Cheapest travel between Gatwick/Heathrow

arealhighlander

Myself and OH are needing to get round from Gatwick to Heathrow (and back on return from holiday)

I have ruled out the Gatwick Express/heathrow Express train option as its way too expensive (and having to transfer and jump about in London for connections, not very convenient when you have cases).

Best option at the moment is the National Express coach £71 return for the two of us. HolidayExtras do a good deal for return coach travel plus a night in a hotel at Heathrow on the way out. I got one for £95 (so the holtel was only costing £24 for the night!)

Unfortunately - they called to say the computer link between HolidayExtras and National Express is broken and they dont know when it will be fixed! So the booking had to be cancelled...

So, at the momeny we are staying at the Yotel in T4 (£59) as its cheaper than most of the hotels round Heathrow plus the advantage of being able to have a cheap evening meal in the Wetherspoons bar in the airport plus saving £16 in Hoppa bus fares getting to/from the airport hotel.

So, does anyone have any Moneysaving ideas to reduce the cost of the National Express bus, or any other cheaper means of transport between Gatwick/Heathrow?

dzug

The National Express coach Gatwick to London Victoria is £12.20 return, each. From there it's £4 single each on either the tube or the coach - the latter is an easier transfer in London - both services use Victoria Coach station. So £40.40 total return

Using Easybus from Gatwick to London can shave a £ or two off this.

You'll need to use the Heathrow Express (free) between the CBS and T4 if you get the coach.

arealhighlander

Thanks. I had just looked at the train via London as opposed to another bus.

Looked at National Express timetable, about 2 hours not counting transfer time in London, £40.40 as you said.

coral

Got to weigh up the hassle factor here - although expensive the service down to Gatwick is very good and its door to door, you've still got cross between the "arrivals" and "departures" at Victoria Coach station and the coaches aren't all that frequent plus prone to the London traffic. If you've got an onward flight from Gatwick I wouldn't be considering it unless you've got plenty of time!

From T4 you need to take a TFL 490 or 482 from stand 7 on arrivals towards T5 for coaches to Gatwick (free) or the Heathrow Connect towards the Central Bus Station if you are headed towards Victoria.

martindow

National Express have services every 10 minutes or so direct Heathrow - Gatwick with a journey time of 75 to 90 minutes. Must be quicker than any journey via central London. nationalexpress.com has timetables and fares.

dzug

OP knew about the coach and specifically asked for cheaper ways - if he's plenty of time (overnight stay by the sound of it) there's no problem in using them.

martindow

dzug wrote: »

OP knew about the coach and specifically asked for cheaper ways - if he's plenty of time (overnight stay by the sound of it) there's no problem in using them.

Apologies - I skimmed through the thread. How about bus X26 to Croydon, 405 to Redhill and 100 to Gatwick? This would take a while but would be about 5 pounds in total I imagine.

angel

You would have thought that there was a direct coach or something between the two. I'm amazed that there isn't.

dzug

angel wrote: »

You would have thought that there was a direct coach or something between the two. I'm amazed that there isn't.

??? no smilies in your post so presumably it's serious.

There IS a direct coach - however it is very expensive as are many (but not all) airport coach services. There are cheaper alternatives - some sensible, some not. Which are sensible depends on your circumstances


Apologies if you were being ironic:o

Horace

You can get cheaper National Express fares if you book online and say that you are disabled (they don't check btw - I use it but do have a disability).

I dont know if the Greenline buses that go from Victoria also go to Heathrow and Gatwick. I know that they go to Standsted and if you claim you have an Easyjet flight you can get a cheaper ticket (you dont have to be flying Easyjet to get the cheaper rate - even the bus driver will tell you).