Heathrow to Gatwick

No, that sounds like a big hassle. It would have to be a BIG BIG BIG savings to make it worth it.

Where’s your final destination?

all on one through ticket or cobbled together from different tickets?

We are going to Lyon.... prices just went up on the flights a few days ago unfortunately.

To me it would have to be a lot cheaper to be worth the hassle of travelling between Heathrow and Gatwick.

If you are going to Lyon, you can also fly to Paris and then take the train to Lyon.

As of 7th November you will be able to take the train from Gatwick to Farringdon station in London and change onto the Elizabeth Line which will get you to Heathrow terminals 2&3, but who knows how long that will take. I’d think at least and hour and a half, and then you still have to get to the correct terminal at Heathrow. The alternative is a taxi or coach from Gatwick to Heathrow but that means taking the M25 and the traffic can be appalling at any time of day. It would have to be a huge cost saving to make the time and possible/probable stress worthwhile.

The bus is the easiest and cheapest way to get from one to the other. It's 36 miles, and the bus takes approximately 56 minutes.

https://www.londontoolkit.com/travel/heathrow_gatwick.html

This site has a 4 hour minimum recommendation. That assumes EVERYTHING works as planned.

The hassle would be worth it to me only if I could stay overnight and still come out ahead on hotel and ground transport cost by at least $100 per person.

What time of year are you planning to travel, i.e., what could weather do to flight operations?

I would look elsewhere for ways to economize on the trip cost.

I would suggest 4 hours as an absolute minimum, assuming that your inbound flight isn’t delayed, you don’t get held up at passport control, there isn’t a train strike or it isn’t rush hour(s) and there aren’t any crashes on the M25.

I have experienced driving between Heathrow to Gatwick and it has taken over 2 hours on several occasions. It can take 2 hours to clear Heathrow on a bad day. You will need to be at Gatwick 2 hours before your flight. Worst case scenario is 6 hours (assuming your incoming flight isn’t delayed).

Oh boy.....will this be on one ticket or two separate tickets?

If one ticket, then give yourself 5-6 hours. As stated previously, passport control can take a bit if your passport isn't accepted by the e-gates and there are a lot of flights arriving at the same time. The coach is the easiest way between the airports and although it says it will take just under an hour, traffic can be bad and take nearly twice as long. You need to give yourself at least two hours for check in at Gatwick. On one ticket, if your arriving flight is delayed and you miss your transfer, they have to put you on the next available flight. Not the next flight, but the next one with available seats.

If two separate tickets, I would only schedule it with an overnight layover. If for some reason you miss that second flight, you lose the ticket and have to buy a new one. At full cost not what you paid for it.

Thank you everyone! I think we are ditching this option of Heathrow to Gatwick. We would save $200 per person (so $400 for 2 of us.). It just does not sound worth it, especially doing an overnight flight from the States. Many thanks again.... I learn so much on this forum.

Good idea, it is not worth it in my opinion (although I realize that other might have different opinions).

Also, I've noticed that many North Americans in general try to fly to the town they are visiting, or as close as possible. That might be a good strategy in North America where good ground transportation is scarce. But in Europe that can often complicate things as your options will be limited. Flying to the closest major airport (in your case Paris) and then continue by train is often a better option.

I was going to do the bus once, but changed arrival airport instead. It seemed like the easiest option by a long ways: no going through central London tube and train stations, which even without bags, can be so crowded you wish you never left home.

I will be trying the bus between Heathrow and Gatwick next month. British Airways changed our connecting flight from leaving from Heathrow to only leaving from Gatwick on the day we travel. We were overnighting at Heathrow anyway (going to Christmas at Kew), so we have the next morning to make the transfer. I’ll report back just how “hard” this was.

Badger has a great idea—-look at alternative airport to have more options and maybe find a better price.

You could fly into Geneva, a 3-hour train ride away from Lyon. Or you could fly non-stop from Boston to Zurich with SwissAir, avoiding an airport connection altogether. The train ride from Zurich to Lyon can be done with a single train change (At Mulhouse) in 5.5 hours. Or maybe you would like to make an overnight stop on the way and explore someplace new.

Also, what airline are you looking at and when? I am seeing British Airways flights to Lyon all depart from Heathrow, not Gatwick, but that is next June. Maybe your dates are different? There is also Iberia, which connects through Madrid, avoiding London airports ( and their high airport taxes and fees) altogether.

Was the BOS-LHR, LGW-LYS a DIY 2 ticket plan?

Like Lola I did not see ( using skyscanner.com) a BOS-LYS that had an airport change in London.

You could fly into Geneva, a 3-hour train ride away from Lyon. Or you
could fly non-stop from Boston to Zurich with SwissAir, avoiding an
airport connection altogether. The train ride from Zurich to Lyon can
be done with a single train change (At Mulhouse) in 5.5 hours.

When looking at other airports, Geneva is certainly the closest one, followed by Zürich. But in terms of travel time, Paris Charles de Gaulle is the closest one. There are direct highspeed trains from the airport that take you to Lyon in 2 hours. Air France has direct flights from Boston to Paris.