4 hours layover from Gatwick North to Heathrow Terminal 5

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  • Nellyharkes
    Participant

    Dear all, hopefully someone will read this.

    I live in Sydney and my father is coming over to visit me and his grandchildren. One of them he has never met! So, a pretty special occasion. I have not seen him for 3 years.

    He booked a ticket with a third party web that gave him an ALL BRITISH AIRWAYS itinerary that takes him from Malaga to Gatwick North landing at 16:10 and from Heathrow Terminal 5 departing at 20:00 hrs onto Asia and Sydney
    There are only 3 hours 50 between the time he lands and the time he needs to board on a plane again.
    He is not going to check in any luggage luckily and will have all the boarding passes with him, but still I am not sure how this is possible, and how the airline has allowed this itinerary.!!

    I am so scared he may miss his flight and won’t be able to see him at all?? will he be giving another flight if he does not make it ?
    Flight is on a Thursday, and he would probably be on the road during rush hour?

    What can I do? He is due to fly in 9 days

    HELP

    BA I love you, but seriously…


    openfly
    Participant

    Hi, if the AGP-LGW flight is on time, there should be no problem. The buses to LHR T5 are frequent. He should get the 17.00 and be at T5 at 18.00. If he is over 60, you can buy a discounted ticket online at Nationalexpress.com. The ticket will specify a bus time, but the drivers are very flexible if he wants to travel on an earlier bus. Good luck.


    ImissConcorde
    Participant

    The Senior discount on National Express doesn’t apply to airport journeys. It’s £25 regardless.

    Nellyharkes – advise your dad to go straight through security on the departures level. No need to stop to ask for directions. He MUST be through 35 minutes before his scheduled departure time. The bus ticket can be bought online now saving another 10 minutes at Gatwick.


    GivingupBA
    Participant

    That looks very tight to me – OK if there are no delays, not so good if there any delays.

    To be honest – if that was me, I would make every effort to rebook one of the flights. PS I have been travelling through Heathrow and Gatwick for decades and also have often taken the bus from one to the other (sometimes getting a bit delayed in rush hour traffic).


    Hktbound
    Participant

    I agree, I would try and rebook to a flight with a longer layover given both a change of airport and distance of connecting flight.
    There is an AGP- LHR flight but it runs only on certain days and the one I take is a late arrival and certainly after the 2000 timeframe so irrelevant in this case but useful to other travellers.
    However, BA do offer a GIB- LHR service which is close to AGP which would connect to the 2000 flight and I would most definitely book onto this service. There will be a terminal change but at least you are in the right airport for the sake of an hours maximum and easy ride to Gibraltar
    Good Luck


    Hktbound
    Participant

    Further to my post about switching from AGP to GIB it would be worth checking with BA if they can accept a change or indeed a new ticket from Gibraltar as it is my understanding that if the first leg is not taken then the connecting leg can be automatically cancelled. I think Gibraltar would connect everything through to Sydney but not if the first leg was a no show. Maybe a travel industry specialist could confirm this and advise


    MartynSinclair
    Participant

    @Nellyharkes – can you confirm whether this your Dad is using one thru ticket or two separate tickets… and more importantly, do BA know you are transiting from Gatwick to T5 and noted this in your ticket..


    Jackyladdo
    Participant

    I wouldn’t fancy it in less than four hours, but if I did make the journey, I’d use the Gatwick Express to get to Victoria Station (frequent and takes just half an hour), get the tube from Victoria to Paddington, then get the Heathrow Express to T5, which takes about another 25 minutes.

    If money isn’t an issue then maybe a taxi would be a less stressful experience for him though?


    icenspice
    Participant

    @Nellyharkes

    It sounds like this is a thru ticket from Spain. Even so, if I were your father I would try to change to an earlier flight from AGP or a later flight from LHR, if only for a less stressful trip.

    Hope all works out well.


    FaroFlyer
    Participant

    Do make sure that it is a BA through booking. Check the ticket number, and if it is more than one number it is not a through booking. Alternatively log in to, or sign up to, BA Exec Club, then add the booking to “your” booking, using the PNR

    I do FAO to LGW and onwards to HKG quite regularly, but would be worried by a < 4 hour transfer. I agree that the National Express buses are quite good, but if it is a busy day, you can easily have to wait up to half an hour. 16:30 to 17:00 is a busy time for the M25. Which day is it?

    There are private transfer companies that do this run. If you are interested please reply and I will send a link to a company that I have used before. I have no interest in this company, other than as a customer.


    MartynSinclair
    Participant

    One for the travel agents…

    If it is a through ticket – I know BAEC always displays the transfer between airports is the passengers responsibility, but presumably this refers to the cost of the transfer.

    If BA have issued a through ticket, will the passenger be protected against a missed connection due to an M25 delay or other peril….?

    if so, there is no panic…


    CathayLoyalist2
    Participant

    I’ve done a few transfers from LGW to LHR and booked a car transfer Met in arrivals in the North Terminal’ terminal and then 50 minutes to T3 at LHR. Cost GBP 55. Well worth the money. Quite a few companies operate the service so just google LHR/LGW car/taxi transfers.

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