1 PM flight out of Heathrow? Did I mess up?

[Colo Cruiser]

I emailed them. What do you think I should request for a pick up time?

 

 

When you sign up for the walk off during the cruise they will give you the times.

 

 

I agree no later then 8. Maybe a tad earlier.

[Corfe Mixture]

Definitely doable by private transport and these people make the journey regularly and know all about the traffic.

 

We live around 30 minutes West of Southampton (further away from LHR) and have to allow for the fact that my OH is risk averse and likes to arrive everywhere very early have a couple of hours in the airport lounge.

 

Also, unlike the OP I have to drop off my car at a long term car park about 15minutes away from LHR, which all told adds about an hour in total.

 

We have an upcoming 17.15 flight from T3. OK, this is later in the day, but the elapsed time analysis is valid.

 

It is just over 60 miles from Southampton to LHR and around 85 miles from my home.

We will leave home around 10.30 am.

I expect to be at LHR around 12.30 at the latest.

I will go to the short term car park and check in around 13.00 before then taking my car to the long term car par in Hayes.

Allowing for getting in and out of the car parks etc. and I expect to be back at the airport by around 14.00 and will go straight to security and I am confident that I will be in the lounge by 14.30.

 

The OP will not have the hassle of delivering his car to the long term car park and bearing in mind that Southampton is 30 minutes closer to LHR than I am, I would estimate 1hour 30 minutes from the port to the airport in a car which has live traffic data from the GPS. Yes the M3 gets busy, but by 10.00 the worst is over.

 

The National Express coach service which does this journey every day allows just under two hours for an 08.00 departure so you should be confident that an airport car will certainly not take any longer.

 

So, depart at 08.30 from the port, and as you do not have the issues I have in getting rid of your car, you can confidently expect to be checking in at around 10.30.

 

One of the more popular companies for airport transfers is Smith's Cars.

 

http://www.smithsforairports.com/index.html

 

Contact them, and give them you flight details and compare what they say with the above. I am sure they will tell you an 08.30 pick up is fine and 08.00 will be very comfortable.

 

EDIT

 

I see someone has given a link to the Heathrow site which recommends check in three hours early. But, whilst I would personally always add one hour to the following, for peace of mind, the limits at Terminals 3 and 5 for BA flights are actually:

Check-in closes 60 minutes before long haul flights depart, and 45 minutes before short haul flights depart. Strictly applied

You must pass through security at least 35 minutes before your flight departs. Strictly applied but tell someone if you are in a line and the cut off is approaching.

You must be at the boarding gate at least 20 minutes before your flight departs. Obvious really

 

http://www.britishairways.com/en-fr/information/airport-information/london-heathrow-airport/heathrow-t5

Edited November 12, 2016 by Corfe Mixture

[Corfe Mixture]

In UK this year, we entered the M25, 20 miles from Heathrow and traffic was terrible as it always is and took us about an hour due to peak hour notably mid week. M25 is busy 7 days a week.

 

 

It is less than 6.5 miles from the M3/M25 junction (the point where you join the M25 when driving up from Southampton) to Heathrow terminal 5