Heathrow to Gatwick for £7 instead of £19.50

duchy

I have to travel between Heathrow and Gatwick late in the evening and thought the only viable (and step free -as I'll be carrying bags the underground was NOT an option) choice was National Express for £19.50 -however I've found a much cheaper option at £7.

Take the Metrobus X26 from Heathrow bus station to East Croydon for the unbeatable fare of £2 (it's a London Transport service so £2 is the maximum fare allowed-not yet able to confirm if you can use Oyster on it for £1) at East Croydon (the bus stops AT the station) buy a £5 single train ticket East Croydon to Gatwick. Twelve pounds fifty cheaper for one change instead of direct. Definitely an MSE fare.

Metrobus £2 + Rail £5=£7
National Express £19.50

pompeyrich

duchy wrote: »

Take the Metrobus X26 from Heathrow bus station to East Croydon for the unbeatable fare of £2 (it's a London Transport service so £2 is the maximum fare allowed-not yet able to confirm if you can use Oyster on it for £1) at East Croydon (the bus stops AT the station) buy a £5 single train ticket East Croydon to Gatwick. Twelve pounds fifty cheaper for one change instead of direct. Definitely an MSE fare.

Metrobus £2 + Rail £5=£7
National Express £19.50

Nice find Duchy, Oyster cards are accepted on the X26 according to the Metrobus site HERE.Some of the journey times look quite long, 2 hours at peak times but for £1.20 a very good price.

duchy

Off peak shows as about 80 mins plus 18 East Croydon to Gatwick so compares reasonably well with National Express' 75 minutes off peak as the rail segment is so much faster.

I found this by accident as I was actually looking for the bus from Heathrow to Feltham to get to Gatwick that way (via Clapham Junction) when this caught my eye -I thought the fare was a typo to start with I'd forgotten Oyster was now £1.20 for the bus-Thanks

I like the Feltham route too-another under advertised and cheaper option. I've stayed at the Feltham Travelodge and then used Oyster to get to Heathrow before. Cheap to stay and cheaper than those airport hotel shuttles next morning.

I'm planning on trying out Yotel when I get to Gatwick this trip so no hotel shuttle charges that end either

HouseHuntr

The X26/train looks like a pretty good, viable alternative to the extortionate fare which National Express charge.

duchy

I'll report back on how it went

Ponkle22

Please do report back!

Bit confused about Oyster - do you mean without an Oyster card you pay £2 to E. Croydon?

What is a Yotel?

Thanks!

Dave_Z

Ponkle22 wrote: »

Please do report back!

Bit confused about Oyster - do you mean without an Oyster card you pay £2 to E. Croydon?

What is a Yotel?

Thanks!

On London buses they have 2 fares. Cash single or Oyster single. If you don't have an Oyster card you have to pay the higher cash fare.

Yotel is a brand of Japanese style hotels where you can get compact rooms and you pay for how long you use it. Or at least that's how the one at Heathrow T4 works. At Heathrow T4 it's physically in the terminal so wouldn't take more than 1 min to walk to check in the next morning. I think they're owned by that guy from Dragons Den who started Yo Sushi.

Dave_Z

duchy wrote: »

I like the Feltham route too-another under advertised and cheaper option. I've stayed at the Feltham Travelodge and then used Oyster to get to Heathrow before. Cheap to stay and cheaper than those airport hotel shuttles next morning

When i first started working at Heathrow i stayed there for about 2 weeks. Brilliant being just above the shops and next to the train and bus station.

Those National Express Hotel Hoppa shuttles are a complete rip-off and prey on the unprepared traveller. You can easily get to the terminals from most hotels around the airport on local buses for a fraction of the cost. Most of the perimeter roads (including the Bath Road where many hotels are located) are part of the Heathrow Free Travel Zone, so you can actually travel to the terminal for free.

duchy

Yotel is in the South Terminal at Gatwick -one floor down at arrivals
I'm doing a slightly mad side trip flying LGW DUB LGW LAS as it's about £200 cheaper that way to fly than a London Vegas flight so going to Dublin for the day to do a little genealogy and have lunch with a friend before flying back and overnighting (Yotel works out cheaper than the train home and back again at peak time the next morning) before strolling to check in. I love the idea of no shuttle buses to contend with. The only non MSE thing about it is the£6 to leave my bag at left luggage at Gatwick for the day but still less than Ryanair want for a checked bag. (Had I not wanted a full day in Dublin I could have flown later and used twilight check in and saved the £6 or even flown to Dublin and back the same morning and then flown to Vegas but I booked during the ash cloud and decided that was a bit risky to have such a tight schedule)

Yotel btw is cheaper with some 3rd party sites than booking direct-I'm paying £42 for a full night which is competetive with Ibis, Mercure etc (even before you allow for the shuttle bus prices) and a darn sight cheaper than Sofitel and Hilton built onto the airport which were at least double

I'm really looking forward to trying it out-it sounds fun-as it has free WiFi I may even post a report from there LOL
One of my friends is so intrieged by it she's driving up from the south coast just to have a look at the room

duchy

I looked at this one but there is engineering works on the Feltham Clapham Junction leg in August -possibly only in the evening though as that is when I am travelling.

(I like your trip better than the bus for speed -even though it's more changes)

Think the bus from LHR to Feltham is now £1.20 with Oyster btw

matty_yorks

you guys are bloody awesome.