twina49

I'll be in Scotland in August, leaving on the 16th out of Glasgow to fly back home. Good friends from the London area were originally going to visit us while we were there, but she's pregnant and due in September, so a trip for her is not in the cards. I've been checking flights from Glasgow to London, and have been getting $100 (RyanAir) to $150 (Easyjet) to leave Friday, August 15 before noon and fly back on Saturday morning. I know it's only the one night, but I'd get a chance to meet my friend's husband, stay at her house (she lives in Kent), and have dinner with them. It would probably only be me visiting, as my sister and brother-in-law will probably be content staying at the B&B we've reserved.

Obviously, only I can decide if it's worth the quick trip, but my question would be does anyone see a complication flying back to Glasgow the morning of August 16th for a 3:30 p.m. flight to Philadelphia on US Air?

Kate

It's certainly doable, but remember to factor in the journey to Kent. How will you get there? Will your friends collect you? If you need to get a train, it might be worth looking at flights to London City Airport, which is on the east side of the City and so probably best placed for a trip out to Kent.

Edenlynn

I am an American living in Kent and have gone to Glasgow on Ryanair more than once.

You'll need to factor in a few things timewise. If you do the Ryanair flight, keep in mind that they fly out of Prestwick airport which is a 45 minute train ride from Glasgow. (It's a pleasant and scenic train journey but can be quite an unpleasant surprise if you hadn't considered that extra time!) Then you'll arrive at London Stansted, which is at minimum 30 minutes drive just to reach Kent, then of course on to your destination. (Where exactly in Kent would you be going?) If you're taking the train to your friend's, you'd have to take the Stansted Express into London, then tube or taxi to either Charing Cross, Waterloo East or London Bridge station to get a train into Kent.

If you take the Easyjet flight, they fly out of the main Glasgow airport (no long train ride to/from the airport) and you can fly directly to Gatwick. There are trains directly from Gatwick into Tonbridge (Kent) and from there a train to pretty much anywhere in Kent. If your friend is picking you up it will probably be an easier drive for them to get to Gatwick than to Stansted.

Of course all this is dependent on where your friends are located in Kent, and whether they'd be picking you up at the airport or whether you'd be going to them on the train. Kent is a BIG county!

twina49

On further contemplation, I decided that visiting my friends the first week I'm in Scotland is more feasible. We're staying in Dunblane, so I looked into flying out of Edinburgh to Gatwick. My friends live in Dartford, Kent, and since they are both teachers, I'm pretty sure they are on school break at that time. I'm going to call tomorrow and we'll work out the details. They've been wanting me to visit for awhile and it seems a shame not to take advantage of being so close, and then I'll go back for a longer visit in a couple of years.

This would also give me peace of mind that I'm not cutting it too close in getting back to Glasgow before we fly home.

Edenlynn

Ah, Dartford, I was just there on Saturday LOL. From Dunblane you could fly from either Edinburgh or Glasgow. I would not recommend the Ryanair flights out of Glasgow Prestwick. Dunblane is pretty much equidistant from GLA and EDI so you can choose your flights out of either airport based on time, price and convenience getting there from Dunblane.

Since your friends are in Dartford, if they are picking you up by car, it's probably marginally easier and quicker for them to get to Stansted. But if you are going by train, it would be more straightforward to fly to Gatwick, because you can take the train directly from Gatwick to London Bridge Station then change platforms for a train to Dartford.