are stuck at Stansted for 24 hours and will have to purchase an expensive, non-advance-purchase ticket for the next day.

I would suggest considering connections in Frankfurt, Munich, or Vienna rather than one that requires a change of airports in London.

"time confusing" should obviously have read "time consuming" in my earlier post! Not sure what happened there.

You say a "plan" so I assume you haven't bought the tix yet. Some things to consider besides what has already been mentioned.

When Ryan Air closes check in - they CLOSE it. Meaning if you are in line but not yet checked in you are out of luck.

With more luggage being checked nowadays - there can be quite a delay getting your bags at LHR. And since you are flying Ryan Air ir isn't as if your luggage can be forwarded on the next flight out of LHR

I would want 5 hours for a Gatwick transfer and 6+ hours for Stansted - ssimply because if you miss your flight you get nothing and a walk up fare is going to be very expensive.

With an 06:25 arrival, the 07:40 coach is the first one you have a realistic chance of catching. If your plane is late or you have a delay getting through immigration, you'll have to take the next coach which leaves at 08:45 and is scheduled to arrive at Stansted at 10:25. That gives you ten minutes to meet Ryanair's check-in deadline--if the coach has no traffic delays. I sure wouldn't risk it.

Have you looked into the cheapest fare you can get on a flight from LHR to Vienna? For example, I found flights from LHR to Vienna for £83 one-way (British Airways) or £117 round trip (Austrian). From Vienna's airport, take mass transit to the Sudbahnhof and pick up a train to Graz. Trains run every hour and the ride is very scenic and take two hours, 40 minutes. IMO, you'd find this travel route more relaxing and easier to manage.

You probably won't make the 0740 coach. Plug in your schedule at the Natoinal Express site, putting the terminal you arrive at as your startpoint.

With a British passport and some familiarity with LHR, you can probably get to the Central bus station faster than the site says by making your own way there on foot or by train.

But waiting for bags and for the non-European immigration queue, and navigating through the world's busiest international airport, you've very little chance of getting to the T4 bus stop by 0710, which is when the advertised connection leaves. You're not arriving at the busiest time (which is when the European commuter flights pour in): but you are arriving at the time when the non-European passport queues are at their longest, and when the airport's awash with confused people recovering from half a day on planes. It's now impossible to use carry-on bags only - and those rules aren't going to be materially changed for a very long time.

At the other end, the bus scheduled to arrive at STN for 1025 gives you precisely 10 mins to unload your bags from the luggage compartment, find the desk <b> for that specific flight </b> and get to the front of the queue. An aggressive expert on Stansted might just do it. But most won't.

This particulsar connection simply won't work.

Checking on expedia.com, there are nonstop flights from JFK to Vienna for about $750 (picking several October dates at random). From Vienna, it's an easy train ride to Graz. This seems to be a simpler, more relaxing route and the overall cost difference between this and your original plan probably isn't that much.

Since you say &quot;looking at a plan&quot; I hope you are just looking and not planning on &quot;doing&quot;. As most say it's not a good plan at all. There is a reason why airlines like Ryanair are cheaper .. they fly from inconvenient airports where it is very difficult for the average traveler to make connections if coming into a major airport like LHR. Sometimes &quot;cheaper&quot; is not always best .. you do pay a price for it and in this case it could mean missing your flight if anything goes wrong (and in this day and age with air delays, terrorists, etc. things can go wrong).

Lori, I agree with you that low cost flights are not easy for the connecting passengers.and almost always are not convenient..but that's not the average traveller for these companies. They are meant for europeans, who made flights point to point with very few lugagge and want to do it cheap. Even if the airport is incovenient, most of the time is still cheaper to get a taxi from there..than a regular flight to a better airport.

I understand, kenderina, that the &quot;non-central&quot; airports are usually meant for &quot;local&quot; travelers. It's the same with places like Ontario, CA airport .. I can only imagine the fun it would be landing at LAX and trying to get to Ontario quickly to go elsewhere I am sure there are lots of similar suburban airports around the US that serve the local market well, but not the international traveler.

In ion1122's case, and in many other travelers who have posted on this board, I do not think they realize the distances between airports in London.

Thanks to everyone for the helpful replies.

Although I must be in Graz on a specific date, I plan to spend a few days in Cambridge afterwards before returning to the States. So, for that reason, Stansted works out well for my return from Graz logistically, not just because Ryanair flights are cheap.

After reading your replies, I abandoned the idea of trying to catch the Graz connection from Stansted on the same morning as my Heathrow arrival.

I next considered the obvious idea of simply taking the Graz flight the next day, first overnighting in the Stansted area, and using the extra time to visit something there. The manor house at Audley End looked promising, as did the airforce museum at Duxford. The castle at Stansted Mountfitchet, though closer to hand, looked to me to be more of a tourist park kind of thing.

In any case, in the end I decided to add a few nights in Vienna to my itinerary. So now my plan is to fly into Heathrow from JFK on British Air, and also take British Air that same morning from Heathrow to Vienna. Later I'll take the train from Vienna to Graz, and then a one-way Ryanair from Graz to Stansted. After a few days in Cambridge, I'll return to the U.S. from Heathrow.

Incidentally, it turns out that one advantage of staying four nights in the Cambridge area at the end of the trip, instead of first one night and later three nights, is that four nights qualifies me for the &quot;extended stay&quot; discount offered by some Cambridge-area hostelries. It's also just long enough that I can consider renting a flat (apartment) as well as staying in a hotel or B&amp;B in Cambridge.

Bill Kelly
Connecticut USA