Transfer from Gatwick to Heathrow

[Onlyrainbows]

I'm starting to feel a bit paranoid about connecting from Gatwick to Heathrow. Plane lands in Gatwick at 945, that gives me 30mins to get to the National Express stop to take the bus to Heathrow, if I miss that one I need to wait an hour. My international flight is at 215, that should be enough time, but what if there isn't? Shall I take an Uber/taxi instead?

The Gatwick/ London train line is unreliable. I always avoid it and do cabs because I don’t trust it!

What about a contingency plan of getting Gatwick Express to Victoria and then any bus going out of there to LHR? The coach station and railway station aren't very far from each other. Or go to Paddington and get the Heathrow Express.

Are the flights on one booking so they have to sort you out if you miss the connection?

They open a "window" for booking via a website called TripAction, it literally only lets you book one route, and one route only. I have to book my transport to Heathrow separately and then claim it back. As mentioned I could take the sleeper train but that seems OTT.

Sleeper train might be the best option by the sound of it. Not OTT if your employer is being stupid about what flights they let you book.

Honestly I’d go sleeper train. Better than the stress of what you’ve currently got booked.

No way would I do that, though I am very risk averse. You could look at trains to Victoria or London Bridge, but you'd need to shuttle between terminals at Gatwick.

You say sleeper train - are you travelling from Scotland to Gatwick? Are there really no other flight options to any other London airport?

The sleeper train is a nightmare in itself too... I can't imagine not being able to sleep for two nights and meeting my boss for the first time (and I'd lose what I've spent on the flight to Gatwick).

I'm flying from Newquay (I might as well travel Scotland because it feels just as far)

That’s way too tight on that journey. You’d have to be really lucky to make it to the National Express in 30 minutes and as others have said the M23 / M25 can be a nightmare.

If you really can’t get there the day before (could you not use a serviced office somewhere if you need to work?) then I would do the sleeper train.

Sleeper train is a good option.

Oh, cross post. If you’re travelling from Newquay could you drive to a station with an early morning direct connection to Paddington and then get the Heathrow Express?

There are no direct trains on Saturdays, (I've checked that route too). Could get up about 5 and make DH drive me with our DC to Exeter, I'd get into Paddington just before 11. Not terrible but not great either.

If your first flight is not very delayed, and you keep moving once on the ground at Gatwick, you should make it. Domestic flights don’t land very far out from the luggage belts and exit at LGW, and the safest bet would be to jump in a taxi (plenty available) and go straight to LHR. Once there it depends which terminal you’re flying out of, but again it should be pretty straightforward if you just keep to it.

But the key question here is whether the two flights are on the same booking - will the airline become responsible in the event of a delay on your first flight? And what is their margin for a delay on a multi-airport connection? Normal MCT’s don’t apply here, and they can’t legally sell you a connection that’s shorter than the MCT, but the rules are different when you need to change airports.

If they’re on separate tickets/bookings, I’d personally feel uncomfortable with a 4h window at the same airport, let alone a LGW-LHR transfer. And I’d rather £100 went to waste from the internal flight, than losing the transatlantic connection and having to fork out ££££ for the next one available. Keep in mind that many airlines automatically cancel your return flight too, if you don’t show up for the outbound, which would be the case if you missed the long-haul flight, unless the tickets are reserved together with one airline.

Can you drive to another airport which takes you to LHR on the Sat morning? Would you mind saying what’s your final destination and what month are you flying? I’ll happily have a look to see what alliances you’re flying on, and whether the airlines would become responsible for you or not.

Very tight schedule, I'm sorry I would not chance it, far too stressful even though it might just work out. I would take the sleeper train and demand a refund from work for the NQ to Gatwick leg. I cannot believe your employer has agreed to this itinerary.

I think you said you were flying Transatlantic, presumably US? For any future trips I would fly from NQ to Dublin and onwards to the US destination if it is served from there. It is such a swizz going through Dublin as it has pre clearance so you enter US like a domestic flight, straight off and go!

I'm flying to Phoenix. My company only let me book LHR - Phoenix, I couldn't book it from Newquay even if I wanted to. The Newquay flight is with a tiny airline (Eastern Airways). Their whole system seems bizarre, but it's what it is.

I see OP. Having quickly looked everywhere I normally check (I do 50-60 flights a year so know where to look ), there’s just no way of booking Newquay-Phoenix in one go.

Or you could, with multiple stopovers making the trip 40 hours long and £3k each way.

As Newquay is obviously not served by any major airline, or one that is part of an alliance, the only option is to book separately. Phoenix is only served by BA from LHR right now which also complicates things, as there aren’t many other connections that take you to AZ from either London airport right now either…

Do you drive? Could you set off at 6/7am in a hire car or your own, if you have one? Otherwise I’d drive to Exeter/Plymouth/wherever you can get a train from in the morning, even if it’s an early wake up. My last option would be the sleeper train, because it doesn’t make much sense to arrive in London early in the morning and have nothing to do until your 2pm flight.

Is there a coach service Newquay to hrw?

I've done LGW to LHR and vice versa tons of times and while I would prefer an hour or so longer that margin of time wouldn't particularly phase me, but I'd have a taxi pre-booked and waiting so I'm in it and off as soon as I've got my luggage and not wasting time waiting for (or worse, missing) the bus.

I've always been lucky with traffic and it's never taken longer than an hour to get between the two.

Thanks ImIn that's good to hear. I do drive but I can't take the family car (the only I would take on such a drive) as DH has to do all school runs, walk dog, etc... I looked into renting for the day, but it ended up being close to £180 + mileage. None of the options seemed convenient, at least the LGW-LHR seemed the most convenient although the riskiest too.

We are doing a similar trip later this year and looked at flying from NQY, but the trek across to LHR from LGW looked like a pita. Could you not get an evening train (not the sleeper) up to Paddington, catch the Heathrow Express and stay in a Travelodge or similar the night before? There's usually a train that goes from Bodmin Parkway at 7ish into London. You'd not get to Heathrow until midnight ish, but al least you'd be on site in time.

I could barely make it to the last train (by the time DH gets here ans then takes me to the train station) but them I would be able to catch the last Heathrow Express (last one being at 1125 and I get there at 12).

Have you considered travelling by train from Plymouth to Heathrow.

Train to Paddington then LHR?

I'd stick with the flights but have a pre-booked private hire taxi to take you to Heathrow. If your luggage is on the plane already then the air flight attendants will be very keen to get you on the plane, so if timings are tight , let them know as soon as you are at Heathrow.
I'd imagine you'll need to go through security again, so you could see if fast passes are available for that.

God I wouldn't do that with checked luggage. I'd get the sleeper.