Travel between London and Naples
 

My husband and I are going back to Positano in September. The Flights from USA to Naples are very expensive, and we can fly from Austin, TX to London for a great price. But then we are having trouble getting on to Naples. The connections in London to Italy are at Gatwick Airport, which is about 45 miles away from Heathrow. And there's about 4 hours between flights. My concern is will we have enough time to go thru customs, use an Uber or taxi to Gatwick, and have enough time to catch the connection with out worrying that we can't make it. We've considered spending the night in London and catching a flight the next day, but not sure about that either. I guess what I need is advise and or suggestions on a better way to get to Naples with out worry. We are seniors, and physically able, but don't want too much stress. Hope this makes sense.
Thanks,
Barb

Many people do the LHR / LGW every day. But I would never (ever) try a 4 hour connection. If everything works like clockwork the connection would be doable. But seldom does everything mesh You land on time, there is a gate available, immigration lines are short, your luggage comes out first, there is no traffic on the M25, security at LGW is empty . . .

So You need to stay the night - either in central London or at LGW. Don't take a taxi (and definitely don't take uber) - there is a direct coach between the two airports and if you stay in central London a pre-booked car service would be cheaper than either a black cab. (that 'cheap' LHR fare is getting more expensive by the minute)

I see on skyscanner.com there are flights to Naples from LHR but they all include a stop or change on the way, not ideal. So the choices may be to take 2 flights, or a later flight from any of the other London airports (Gatwick would be easiest as there are buses), spend the night as you say which could be fun, or fly into Rome FCO and take a train to Naples which may get you there earlier than any of the flight options. The last option might be to watch the fares direct to Naples and buy those if the price drops or you get used to the idea of the higher price vs all the bother. It may ultimately be worth it.

Check out Condor Airlines. Nonstops from Austin to Frankfurt, connecting on Lufthansa to Naples (albeit with a 5 1/2 hour layover in Frankfurt).

If you choose to stay at Gatwick and take an early morning flight we always stay at the Premier Inn which is located at the North Terminal.

On skyscanner there seem quite a few cheap flights in September, but you have to change planes twice.

An American Airlines agent once told me that four hours was the "approved" time between LHR and LGW. I have done it in much less, but it was late morning with no hold ups on the M25.

If I am overnighting at Gatwick I stay in a B&B with free pick-up and drop-off - B&B near Gatwick | Free Parking | Springwood Guest House - several eating places in walking distance, including an atmospheric (very) old pub.

Might be one occasion on which booking separate tickets makes sense - though you need to be aware of the risks of doing so.

You could, for example, fly Norwegian from Austin to Gatwick then BA / easyJet from Gatwick to Naples later the same day

A very good point as long as the risks, as mentioned, are taken into account. I did that very thing on my last trip, found a separately booked flight to my final destination was less expensive. I'll also say that I reduced the risk to almost zero by staying several days each direction in the connecting city, something I wanted to do and you may not have time for. I would suggest, however, that you consider it and even think about a place you'd LIKE to visit on the way, rather than one you MUST visit to accomplish your objective, the cheaper fare. For instance, have you priced flights into Rome? It's very easy to go on to Naples by train. But a day or 2 somewhere else may be an attractive way to accomplish it and I found it was also useful for getting over jetlag which for me lasts several days.

>>Might be one occasion on which booking separate tickets makes sense - though you need to be aware of the risks of doing so.<<

I was assuming the OP was talking about separate bookings . . .

This is a route where there is a huge difference in price, as much as 50% more, if you choose departure date and return dates on certain days of the week.
Which days are you looking at? How much flexibility do you have with the departure and return dates as well as whether you are also wanting to come back from NAP or FCO.
If you are doing a round trip to NAP from AUS, your AUS departure would be early depending on the airlines and so is your return from NAP,. Does this add to your stress? If you are starting from Positano for your return trip, how are you getting to the NAP if your departure is early?

If you do AUS-FCO-AUS, you would have more choices of flights, but you need to do FCO to the Rome train station by frequent express train, taxi, or bus, to catch a fast train to Napoli.
Unlike the Heathrow to Gatwick connection where missing this connection comes with a cost penalty, the Rome to Napoli train, while more expensive when purchased at the last minutes, it still not prohibitive compared to the last minutes airfares.

That's the solution I'd choose. The most elegant of the possible solutions, I think, no risk and no days lost.

Thank you all so much for all the answers. Some great ideas for sure. One thing I neglected to say was we can also fly out of San Antonio, which is how we’ve done these trips in the past. But the flights from Austin seem cheaper and they now have the straight flights to London, so we thought that might be better. We will have to continue to research our options. And your knowledgeable responses are very helpful. ������

If you add in the cost of a hotel, the flights from London to Naples and return, and the time spent doing all that without being anywhere you want to be, how much have you actually saved? Fly to Rome. So much easier if anything goes amiss.

I'm not in Texas, but we couldn't figure out how to get to Naples by plane efficiently either, so also ended up opting for a non-stop flight to Rome and then we'll catch a train to Naples.

Definitely choose to fly to Rome if possible and it works with your budget. Train to Naples is just 70 minutes.

Thanks guys, great responses. Three responses in a row suggesting fliyng into Rome. I think that sounds like our best option. My husband found some enexpensive flights from Austin into Rome, but it’s thru a travel site called “Just Fly”. We’ve never booked thru one of these, always directly with airlines. There are lots of them, I.e., One travel, Kayak, etc. My question now, is there any down side to booking thru these travel sites? The flights are actually on reputable airlines, just not sure about the travel sites. Hope this question isn’t stupid.
All your answers have been great. Thanks.
Barb

I always prefer to book direct with the airlines as then you only have one company to deal with if something goes. wrong. If you can't get the same price from the airline these are probably consolidator tickets, which could come with more restrictions. I have occasionally bought from onetravel but do not recognize the company you mention.

See: https://www.airfarewatchdog.com/blog...ator-airfares/

I suggest using matrix.itasoftware to see routes from Austin to Naples, rather than trying to piece together the individual legs yourself. Everyone wants to minimize the number of transfers but this is a case where two stops could be better than one. For instance, itasoftware shows Lufthansa/United combos with two stops of about two hours each, still faster than the BA you are looking at and without the hassle of changing Heathrow-to-Gatwick and going through immigration to make that switch. A tiny bit cheaper, too.
If you do stick to London, National Express runs a bus between the two airports on the hour, taking about 90 minutes and without the transfers of municipal rapid transit.
PS: Itasoftware is a Google service for airlines and doesn't sell tickets, but it has good coverage of alternatives. For European budget airlines, skyscanner.com is more complete.

Barb, I also tend to look at aggregators when I"m trying to figure out what flights are available, but when it comes to booking I, like Thursdaysd, go directly to the airline's site. The cost should be the same and, if anything goes wrong, it's just safer and easier having a direct booking.

Thanks again everyone. You’ve all been great.