Grandot

We are planning to take a car service from Heathrow to Gatwick for our flight to Pisa. Has anyone heard of the company Skyport?

Any info would be appreciated. Thanks.
Grandot

Steve_James

Grandot - How many of you are there?

Car will be no quicker than bus on this route - and usually more expensive.

Buses leave every few minutes during the day.
http://www.nationalexpress.com/

Journey time: 75 mins - depending on traffic.

Stve

alanRow

How long do you have to make the transfer and which terminals are involved - 4 hours is the normal minimum with 5 to give some breathing space for "things going wrong"

janisj

Yes - how many are you. Unless it is more than 4 or 5, the coach will be cheaper.

PamSF

agree with the coach idea. It was quite comfortable. Our trip took three hours because of some horrific traffic. That being said, you'd be in the same traffic in a car.

Johnmango

Sorry to jump in ...

I too need to go from Heathrow to Gatwick and have exactly 5 hours.

Since I do not know how long it takes to go through Customs and retrieve my luggage, I guess I should just walk up to the National Express bus counter to buy the fare for the next bus, rather than booking in advance and risk not making the bus because of delay at the Customs?

Or are the buses so busy that we should book in advance and hope that we can go through Customs in an hour or so?

Steve_James

John - Departures are very frequent throughout the day (- several per hour).

You really don't need to book in advance. I've never been on a full one yet ...

Steve

alanRow

It's rare, if ever, that you will be delayed by customs - it's all the other elements like immigration that takes the time.

Johnmango

Sorry, by Customs I meant Immigration also.

I missed another thread that talked about the same thing. The advices given on that thread is to buy the tickets on-line/in advance. That way, if you come out early from immigration/customs you can always take an earlier bus (if space is available). But that way, you may avoid a long line up to buy tickets because you already have them.

Since my plane arrives in Heathrow at 12noon, and my next flight to Rome leaves gatwick at 5pm, my plan would be to order the tickets in advance for, the bus that leaves at 1:30pm (that gives me 1.5 hr to clear immigration/customs and pick up luggage). That still gives me 3.5 hours to get to Gatwick Airport.

Thanks for all your help.

alanRow

I'd work backwards from your flight to work out what's the latest you can leave Heathrow and still get checked in in time - then rather than book the last possible coach, I'd book the one - or two - before it to give you some leeway. So if your flight is delayed and you have problems with immigration / luggage etc you won't miss your booked coach.

The coach to Gatwick starts from T123 then goes to T4 before going to Gatwick North Terminal then Gatwick South Terminal so if you are going from T4 click on the "airport" tab on the National Express website and select T4.

Johnmango

Good tips, alanRow ... I had not considered the terminals of arrival/departure.

Arriving from Edmonton, Canada T3 of Heathrow and departing from South Terminal.

I found a couple of good sites to check for terminal information on Heathrow and Gatwick:

http://www.heathrow-airport-guide.co.uk/terminals.html

http://www.gatwick-airport-guide.co.uk/terminals.html

PalenQ

I can attest to the possibility of there being terrible backups on the motorway between the two.

For ten years i drove vans between the two airports and snarls were not unusual so leave as much time as possible so when you're stuck in traffic you don't start having an anxiety attack.

Too bad helicoptors have long since stopped flying i guess.

Grandot

There are two of us traveling. Our flight arrives at Heathrow at 2:50 p.m. and our flight from Gatwick to Pisa leaves at 6:50. That gives us four hours. I was okay with it until I read all the posts advising a five hour span, but we didn't have a choice.
It seems as if we would save SOME time by booking a car in advance because we wouldn't have to stop at Terminal 4.

Thank you all for your input. We may very well end up going by bus.

janisj

Grandot: Are the flights on one booking or two? If one, and you miss your connection, they will put you on the next available flight out of LGW. Do you know, is there a later Pisa flight? But if they are two separate bookings - you need to hurry.

You might make a little better time w/ a car service since it would be "door to door" w/o having to hit the other terminal. But if you are on a single booking - I'd just take the coach.

Grandot

We are on a single booking, but our flight is the last one that day for Pisa.

flanneruk

Grandot: you really need to rethink your plans now. Using a hire car isn't going to help you materially, and might do no more than throw good money after bad.

You need to be in the checkin queue at Gatwick South at least 90 minutes before takeoff: call that 1710. If you're flying from Gatwick South, you're on a low cost flight, with a firm time for checkin closure (a time only you know), and slow-moving checkin lines.

No-one can predict when you'll collect your baggage at T3, but the likelihood is you'll exit Customs between 1550 and 1615. Even with a car, you need a further 10 mins to find the driver, get to the car park, wait while he pays to get out then gets stuck in the T3 car park exit queue.

By 1630, traffic out to the M4 will be backing up, and it'll take between 75 and 100 mins to get to Gatwick South (though at other times of the day, it'll be less and from T4 to Gatwick North can get to as little as 45 mins). By which time the flight will have closed, you'll have lost your money on the flight, you'll have whacked out for the car and you'll have to book both the next flight to Pisa and the overnight hotel in London at a much higher rate.

You might be lucky and get your bags faster, or the traffic might not be that bad. But it's unlikely.

Johnmango, who's arriving at T3 at a time that means his bus will be leaving before traffic starts bulding up and has an extra hour to play with, is likely to be OK

alanRow

Using a hire car is not a very good option as you don't know how long it's going to take to actually get the car - many aren't on-site so by the time you get the car you could have been half way to Gatwick by coach

As I've suggested before work BACKWARDS from the time checkin closes to find out the latest you can leave Heathrow - the National Express times are fairly reliable

janisj

Grandot - Did a travel agent book this for you or did you do it yourself? If a TA, have her fix it -- w/o costing you a change fee.

Grandot

Thank you all for all the information. Janisi, we booked this on our own, but it is one ticket. American Airlines and British Airways both say it is legal and enough time. At the time we made the reservations, we didn't realize that most of you recommend five hours for a transfer, but that wasn't an option. Our flight is the last one to Pisa for the day, so if we miss it, we will either have to stay in London until morning or ???
The one positive thing is that we will be able to check in online 24 hours before our flight so we don't need to be at Gatwick 90 minutes before the flight.
We are still deciding which way to get to Gatwick, but will probably not take the private car.
It's really funny, we are experienced and fairly knowledgeable travelers and have still gotten ourselves into a possible problem.
Wish us luck. And thanks again.

flanneruk

Grandot:

Just to ease your mind slightly, ignore a lot of what I've written.

I confused the information you've given with some of what johnmango said. He specified Gatwick South - which means he's using EastJet or Thomsonfly - and I somehow thought you were using Gatwick South too.

But you're using BA, so things are slightly different. There's no savage checkin closure, you'll have checked in online and therefore just need to go to the Gatwick baggage drop, you'll save 10 mins on the bus (or whatever) journey - and if after all that you miss your plane, BA or AA are required to get you on the next flight (though under similar circumstances, BA were very clear with me that that would be AA's responsibility because it would have been AA, not BA, who'd failed to get you to Heathrow in time. Remember, for all this "partnership" hypocrisy, BA loathe AA, who are actually their single biggest competitor).

So, even using a bus, you're in with a chance. And I promise to read questins more carefully in future.