Panic!! Connecting between Heathrow to Gatwick

[Freehugs]

Hello

I booked a package holiday through British airways which includes a connecting flight and hotel etc.

I land at Heathrow at 08.35 and need to get to Gatwick for my next flight which leaves at 12 with check in/ bag drop off closing at 11.

Having always flown direct from Scotland I’ve never done this before. And I assumed BA’s system wouldn’t let you book something that wasn’t feasible.

So exchanging cash for my trip next month at a different travel company and the travel agent asked about my holiday. She was of the opinion that the connection time is a bit unrealistic.

We will have checked in luggage to collect and have arranged private transfers from Heathrow to Gatwick.

Started to panic so called BA holidays to be told we only have two options 1) we take our chances and hope we make it.
2)we can pay over £900 for our family to get on the earlier flight.

And that if our Glasgow flight was delayed which causes us to miss our connecting flight then BA would then take responsibility.

But if we were delayed by say bagged delays/road works etc we would need to pay for new flights to Punta Cana ourselves.

Please someone reassure me this is doable?

Do remember there’s no customs or immigration plus many people will be hand luggage only, it’s about an hour driving on a good day. Make sure you know exactly where your transfer is waiting, walking maps of the airport are online, you can waste 15 minutes just searching when you can be prepared. As reassurance I’ve been in Bristol 3 hours after landing many times, by national express

I het that it might be doable, but it is the sitting there gazing at the minutes tick by on a watch is not great for something called a holiday.

Thamslink to Farringdon and the Elisabeth line to LHR. It's doable if you don't have to collect bags? As they are offering a connected flight?
I think BA need to take some responsibility here given you booked the connection with them and they presumably offered it as a connecting flight ? I don't see why you have to take all the risk

I think BA need to take some responsibility here given you booked the connection with them and they presumably offered it as a connecting fligh

What exactly do you think BA should do?

It looks like the booking is in accordance with the published recommended minimum connection time between the two airports (three hours).

Three hours is below a lot of people's comfort level (especially with checked bags) but is acheivable..

You have to take your own bags between Gatwick and Heathrow.
It's also much much faster to drive round the M25 than take the train into and out of central London.

Sometimes faster. It’s not a given.

I’d be flying down the night before and staying in a hotel at Gatwick, not a chance in hell would I risk such a long journey on the day of my flight.

Wouldn’t it be easier just to take carry on luggage? You can stuff at your destination

I haven't RTFT but if you booked a package holiday through BA then this is absolutely their problem.

The advantage of booking flights "all the way through" is that your bags are checked all the way through and not your problem.

They shouldn't be offering flights that connect between airports that aren't realistic. So no, you should not be paying £900. Escalate this!

(Fellow Scot here, and Aberdeen at that, so sympathise with the travel difficulties).

The advantage of booking flights "all the way through" is that your bags are checked all the way through and not your problem.

BA are very clear in T&Cs and also in their info regarding LHR<>LGW connections that bags do not get checked all the way through.

.They shouldn't be offering flights that connect between airports that aren't realistic.

Again...three hours is realistic, as far as LHR-LGW goes it's been a while but I"ve personally done it many times but HBO and usually with an option of a later onwards flight ex-LGW if I miss the first option, many many people do similar..

OTOH I wouldn't risk a three hour link if I was going on holidays and the back up flight was several days hence.There has to be an element of of caveat emptor to this, rather than expecting the airline to police everyone's travel plans.

Not helpful this time for the OP but we need a reinstate BA Gatwick flights Scottish campaign!

its worth looking at cost of flying down the night before to either Heathrow, Gatwick or Southampton - easyjet often do good offers and there’s lots of hotels in the Gatwick area. Likely less than the £900 BA.

Wild thought here but how much would a helicopter transfer be? My mum did one once as times were short but she was always a bit “interesting”

Sorry to also be unhelpful here but junction 10 on the M25 is currently an absolute nightmare some days the traffic is awful. However I just looked and the current time between both is around 45 minutes with no delays.

i think you’ve put in place everything you can to make the connection but there are things out of your control (baggage and traffic) so as others have said you need good insurance that will cover this. But actually what you need to establish is what will happen if you miss your connection, when is the next flight out and would your insurance cover a different carrier?

i mean if it all goes tits up, could you see it as a a bit of an adventure? At least you could prep for it going wrong!

I think the challenge is that BA only have 1 flight to Punta Cana that flies 3 times a week. So if the OP misses the flight from Gatwick, it’s a 2 day wait for the next BA one. BA will try and put her on flights with their Alliance partner American instead to get her their more quickly but that will mean connecting in the US for which an ESTA is required (OP might already have one but if not, that’s another issue). Other option to avoid that will be to route her through Madrid with Iberia.

The simplest solution is just to pay the £900 extra and not have to worry. But obviously the extra cost may not be an option. In which case, I’d travel hand luggage only as BA’s allowance is very generous anyway and given it’s the Caribbean, it’s not like you need to take big coats and jumpers. Hand luggage only and move as fast as you can through Heathrow to get your taxi. And then it’s in the lap of the Gods. There’s probably a 90% chance that it will be okay and OP will get to Gatwick in good time. But that section of the M25 (any section of the M25 really) is notorious for traffic/issues so good travel insurance is essential.

That used to run but hasn’t since the 80s. Unless you charter your own of course

Can you cancel / charge your Glasgow- Heathrow flight to an day earlier?
Then go hotel near Gatwick?
Might be cheaper less stressful than trying to do it on the same day, even with earlier flight.

The time allowed for transfer is fine. But where is the contingency? Have people never landed late, been delayed clearing an airport, been stuck in a traffic jam or on a broken down or delayed train?

If the OP misses her first flight, the rest is voided, so simply travelling south the day before is not an option, so she needs to speak to BA now, with a view to changing the first leg and make it clear £900 supplement is not an option for her.

Look at the bottom of page 2 here: https://www.britishairways.com/cms/global/pdfs/ba_travel_trade/updates/connecting_t5.pdf
BA themselves say that min connection time is 3 and a half hours. That person you spoke to at BA was talking

But it’s only achievable if everything is running perfectly like clockwork - BA aren’t known for being the world’s most efficient airline. Three hours to collect bags, travel to Gatwick the check-in and go through security again is really pushing it even if there are no delays along the way. BA recommend arriving at the airport 3 hours before an international flight which is in opposition to the advice the OP is getting from them which advises that those 3 hours can be spent travelling from Heathrow to Gatwick..

Is that a current link/document?

Elsewhere BA are recommending three hours minimum but not stating that's a formal.MCT

https://www.britishairways.com/content/information/airport-information/flight-connections

Is there a cheap flight to Luton? Easier to get a train from there to Gatwick.

Even a flight direct to Gatwick - Easyjet fly at 9.15 pm, maybe a cheaper option to do this the night before and stay on airport.

And then just change the outbounds to remove the GLA-LHR and commence the journey at LGW.

I thought the advisory was to arrive at airport at least two hours before an international flight? That's what it says on Gatwick website, it's three hours for Heathrow.

www.gatwickairport.com/passenger-guides/checking-in.html

So where is the time to collect bags in Heathrow, exit, transfer, check in (again) and go through the usual before getting to the gate?

Two hours is advised to arrive at the airport for international at Gatwick, so BA are fibbing and I'd definitely take action against them on this one. Totally unrealistic timings there IMO.