Wembley to LHR in a rush
 

We are watching the NFL game at Wembley on 20 October.

Problem is that we are staying in central London, but need to be at LHR for a flight just after 9PM. We cannot miss it, despite it being domestic. The game is likely to finish at 6PM or so, but could be longer if it goes into overtime.

What would people reccomend as the best way to getting to LHR? I had been considering a private driver since the idea of getting on the underground to the city centre, getting the bags, then out to LHR sounds very tight. However, I am not sure if the roads will all be blocked around Wembley when the game finishes.

If we are doing a private hire with driver, who would people reccomend as being reliable.

You should check whether there'll be engineering work on the Elizabeth Line, Heathrow Express or Piccadilly Line on that date. If so, you'll have no choice but to book a driver. What will you do with your bags?

So the journey will be Wembley to central London then LHR? Where in central London? The roads won't be blocked per se, but there will be an element of gridlock and painfully slow in my experience. Public transport is usually overwhelmed too.

Seems like the best option for speed is to store bags at Paddington Station, and then take the Tube to Paddington, get the bags, then hop on the HEX or Elizabeth Line, right? I can't imagine it will be faster to be on the roads at the same time 80k people are leaving the stadium.

Addison Lee have never let me down, but it has been a while since I’ve needed to use them.

From the point you leave your seat at the end of the match I think you will be lucky to get to heathrow departures inside 2 hours on public transport.

Ordinarily the quickest way from Wembley to Heathrow is bus to Ealing Broadway then Liz Line - about 75 minutes. After a major event that's out of the window.

So, you're either looking at a driver or TfL services that don't involve roads.

The expansion of Wembley Park station has made queues leaving the stadium move much quicker, but nonetheless you can still count on it being at least 15 minutes from joining the queue to being on a train. That's not even including the time taken to get from your seat to the queue in the first place, which could be another 10 minutes or more if you're seated the wrong side and don't know your way around the place. So, allow yourself 30 minutes to being on the move.

I would also second leaving your bags somewhere en-route, which ever option you choose. You really do not have time to go back to a central hotel unless it's very close to your routing.

The tube will take you to Baker Street on the Metropolitan Line then change to Circle/Hammersmith & City for Paddington. That's roughly 40 minutes, putting you there at 7.10pm if the game finishes at 6pm. Collect luggage, get on a Heathrow Express and you're at the airport by about 7.45pm, 8pm if you use Liz Line.

You could also consider going to Wembley Central, Overground train towards Watford, then a driver. That's more predictable in traffic terms, and the station might not be quite as busy, but would involve more pre-game hassle depositing luggage somewhere.

If you use a driver from close to the stadium, I would think about walking towards Harrow (the Preston Rosd part) through the residential streets around Wembley and being collected there - it might be a 45-minute drive from there on matchday. So you're looking at 20 minutes of walking, plus 10 minutes to get round from your seat, plus up to an hour including getting your luggage - plus you need to co-ordinate meet time and place with your driver unless you want to risk an Uber being close. You'll need to find private luggage storage through one of the various apps. So more hassle, probably more cost, but likely a time saving of 15-30 minutes.

Personally I'd probably take the better certainty of public transport, but all your options involve a certain amount of squeaky-bum time.

Another option would be to get any bags up the northern end of the Met Line, say Rickmansworth. Get the tube north out of Wembley Park (will the less busy direction). Trains run every 15mins and take around 30mins. From Ricky in a cab (£40 ish) you're 3 mins from the M25 and with a clear run 25mins to Heathrow.

Another option would be Uxbridge - the tube journey would be a bit slower as there are more stops, but you're closer to the airport and a taxi has the easy option of local roads via Yiewsley or M25 to get to the airport depending on traffic conditions.

Chiltern services to Aylesbury depart from Wembley Stadium station. I've no experience of how quick it is to get on the platforms, but from there it's one stop to Northolt Park followed by a 25 minute drive to T5. You can travel a couple more stops as far as Denham to reduce the driving distance, although Northolt has more route options in the event of issues on the M25.

That's probably the quickest option by quite a way, but the hardest to find bag storage.

Chiltern used to be really reliable but in recent times I would not depend on them.

As for bags, they could of course be checked in any time earlier the same day if it's BA?

Are you checking in your bags? Another option might be to go to LHR earlier in the day and check your bags in early and then that's one less factor to deal with after the game.

Though not many airlines do offer early check in so the alternative would be usign the left luggage faciltities at LHR or one of the London rail stations.

If this is BA then check-in for a domestic closes 45 mins before departure so you really have closer to 2 hours than 3 to get from the stadium to the airpoort.

You also need to check the TFL website for any tube / Lizzieline engineering works that may affect your routing options.

how "cannot miss it" are we talking?
lose your job cannot miss it?
miss your kid's wedding cannot miss it?

if anything approaching this level of "cannot miss it" - then leave Wembley EARLY.

This was going to be my advice.

Yes it'll be annoying to leave early but more or less annoying than missing your flight.

Don't forget the emergency backups of the Sleeper from Euston, and overnight buses from Victoria!