goldengate

Hello,

I am flying the relatively new BA flight from Oakland, California to London Gatwick Airport in Club World. I'm an old pro at Heathrow but have never set foot in Gatwick, so I've been looking for Youtube videos, threads here, etc. describing what it's like to arrive at Gatwick and then transfer via the National Express to take my flight to TLS. Arrival at LGW is 9:30 am and departure is same day at 1:55 pm.

I am guessing the reason all the guides are written as Heathrow to Gatwick is because that's much more challenging and that perhaps at Gatwick you just walk out the South Terminal and the Airport Express is right there, nothing to figure out?

Would appreciate any details from someone who has transferred from LGW to LHR, as well as any advice.

Thanks!

Fitch

Piece of cake !

Come out of Customs and head past the Costa and WH Smith - you will see 2 exits, 1 either side of the currency booth. Take the righthand one to the outside and go down a level (lifts to your right, ramp to your left).

NatEx coaches leave from the bays along the road immediately in front of you (this side of the car park). There is plenty of posted signage on which bay for the various LHR services and usually a helpful member of NatEx staff wandering around.

Really couldn't be easier

Virazuno

+1 for National Express as the way to get between the two. I think it's by far the most hassle-free way of doing it.

UKtravelbear

I agree. NEX is the easiest and least bother.

Unless you have a specific need to go into central london then just avoid the train/tube/train route or train/tube route.

firstlight

Arriving at 9:30 am means you should miss most of the rush and assuming there are no accidents the transfer on NEX should take no more than 1 hour leaving you plenty of time.

T8191

NEX user here. Not had to do LGW-LHR from the South Terminal yet, but last time through (connecting, cigarette break kerbside) I checked the signage which is very clear.

NA-Flyer

Check with UBER they might have a good fare to transfer between the two airports @:-)

Skyrocker

As most flights coming from west, always arrive ahead of schedule. most likely you will be out of the terminal at Gatwick before 10am, which is the peak times on the M25, one of UK busiest motorway. few here on flyertalk reported that it took them just over 2hours and half to get from Gatwick to Heathrow or vice versa.
If you travelling during the weekdays, consider taking the Gatwick express into London, the train takes 15min to arrive into Victoria Station. then a taxi or the tube (6stops) to Paddington Station to catch the Heathrow express that takes 22min to Heathrow. And if you arrive early to Paddington Station there's great coffee shops around to relax and catch some fresh air. trains are much more frequent then national express.

T8191

Was just going to mention that!! My morning runs have been LHR-LGW, and the traffic in the other direction is miles and miles of 3-4 lanes of static traffic.

firstlight

depends on the time. I live halfway between LGW and LHR & travel regularly both ways and there's normally a big falloff in traffic by 9:30am clearing clockwise. By 10:30 am at junction 10 (the time the OP will get through) it's normally clear.

cattp

Separate question but related. BA want to put me on a connecting flight to Newquay from LGW with Flybe after arriving in Heathrow on BA. Firstly, is it worth doing it this way or am I better off getting the train from Paddington. If I do choose to take the flight, then is my flight protected considering it's all one ticket despite being two different airlines? They only are giving 3 hours for connection on a Sunday evening and I know how the M25 can be...

corporate-wage-slave

Sunday evenings on the M25 shouldn't be too bad, and the NEX drivers know how to avoid problems if their colleagues report traffic jams. The trains may be subject to engineering problems, and as you suggest, by flying you protect the connection. I'm not sure where your final destination would be, but there may be a LGW alternative.

As for general guidance on this connection, there is a very detailed guide to transferring between LGW and LHR in the Forum Dashboard, admittedly referring a lot to LGW North rather than South, but that doesn't make a huge difference.

Yoshi212

That's too close for comfort in my mind.

bluemoon68

Check the train times for the Sunday in question, before you accept going by train. Depending on engineering works, the last train can be before midday!

ahmetdouas

Just a note Gatwick Express takes 30 mins not 15 mins so the train route isn't that quick actually unless its absolute bedlam on the M25.