Travel from Heathrow Help

[Asvan]

Hi everyone,

Need some help and advice please.

I've booked some flights from London Heathrow for April. The flights are at 3pm on a Sunday afternoon. I live 4 hours away from London so will be travelling into London Kings Cross the day before, via train.

Now this is where I need some advice please:

I'm on a really tight budget and never travelled from Heathrow before.

Am I better off staying in central London the night before and then travelling to Heathrow on the day of the flight or shall i just stay at one of the Heatrow hotels?

Are there direct trains from central London to Heathrow and how often do they run?

I booked from Heathrow because there are 5 of us and we are saving over £2k.

You can tap in and out with a debit or credit card so don't need an Oyster card. There are a couple of Travelodge's/Premier Inns a hop skip and jump away from Kings Cross station so check those for prices. Failing that just look at the stops on the Piccadilly Line working back from Heathrow and find a stop with a TL/PL in walking distance to the tube station. There is loads to do around Kings Cross and despite its past not great reputation it's very different these days.

You can tap in and out with a debit or credit card so don't need an Oyster card.

But you will need to tap in and out with a separate card for each passenger. As there are 5 of you, you will need 5 separate cards.

Most people have a debit card? Also you can use a debit card and the Apple/google pay version of it as 2 separate cards.

Yes. But the OP does need to know about using separate cards.

@Asvan you could look at the ibis budget London Hounslow.

On the map it looks close to Hounslow Central on the Piccadilly line. Tripadvisor reviews suggest there are plenty of eating places nearby. (I don't know Hounslow at all myself )

On the map it looks close to Hounslow Central on the Piccadilly line. Tripadvisor reviews suggest there are plenty of eating places nearby. (I don't know Hounslow at all myself )

Ummmm….well the Ibis is close to the Piccadilly line station, there are some restaurants and certainly plenty of fast food outlets within 5 min walk of that hotel on the pedestrian precinct but (no wish to offend the locals) but I’m not sure Hounslow would be my first choice…

IMHO it might be worth considering for someone arriving late, departing early, staying one night but not somewhere to kill time otherwise.

I haven’t used the hotel but I wouldn’t recommend it if you’re likely to arrive late at night. It’s near an area that’s becoming increasingly notorious for fights.

Thanks for the update, I only used to venture briefly into that part of Hounslow on odd occasions during office hours to do some admin/shopping etc, it was never somewhere I was tempted to stay the night.

I don’t live that close, but I hear about it from people who do.

In December I stayed at the Travel Lodge opposite King´s Cross and used the underground to travel to Heathrow from King´s Cross I paid with my debit card and it came out at 7 euros. Dirt cheap.

And yes if it's a "one-off" then sure having 5 contactless cards is probably better/more convenient. However, if the OP's DC are planning on visiting London again before they turn 18 they may be better off getting Zip cards (depending on age etc), as you can apply online and have them posted anywhere in the UK. They'll then get discounted travel ANY time they visit London. I did this for my DD as we visit family in the Oyster zones 3 times a year and like to go into London whilst there.

National Express?

Bear in mind if any of your children are under 11 they travel free on the tube/lizzie line - just go through the wide barriers with them

You don't need to do that you can just get a visitor discount applied to a normal Oyster card by station staff.

That only works if you can find the staff to do it though. I have a railcard that qualifies for a discount on Oyster, it took visiting 4 different TfL stations before there was a member of staff who could apply the discount, even though they're supposed to be able to do it at every station.

That only works if you can find the staff to do it though. I have a railcard that qualifies for a discount on Oyster, it took visiting 4 different TfL stations before there was a member of staff who could apply the discount, even though they're supposed to be able to do it at every station.

OP is arriving into King's Cross she will not have a problem finding staff to help with oysters. King's Cross St Pancras is the biggest underground station, there will be staff.