Three hours from central London to Gatwick flight

Just realised it isn't weekend but you still really need to be familiar with getting across London. The rush is almost 4pm start on working days.

There's engineering works at weekends if that's when you're travelling. They lay on coaches between stations sometimes.

I see your update. I would not do it because I would not trust the theatre to end at 4pm.

I’ve done similar recently. It all worked fine but we made sure we were ready to leave cinema not theatre as soon as it finished. And didn’t stop for a wee and we’re fairly brusque getting out. All trains were on time and we were ready to use fast track security at Gatwick if needed. But the lines there were much faster with new security. We even had time to get a sandwich to take on flight.

Tbh I'm wondering why you would even put yourself through all of this . If you're going to shell out for London theatre tickets then what's another 100 for a room for the night plus the first flights out in the morning tend to be some of the cheapest. You might get some saving there.

I'd probably do it. I'd make sure I had a good understanding of the difference possible routes because there are several and I might need to make last minute decisions to switch if one is messed up. I'd make sure I was comfortable with Citymapper so that I could quickly read routes/times and make snap decisions. But then I'm constantly doing that as I'm regularly on London public transport and there are often multiple options.

Then I'd check running of the train at the interval knowing that if we have to ditch the performance at the interval to make the flight because the trains are messed up then that's what we have to do. Are you prepared to do that and not be devastated? Can you say 'we tried'?

I'd also be assessing what's the worst that can happen and can we deal with that? Will a hotel and a new flight be a big financial problem or a bloody annoying expense?

The way I see it is you likely don't need those two hours at Gatwick. So a little bit of delay on the train can be considered as using part of the contingency in the two hours. It's just a question of how close to the sun you are prepared to fly.

Except LGW my check in limit for flying to Dublin last week was 40 minutes, not 60 at security. The check in lady told me it was standard

@pontivex

The main thing to be concerned about is ‘conformance’ which is the time you must scan your boarding pass at security to be allowed through. That’s 60mins at LGW

Blimey that's excessive, I'm guessing that's for North Terminal because BA quote 35 min for South Terminal (same as LHR T5 FWIW).

Knowing that route I personally wouldn’t take the risk. Our train home goes from Charing Cross and going from there to London Bridge, where you’d have to change, can be notoriously slow. You’ve also got to rely on the Thameslink being on time from Blackfriars and there being no further delays down the line. You have got the option to go to Victoria and get the Gatwick Express but again you’re counting on no delays getting to the station, at the station itself or further down the line.

Once, some years ago, I left work in London (15 min walk to Blackfriars) at lunchtime to go to Gatwick for a 6pm flight. I was meeting friends at the airport and due to horrendous delays I finally charged into Gatwick to see my friends hopping around anxiously and the baggage drop off just about to close. I’ve never forgotten that feeling of panic, especially being sat on the line and just not moving. Scarred me for life it did!

It’s possible but it isn’t something I would do. I don’t think I could enjoy the show whilst clock watching. The last show we went to overran by 15 mins and we missed our return train. Thameslink is also notoriously awful and really unreliable at the moment.

Me too!

The main thing to be concerned about is ‘conformance’ which is the time you must scan your boarding pass at security to be allowed through. That’s 60mins at LGW so you must have beeped yourself into security by 6pm.
Definitely doable if everything goes to plan and agree with PPs that your plan must include
Aisle theatre seats that let you slip out at a defined time (or understanding seat mates who are primed for your exit). Add contingency here. Yes you might have to miss the finale
Knowing exactly your route to the train and connections
Paying for fast track security
Getting the most reliable longer train service e.g Gatwick Express rather the one with least tube connections. The tube is pretty reliable tbf.

Id probably even plan to get an earlier train if you feel like you are stressed and leave well before the end. GE is every 15 mins and that could count. I’d be keeping an eye on a live departures board with my phone brightness turned right down or just a check at interval that all is going well.

That one time can absolutely screw you! But reading this thread it starts to sound like it's total Russian roulette on the trains whereas in fact it's pretty rare that it happens. As I said, it's about being proportionate, and you say, being comfortable with the absolute worst case scenario.

There are no guarantees ever but there are a LOT of people routinely travelling to Gatwick from London without regular problems.

Indeed. But most people build in sufficient contingency in case there’s a problem. The problems are irregular rather than regular. But it can be that one time that screws you so best to have a plan B or be relaxed enough to not care and/or not have important plans that will be impacted by it. Only the OP can answer that (and at present she hasn’t).

I would do it - as someone who goes to the theatre in the West End a lot, and uses that train line which goes via Gatwick a lot! Theatre shows very rarely overrun, time wise, and there are two routes to Gatwick (Charing X/London Bridge or Victoria), so you do have alternatives - particularly if there’s an issue further up the line on the Thameslink. Just check the National Rail live departures for both stations (or Citymapper) to ensure you’re heading for one that’s operating well.

You can’t really plan to account for train issues around Gatwick and there’s no more of a chance that they’ll start in the time you’re trying to travel there when you don’t have much time than if you tried to do the journey an hour earlier. They’ll either happen or they won’t and you kind of have to roll with it.

Tube to Victoria and take the Gatwick Express, more reliable than Thameslink. It can be done on a good day. North terminal means you have to take the shuttle from the train station though so factor in that. I would be worrying too much to do it personally!

This is an interesting thread showing everyone's different levels of risk!

Imo, it's doable and you'd probably make it and be fine... but if it were me I'd just spend the whole show worrying about problems so personally wouldn't risk it.

That's interesting as I've been reimbursed for a missed flight (including new flights/overnight accommodation) because of traffic disruption. There was a level we needed to hit and I remember having to go back to the AA Twitter feed (back in the day) and print off the stuff about the traffic we were in, so potentially something equal to that re train disruption.

The policy will say anyway.

Check your policy but in all likelihood a missed flight due to train delays would not be covered by travel insurance - scroll down in the article below (I’ll try to screenshot the relevant bit):

My wife’s passport was stolen — can we get a holiday refund?

www.thetimes.com/article/129cb974-44df-4350-a9ff-5ee3d4a78266?shareToken=4ade65b22d9253cf73215fea06f2706b

I guess it comes down to there being a risk of train disruption whenever you're trying to get to the airport! You need to think about what could happen if you're prevented from getting to the airport regardless, and making your plan B proportionate. The vast majority of the time this journey is fine.

If you make sure you have travel insurance covering domestic travel, then train disruption of a scale that makes you miss your flight will cover your expenses. That just leaves you working through how long a journey time you're comfortable with, and quite a few of us on this thread who've done the journey a lot think that 3.5 hours including the airport is OK. There are no guarantees ever but there are a LOT of people routinely travelling to Gatwick from London without regular problems.

I wouldn't even worry about it! It will be fine. Domestic flight, you'll be there at least 1.5 hours before. I wouldn't normally aim to get there before that anyway. I fly ALOT