LHR to LGW, Nat'l Express Transfer

[CruisinD]

We'll be arriving LHR T3 from Miami early November at 6:05, Club World on British Airways. I've read that it saves considerable ticket queue time to pre-book National Express, LHR to LGW. Has anyone here done this? What's a safe time slot to book this? How much time should it take for us to go through immigration, retrieve luggage, get to the coach, etc? Will the 7:35 coach be cutting it too close? 8:05 just right? Or do we need more of a cushion?

 

We're not really under any time constraints as we'll be staying at a hotel at Gatwick overnight, but we do want to get to the hotel as soon as we can.

 

Also, has anyone had experience of what happens if we miss the booked time slot? I'd guess we wouldn't have to pay again, but would we have to get in the queue for another ticket time?

 

Denise

[pcur]

We took National Express from HTH to London, and DEFINITELY recommend buying your tickets online. We cut our bus departure too close, so I would give yourselves 2.5 - 3 hours.

 

We arrived at 9:30, sat on the tarmac, waited for luggage, and that's on top of immigration, customs, and walking to the bus terminal. We arrived for our 11:00 bus with, LITERALLY, seconds to spare. So, allow the time. If it's a regular priced fare, and not a funfare, they will put you on an earlier bus if there is room.

[Globaliser]

We'll be arriving LHR T3 from Miami early November at 6:05, Club World on British Airways. I've read that it saves considerable ticket queue time to pre-book National Express, LHR to LGW. Has anyone here done this? What's a safe time slot to book this? How much time should it take for us to go through immigration, retrieve luggage, get to the coach, etc? Will the 7:35 coach be cutting it too close? 8:05 just right?

In general, National Express tries to be very flexible at airports. They recommend booking for later, and they will then put you on an earlier coach if you are there earlier. (This is explicitly stated on their website.) There are so many coaches between Heathrow and Gatwick that it shouldn't normally be a problem.

 

I have only bought tickets for this once. The ticket queue was not particularly long, though it wasn't a busy time of the day. However, there were a goodly number of self-service ticket machines, which provided a fast alternative.

 

But specifically for CruisinD, as your plans are mainly to go to Gatwick and stay overnight there, what I would highly recommend is this: Book your coach for something like 11.30 or 12 noon. When you exit from T3, don't go straight to the bus station. Instead, head first for T1 and the BA Arrivals Lounge. There, you can get a shower - and they will press your clothes for you while you're showering. There are even some spa treatments on offer there, like short massages. Then settle down to a good breakfast: there is a full English breakfast on offer, with lots of choice, and it's better than anything you're likely to be served on the aircraft. There are newspapers and magazines, and a number of Internet terminals.

 

All this is included in your Club World ticket, so it's all free to use (and there is no tipping). But not that many people actually make use of it. Since you have the time and the opportunity, definitely do it. It also means, BTW, that you can sleep for longer on board the aircraft because you can ignore the breakfast that's served on board.

 

If you get bored, you can still go to the bus station earlier than the time of your booked coach and go earlier. Otherwise, you'll have spent a very pleasant and relaxing morning in the lounge - one of the best ways to start a holiday.

 

More about BA lounges on this page - they have some of the best in the world.

[CruisinD]

Globaliser,

 

It had crossed my mind before to try the LHR lounge and my husband likes the idea of breakfast and also avoiding some of the heavier traffic by transferring a bit later. (We usually fly into LGW and those arrival facilities aren't as extensive from what I can discern. But we've never had the time to check it out.)

 

Will we be able to have the use of a luggage trolley throughout, from T3 to the T1 lounge and then on to the coach station? And how much time does it take to get from place to place?

 

Pcur,

 

Thanks for seconding my thoughts on pre-booking the tickets. Your posts always seem to respond very nicely to the practical side of things and I appreciate your tips. We've travelled a decent amount but are always learning!

 

Denise

[Globaliser]

(We usually fly into LGW and those arrival facilities aren't as extensive from what I can discern. But we've never had the time to check it out.)

 

Will we be able to have the use of a luggage trolley throughout, from T3 to the T1 lounge and then on to the coach station? And how much time does it take to get from place to place?

The Heathrow lounges are much, much better than what's available at Gatwick, which is basically just a couple of hotel rooms. At Heathrow, these are purpose-built lounges with lots of facilities.

 

You can get a luggage trolley all the way to the front door of the T1 lounge, but I believe that you can't actually take it inside the lounge. However, you only need to get your luggage a few feet from the door to the luggage storage place inside the lounge, where it'll get looked after so you don't have to cart it around during your visit. When you leave, you can often snaffle a trolley that's just outside the lounge that someone else has had to abandon. If there isn't one there, it's only a very short walk for one of you to get to the Zone R check-in area (see below) where there are usually a good number.

 

If you walk from T3 to T1, the posted route will take you through the underground tunnel system past the entrance to the Tube station. When you approach T1, you need to follow the signs for Departures. Use the lift (elevator) to go up to the check-in level. When you emerge from the lift, you will basically be in Zone A of international check-in. Turn right. You should be able to see signs for the BA Arrivals Lounge, which is beyond the far end of the international check-in area. It's often faster to go outside the building at the first door, and then walk along the pavement (sidewalk) all the way to the far end. You will see signs for BA's Zone R check-in, which is for First and Club classes (and higher tier frequent flyers), and which is in a separate location from the main check-in area. There are more signs for this area than for the Arrivals Lounge so it's easier to follow them. Head to the entrance to Zone R and then continue past it and down a short slope. The entrance to the Arrivals Lounge is directly ahead of you.

 

It's a pity that you have to do a schlep all the way over from T3, but as the Miami flights are the only BA flights at T3 (and are there for a very arcane political reason), there isn't any justification for an Arrivals Lounge at T3.