Going to make my reservation for the Airline Bus to Oxford from Heathrow in September. I know there is a 24 hour leeway either way, but would like more assurance I will get a seat if I don't make the time reserved. If you have made this connection recently, how long did it take you from walking off the plane to getting to the Central Bus station bay for the Oxford bus?
Posted by
Ontario, Canada
4814 posts
Carry on or checked bag?
Posted by
OP
Twin Cities, Minnesota
1817 posts
checked, see subject line
Posted by
Freedonia
14926 posts
Where are you flying in from?
Which terminal?
The central bus station is between terminals 2 & 3.
But the answer is simple---no one knows. It depends on so many factors. It could take 30 minutes it could take 90 minutes. It depends on which terminal you arrive, how crowded it is, whether or not the e-gates work, and more.
Posted by
OP
Twin Cities, Minnesota
1817 posts
FLying from Dublin on Aer Lingus to terminal 2. I know where the bus station is and I know every day can be different. I am just looking for an estimate based on folks recent experience (say the last 6 months.)
Posted by
Sweden
6302 posts
My experience is only prepandemic, but I've used that bus many times and never bothered making a reservation beforehand. I've always just bought it from the driver and never had any problems getting a seat.
Posted by
Freedonia
14926 posts
Flying from Dublin to Heathrow means no immigration. If your flight is on time, it will depend on how long it takes to get your luggage.
If everything is on time and works correctly, you could make a bus 45 to 60 minutes after landing. That's if everything works like clockwork.
.
Posted by
885 posts
My husband and I arrived from Newark on United Airlines in mid-June when things were crazy busy. We had a checked bag and retrieved it easily. Found the ticket machine for Airline Bus to Oxford, bought the tickets for departure @ 45 minutes later but noticed a bus was already there. The driver took our tickets, no problem. Hopped on the bus for an enjoyable ride to Oxford. I'd say it was all done in an hour or less from landing to boarding the bus. Ours may have been the tail of the curve, however.
Posted by
California USA
3948 posts
We landed at at LHR T2 on July 16 on a flight from SFO. We needed to clear immigration, retrieve 1 checked bag and make our way to the Central Bus Station for our National Express bus to Bournemouth. We had pre purchased a flexible ticket allowing us to take an earlier or later bus. We landed at 10:25 and were at the bus station by 12 so we took the earlier 12:30 bus, the original ticket was for a 2:00 bus.
On that day our United flight landed at an end gate and it was a long walk through the airport ~5,000 steps on Health app. Immigration had a lot of passengers and not many agents. The baggage area was strewn with unclaimed luggage everywhere but ours came on the carrousel pretty quickly. It really can vary but this was our experience last month.