I'm getting excited about our week long stay in Venice in April but am not looking forward to the long plane trip from the US West Coast and the travel transfers we'll have to make. <BR><BR>We are making sure our duffle bags are under the British Airways carry on limit of 13 pounds so at least we won't have to hassle with baggage check in. However, we only have 3 and a half hours between flights landing in Heathrow and leaving from Gatwick.<BR><BR>I looked up the cost and if my information is correct, looks like the bus between airports is 17 pounds each way! Seems a little excessive, but then our plane tickets were cheap, so I'm telling myself to rationalize.<BR><BR>I'm a little nervous. Who has made this transfer? Tell me it's a little easier than I think!

I've done the reverse, Giselle, (Venice, Gatwick, Heathrow) &amp; I can't say it's fun, particularly in rush hour traffic. What can help is if you can get your boarding passes for the Gatwick/Venice portion BEFORE arriving at Gatwick so you don't have to stand on line for that. Also, the shuttle buses leave every 20 mins or so &amp; since your connection is tight, I would seriously consider ordering a car service from Swiss Cottage (you must phone-no web site) or Ray Skinner's London Transfers www.London-transfer.com<BR>Can't remember the price for the bus, but 17 GBP sounds about right. If there are 2 or more of you, the car service may not be that much more &amp; you can leave as soon as you get out rather than possibly waiting nervously for the next bus.

Thank you, mclaurie. Interesting. I'm going to look into that. There are FOUR of us! (And on the way back, we transfer Venice-Gatwick-Heathrow)

Dont worry!<BR><BR>I have done the transfer several times -it is pretty straightforward, just make sure you allow enough time. The bus station is fairly well signposted, and timetables etc. are all available online. I have found the timetables arent bad for accuracy (although not 100% depending on traffic).<BR><BR>Remember that Heathrow and Gatwick are on opposite sides of London (or pretty close to it) around the M25 motorway, so it can be very busy. <BR><BR>I think just under 1 hour is the fastest my bus transfer ever happened - so allow more (at least 90 minutes for the trip itself - not including finding the bus and you terminal at the other end) so you arent rushed with your onward connection.<BR><BR>Have a great time!<BR><BR>

I guess it depends on your airline, however I have made this transfer very smoothly in both directions. There was no extra charge for the bus trip and if you trace the thread from Spring of 2001, you will find a detailed explanation of the procedure from Rex.Check it out!

Also did the Venice-Gatwick-Heathrow trip..and it was to my memory around 17 for each person..it is not any easy thing to do given the immensity of Heathrow and when we travelled from Gatwick it took close to 2 1/2 hours on a Friday afternoon. The driver said it was some of the worse traffic he had ever encountered doing the trip. I had considered renting a car and it runs somewhere in the neighborhood of 90..I think a cab is around 70 ..we had decided early on to stay at Heathrow overnite before the last leg of our journey back to California. Even then, we were pretty tired after the trip from Venice and all the time on transfer from Gatwick..ditched our plans to run into the West End of London for the evening. Check out the option of renting a car to be on the safe side...if all goes well you could transfer from Heathrow to Gatwick in about 1 1/2 hours after which you will have to go through some security measures which take even more time. I think you are frankly pushing it.

The minimum connection time, according to BA, is 3 hours. That includes about 1 to 1.5 hours on the bus (depending on traffic). So you are OK, IF your arriving flight is on time.<BR><BR>You won't have any checked baggage? That's amazing (really). But this will cut down on your transfer time because you cannot check through bags for the airport transfer--you must claim them at Heathrow, put them on the bus, and recheck them at Gatwick. <BR><BR>The bus is pretty comfortable...its just a long, dull ride between the airports.<BR><BR>By the way, British Airways used to give its passengers free passes for the connection. Not any more. Another victim of the airline financial crisis, no doubt.<BR><BR>David White<BR>[email protected]<BR><BR><BR>

Giselle,<BR>For 4 people I'd DEFINITELY check into the car service. It may turn out to be cheaper. To find the phone # for Swiss Cottage (sorry I don't have it handy) do a text search here. Patrick posted it just the other day. I think it was on a string called Heathrow to Mayfair.<BR>Please let us know what you find out as I'm sure many would be interested.<BR>Have a fabulous time in Venice!

As David White points out, the cost of the shuttle is NOT included. If your whole trip is on BA they WILL give you your boarding passes for the 2nd leg (Gatwick/Venice)at your origination point.

Giselle - I don't know where you got your fares. The coach transfer costs: <BR> &pound;20.00 return fare<BR>(&pound;14.00 single)<BR><BR>For details:<BR>www.gobycoach.com<BR><BR>I think this may still be cheaper than a taxi.<BR><BR>Hope this helps ...<BR><BR>Steve<BR>

Steve, GobyCoach is cheaper and I might use it. I did check into it last week.<BR><BR>However, I'm looking at Jetlink. As far as I can tell, Jetlink leaves every 15 minutes and GoByCoach leaves every half hour. With my 3 and a half hour break between flights, I may have to go with the quicker service, unless my flight is timed right and I can catch a GoByCoach bus.

Gisele, there are no gobycoach buses. Gobycoach is the name of the web page that National Express, the leading UK intercity coach company, has been using (I think that is changing and they are going back to www.nationalexpress.com ) for schedules and ticket sales. Jetlink is the National Express service between airports.

Thanks, Ron! I can just see me at the airport looking for the gobycoach signs!

Don't mean to run this into the ground, but can someone tell me if I've got this straight: <BR><BR>there is a bus called JETLINK which runs every half hour and costs 14 pounds/20 return <BR><BR>AND<BR><BR>there is a bus called SPEEDLINK which runs every 15 minutes and costs 17 pounds each way and soes not sell return tickets

Giselle - I believe both Jetlink and Speedlink are part of the NATIONAL EXPRESS group. Maybe someone else can confirm.<BR><BR>The Speedlink website (speedlink.co.uk)advertises itself as a 'premium' service, with frequency up to every 15 minutes at busy times (i.e. a.m.)<BR><BR>I don't know why such a big price difference. <BR>They seem to be taking advantage of people in a hurry.<BR><BR>I always use Jetlink as I refuse to pay &pound;34.00 return for a 70 min trip.<BR><BR>Steve<BR><BR><BR><BR>