We are scheduled to arrive at Stansted from JFK at 7:00 a.m. We need to get to Gatwick for our next flight. I know that National Express has coach service between the airports. When I looked at booking on-line, I had to ticket for a specific time. Since I don't know how long it will take to get baggage and clear customs at Stansted, I hesitate to book a specific time, unless the ticket is also good for another time. Does anyone know? Would we be OK just to wait until we get to Stansted for our tickets? Thanks for any help!

You have many more options, and not all of them lock you into a timeslot.

http://www.airwise.com/airports/europe/STN/

How long do you have between flights??

Yes, you can wait until you get to Stansted to buy your coach ticket. However, the National Express site says that if you book your ticket in advance, they will try to get you on a later coach, but are under no obligation to do so. They recommend booking a slightly later coach. Then if you arrive in time to catch an earlier one and seats are available, you will be given a seat.

Here's a link to another site that describes all your options for transferring from Stansted to Gatwick: http://tinyurl.com/lbrha.

The most important thing is to allow six hours between your scheduled arrival at Stansted and your scheduled departure from Gatwick. And if you're pressed for time and don't want to be subject to traffic delays, then pay the extra price for the train-tube-train route described in the link above.

Thanks Wally, janisj and TimS for your prompt and helpful responses. I should have mentioned--our flight from Gatwick is not until the next day, so getting there quickly is not a problem. I think we will just wait and buy our National Express coach tickets at Sansted.

If you're going to spend the night, and as long as your flight out isn't in the early hours of the morning - why not spend the night in London and take the train out to Gatwick?

roamer: What time is your flight out of LGW? (getting the important details up front really helps BTW)

If the flight is after about 8:30 or 9:00 a.m. you can very easily stay the night in central London and not have to travel straight to LGW from Stansted. A hotel near Victoria Station would be walking distance to the Gatwick Express train and a mere 30 minutes from the airport.

Arriving at 7:00 a.m. I wouldn't travel all the way to Gatwick just to kill 1+ day. You can take a National Express coach to Victoria coach station - or - a train from Stansted to Liverpool Street station and the tube (Circle Line w/ no changes) to Victoria.

If the flight out is VERY early in the a.m., I'd still go to Victoria, leave my luggage and explore London, before catching the train to an airport hotel that night.

Thanks again you lovely folks for all the helpful information. You are right, janisj, I should get all the details up front! Our flight from LGW is 8:15 am and considering how early we need to check in (EasyJet), we thought it best not to try to get there from central London, so we've booked a BandB in Horley that has transportation to the airport. We'll save London for a longer stay when we can really enjoy! This time we are on our way to Italy for 2 months--can't wait!