Originally Posted by
esspeebee
The St Pancras/Thameslink route, or any part of the eastern half of the country whose train service goes into Kings Cross. Gatwick is easier than Heathrow for me - train into Kings Cross, cross the road and go down the escalators onto the Thameslink train. For LHR it's either a long tube ride, in less comfort than the Thameslink train, or a tube ride and another connection through Paddington. Even arriving into Liverpool Street I don't see how Heathrow is easier than Gatwick.
Frankly I wish I could use Gatwick more for the lesser hassle of getting to it, but since the terminal move I've found myself flying only on LHR routes.
I would love to take advantage of the increase in BA flights from LGW but despite living on the East Coast mainline, the earliest 5:18am departure gets me to Gatwick for 09:30 - I would not dare book a flight before 11:00 and probably not before 11:30 if I was with Mrs Tanaka. The cheapest early morning train ticket to Gatwick is £70.50 if booked well in advance. The car would take 5/6 hours.
Returning home is less of a problem schedule wise but requires a flexible train ticket if you don't want to build in 4 hours for a potential delay on the plane. An off peak one way flexible ticket is crazy money but a flexible off peak return can be had for £144.10.
So for the 2 of us to go from LGW it requires £288 in train fares versus adding a NCL-LHR leg on BA (which often reduces the price compared to ex-LON) and paying £60 each way LHR-LGW in a taxi. For this I get my connection protected and tier points/avios too. But I don't really want the hassle of the M25 unless the price is too good to be true so for BA I'm really stuck with ex-LHR routes. I guess anyone living between Carlisle and Birmingham or in Northern Scotland has a similar problem.
Let's use some of those Gatwick slots for MAN, NCL and ABZ routes BA!