Meme

Dear Fellow Travelers. Have my itinerary and places to stay. Thanks for the tips from you folks here for that. One week Cornwall, two bases Penzance area and Fowey. That suits our plans for seeing art, nature, walking, you name it in Cornwall.

I don't feel confident that I know what I am doing when our Delta flight lands at 6:25 a.m. on the 5th of May in Heathrow while I am jet lagged. Our hope is to be able to make it to a 10:06 a.m. train from Paddington to Cornwall (1st GWR)

Plan was Heathrow Ex to Paddington (although coach to Reading was suggested.) Now I am reading about Heathrow Connect to Paddington and others suggesting JustAirports service. We have chosen Paddington for our departure for a number of reason I won't go over here. What is the difference?

What will be the easiest connections to make within the 3.5 hours we have between plane landing and train taking off? Can it be done!

We will have two wheeled carry-on rollaboards and day packs each. We are fit enough but still don't want to add time and effort if we can make a smooth transition possible.
Cost an issue but not a deal breaker.


Also I never head back on which car rental company had one way from Plymouth-Penzance. I have searched but have not found one way rentals online.

Thanks for indulging my insecurities.


Meme
Massachusetts

ParisAmsterdam

It's been too many years since I last went through Heathrow to be able to comment.

For the car rental, phone the toll free number for
http://autoeurope.com and see what they can advise.

ron

Yes, your connection at Paddington can reasonably be done.

In Oct 09, I had a plane scheduled to arrive at 06:25 and I had booked a FGW train out of Paddington for 09:30. My plane actually reached the gate at 07:15, I got through passport control and baggage collection very quickly, just barely caught the 07:56 Heathrow Connect arrived at Paddington at 08:26, giving me lots of time to collect my tickets from the machine, buy my Senior Railcard and some food at the Sainsbury mini-mart.

Obviously, the Heathrow Express is an option if your arrival and passge through Heathrow isn't that smooth.

flanneruk

" I have searched but have not found one way rentals online. "

Your only problem with hiring a car one way is that there aren't many (if any) hire companies - or much of anything else - in Penzance. Search for them (remembering to do so in English, rather than American). Then, after checking they've got a Plymouth office, contact them, telling them you want to collect at Plymouth.

"What will be the easiest connections to make within the 3.5 hours we have between plane landing and train taking off?"

If you've decided you want to go via Paddington, then if you've got time when you actually get to the railway ticket office, buy a Heathrow Connect ticket (check online for schedules), which is cheaper but slower and less frequent. Otherwise buy an Express ticket. It's cheaper, slightly messier and at rush hours the elapsed time is a tad less reliable if you go by bus to Reading - but assume for the moment that's a side issue

Getting from a plane to the inside of a westbound train at Paddington in 3.5 hours ought to be such a doddle you'll wonder why you didn't go the really cheap way and get the tube (as I do when being skinflintish: about 70 mins).

But if (sorry: when) your exit from baggage reclaim is delayed by late arrival, Heathrow buggeration or being stuck behind the wrong person at immigration, the fastest way to Paddington is almost always the Heathrow Express. Hiring a taxi off the rank is almost certainly a useless emergency plan - but, depending on timetables, getting the bus to Reading MIGHT bale you out. At rush hours, road journey times from Heathrow to Reading are MORE predictable than to Paddington.

So, if you're booked on a specific train, come armed with printouts of:
- your train's departure from both Paddington and Reading
- HEX and HEC timetables from your terminal
- bus timetables to Reading from your terminal

Meme

Thanks for the continued advice. Autoeurope gave us quote on one way rental, Penzance to Plymouth which we are considering. Our first stay is St. Ives and secondly Fowey. We originally thought to rent car in/out Truro and drive to St.Ives on arrival and then back to Truro from Fowey for departure.
So any opinion on Penz/Plym rental verses in/out Truro. Just how much driving would we be saving, petrol vs. train time.

Also contacted FGW rail by email with questions. We hope to buy Advance train ticket since we have hours between plane landng and getting to train. However, response from FGW rail said that I cannot detrain at Truro for example, if I buy ticket for Penzance???? Doesn't make sense to me but do they check tickets upon disembarking? If true then I need to decide about car before purchasing a train ticket. Oh well.

You have all been so helpful.

Thanks again,
Meme

flanneruk

"response from FGW rail said that I cannot detrain at Truro for example, if I buy ticket for Penzance???? Doesn't make sense to me"

Why doesn't this make sense?

You've got a discount based on your taking the 1103 train. So obviously that's the train you've got to take.

If you get off that train at Truro and then get on another, you're breaking your contract. You probably won't get checked getting off - but you obviously will get checked trying to get onto a train you've not got a ticket for. And you'll be charged the full fare.

Why is that hard to understand? You wouldn't dream of admitting you can't make sense of airlines' restrictions. So why are you incapable of understanding that trains are in business to make money too?

Meme

Dear Flanneruk:

Really sorry if it seemed I was trying to do something to break the contract I would be making with the rail. I have no intention of trying to get on another train other than the one I booked, so it wasn't clear to me why I was told I could not hop off a few stops earlier if that made sense to me at the time. But if is required ride all the way to the end of the line, then that's that.

And, actually I easily would admit I can't make sense of airline restrictions. I just do the best I can.

Some days things make more sense than others.

Meme

ron

Meme, some stations (and as of 18 months ago I don't remember Truro being one of them) have barriers to enter and leave the platforms, requiring the insertion of a ticket to open the barriers. Presumably, if the ticket was for a different destination, the barrier wouldn't open and you would have to explain to a member of staff what "crime" you were trying to commit.

I think it is unlikely to be a problem getting off before Penzance. But a fairly cheap way to avoid the problem would be to buy your cheap advance ticket to Truro plus an open off peak ticket (£5.70) from Truro to Penzance - which you could possibly get a refund for if you don't use.

Meme

Thank you, Ron, for explaining how the tickets may be used. Now I get it, and why it could be a problem not getting off at the station on the ticket. I will take your advice.

Good travels,
Meme