Shall I shan't I?

Carmen

Hi folks, need some practical moneysaving advice please.

O/H and I have just been informed (by sis) that we are flying to Thailand on the same day that I fly back from France :eek:
I arrive at Stanstead 14.30 and need to check in at Heatrow at 17.30. Now this is where I am torn! I can get cheaper flights (ryanair) on the day but can I trust RA to get me to Stanstead so that I can get over to heathrow or should I play safe, leave the day before ( ticket price double)spend the night at Stanstead/Heathrow (added expense) My money saving mind says one thing but, would be very expensive if we missed the flight to Thailand :mad: I have flown with Ryanair many times and cannot remember having been delayed for any great time ( I know people that have )
What would you do?
Carmen x

wbk666

and you expect people to take seriously a thread posted in pink?

dzug

Even if Ryanair get you to Stansted on time (and their record is good) that isn't enough time to make the transfer comfortably, if at all. You need to allow longer.

hubblebubble

i say go for the safe option and fly earlier.....

nico26

Me to Fly early. You cannot guarantee you will arrive on time and the travel to Heathrow will take a bit of time.3 hours is not enough time.Go the day before and have peace of mind.

lynzpower

Even if you arrived on time, I expect you would be cutting it fine. I live in london , so would look at the flight arriving into stansted at 14.30

Timeline

14.50 arrive at Stanstead ( baggage can take a while here IME,unless you are hadluggage only- I'll presume you are not)
15.50 get out of stansted on the standstead exrpress
lets call it 30 mins on the s express -arriving Liverpool street 16.20
1620 depart L st on tube to Paddington on the hammersmih & city - 40 mins ( IME) I used to do this route daily- prone to delays on this line)
Arrive Heathrow at 17.00
Negotiate your way to your check in desk, an optimistic 10 mins

17.10 - this will only give you 20 mins till the plane departs, not long enough to check in, you'll arrive at least 2.5 hours late. thats all being well with the tubes/ train through London.

Impossible im afraid.

Carmen

Thank you for all your suggestions.
Gosh Lynz, your breakdown of the travelling certainly put this into perspective for me. I did think a transfer bus from Stanstead to Heathrow may exist Now I have calmed down and let it all sink in I have to agree the 'play safe' option is the best one :T :j
Carmen x

wbk666

Voyager2002

There is an obvious solution. Forget Ryanair, and take Eurostar to/from Paris. The lowest fares are often for early morning departures, which will give you far more time in London than you need. But you could have a late and relaxed breakfast, hop on the train, and get to Waterloo for 13.00. The journey from Waterloo to Heathrow would take a good hour, but at least there would be no wait for baggage, no need to pass Immigration and Customs on arrival, so you could leave for Heathrow within minutes of the train's arrival.

Donnie

lynzpower wrote: »

Even if you arrived on time, I expect you would be cutting it fine. I live in london , so would look at the flight arriving into stansted at 14.30

Timeline

14.50 arrive at Stanstead ( baggage can take a while here IME,unless you are hadluggage only- I'll presume you are not)
15.50 get out of stansted on the standstead exrpress
lets call it 30 mins on the s express -arriving Liverpool street 16.20
1620 depart L st on tube to Paddington on the hammersmih & city - 40 mins ( IME) I used to do this route daily- prone to delays on this line)
Arrive Heathrow at 17.00
Negotiate your way to your check in desk, an optimistic 10 mins

17.10 - this will only give you 20 mins till the plane departs, not long enough to check in, you'll arrive at least 2.5 hours late. thats all being well with the tubes/ train through London.

Impossible im afraid.

Your 'timeline' is odd, to say the least.

First you have the plane arriving 20 minutes late, then you take a hour to collect your luggage :eek:
Next, you change the times of the trains leaving the airport, but shorten the journey considerably.

Mad, mad.

Carmen

If I was to attempt it, the only options I would consider, other than a Taxi direct, are the National Express bus from Stansted to Heathrow(90-120 mins. £20.50) or the EasyBus to Baker Street, Taxi to Paddington and then the HE.

Go for it.

Of course, this scenario is based on that fact that you will check in at 1730hrs.

As long as you are at the airport 90 mins before the flight, you are unlikely to have any problems checking in and making your flight.

3 hours is enough to make it from Stansted to Heathrow. 3 hours and 30 minutes is ample. That will still allow you to check in for your flight without problem.

Donnie

Carmen

If you hurry up, you can buy me a drink when you get to Thailand.

When are you due to arrive?

http://www.nationalexpress.com/airports/airports.cfm

http://www.easybus.co.uk/booking/EBUSBook.asp

I think the HE is at 10, 25, 40 and 55 mins past the hour.

duchy

Any airline can be delayed, technical problems, weather , crew shortage also baggage can get lost/delayed, trains can break down M25 can be blocked by an accident-a multitude of things-PLEASE travel back the day before ! There's just too many things that could go wrong. Yes if everything went to plan you'd do it-but Murphy's law is always possible.
If it was MY money and MY holiday I wouldn't risk it and I travel 30k miles minimum a year.