Gatwick airport to London

National Express run up to Victoria (Coach) Station from Gatwick.

Here's the webpage of the airport https://www.gatwickairport.com/to-and-from/by-coach-or-bus/

National Express is at https://www.nationalexpress.com/en

£13 a head is cheaper than $140 I think (I don't think in $$). But for 6 you might be happier if poorer in a private vehicle.

I've had to do Gatwick train trips on three or four strike days - it's a priority route and ran each time. Some were cancelled, some were delayed, but they all ran. I would be very surprised if you couldn't get the train from Gatwick. And your trip is arrival day so not too much of an issue there are some short delays

Assuming that there are trains running, use your Oyster card or Contactless card at the ticket barriers. That will cost you £9.50 each (each person will need to use their own card)- that is cheaper then buying a paper ticket on any operator, or even an advance fare.

I would do almost anything to avoid a road transfer from LGW into central London. There are virtually no motorways, so it’s a very slow crawl through busy suburbs virtually all the way.

It has now been confirmed that no trains will be running on any operator on 31 May- Gatwick Express, Thameslink or Southern, so whether by coach, taxi or uber some kind of road transfer will be needed.

Nat Ex are charging premium fares that day so for 6 people the fare is £210.60 making the taxi look cheap.
By the way LNER are running a few trains on 31 May from EDI to LON, as are LUMO.

be careful with uber and its notorious surge pricing

Thank you for the replies! I did book an airport transfer for 138 £ for the six of us. I will prepare everyone for the slow crawl….and maybe a nap. At least with an 11 am arrival we should make to our 7:30 pm show:)!

Traffic in London isn't great but not as bad as you think considering where you are staying. You will be coming from the south and Victoria station is sort of in the southern part north of the river. You don''t have to drive through the worst areas for traffic.