Gatwick to Heathrow car service?

[Aladora]

Totally not Disney related but I hope someone here can give me some advice!

DH and I are landing at Gatwick from Canada at 8:40 and we leave Heathrow for Amsterdam at 14:30 so I have a couple of questions.

Is there a car service you can recommend? It is just two adults and two suitcases so we don't need anything huge.

What time should I book the car service for? Most of the ones I have looked at either ask what time do we want to be picked up or how long after our flight lands do we want to be picked up. We will have to go through customs, immigration, and collect our luggage but having never flown to Gatwick I am not sure how long to allow for this.

Thanks for any advice!

 

[Woodview]

No idea of car or train times

BUT TIME is your enemy

Land at 08.40 then get to passport control then collect luggage

now time is 11 am
You WILL have to be at Heathrow by 11 .30

VERY TIGHT .....Sorry see if you can change your Flight times to Amsterdam

( Train station to Amsterdam and onwards is Below the main concourse }

 

[Aladora]

No idea of car or train times

BUT TIME is your enemy

Land at 08.40 then get to passport control then collect luggage

now time is 11 am
You WILL have to be at Heathrow by 11 .30

VERY TIGHT .....Sorry see if you can change your Flight times to Amsterdam

( Train station to Amsterdam and onwards is Below the main concourse }

Thanks for the info, we are flying yvr-ams all on BA so I hope that they know what they are doing as it relates to connections! (Fingers crossed)

We are flying Business to whole way there so I hope that helps with checking in at Heathrow.

 

[Bad Pink Tink 2.0]

I used to live in London and have flown from both Heathrow and Gatwick so many times Ive lost count.

I agree, your time between flights is very tight. Airlines do this as they calculate the minimum time between flights. But that minimum does not allow for any delays.

There is a Gatwick to Heathrow transfer bus service with National Express Bus. This is your best option
https://www.nationalexpress.com/en/airports/gatwick/heathrow-to-gatwick

If you had more time, another option would be
Gatwick Express Train to Victoria Train Station
Circle or District Line Tube to Paddington Station
Heathrow Express Train to Heathrow Airport

In London people use public transport before a car service. The Government encourage public transport use instead of car use , so things like car services are expensive due all the higher running costs such as things like the congestion charge. This was expanded in 2023 and now includes the area around Heathrow airport.

 

[Karin1984]

According to the Heathrow website you have to be 2 hours before departure at the airport for domestic flights or flights to Europe. So that means be at Heathrow at 12:30.

Make sure your suitcases are labelled all the way through to Amsterdam. This will save you some time at drop off in Heathrow.

Travelling business class was a good choice, as it increases the chances that your luggage will be handled with priority and be first on the belt. And of course, to be first of the plane. And again a dedicated desk at Heahtrow.

Car or bus between the airports will not make a big difference timewise, both will be 50-60 minutes, but with a car service you can leave the moment you arrive. So, if you have the funds, I would go for a car service.

When you book a car service from an airport, you usually have to give them your flight number. They will keep an eye on possible delays. Or they ask you to call as soon as you have landed / picked up your suitcases.

BA has more flights from Heathrow to Amsterdam in the late afternoon and early evening after your 14:30 flight. Also KLM flies there, so in the worst case scenario and you would miss your connection, I wouldn't be too worried to rebook, or book a new ticket. Unless there are major delays, chances are you will arrive in Amsterdam the same day.
And if the delay is due to BA you land in Gatwick, they have probably already rebooked you anyway. I had that two years ago when we were delayed 5 hours due to bad weather. When I landed, I had missed my flight, but BA had already booked me on the next flight.

 

[Aladora]

According to the Heathrow website you have to be 2 hours before departure at the airport for domestic flights or flights to Europe. So that means be at Heathrow at 12:30.

Make sure your suitcases are labelled all the way through to Amsterdam. This will save you some time at drop off in Heathrow.

Travelling business class was a good choice, as it increases the chances that your luggage will be handled with priority and be first on the belt. And of course, to be first of the plane. And again a dedicated desk at Heahtrow.

Car or bus between the airports will not make a big difference timewise, both will be 50-60 minutes, but with a car service you can leave the moment you arrive. So, if you have the funds, I would go for a car service.

When you book a car service from an airport, you usually have to give them your flight number. They will keep an eye on possible delays. Or they ask you to call as soon as you have landed / picked up your suitcases.

BA has more flights from Heathrow to Amsterdam in the late afternoon and early evening after your 14:30 flight. Also KLM flies there, so in the worst case scenario and you would miss your connection, I wouldn't be too worried to rebook, or book a new ticket. Unless there are major delays, chances are you will arrive in Amsterdam the same day.
And if the delay is due to BA you land in Gatwick, they have probably already rebooked you anyway. I had that two years ago when we were delayed 5 hours due to bad weather. When I landed, I had missed my flight, but BA had already booked me on the next flight.

Thank you for the in depth reply, that helps my anxiety!

I decided it was not worth it to either deal with public transit or grab an Uber/taxi at Gatwick so I booked a car service. They have our flight info and when I asked, they said to estimate 60-90 minutes after touchdown to when we will be ready to be picked up. They booked the car for 70 minutes after our ETA and they will be monitoring our flight.

Thanks for the tip about bag tags, I assume the airline will do that the same way they do it when we fly to California, living on an island means the only direct flights from here are to Vancouver, Seattle, or a few other select cities in Canada so we are used to making connecting flights!

I've checked BA and there are 3 flights to AMS after the one we are on, so even if we are delayed we still have options to get to Amsterdam.

It is super annoying that most of the options on the Vancouver-London leg of the trip land at Gatwick and then the London-AMS leg leaves from Heathrow. There is an option to go YVR-LHR-AMS but to change it would be almost $7,500!

At least I managed to change our return flight to land at LHR and take off from there instead of having to go back to Gatwick. The original flights had us landing at 8:00 and the taking off at 11:40. After reading up on it, I seriously doubt we would have made that connection!

Thanks again!

 

[Woodview]

Next Question is ..... What are you doing after you arrive in Amsterdam ?

Hotels ....look up Fletcher Hotels ?

Trains ... go anywhere from Groundfloor of Airport .

I usually hire a car and drive to my relations in Venlo .

I will be there from July 7 th Till 11 th & again 3 rd to 15 th September

And 23 rd October to 30th

That is Cork to Amsterdam

 

[Aladora]

Next Question is ..... What are you doing after you arrive in Amsterdam ?

Hotels ....look up Fletcher Hotels ?

Trains ... go anywhere from Groundfloor of Airport .

I usually hire a car and drive to my relations in Venlo .

I will be there from July 7 th Till 11 th & again 3 rd to 15 th September

And 23 rd October to 30th

That is Cork to Amsterdam

We have a big trip planned! Landing late afternoon on the 19th, spending the 20th in Amsterdam, then on to Paris for 21-24, DLP 24-26, Madrid 26-29, Porto 29-July 2, flying back to AMS July 2 and back to Canada on the 3rd!

Amazingly it was around half the price to fly YVR-AMS via London and then AMS-YVR via London than it would have been to fly YVR-London.