Heathrow question ... how long before an international flight?

Two hours and 45 minutes is probably fine. Close enough to three hours that I wouldn’t panic. But it’s a bus. What happens if there’s an accident on the motorway etc. I would I probably will take me earlier bus but that’s me. I’m fairly risk-averse when it comes to missing my flight

Is there anyway you could change your hotel to one at the airport? That way you could hang out at the hotel and not be worried about missing a bus. That's what I would do. Carol is right - there's a lot of risk in what you would like to do.

There are some relatively inexpensive airport hotels at Heathrow. I booked one for next April (the Holiday Inn Express at Terminal 4) for £102, which includes breakfast and is fully refundable. It's a very nice hotel and quite comfortable.

I am with Carol. The 2:45 is adequate IF, and big IF, the bus is on time. What if it is 30 minutes late. Now it starts to get iffy. The is nothing around Stansted so I would vote to staying near Heathrow the night before.

For stress relief and peace of mind I would get the earlier bus, especially as the route crosses London from east to west with stops. How late does the flight from Bologna get in? A nearly two hour bus journey (with no traffic) later in the evening may or may not work to get a hotel near LHR.

If I were in your situation these are the options I would consider

1- Upon arrival from Italy keep on going to a hotel near LHR.

2- If staying near Stansted is written in stone, take the early bus and buy a lounge pass at LHR ( if your ticket class does not include lounge access)

The 2 hr 45 min. " everything must run as smoothly as a Rolex" to preclude disaster, would not be an option

We get in pretty late to Stansted from Bologna (21:30) the previous night, but we're booked at a Holiday Inn Express that's right there.

I hadn't considered taking the bus to a hotel near Hearhrow that night. I will check that out.

And if we do end up staying near Stansted for a night, it will be the early bus for us to Heathrow the next day. I agree that it's cutting it too close if anything goes awry.

Thanks to all for your assistance -- much appreciated!

There are buses at 2340, 0001 and 0020 all change in London, so it is an all night journey.
Then daytime direct journeys at 0230, 0410, 0445, 0700, 0855, 0900, 1020 and 1315.

All the direct buses take 90 minutes, and route round the M25, NOT through London.

So I would stay at Stansted then get one of the early direct buses as above, to arrive at Heathrow 4 hours early - 3 hours check in + 1 hour traffic allowance.

There are times when caution can be taken to excessive levels.

The other option, which gives far more timing flexibilty, is the frequent Stansted express train to London Liverpool Street, then the Elizabeth Line from Liverpool Street to Heathrow, through train.

Ticketing wise there is a fare anomaly in that the through fares assume London Underground to Paddington from Liverpool Street, then Heathrow Express.
So buy singles on the day Stansted to Liverpool Street, then use Oyster or contactless from Liverpool Street to Heathrow. It will save you almost £15 each.

As you have said "we" there is a special online only "duo" fare, should you take the Stansted Express. Shaves off a few more pounds. You aren't tied to a specific service with this fare.

I know nothing about flying out of Heathrow, but I am flying on British Airways on October 25 from Rome to Heathrow for a connecting flight to Seattle. We called the airline and asked how early we should get to FCO. We were told to be at the airport in Rome 4 hours prior to our flight, which is when they open the check in desk for our flight. We had arranged for a ride from our Rome hotel in order to be at the airport 3 hours early, but changed our car service ride to arrive 4 hours early on the advice of the airline.

Yikes - wyattsaunt, 4 hours in advance is unusual. That may be when BA opens their counters, but arrival 3 hours in advance is the info on the BA and FCO airports that I find online. I am conservative in airport arrival times, but 4 hours seems excessive. Of course, BA may know something about your flight day and situation that I don't.

Are you checking bags??? If not, there may be no need to stop at a check-in desk, saving time. I haven't been through FCO for a few years - I would ask someone who has, but even if you can't receive a boarding pass during an online check-in or need to print luggage tags, there are generally kiosks that will do any passport scanning or other checking needed before issuing the boarding pass and takes if needed. If the case with no need to wait in a check-in line, there is even less time involved from arrival through security to the gate.

Bottom line, of course - do what is comfortable for you. I am conservative in arriving 3 hours early even at airports where I know that I will be processed through in significantly less time than that.

OrdTraveler: Yes, we are checking bags at FCO, and yes, 4 hours seems excessive to me, too, but my sister made the effort to call British Airways to ask, so we are going to go with their recommendation even if we have to sit around. Better safe than sorry, I guess. On another RS thread, they’re talking about how airlines don’t always communicate effectively with passengers about schedule changes. Truly frightening. Based on what I read there, I double-checked our departure time from FCO to LHR on both Alaska Airlines and British Airways (codeshare) apps. It was the same: 12:40 p.m. However, when I went onto British Airways WEBSITE, guess what? The departure time for our same exact flight number was 12:55–15 minutes later. I called BA and got a message to call back later, we’re really busy. Called Alaska and the agent told me they still have that flight departing at 12:40, BUT, maybe BA is “going to make a change”.

I would assume that the operating carrier has the best information. So whoever actually owns the plane, go with their website.

So, but unless you’re leaving tomorrow, I expect that 15 minutes will eventually show up on Alaska airlines websites

My rule is check my flights once a week on Monday. Now I do that as I was “trained” by Delta who does all their schedule changes on Saturday. I don’t know when other airlines do theirs but I figure it still works if I check once a week.