Our flight is due to arrive in Heathrow at 10:30am. I need to book a ticket from Paddington to Penzance that day. We plan to travel from Heathrow on the Heathrow express and our flight JFK to London is direct so the major risk of delay is that it leaves late. This flight has a flight history of 68% on-time with an average delay of 33 minutes when late. I do not know how long it takes to get from the arrival terminal to the Heathrow Express. I found some direct trains to Penzance so a train about 2:00 pm will still get us to Penzance at a decent hour. Would a 2:00pm train be cutting it too fine?

First, you actually need to consider the time it is going to take you to <B>get from the plane</B> at Heathrow to Immigration, much less the time it could take to get to the HEX. Believe me, it can be a troop.

Are you

checking luggage?

Will you have

the fast lane through Immigration? among other considerations, not to mention a possible late arrival.

Even with all of that I would HOPE a 2PM from Paddington could be managed.

Good points Dukey. Yes, we will have checked luggage. In our trips before the delay through immigration was not long, but perhaps things take longer now.

2 pm sounds safe - what kind of train ticket will you have -changeable or not? If fully flexible then no problem - HEX serves Terminal 4 directly IME -1, 2, 3 a unified station a short walk.
5 not sure.

Please do not mistake my post. I am not saying that you will BE "delayed" in any way whatsoever through Immigration. I was simply attempting to point out what I think might be delaying factors.

I apologize for any distorted meanings and hope it all works out for you and that you have a wonderful trip.

In case you do not know the HEX often offers 2 for 1 tickets on its official web site.

You might consider a direct coach from LHR to Penzance, about £40, saves trip into London: http://www.nationalexpress.com/home.aspx

No apology necessary Dukey. I have always valued your input which always has been both thoughtful and useful. We share the same tastes is many things. I have yet to buy our train tickets but it could be a good idea to consider the flex option even though it does cost more.

At that time of day, your ticket from Paddington to Penzance will be at the off-peak rate, which www.nationalrail.co.uk says can be used on most other trains on that route. The only problem would be if you wanted to reserve a seat.

The choice - at least on weekdays - ISN'T between "fully flex" and committing to a specific train.

The typical Advance fare (which is valid ONLY on a specific train) is probably about £25-£40. Miss it, and you have to buy a new ticket, which will be at least £63, the offpeak fare on the next train (at 1506)

Turn up on the day for the 1406 train and the fare's £63. That fare ("Offpeak") will let you get the 1506. If you arrive only in time for the 1606, the fare's £84, and on the 1703 the lowest fare's £138, while on the 1803 it's £84. On the 1903, it's £63.

However, if you decide to pre-buy the £63 fare and arrive too late for the 1506, you can upgrade to the higher fares by merely paying the difference BEFORE you get on board the train. Problem with that is that there may be queues at the manned ticket desks.

On Sats and Suns, offpeak fares operate all day.

The safest thing, if you're unsure about catching the 1406, is not to pre-buy a ticket at all (except possibly for the HEX, which may be offering deals). On arrival at Pad, buy an offpeak from a machine. This typically takes about a minute: I've not encountered a queue for machines at Pad in a decade, and there's dozens of them about the place.

PalQ, as sadly often, is giving duff information about trains: he's so preoccupied with his constant whines about our railway system (trains must be WONDERFUL in Detroit) and our electoral system (the British vote for civilised, grownup, politicians - with social and immigration policies far more liberal than protectionist right-wingers like Obama - that he doesn't like. The people of Michigan, of course, vote for a paragon of mature, sane political wisdom) that PalQ can't be arsed checking the information he's giving.

The routing of the HEX is Terminal 5-Terms 2/3 - Paddington. 21 mins from T5, 15 from T2/3. From T4, you take a Heathrow Connect to T2/3, where there's a painless, usually same-platform, change to a HEX. T4-Pad: 27 mins.

Both operate every 15 mins. So allowing 8 mins waiting time at Heathrow, 7 mins walking from baggage claim (remember: we don't impose Customs on arriving passengers), and 2 from the HEX to a Pad machine, the likely average time from baggage to a Pad machine is:

From T4: 44 mins
From T5: 38 mins
From T2/3: 32 mins.

Thank you flanneruk, the detail in your advice is very helpful. We arrive on a weekday so we will take that into consideration. I wish that our own rail system was anywhere near as pleasant as yours. The last time I rode the train in the UK it was from London to Salisbury and we bought our ticket through Mega Train which was a fraction of standard price while on the same train we would have taken otherwise. However,I do not see a Mega Train option to Penzance.

How about direct buses Heathrow to Penzance area?

http://www.checkmybus.com/london-hea...rport/penzance

I checked the direct buses but under these particular circumstances, I prefer the train. True, that I have to get to Paddington and the overall time might be about the same after transfers are considered but the thought of 9-10 hours on a bus right after 7 hours on a plane is just not attractive. The train is 5.5 hours and we can get up and walk around which will be welcome after the flight and that is difficult on a bus.

"...direct buses Heathrow to Penzance..."

Or use the National Express link up thread.

Never mind then.

Me too about buses vs trains!

I much prefer trains to buses in general. But if there's an overriding concern that could make a coach an attractive alternative, I could be persuaded.

Another option is the bus to Reading station where you can catch the train to Penzance. Saves trekking into London and back out.

http://www.heathrow.com/transport-an..._air-bus-links

thursdaysd - is there an advantage in taking the bus to Reading rather than HEX to Paddington?