Advice on Heathrow to Gatwick

[Franky Bear]

I'll be bringing the Mrs and Kid back to the UK for a holiday for the first time at the end of august.

The cheapest we are getting is BA (surprisingly) but might have to go from Gatwick to Heathrow to fly up to Glasgow. What is the best way to get between the two?

[Rumblecat]

Is it Heathrow to Gatwick you want, or Gatwick to Heathrow? Topic title says one thing but then you say the other in the post ;) 

There's a few ways. National Express runs frequent direct coaches from Gatwick to Heathrow, it's about £35 a ticket but cheaper if you book advance online- can save about a tenner. 

http://www.londontoolkit.com/travel/heathrow_gatwick_bus_transfer.htm

If it's the other way round you can still get coaches, or you can get the Heathrow Express to Paddington, switch to the tube and go to Farringdon via Circle Line, then change to the Gatwick airport rail link at Farringdon... that's going to cost about £30 a person though. And not a fun trip with a kid and luggage. 

I think the cheapest way might be to pre-book a taxi- you can get one to do the run for about £40-50 - companies like http://www.heathrow-gatwick-transfers.com/home.aspx - just make sure it's the entire fee as some companies used to have hidden "meet and greet" charges. 

[Bpuumike]

National Express for sure.
 
Haven't been there for a while but I think their ticket office and buses are on the Ground Floor of Heathrow Terminal 3.
 
Basically unlimited luggage which a family of 4 probably couldn't fit into one taxi/limo.

Oops, mis-read + KID so not family of 4. Still the way I'd go.

Regular buses, don't have to wait long, and nice safe trip.

[Upnotover]

Assuming it is LHR you are flying into it will cost you GBP 63.50 for 2 adults+1 kid (3-13), booking online in advance (amendable and refundable) with National Express.  Journey time of 50-70 minutes but by far the best way to do it.

[arthurwait]

 Train 'Gatwick express'  to Victoria and then the tube.   M25 is always bad between the 2 why go by road ?

[h2o]

ba fly into health row t 5

[theoldgit]

Have you got flights already booked from LHR, there are plenty of flights from LGW to Glasgow, easyjet and BA both have regular flights between the two.

If you have to travel between the two airports I would use the bus door to door, the M25 isn't as bad as it used to be, outside of the rush hour anyway, and in my view beats travelling through London with luggage.

[Franky Bear]

Cheers gents. I'll be booking at the last min.

As it stands i fly to Thailand for my 28 off around Aug 18th. My passport is rammed full of visa exempts and a few Cambodian day runs. I was told by immigration officers (5 different ones) that my passport will be ok. BUt, i know that can change after 18th. So my plan is (as long as nothing changes) to fly to Thailand, get married asap (i have been with her 8 years) then as soon as we can fly to Scotland. The trip to Scotland was planned anyway. 

When i am in Scotland i'll get the marriage visa done while we are there.I'll also be getting my second passport  When i try all the online last minute places a lot come up with BA and having to change between LHR and Gat, TBH i won't be doing that as it is a pain in the arse and it's only a few hundred quid more if i stay in terminal 5 and fly up from LHR

 

Thanks for the help

[arthurwait]

Have you got flights already booked from LHR, there are plenty of flights from LGW to Glasgow, easyjet and BA both have regular flights between the two.

If you have to travel between the two airports I would use the bus door to door, the M25 isn't as bad as it used to be, outside of the rush hour anyway, and in my view beats travelling through London with luggage.

 

 

 Good point.

 

 And tourists.

[tso310]

If you are flying BA to LHR you are going to run into the evening rush hour on the M25. A direct flight from LHR to Glasgow may cost you more but there will be far less hassle. Expect at least a 90 min journey time. If you are arriving on a Sat or Sun then no problem, if its a Friday I wouldn't even try it. If you can book a private taxi then they usually reoute around the likes of Chertsey etc. Also I believe that there are major road works on the M23/A23 going on which could also impact the journey tie. 

[tso310]

It sounds like you haven't booked your GLA flights. Be warned August is very busy. The Commonwealth games may have finished but Glasgow will get alot of Edinburgh Festival overflow. UK domestic flights, especially Easyjet out of LGW do get very full. 

[Franky Bear]

It sounds like you haven't booked your GLA flights. Be warned August is very busy. The Commonwealth games may have finished but Glasgow will get alot of Edinburgh Festival overflow. UK domestic flights, especially Easyjet out of LGW do get very full. 

I've not booked a thing. It will be 2,3,4 days before i fly that i will book. The job i do and the uncertainty of this new visa stuff after Aug 13 mean it's too risky.

I have many options, Dubai, Amsterdam, Helsinki, Dublin

It's no biggie mate 

[tso310]

Hope is all goes well. Keep us all posted.

[Franky Bear]

Hope is all goes well. Keep us all posted.

Will do. The day we finally got my Mrs UK Visa and my daughters UK passport (after it was in Trendy 6 weeks with no one telling us, we had to contact Liverpool to find out it was in Trendy) was the same day this Visa stuff kicked off (i agree with it BTW)

[sandyf]

 

It sounds like you haven't booked your GLA flights. Be warned August is very busy. The Commonwealth games may have finished but Glasgow will get alot of Edinburgh Festival overflow. UK domestic flights, especially Easyjet out of LGW do get very full. 

I've not booked a thing. It will be 2,3,4 days before i fly that i will book. The job i do and the uncertainty of this new visa stuff after Aug 13 mean it's too risky.

I have many options, Dubai, Amsterdam, Helsinki, Dublin

It's no biggie mate 

 

It may be worth thinking about getting a flight into Manchester and getting the train up to Glasgow. There is a railway station at the airport so no real transfer problems.

[Franky Bear]

 

 

It sounds like you haven't booked your GLA flights. Be warned August is very busy. The Commonwealth games may have finished but Glasgow will get alot of Edinburgh Festival overflow. UK domestic flights, especially Easyjet out of LGW do get very full. 

I've not booked a thing. It will be 2,3,4 days before i fly that i will book. The job i do and the uncertainty of this new visa stuff after Aug 13 mean it's too risky.

I have many options, Dubai, Amsterdam, Helsinki, Dublin

It's no biggie mate 

 

It may be worth thinking about getting a flight into Manchester and getting the train up to Glasgow. There is a railway station at the airport so no real transfer problems.

 

Nah mate. I want my flight right into Glasgow. Cheers though

[tso310]

Emirates now up to 2 flights a day to GLA. Qatar now running a B787 to EDI. Its all about connections and BA does well with LHR no wonder Thai has lost significant market share on their LHR route over the last 10 years. 

[Franky Bear]

Emirates now up to 2 flights a day to GLA. Qatar now running a B787 to EDI. Its all about connections and BA does well with LHR no wonder Thai has lost significant market share on their LHR route over the last 10 years. 

Yeah i know. I reckon it'll cost roughly 2200 quid to get the three of us back for a holiday

[tso310]

One airline I forgot about domestically which might be of interest is Virgin Little Red from LHR to EDI. They have a flight leaving terminal 1 at 19:50. My understanding is that they are not overly full. I now nothing about their pricing. Apparently they are annoying Willie Walsh, head of BA, who accuses them of deliberately running these flights to use up spare slots at LHR.

[Franky Bear]

One airline I forgot about domestically which might be of interest is Virgin Little Red from LHR to EDI. They have a flight leaving terminal 1 at 19:50. My understanding is that they are not overly full. I now nothing about their pricing. Apparently they are annoying Willie Walsh, head of BA, who accuses them of deliberately running these flights to use up spare slots at LHR.

I'm only going to fly to Glasgow mate.

[Lancashirelad]

Just one thing to watch out for if you plan to travel soon after getting married. Be careful not to end up with wifes passport in her old name and tickets booked in married name.

[CharlieH]

Word of warning re National Express.

Based on my recent experience buy/book your tickets as far ahead as you can, if you leave it til you are there they will hit you hard with nearly DOUBLE pre booked price.

[sandyf]

Word of warning re National Express.

Based on my recent experience buy/book your tickets as far ahead as you can, if you leave it til you are there they will hit you hard with nearly DOUBLE pre booked price.

My flight was late so I went to the office to see about the next coach. I had paid £38 to go to Sheffield and they asked for a further £65 to take the next one, they refunded the original tickets and issued new ones at double the price plus a service charge.

 

If I had thought about it a bit more, I should have gone back in the terminal and gone online with the free wifi, ignored the original tickets and just booked again at £38. It was still available, I checked it out sitting in the terminal bar waiting for the next coach.

That 5 minutes of mental disarray cost me £27.

[Franky Bear]

We are flying through Schipol now so no need to worry about London. Thanks a lot though 

[sandyf]

We are flying through Schipol now so no need to worry about London. Thanks a lot though 

Good move.