silkismom Posted October 18, 2014 #1 Share Posted October 18, 2014 We arrive at Heathrow on AA50 at 0915, we have to get to Gatwick for IB7579 (operated by BA) at 2pm. I have a reservation for National Express at 11:10am. Anyone see any problems there? I assume we'll have to get our checked bags, go thru customs etc. Do they have Global Entry there. Any details on how to do this at LHR? I'm a worrier! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sddsddean Posted October 18, 2014 #2 Share Posted October 18, 2014 Should be OK, unless there is a major problem on M25. Transatlantic flights normally get in early due to the jetstream, so hopefully 0915 is latest arrival. Yes, you will have to collect your luggage, take it to the NE coach (driver will load it) and pick it up off the driver at LGW and do all the lovely check in and security stuff again! If you do arrive LHR early and can make an earlier coach, do it. You might get away with just getting the 'next' coach, but you might have to pay a £5 re booking fee. There are NE offices after the Arrivals Hall in all terminals. Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob++ Posted October 18, 2014 #3 Share Posted October 18, 2014 National Express say it takes about 1¼ hours, so you should have time to spare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Globaliser Posted October 18, 2014 #4 Share Posted October 18, 2014 Do they have Global Entry there.No: Global Entry is a US system.Transatlantic flights normally get in early due to the jetstream ...Do you have any data to support this? The airport's operations are built around scheduled times of departure and arrival - particularly stand occupation times. If an entire class of flights was routinely early, there would be many early-arriving aircraft routinely waiting around for gates to come free before they could come onto stand. On a campus as congested at LHR's, that could quickly lead to gridlock because there are few places for aircraft to wait where they do not block the way of following aircraft. Indeed, there have been times when my aircraft has been waiting for a gate and has had to use some of the taxiways like a roundabout to allow following aircraft to proceed. So I would be interested to know where this idea has come from, and whether there is any evidential support for the suggestion that this entire category of flights tends to arrive (as opposed to land) early. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corfe Mixture Posted October 19, 2014 #5 Share Posted October 19, 2014 (edited) No: Global Entry is a US system.Do you have any data to support this? The airport's operations are built around scheduled times of departure and arrival - particularly stand occupation times. If an entire class of flights was routinely early, there would be many early-arriving aircraft routinely waiting around for gates to come free before they could come onto stand. On a campus as congested at LHR's, that could quickly lead to gridlock because there are few places for aircraft to wait where they do not block the way of following aircraft. Indeed, there have been times when my aircraft has been waiting for a gate and has had to use some of the taxiways like a roundabout to allow following aircraft to proceed. So I would be interested to know where this idea has come from, and whether there is any evidential support for the suggestion that this entire category of flights tends to arrive (as opposed to land) early. My experience is that the airlines seem to adapt their timetables to take account of the probable changes in the jet stream location with the time of year. Certainly my experience is that, on an eastbound crossing, you are more likely to land early rather than later in summer and land late rather than early in winter but the former has rarely translated into an particularly early arrival at the gate. Instead, the aircraft tends to come to a stop just short of the terminal area and we get an announcement that there will 'be a short delay, whilst we wait for a departing aircraft to vacate our allocated stand'. Question for Globaliser: Why do they call it a gate when we are departing, but a stand when we arrive? Edited October 19, 2014 by Corfe Mixture Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Icantthinkofone Posted October 19, 2014 #6 Share Posted October 19, 2014 I agree , I think you will be fine as long as the M25 is clear ! This motorway is a nightmare, one accident causes mayhem , I take the A roads every time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sddsddean Posted October 19, 2014 #7 Share Posted October 19, 2014 Do you have any data to support this? No empirical data whatsoever...just 30 odd years of personal experience. Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silkismom Posted October 19, 2014 Author #8 Share Posted October 19, 2014 Thank you all. I assume there will be signs for National Express once we go thru customs etc, any ideas how long that all takes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sddsddean Posted October 19, 2014 #9 Share Posted October 19, 2014 Hopefully you should be through customs/immigration in 90 mins, but can be longer at peak periods. If you are coming into terminal 4 or 5 the NE bus stop is just outside the main doors with all the other bus stops (there ill be people to ask if you can't find it). If you are coming into T1,2,or 3 you will have to walk to the Heathrow Central Bus Station which is well signed and will take you about 10-15 mins. Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Globaliser Posted October 19, 2014 #10 Share Posted October 19, 2014 (edited) Certainly my experience is that, on an eastbound crossing, you are more likely to land early rather than later in summer and land late rather than early in winter but the former has rarely translated into an particularly early arrival at the gate. Instead, the aircraft tends to come to a stop just short of the terminal area and we get an announcement that there will 'be a short delay, whilst we wait for a departing aircraft to vacate our allocated stand'. No empirical data whatsoever...just 30 odd years of personal experience.Out of interest, I thought I'd do a quick look at the last week on three routes on which multiple airlines fly: IAD-LHR, LAX-LHR and ORD-LHR. I know it's only one week, and so it can't claim to be a scientific analysis. But the spread of results is what I would have expected: some flights arrive early, some flights arrive (as close as makes no difference to being) bang on time, and some flights arrive late - either a routine delay of up to an hour, or a major delay. There doesn't seem to be any pattern of this category of flights routinely arriving early. The times are scheduled time of arrival and actual time of arrival. In some cases, the arrival time has not been reported, but the database had landing time instead. The seven days are for departures on 12 to 18 October 2014 inclusive. I've excluded the day flights as being irrelevant to the original query. IAD-LHR arrival times UA918 0620 0613 0620 0626 0620 0629 0620 0638 0620 0634 0620 0605 0620 0656 BA216 0640 0654 0640 0636 0640 0637 0640 0637 0640 0638 0640 0618 0640 0629 VS22 0705 0658 0705 0700 0705 0711 0705 0659 0705 0649 (LANDED) 0705 0639 0705 0640 BA264 NON-OP 0855 0849 NON-OP NON-OP 0900 0910 NON-OP NON-OP UA924 1015 1023 1015 1038 1015 1038 1015 1018 1015 1038 1015 1013 1015 1018 BA292 1050 1109 1050 1116 1050 1113 1050 1050 1050 1104 1050 1058 1050 1052 LAX-LHR arrival times BA282 1000 1038 1000 1017 1000 1025 1005 1006 1005 1010 1000 1024 1005 1030 NZ2 1115 1121 1115 1058 1115 1132 1115 1114 1115 1256 1115 1124 1115 1117 VS8 1130 1139 1130 1137 1130 1122 1130 1122 (LANDED) 1130 1119 1130 1147 1130 1147 UA934 1215 1224 1215 1213 1215 1229 1215 1315 1215 1501 1215 1248 1215 1205 AA136 1420 1458 1420 1358 1420 1543 1420 1424 1420 1412 1420 1425 1420 1435 BA268 1600 1617 1600 1716 1600 1608 1600 1558 1600 1616 1600 1644 1600 1542 VS24 1635 1641 1635 1610 1635 1557 1635 1628 1635 1616 1635 1702 1635 1617 ORD-LHR arrival times UA958 0555 0539 0555 0546 0555 0557 0555 0555 0555 0541 0555 0542 0555 0603 AA86 0650 1134 0650 0852 0650 0644 0650 0642 0650 0653 0650 0650 0650 0812 BA294 0750 0811 0750 0830 0750 0748 0750 0739 0750 0747 0750 0745 0750 0732 UA928 0835 0931 0835 0841 0835 1012 0835 0902 0835 0850 0835 0854 0835 0849 VS40 NON-OP 0845 0904 NON-OP 0845 0846 0845 0847 0845 0821 0830 0801 (LANDED) AA46 0900 0934 0900 1158 0900 0852 0900 1300 0900 0939 0900 0903 0900 1204 BA296 0955 1100 0955 1059 0955 1022 0955 1000 0955 1026 0955 1010 0955 1018 UA938 1115 1202 1115 1106 1115 1120 1115 1146 1115 1154 1115 1226 1115 1111 AA98 1225 1238 1225 1230 1225 1230 1225 1226 1225 1219 1225 1229 1225 1212 (Apologies for any transcription errors.) Edited October 19, 2014 by Globaliser Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Globaliser Posted October 19, 2014 #11 Share Posted October 19, 2014 Question for Globaliser: Why do they call it a gate when we are departing, but a stand when we arrive?The stand is what the aircraft parks on. The gate is what passengers go through to get onto the aircraft (or into the terminal). And the number of a stand (not usually known to the passengers) is often different from the number of the gate that the passengers use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silkismom Posted October 19, 2014 Author #12 Share Posted October 19, 2014 Not sure where you got your info--how about DFW-LHR?? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Globaliser Posted October 20, 2014 #13 Share Posted October 20, 2014 Not sure where you got your info--how about DFW-LHR?For speed, most of it came from ExpertFlyer but FlightStats is another source (with a long archive) for the same information. For the same seven days, you see the same general spread of results:- DFW-LHR arrival times AA50 0805 0842 0805 0816 0805 1204 0805 0804 0805 0815 0805 0806 0805 0851 BA192 0935 0946 0935 0921 0935 0930 0935 0944 0935 0954 0935 0940 0935 0923 AA78 1115 1122 1115 1406 1115 1154 1115 1126 1115 1241 1115 1120 1115 1105 AA80 1315 1458 1315 1356 1315 1414 1315 1341 1315 1356 1310 1317 1315 1317 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silkismom Posted October 20, 2014 Author #14 Share Posted October 20, 2014 Looks like my flt (AA50) was late every day--arggg. If it came in at 1204, I'd be in big trouble for my 2pm out of LGW. I'll try to watch it. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Globaliser Posted October 21, 2014 #15 Share Posted October 21, 2014 Looks like my flt (AA50) was late every day ...No, only on three days out of 7. Remember that airline schedules are always plus / minus 15 minutes. A flight is not early unless it's more than 15 minutes ahead of schedule, and it's not late unless it's more than 15 minutes behind schedule.If it came in at 1204, I'd be in big trouble for my 2pm out of LGW. I'll try to watch it.A big delay like that (ie 4 hours) is going to wreck most connection plans. There's really nothing you can do about it; it's just one of the facts of travelling life. You deal with it when it happens. Unless you're prepared to change your plans, there's absolutely no point watching what the flight does on other days between now and then. Watching it won't change things for you. You'll probably either make yourself feel better (in which case you'll have simply conned yourself into a false sense of security), or you'll make yourself worry endlessly (which is pure and pointless self-inflicted harm). Either way, you can't affect the chances that it'll go badly wrong on the day you're flying - that's just random, and it'll almost certainly happen with no advance warning if it does. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now