London airports to central London

eskbanker

skycatcher said:

skycatcher said:

Thanks folks. I've booked Stansted and the express train is £28 rtn

I might not book the train yet.... Is it easy to get buses at a reasonable cost from Stansted?

Direct links to the three operators were in the article I linked above.

easyBus has tickets starting at £2 if booked in advance. National Express has tickets at £6 (£5 +£1 booking fee).  Terravision has buses for £9 to London Liverpool Street and £10 to London Victoria

soolin

eskbanker said:

soolin said:

For convenience you can’t beat Heathrow or London City as it’s easy on the tube or Elizabeth line.

But OP is specifically looking for low cost flights, and is therefore choosing to avoid Heathrow and London City!

skycatcher said:

I used to travel for business 20 years ago and used LHR and LCY but these are very expensive options now. I need a simple and not to expensive method to London from one of the"low" cost airports.  Any recommendations?

It is sometimes cheaper to factor in travel costs and buy a dearer fare. We live in London and have on occasions found it cheaper to pay extra for a proper London flight than to travel further outside of London and pay for Uk travel. I’m also factoring in back up costs in case of strikes. 

skycatcher

soolin said:

eskbanker said:

soolin said:

For convenience you can’t beat Heathrow or London City as it’s easy on the tube or Elizabeth line.

But OP is specifically looking for low cost flights, and is therefore choosing to avoid Heathrow and London City!

skycatcher said:

I used to travel for business 20 years ago and used LHR and LCY but these are very expensive options now. I need a simple and not to expensive method to London from one of the"low" cost airports.  Any recommendations?

It is sometimes cheaper to factor in travel costs and buy a dearer fare. We live in London and have on occasions found it cheaper to pay extra for a proper London flight than to travel further outside of London and pay for Uk travel. I’m also factoring in back up costs in case of strikes. 

I have done this in the past....i like flying into London city airport as it's so handy! It's just prices are double the likes of Stansted so even with the extra transfer costs it's still much cheaper..... As I'm retired i have the luxury of not being in a rush!

jackieblack

skycatcher said:

DullGreyGuy said:

Depends your balance of time, comfort, cost and how far in advance you are booking... from most of these you can get a coach which is cheap if you book well in advance. Train will be quicker but more expensive and again earlier book gets cheaper prices.

You also need to factor the time/cost of traveling across London depending on where you are going to 

If you book the coach and your flight is delayed can you just get the next one if its not full or have you lost that ticket?

It depends on which ticket you buy. You can buy a Fully Flexible ticket or, if travelling from an airport, you can add 'change&go' option for £5 - which is cheapest can vary

skycatcher

jackieblack said:

skycatcher said:

DullGreyGuy said:

Depends your balance of time, comfort, cost and how far in advance you are booking... from most of these you can get a coach which is cheap if you book well in advance. Train will be quicker but more expensive and again earlier book gets cheaper prices.

You also need to factor the time/cost of traveling across London depending on where you are going to 

If you book the coach and your flight is delayed can you just get the next one if its not full or have you lost that ticket?

It depends on which ticket you buy. You can buy a Fully Flexible ticket or, if travelling from an airport, you can add 'change&go' option for £5 - which is cheapest can vary

Just noticed that National Express have a message on their website stating fares from stansted have a 3 hour grace window of the booked coach as standard which gives me much more confidence in booking with them....pkus you can use tesco tokens and get topcashback!

zagfles

lisyloo said:

You need to weigh up all the costs.
Getting to heathrow/Gatwick can be expensive on the trains at peak times.
I used to go LCY which is much more convenient.
Used to cost me about £3.6 on DLR rather than £50 on the train to Gatwick.
I went on business and always put in a justification for the higher flight prices being cancelled out by expensive ground transport.

If the flights are very expensive then I'd suggest looking at the Gatwick express.
It's much more central to get to victoria than paddington IMO but of course it depends on your onward journey.

I'd order it

Gatwick
Heathrow
Luton
Stanstead

£50 from Gatwick to Victoria I paid about that from Manchester to Gatwick!

Looking on national rail, an anytime single is £18.30 and off peak can get £12.50 fares

zagfles

Emmia said:

lisyloo said:

You need to weigh up all the costs.
Getting to heathrow/Gatwick can be expensive on the trains at peak times.
I used to go LCY which is much more convenient.
Used to cost me about £3.6 on DLR rather than £50 on the train to Gatwick.
I went on business and always put in a justification for the higher flight prices being cancelled out by expensive ground transport.

If the flights are very expensive then I'd suggest looking at the Gatwick express.
It's much more central to get to victoria than paddington IMO but of course it depends on your onward journey.

I'd order it

Gatwick
Heathrow
Luton
Stanstead

To go Heathrow I'd avoid the Heathrow express (unless using T5) and I'd get the Elizabeth Line, potentially all the way to central London. Paddington is also well connected via buses and tube lines.

Or get the tube from Heathrow (Piccadilly line) depending where you're going

Emmia

zagfles said:

Emmia said:

lisyloo said:

You need to weigh up all the costs.
Getting to heathrow/Gatwick can be expensive on the trains at peak times.
I used to go LCY which is much more convenient.
Used to cost me about £3.6 on DLR rather than £50 on the train to Gatwick.
I went on business and always put in a justification for the higher flight prices being cancelled out by expensive ground transport.

If the flights are very expensive then I'd suggest looking at the Gatwick express.
It's much more central to get to victoria than paddington IMO but of course it depends on your onward journey.

I'd order it

Gatwick
Heathrow
Luton
Stanstead

To go Heathrow I'd avoid the Heathrow express (unless using T5) and I'd get the Elizabeth Line, potentially all the way to central London. Paddington is also well connected via buses and tube lines.

Or get the tube from Heathrow (Piccadilly line) depending where you're going

I'd avoid the Picc line unless going to a place between LHR and central London on that line, it's incredibly slow.

eskbanker

Emmia said:

zagfles said:

Or get the tube from Heathrow (Piccadilly line) depending where you're going

I'd avoid the Picc line unless going to a place between LHR and central London on that line, it's incredibly slow.

Presumably that's exactly what was meant, although even if going further in or beyond, it still may appeal to the budget-conscious traveller with time on their hands, such as OP....

zagfles

Emmia said:

zagfles said:

Emmia said:

lisyloo said:

You need to weigh up all the costs.
Getting to heathrow/Gatwick can be expensive on the trains at peak times.
I used to go LCY which is much more convenient.
Used to cost me about £3.6 on DLR rather than £50 on the train to Gatwick.
I went on business and always put in a justification for the higher flight prices being cancelled out by expensive ground transport.

If the flights are very expensive then I'd suggest looking at the Gatwick express.
It's much more central to get to victoria than paddington IMO but of course it depends on your onward journey.

I'd order it

Gatwick
Heathrow
Luton
Stanstead

To go Heathrow I'd avoid the Heathrow express (unless using T5) and I'd get the Elizabeth Line, potentially all the way to central London. Paddington is also well connected via buses and tube lines.

Or get the tube from Heathrow (Piccadilly line) depending where you're going

I'd avoid the Picc line unless going to a place between LHR and central London on that line, it's incredibly slow.

About 50 mins to central London IIRC, but could be more convenient depending where you want to go. And it's quicker than what some people do, ie get the Heathrow Express to Paddington and then join a 30+ min taxi queue