Flight change times and national express

Marvel1

CardinalWolsey said:

Marvel1 said:

Update: Getting there 7 hours early was doable, however getting back is not - bus leaves 17:30 my new arrival time is 16:10 - too much of a risk.

Who are you flying with and which airport are you arriving at? If it's a carrier/route that typically lands on time, it's usually less than 30 minutes from wheels down to being landside (hand luggage only). My fastest is 18 minutes at LGW and 22 minutes at LHR-T5 (C gates) - wheels down to climbing into taxi.

Virgin Atlantic, Heathrow T3, with a suitcase to pick up.

tightauldgit

CardinalWolsey said:

Marvel1 said:

Update: Getting there 7 hours early was doable, however getting back is not - bus leaves 17:30 my new arrival time is 16:10 - too much of a risk.

Who are you flying with and which airport are you arriving at? If it's a carrier/route that typically lands on time, it's usually less than 30 minutes from wheels down to being landside (hand luggage only). My fastest is 18 minutes at LGW and 22 minutes at LHR-T5 (C gates) - wheels down to climbing into taxi.

Those are pretty impressive times but while LGW/LHR are not Luton (where I think my record is 3.5 hrs to get through passport control) I wouldnt be expecting to get through immigration so quickly as a standard. Normally there's at least a 15-30 minute queue of some description. 1hr 20 is probably doable with a following wind but it also depends on the terminal as you might have to take a tube to get to the bus station too. 

I had the opposite problem with NEX coming back from Gatwick where I'd allowed myself 3 hours and ended up with 2 to kill so just booked myself on the earlier bus and paid the extra to get home quicker. Nothing worse than sitting waiting for a bus when you've just come back from a long haul flight and are knackered and its 7am