Joanel

We need to catch a 10:30 AM flight from heathrow. They told us to arrive 3 hours ahead. Which is 7:30 AM. If we are staying near victoria station (Will take a taxi or limo service)when should we request to be picked up? This is on a monday morning. Traffic???

PalenqueBob

You will be guaaranteeably better off by cabbing to Paddington station and hopping the Heathrow Express which takes just 20 mins to go right to your terminal. Yet the train is expensive - i say guaranteeably because cabs can be ensnarled in London's notorious traffic so going by road depart extra earlier - and around 6am i think the roads will be rather deserted.

xyz123

Listen...

I know this is an unpopular way but even going to Paddington via taxi can get you into London traffic.

Wald downstairs to the district line platform...take the district line 2 or 3 stops, I forget which, to South Kensington, take the lift downstairs and catch the Picadilly line...in exactly 50 minutes you will be there...catching a train at 6 AM will get you there in plenty of time and indeed it will take 50 minutes and save you a fortune...but then again a car service is probably good too if you have 4 people sharing a cab or car service...personally I take the tube in this situation but then again I can handle my baggage.

Passepartout

I'd ride to Hammersmith, where the change to the Piccadilly is a walk across the platform to the other track.

Taking a cab to Paddington for the Heathrow Express may or may not get you to your terminal faster than the Tube.

janisj

At 6:30 a.m. traffic is basically a non-issue. Especially heading out of town. Rush hour starts a lot later in London than in most parts of the US.

So if you want a car service, book one (I wouldn't use a taxi - too expensive)

Joanel

For various personal reasons. We CAN NOT do the train or underground. So is 6:30 AM early enough to leave London?

PatrickLondon

I'd consult the service you plan to use. Tell the time you've got to be at the airport and where you're leaving from: they should know about traffic conditions, they do it every day.

janisj

I agree w/ Patrick. Whenever I book a car service from London - I tell them what time I want to be somewhere, and they tell me what time they will pick me up.

Tyr23

We left from LHR yesterday and I told my husband that we had to be there three hours early after reports I had read in this forum.

I have to say that three hours was WAY too early. Including taking the HEX from Paddington, we were through check-in and security in 45 minutes for a 5pm flight. Our travel companion enjoyed the same speed earlier in the day.

My experience was that I needed a minimum of two hours to get through security leaving from Sea-Tac earlier in the week, but significantly less leaving from LHR.

Weadles

At that hour, you probably won't hit much traffic going to Heathrow. It usually takes us about 40 minutes or so leaving early in the morning for flights back to the U.S. We've used Ray Skinner of London-Transfers.com many times, and have always been very happy with him- he's a former BA exec who now runs his own tranfers company, and is a lot of fun, and always reliable.

flanneruk

Who's this "they"?

It took me 10 mins to check in for a 1050 flight to the US from LHR the other day and 15 mins to go through security. I was in the airline lounge 45 mins after leaving Paddington. And I always travel cattle class.