Transfer Heathrow to Gatwick?
 

Can anyone recommend a car service that can pick us up at Heathrow and take us to Gatwick? Also, we are scheduled to arrive Heathrow at 10:35am and depart Gatwick at 3:25pm. I'm assuming this is plenty of time for the transfer. How long to get out of Heathrow? (This is a Sunday in September). Thx!

There is a regular express coach between the two airports. Five hours is fine to just take the coach/

If you do want a car service -- justairports.com will do it for £60-£70 cash price and about £10 more for credit card

. . . but assuming this is two different bookings, if your inbound flight is delayed you will be totally out of luck no matter the mode of transport.

Agree with janisj. I have done the transfer by National Express coach and see no need for a car. https://book.nationalexpress.com/coach/#/choose-journey No one can predict how long it will take for you to clear immigration and collect any checked bags, but it will probably be quicker than arriving three hours earlier. American Airlines once told me to allow four hours for the transfer but I have done it in considerably less.

IIRC, if there are two or more in your party, you might as well book the car service to LGW as it would be much more comfortable than a coach.

We just went entered the UK through LHR a couple of times and used the e-gates both times. It worked a treat and was much, much, much quicker than waiting in line for an agent -- including the priority line. We got to the baggage claim before they even had assigned the carousel number. If everything is running roughly on time you should have more than enough time for the transfer.

Bit of an exaggeration. I have found the National Express coaches plenty comfortable.

I am admittedly biased against buses... detest and avoid them at pretty much all costs.

The National Express coaches are more comfortable than buses, they have wifi,aircon and sufficiently comfortable seats, more suitable for longer journeys, although it's only one hour 20mins from LHR to LGW (unless there is traffic). I'd go with National Express for the airport transfer.

Yeah it's fine. Also power points (plugs) in the seats so you can recharge for the next flight. Normal people on it too. No need to make awkward conversation with a taxi driver or deal with an overly perfumed car. And that whole holding the sign thing - I'd rather just blow right by all that nonsense. And the polite but badgering phone calls if i'm "taking too long" to get through the deplaning, collecting bag, border control, etc, etc. Do i have the right change to tip? Do i sit in the back like he's driving miss daisy? Much rather take a public transport. Opposite of you, I avoid taxis whenever I can.

Downsides: you have to wait but LHR to LGW is about every 20 minutes on average I believe. I believe that you also need to buy your ticket at the heathrow ticket centre rather than on the bus. A pain when you just went to get to the stop to avoid missing it. National Express is in the dark ages when it comes to customer experience (ticket buying, information availability for basics like a schedule, etc) but overall it's not at all unpleasant. kind of like a business class domestic flight.

-- There is a difference between a coach and a bus.

-- What buses have you ridden?

The schedules are online. You can buy tickets online, although I would not do it in this case. You buy tickets at LHR at the same place where you board the coach.

i didn't say the schedules weren't available online but the digital experience is not good. hard to find simple info like scheduling info and bad experience.

LHR isn't one place. But the point is that you need to get to the ticket desk rather than head straight to the bus stop which is well sign posted. If you're boarding at LHR Central Bus Station, this is less of an issue as it's right where you wait - not so with T4 and T5. But wherever you board, the customer service of the live agents is poor and the automated ticketing machines are bad too. It's just human nature that once you're ready to go, you don't want to be delayed buying tickets if you're in danger of missing your bus. It's not my job to design the customer experience but all I can say is that they can do much better. No problem. Nothing's perfect. I gave many positives along with my constructive criticism.

Thank you for the input, folks.

Off topic bickering deleted

Thanks, all, for the input. I get sick on buses if I have to ride for more than an hour. It looks like this trip could feasibly be an hour and 20mts. I will try to take some dramamine 30 mts before we land. But I've decided we should go ahead and take the National Express, not knowing if we will arrive late or not. Thanks again!