How early get to Gatwick and how to get there.
 

I have a British Airways flight from Gatwick to Venice which leaves @ 7:50 AM. When do I need to get to the airport? What is the fastest way to get there? I will be leaving from Hatfield, Hertfordshire

For that early a flight and traveling across the whole of Greater London - I would get a room at LGW the night before. You need to be at LGW a <u>minimum</u> of two hours in advance.

I think technically you should get there 2 hours before the flight but an hour at the latest anyway. I live in N Finchley and at that time of day I find the best bet is anti-clockwise on the M25 and then onto the M23 which goes right through Gatwick. Takes me about an hour to hour and a half depending on the traffic, roadworks etc.

I don't know what that means &quot;anti-clockwise on the M25 and then onto the M23 which goes right through Gatwick. Takes me about an hour to hour and a half depending on the traffic, roadworks etc

That means driving counter clockwise around the M25. The M25 is the circular motorway that goes all the way around greater London. So Reged was saying drive west and then south and back east on teh M25 (instead of going east)

From you original post I'll assume you are visiting in Hatfield and don't have a car. That is why I suggested getting a room near LGW teh night before . . . .

By all means, consider staying at a hotel or a B&amp;B in one of the nearby towns. We very much enjoyed the Lawn Guest House in Horley, UK, very near Gatwick and the owner is used to early morning treks to take guests over to the airport.

If it is possible to do your check-in and boarding passes 24 hours in advance by all means do so. Also consider using any fast bag drop BA may have at Gatwick if you are checking any luggage. We recently did these things for a flight on BA out of Heathrow and as a result we waited only about 10 minutes and then went directly to security.

Regardless of on-line checkin / bag drops it's going to be virtually impossible to travel from Hatfield to Gatwick by public transport UNLESS they stop overnight at Gatwick or in Central London &amp; from Central London you'd have to leave at 6:00am in order to catch the flight

Go to the BA site and input your confirmation number. That will tell you what the latest time for bag dropping is: I imagine it's around 0720, but only you can find this out for certain. Incidentally, if BA got your email address with your booking, you'll get a note from them telling you all this

There should be no &quot;if&quot; about your ability to check in online. Unless you've done something very odd, OLCI is now routine - though most fellow-passengers are still too dumb to use it, so you get a HUGE advantage till the rest of the world wakes up.

Nonetheless, there's no reliable public transport from Hatfield that'll get you to Gatwick by about 0700. So you probably need a minicab leaving Hatfield around 0515-0530. That will just get round the M25/23 before the pressure really builds up.

&quot;<i>So you probably need a minicab leaving Hatfield around 0515-0530. That will just get round the M25/23 before the pressure really builds up. </i>&quot; But unfortunately will probably cost near &pound;100.

<u>Another</u> reason you may want to spend the night near LGW . . . . .

I agree with janisj. Anything else is swimming against the current.

If you haven't booked your tickets yet you could fly out of Heathrow. It's a lot closer.

Thanks to everyone, I have decided to book a room near Gatwick the night before.