Originally Posted by susiesan
Greetings! I am putting together an award trip using Skymiles to fly on Virgin. I will be returning from a cruise to Dover with the ship docking at 6:00am. I currently have a resrvation on the VS flight to Washington that leaves at 12:00pm. I will be flying on July 10, a Monday. Do those of you with experience at Heathrow think I will make this flight? I plan to have a car service pick us up at Dover around 7:00 am. Will we have enough time to get there? We are in Upper Class, so we have shorter lines to wait in. I'm going to try for a later flight, but I have to connect on Delta to Kansas City and get home all in one day. As of now there are no award seats on the Delta flights that connect with the later Virgin flights through New York or Boston. Some people have said it takes 2 hours from Dover to Heathrow, but I wonder what Monday morning traffic around London is like? What do you all think?
Susie
You know you could probably do it within the 6 hours. Having lived and grown up in London there are far too many variables that can go wrong. Coming in from Kent (Dover) on Monday morning rush hour is far from pleasant especially with luggage.
To drive you will need to take the M23/M25. Again Monday morning rush hour is horrible.
The trouble with the train is that the Kent side terminates in the South of the city and LHR Express goes from Paddington in the North. You will need to allow at least 45 mins for this crossing connection
I do have a suggestion though! Stay over on Monday night, book yourself into the Sofitel St. James with one of their internet specials. This is a 5* hotel right where you as a tourist will want to be. Get up Tuesday morning and take the IAD flight as planned. The internet rates are excellent.
Just took a look and the VS flights and they are wide open July 11 to IAD and NYC in Upper Class.
Good luck. Feel free to PM if you need anything else.