fastest and most convenient way from London Heathrow to Gatwick

"cjr" wrote in message
...

"Pacific Princess" wrote in message
...
AJC wrote:
about using LGW. Here at AMS I can check my gate number on the
internet the previous day, at LGW you check-in an hour in advance and
still they won't give you a gate number, just 'wait in lounge'.

or more like: "please spend your money at one of many shops in the
shopping centre".


I am curous whether this applies only to British Airways or to all
airlines.
BA probably has a tonne of gates at its disposal, so one could see an
advantage since it allows BA to dynamically assign gates based on which
plane
gets here first etc.

IME at LHR, all airlines. At least all I've flown on.It's very annoying.


Another aspect is that if staff at a gate are still processing
passengers
for
flight X, it would not be helpful to start sending passengers for flight
Y
to
that gate until the staff are done with flight X and ready to process
flight Y.

That makes some sense, but why not list the gate anyway, and then announce
when it's available? I don't mind spending time in the lounge, but it'd be
nice to know which gate (or at least which block of gates), so you have
some
clue where to sort of hang out when it gets close the to time your flight
is
called rather than on the far opposite end of the lounge.


I checked in 3 hours early at LHR today T3 on AA and was given the gate on
the boarding card, the problem is that at LHR T3 you cant get into the gate
area until there are staff to take your ticket before you get to teh part
where you sit down, so you would be hanging around outside blocking the
walkway.

Pacific Princess wrote:

I am curous whether this applies only to British Airways or to all airlines.
BA probably has a tonne of gates at its disposal, so one could see an
advantage since it allows BA to dynamically assign gates based on which plane
gets here first etc.


Careful - your US-centric thinking is showing. Unlike most US airports, BAA
(formerly British Airport Administration or something simliar) controls all the
gate assignments at LHR and LGW. Gates are released to the airline roughly 2
hours prior to aircraft scheduled arrival. Things are very tightly scheduled.
Miss your arrival time by a significant amount and you get to wait for a gate,
or worse, get one of the pads with stairs and busses. Miss your departure time
and your airline gets to pay a very large penalty.

Another aspect is that if staff at a gate are still processing passengers for
flight X, it would not be helpful to start sending passengers for flight Y to
that gate until the staff are done with flight X and ready to process flight Y.


Yep. Plus the fact that while a given airline may have one or more preferred
gates (allows bag carts to be nearby, etc), they aren't guaranteed.


But for smaller airlines, don't they have pre-assigned gates when they sign
contracts to operate out of that airport ?

Not at LGW or LHR.

cjr wrote in message
...

"Pacific Princess" wrote in message
...
AJC wrote:
about using LGW. Here at AMS I can check my gate number on the
internet the previous day, at LGW you check-in an hour in advance and
still they won't give you a gate number, just 'wait in lounge'.

or more like: "please spend your money at one of many shops in the
shopping centre".


I am curous whether this applies only to British Airways or to all
airlines.
BA probably has a tonne of gates at its disposal, so one could see an
advantage since it allows BA to dynamically assign gates based on which
plane
gets here first etc.

IME at LHR, all airlines. At least all I've flown on.It's very annoying.

A bit like the rest of the UK - poorly organised, with no emphasis placed
on efficiency at all. Plenty of excuses, whinging and all manner of other
reasons as to why nothing can be done to improve the situation, it pretty
much sums up the British attitude of the stiff upper lip. Just put up with
things being completely crap, and don't complain.

OK, I know I am being a bit unfair here, but I am still bitter about
arriving at Heathrow one evening when there was a tube strike on, and had to
get to Hammersmith. Now seriously, Hammersmith is directly on the way to
central London, and is a major transport hub. The tube strike was known
about weeks before. Did they do ANYTHING about organising alternative
transport? NO! Not a ****ing thing!!! Just had the usually night buses which
didn't start until after midnight (it was 10:30 PM), and the taxis were
operating on special super expensive rates. I ended up sharing a cab with 3
others, and it cost me £20 for my share.

The Major of London should have had his arse kicked for that, but everyone
is so used to things being completely ****, that they don't complain, and
anyone that does complain is probably a tourist, and dismissed as such. I
know London has an ancient and decaying infrastructure, but there is no
reason why **** like this should occur. People don't mind a little bit of
disruption, but it's tolerable as long as they can see that something (as
opposed to nothing) has been done about it.
---
DFM

Regarding checking with BA to see if they fly out of Heathrow, I will
punch it in on their site--just to see. It may be worth $150 just to
make the change so that I won't have to rush about.

Thanks.

Lil


"Miss L. Toe" wrote in message ...
"Lil" wrote in message
om...
Getting a bit confused here.


So am I !!

Is Speedlink and Narional Express coach the same?


I was 100% sure they were different www.speedlink.co.uk is down for
maintenance.

Speedlink is 17 GBP and leaves from the terminal door
National Express is 15 GBP and leaves from the central bus station

Also, I can't seem to find airport maps at baa.com. Does anyone have
a link to a map of Heathrow and the outside where the buses are?


The speedlink is very easy just follow the speedlink signs to the ticket
desk.

In light of the many inputs, I am very inclined to pack very light and
just have a carry-on. Would customs insist on going through our bags?


Very unlikely, but remember BA are tight on hand luggage limits, but you
could check in teh nag at LGW.

Still trying to decide whether I should try the coach service or the
cab....


I would prebook a cab - unless you are very poor or dont really mind the
hassle of missing the connection.

Thanks in advance.


Just to complicate matters further, have you checked to make sure that BA
dont actually fly to where you want to go from LHR (they may be very nice to
you and change the ticket) ???

Well, I did check just now....

BA only flies to Bologna from Gatwick. I guess I will have to cab it
since the consensus is I will almost certainly miss the connection....

Thanks all!

Lil


"Miss L. Toe" wrote in message ...
"Lil" wrote in message
om...
Getting a bit confused here.


So am I !!

Is Speedlink and Narional Express coach the same?


I was 100% sure they were different www.speedlink.co.uk is down for
maintenance.

Speedlink is 17 GBP and leaves from the terminal door
National Express is 15 GBP and leaves from the central bus station

Also, I can't seem to find airport maps at baa.com. Does anyone have
a link to a map of Heathrow and the outside where the buses are?


The speedlink is very easy just follow the speedlink signs to the ticket
desk.

In light of the many inputs, I am very inclined to pack very light and
just have a carry-on. Would customs insist on going through our bags?


Very unlikely, but remember BA are tight on hand luggage limits, but you
could check in teh nag at LGW.

Still trying to decide whether I should try the coach service or the
cab....


I would prebook a cab - unless you are very poor or dont really mind the
hassle of missing the connection.

Thanks in advance.


Just to complicate matters further, have you checked to make sure that BA
dont actually fly to where you want to go from LHR (they may be very nice to
you and change the ticket) ???

AJC wrote:

There is no BA terminal, just the North and South.

Well, yes, but BA flights only depart from the North terminal, though
it's not exclusively used by them.

David

--
David Horne- www.davidhorne.co.uk
davidhorne (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk

"David Horne" wrote in message
news:1g36a7g.zzd9te1d9ta4oN%this_address_is_for_sp ...
AJC wrote:

There is no BA terminal, just the North and South.

Well, yes, but BA flights only depart from the North terminal, though
it's not exclusively used by them.

Apart from one BA number flight to some obscure place I have never heard of,
it is probably a code-share on some one else's metal

"Lil" wrote in message
om...
Well, I did check just now....

BA only flies to Bologna from Gatwick. I guess I will have to cab it
since the consensus is I will almost certainly miss the connection....

Thanks all!

Lil



This is where some bright spark suggests you change the flight to go to
somewhere near Bologna that BA flys to from LHR

http://www.britishairways.com/travel...u/public/en_gb (these are
combined LHR and LGW I think)

My suggestion:
Do some research on getting from the above destinations in Italy to Bologna.
Arrive at LHR, if you are not happy that you are early enough to make the
connection at Gatwick, go to the BA ticket desk, explain the situation, and
ask if they can put you on a different flight to Bologna or somewhere near
(ideally from LHR). Say it that way, don't ask for a different destination.
I'm sure travelling from Milan (or Verona, or Venice) to Bologna is much
more fun than the trip from LHR to LGW. and who knows if your plans are
flexible at the other end, you may decide to stay a day or two somewhere
else at random before the trip to Bologna.

In article ,
(Michael Brennan) wrote:

In article ,
Testos Terone wrote:
Lil wrote:
Should I start checking into changing the second leg of the trip?

If both Continental and BA tell you the connection is feasable and that BA
will put you on next flight if you miss first one, then there is no real
reason to chaneg it now.

However, you may wish to have BA put a note in your reservation that you did
inquire about legality of connection and were told it could be done.

Things to do:

when you check in for first flight, advise check in agent that you have a
tight connection to make and ask if it would be possible to tag your bags as
priority luggage. Similarly, during the first flight, you can mention to the
FAs that you have tight connection to make (especially if yoru flight is
slightly delayed) and *kindly* ask if you could be moved to a seat near the
exit before landing. They may or may not agree, if not, there is no point in
pushing it. It is really at their discretion.

Wear running shoes so that once you're out of the plane, you can run/walk
faster than everyone else and get ahead of the masses.

Visit the BAA web site to familiarize yourself with the layout of heathrow
and
gatwick so that you'll have a better idea of where you need to go.

Also, ask BA here if there is any way to pre-purchase your transfer bus
ticket
so that when you get to London, you don't need to spend time finding out
how/where to buy the tickets.

Remember that at Gatwick, if you travel with BA, it is likely the bus will
drop you off in the first terminal and you need to take the monorail to the
BA
terminal.





West to East transatlantic flights often arrive early, I arrived 50mins early
in April, (depends on the jetstream). Dont worry about getting a seat
near exit, you first have to clear immigration at LHR, and then can pick
up your bags. I have a UK passport and so dont have to wait in any lines
at immigration, but still takes about 45mins from plane landing to getting
bags and exiting customs.

Arrange with a minicab company, for a transfer (average $50ukp) from LHR
to LGW, will meet you as you exit customs. I can recommend Broadway Express
0208-3044000 as a company that have used in the past. Getting a black cab at

You're giving the number wrong. The area code for london Is 020. The
phone number is 83044000

In article ,
Dave Noble wrote:


More relevantly, you cannot wait in the gate area until the staff turn
up to open it

you can at LHR 4 and various gates at LGW.