Anyone taken shuttle from London Gatwick to..

[Frank O]

Heathrow? I'd like some info on that. Due to my changes in schedul I fly in one airport & fly out another.

[Frank O]

... in response to Anyone taken shuttle from London Gatwick..., posted by Frank O on Jun 4, 2003

NT

[Griffin redux]

... in response to OOPs I'm going from Heathrow TO Gatwick!..., posted by Frank O on Jun 7, 2003

Don't you kind of like the music?  :-)

Have fun amigo.  Either way is not a problem.

[Streetwise]

... in response to Anyone taken shuttle from London Gatwick..., posted by Frank O on Jun 4, 2003

The ticket booth is located in the Arrivals area of Gatwick Airport, just after you come out of the Baggage Hall. The service is called "Speedlink" and there is a sign at the booth, also on the bus itself. I think the ticket is around 10 pounds. The journey should take an hour on clear roads but I should allow 2 hours because the M25 motorway is the biggest car park in the UK!! I think it operates every hour or so, but if you search for speedlink on the web you should find all the up to date info.

Just be sure you know which Terminal your flight goes from at Heathrow (there are 4, and they have separate bus stops.)

[Frank O]

... in response to Yes, many times..., posted by Streetwise on Jun 4, 2003

NT

[DanM]

... in response to Anyone taken shuttle from London Gatwick..., posted by Frank O on Jun 4, 2003

No, but I had to sleep in Heathrow once on the way back from Moscow. My advice is to stay away from the Polish Airline (LOT) at all costs.

[John K]

... in response to Re: Anyone taken shuttle from London Gat..., posted by DanM on Jun 4, 2003

Never really had a problem with them, except most of the time we have to make a mad dash across the Warsaw airport to catch our flight back to the US.  Since the Warsaw airport is small (only 12 gates) it's only a pain, not an ordeal.

On the other hand, the one time I flew with Lufthansa, I was running back and forth across the Frankfurt airport several times, because they screwed up my flight and made me miss my connecting flight.  After going up and down the airport several times, getting conflicting stories, and getting my tickets and vouchers confirmed.  I managed to catch my flight minutes before they closed the door.  I came in 10 hours late.  Given that I was supposed to meet my fiancée for the first time 8 hours earlier, I was less than pleased...

[DanM]

... in response to We usually use LOT, posted by John K on Jun 5, 2003

Sounds like my expereinces were the opposite. When traveling Luftansa, Air France, American or Aeroflot, I always had a good flight. The flights were on time and there were absolutely no hassles.

With LOT, however, it was a very different story. Let me explain. My wife came to America with me in July of last year, but I also visited Moscow in May of that same year. Its a long story, but I did make the trip for about 10 days. Anyway, I book my flight through Orbitz and LOT was easily the cheapest flight.

When flying from Miami to Newark (at least I think it was Newark), my flight was behind schedule. I race accross the airport and make it to my LOT flight gate just in time. The only problem was that I found out they bumped me from the flight. When I talked to the 6 or 7 LOT employees at the counter, they really did not want to help and they did not care what I would do as a result of their company bumping me from a flight that I had already paid for. My biggest beaf was not being bumped. It happens. My biggest problem was the total lack of care exhibited by LOT employees. Well I finally got a little help from someone at American airlines (they were somehow affiliated with LOT for my flight) and they were able to book me for another later American flight. At the end of the day, I got to Moscow about 8 hours late, but was not able to notify my wife (fiance at the time) until London so she was totally freaked out when I got there.

On the way back, it was even better. While in Warsaw,  my first flight was canceled because of engine trouble with the airplane and then the LOT office did not want to book me a replacement flight until 3 days later. At my own expense of course. At this point I was as angry as I have been in a very long time. Although I did not threaten this man, he was trembling when I finished explaining my frustration. Just so you know, I am six feet five inches tall, I have a shaved head and I am a solid 250 lbs even when I am not lifting wieghts consistently. I scare strangers in elevators without trying. Long story short, this trembling joker booked me business class for a flight from Warsaw to London (British Airways) within the hour and promised an airline paid hotel stay near the airport before I took a London flight home. After my repeated questioning, he insisted a LOT employee would be there to take care of everything once I reached London. Guess what? When I got to London, there was not a single LOT employee in the airport. Nice. As a result, I had to sleep in the airport over night and then get up for my early morning flight to the states.

I am not saying every person has such as bad experience with LOT, but it can happen. It's my belief that it happens because of an incredibly low accountablity system within the company and a total lack of customer care. Just my opinion based on my own personal experiences. If you had a different experience, then I am truly happy for you.

[John K]

... in response to Re: We usually use LOT, posted by DanM on Jun 5, 2003

You have my sympathies there.  Marina and I are looking at the new AeroSvit flight from New York to Kiev for our future flights.  I hear that AeroSvit is a pretty nice airline.

While we have never had any problems with LOT, your story leaves me more cautious about them for the future.

My problems with Lufthansa was caused by a freak of nature.  When we had arrived at Frankfurt, we could not land, due to two storm systems surrounding the airport.  Had only one storm system been there, we could have landed.  Instead, all flights were rerouted to other airports to wait out the storm.

After the storm cleared, my plane left Cologne, GE back to Frankfurt.  Of course, by the time my flight arrived, my connecting flight had already taken off.  Frankfurt was a madhouse.  Lines were huge and lots of people were waiting to get new flights.  I had Lufthansa reps look at my tickets and move me to the front of lines several times.

Even so, it was of no help.  The rep would just look at what had happened, then they'd tell me to go someplace on the other end of the airport.  I traversed Frankfurt several times because of this.  Finally, I had my flight booked, or so I thought.  When the counter finally was getting ready for my flight, I stopped up to talk to them.  They looked at my tickets and told me it was all messed up.  So now I had less than an hour to run across Frankfurt again (only to the middle this time, thank God), stand in another long line and hope that I got taken care of properly before my plane left again without me.

Luckily, another rep moved me to the front of the line again, and I managed to catch someone who really knew what to do.  He got me the right tickets, and the vouchers I'd need to transfer to another airline.  I then rushed back to the gate and caught my plane with minutes to spare.

Once I arrived in Prague(!) I then had to find the Air Ukraine counter and get my voucher converted to a ticket.  A couple of hours later, the plane finally arrived and I could go to Ukraine.  I arrived 10 hours late and my luggage arrived two days later.  The only good thing was that my travel agent, my driver, and my fiancée were all waiting for me when I finally cleared customs and exited the terminal.  

I was lucky enough to have preplanned my first trip with a conscientious local agent, and to be blessed with a determined fiancée.  Also, I was paranoid and determined enough to keep checking and doublechecking my Lufthansa tickets.  Had I not, I would have been stuck in Prague, desperately trying to get a flight to Kiev.

After that, I decided to go with LOT.  Warsaw is a small airport and I figured that it would be easier for me to manage the bureaucratic red tape there.  Still, your story leaves me enough concern to reinforce our plans to use the new AeroSvit NY to Kiev route, the next time we travel.  At least the connecting leg will still be in the US, at a busy enough terminal to allow us flexibility to maneuver...

[Travis]

... in response to Anyone taken shuttle from London Gatwick..., posted by Frank O on Jun 4, 2003

I did. But I had a day to spend in London so I wasn't in any rush. There's a ticket booth at Gatwick for the shuttle to Heathrow. I wish I remember the cost but it wasn't more than about 10 pounds. It isn't too difficult to find, you can ask anyone working at the airport and they can direct you to the booth. Fortunately, Gatwick isn't all that large of an airport, unlike Heathrow. The wait for the bus and the ride took little more than an hour or so.

[Alfred]

... in response to Anyone taken shuttle from London Gatwick..., posted by Frank O on Jun 4, 2003

There's a thread about this in the archives from October 2002. The head of the thread is: http://www.planet-love.com/wwwboard/search/searchdisplay.php?page=russian&archive=000193&id=78723&bold[]=heathrow&bold[]=gatwick

Pordzhik list the options for getting between Gatwick and Heathrow in this reponse to that thread: http://www.planet-love.com/wwwboard/search/searchdisplay.php?page=russian&archive=000193&id=78723&bold[]=heathrow&bold[]=gatwick

(That is a useful post Pordzhik!)

[wilmc]

... in response to Re: Anyone taken shuttle from London Gat..., posted by Alfred on Jun 4, 2003

I have flown to Moscow 4X, Delta once BA the rest.  Delta was the quickest, non-stop but also the most uncomfortable.
I am "big" and BA always upgraded me to their "better" class economy seats or "Business Class."  All connections were at Heathrow, no hassle.  BA flies to Kiev.  Heathrow has huge "duty free shopping" areas where I buy some gifts, like "PAL" format VHS and DVD movies, Bailey's etc.   I enjoy a travel "break" in London.

I do not know any domestic carrier that flys direct to Kiev, (KBP.

I have always used frequent flyer miles so I can't compare costs