patty_1971

I need to get from Gatwick to Heathrow. I land in Gatwick at 2:10 (and have to retreive my bags!) and I fly back to the states from Heathrow at 6pm. What is the fastest way to go? Is the bus fast? Do I have enough time to make my connecting flight out of Heathrow?

jamikins

My guess would be to take the Gatwick Express to Victoria station and then take the tube to Heathrow...

cindyn

Patty-- I just did that very connection. You're probably pushing it close between baggage pickup, transfer time, and Heathrow check-in.

Speedlink Speedlink: + 44 (0) 20 8668 7261
https://www.britishairways.com/trave...irport.shtml#4

cindyn

Patty-- I just did that exact connection recently. You're probably pushing it close between baggage pickup, transfer time, and Heathrow check-in.

Speedlink (and Jetlink?) run between the 2 airports. There are kiosks/signs inside and outside the Gatwick terminal. Depending on road traffic, it takes 60-90 min. I think I showed them student ID and paid 11 pounds one-way (reg. 16 pounds). Good luck!

http://www.baa.co.uk/main/airports/gatwick/getting_here_frame.html
http://www.londontoolkit.com/travel/...ttransfers.htm

cindyn

I did look into other options. If you do the trains-- it might take longer & cost more:
- Gatwick Express to Victoria (30 min, 11 pounds).

A) Then (notoriously slow) Circle Line to Paddington (20-30 min). Then Heathrow Express (15 min, 15 pounds).

B) Or Circle Line to Gloucester Rd (10-15 min). Then Piccadilly Line to Heathrow (35-60 min, ~4 pounds).

nkh

The bus is definitely a better option than doing the Gatwick express-tube (especially with luggage!). It is a fairly reasonable price as the previous poster mentioned, goes at regular intervals and is fairly fast. You arent travelling at peak time (or should just be at the start of rush hour hopefully!) so you SHOULD be OK if you dont have flight delays etc.

Your main problem may well be what times buses leave compared to when you land and get through, since that could add 30 minutes wait at Gatwick for the bus. Jetlink buses appear to depart each hour +20 and +50 minutes and journey is quoted as 1h10min. Therefore 4pm is the earliest you could expect to arrive at Heathrow, probably 4:30 is more realistic (catching the 2:50 or 3:20 bus).

Definitely purchase your ticket in advance if you can - although I dont know if you are limited to a specific bus and how flight delays affect your booking if you do this. Contact Jetlink or Speedlink for more info on this.

ira

Hi Patty,
Are you changing airlines? Your carrier might have a connecting shuttle. Haave you asked them?

mclaurie

Patty I also recently did the same trip. It never occured to me to go all the way into and out of London on the train. Would be curious to hear what the experts have to say about that. Sure doesn't sound like too much fun with luggage. The bus is what most would take & it is not fast, particularly if traffic is heavy. The saving grace for us was we were going on the same airline (BA) so we already had our boarding passes for the Heathrow to US leg before we got to Heathrow. All we had to do was check our luggage which is a much shorter line & go through customs. If you're going on the same airline, I don't think they'd sell you the ticket if you thought you couldn't make the connection. If you're changing airlines, I'd contact your Heathrow to US carrier & find out if you can get your boarding pass at your first airport. I'd also try checking the schedule at the site you were given (I think the buses run every half hour). If it looks like you'll have to wait too long, maybe you'd be better off arranging for a car service ahead of time.

mclaurie

BTW to Ira's point, BA does not provide transport between the 2 airports, I asked. Before 9/11 you could have checked your bags through to your final destination if you were staying on the same airline,so at least that was one less worry, but not now.