Quick question - London airports

daveg

I need to fly into London and I'm about to book a Ryanair flight. Which is the better (easiest to get to London city centre) Gatwick (will be E10 more), Luton or Stansted. Need some info ASAP if anyone can help.

Thanks in advance.

embee

Much of a muchness.... I would go for Gatwick or Stansted though, I think that you might get a better choice of flights and buses/trains into London, because they are bigger airports than Luton.

RuggieBear

gatwick has the gatwick express which cost about £20 return but gets you to victoria and hence the london underground in 30 mins. i use it all the time. Luton is a good bit out but has an express train as well (i think...never used it) and stanstead is ****ing miles away but also an express train. (again no idea on price as i've never used it)

hopr that helps

P

Paddy20

No:1. Heathrow

No:2. Gatwick

Forget the rest.

daveg

Thanks guys. I booked Stanstead as there is an express train. Now I need to find a hotel......

John R

Go for either Gatwick or Stansted, they both have train stations at the airport, Luton airport is a short bus ride from the station.
I prefer Gatwick, the train is a little quicker and cheaper; £16 return where Stansted is £24 and there are much more trains. As well as the Gatwick Express (which is £20 return) there are very frequent regular services to Victoria and also regular Thameslink trains that go through London to Kings Cross and northwards.

Which is better really depends on where in London you want to go, if you are going to the city Stansted is good as the train goes to Liverpool St. It is quite far from the rest of London though.

Third_Echelon

Stanstead is grand. The train station is just underneath the airport. 20 something pounds into liverpool st station.

I went to the reading festival a couple of years ago and went through stanstead. train st into liverpool st and a train from there to reading. It was really handy and if i remember correctly it was only about 30 mins or so from stanstead to liverpool st...

Mercury_Tilt

This post has been deleted.

therecklessone

daveg wrote:

Thanks guys. I booked Stanstead as there is an express train. Now I need to find a hotel......

I'd have told you to go through Luton if I'd seen this in time...

Anyway, buy your Stansted Express ticket from Ryaniar prior to departure, I think it cost me something like €29 in Dublin, but went up to €34 on the plane, and was £24 stg in London.

Allow yourself loads of time for security at Stansted, it will take at least 45 minutes to get through. Hate the stinking place...

HelterSkelter

If you fly to Heathrow with flybmi.com or aerlingus.com and take the tube it usually works out cheaper than Ryanair + Stansted Express ticket. (Plus BMI give you free alcoholic drink and food!)

sceptre

daveg wrote:

Thanks guys. I booked Stanstead as there is an express train.

"Express" is stretching it a bit if you interpret "express" to mean "fast". Oh it'll get you to Liverpool Street in 50 minutes (again, it was 90 for a while) and doesn't stop until Tottenham hale but it's only an express because it's painted on the side and Gatwick already had one. Time-wise, the tube from Heathrow gets to central London in about the same time and the cost is 4 quid or so. (the Heathrow Express is obviously much faster)

Roller Toaster

Gatwick. It has it's own automated monorail.

Cake Fiend

Roller Toaster wrote:

Gatwick. It has it's own automated monorail.

So does Stansted.

flikflak

HelterSkelter wrote:

If you fly to Heathrow with flybmi.com or aerlingus.com and take the tube it usually works out cheaper than Ryanair + Stansted Express ticket. (Plus BMI give you free alcoholic drink and food)

Yes BMI are great and sometimes cheaper that Ryanair if you go later on in the evening. Plus the drinks - I actually had 2 drinks! Then the tube into London is about £3 or £4 quid.

Paddy20

Flikflak,

Damn right, the tube from Heathrow is unbeatable. Although I have never heard of the airline: Flybmi.com ?... must check them out.

sceptre

Paddy20 wrote:

Although I have never heard of the airline: Flybmi.com ?... must check them out.

British Midland (now BMI)

Paddy20

Yep, had a feeling that might be the answer, thanks. :cool:

Lump

You should have gone to Gatewick. The train from Stanstead is more expensive, take 15 minutes longer... however the real pain the the hole is the security in Stanstead on the way back. Make sure you check in 2 hours before your flight leaves.


John

BEAT

This is actually a very helpful thread since I will be in london as well from Ireland in november...nice wan

Paddy20

What beats me. Is why anyone posts 'asking' for advice, and then ignore's the best advice given, which naturally came from MOI ? and a few others :

Special Note: This is not to be taken too seriously, as it is a bit [tongue in cheek ] !.

Civilian_Target

I agree with Helter, the best way to go is spend the extra €15 or whatever on aerlingus or bmi because you save it on transport anyway and its a lot less hastle. And they give you legroom, shock horror. Ryanair can often turn into a false economy.

John R

HelterSkelter wrote:

If you fly to Heathrow with flybmi.com or aerlingus.com and take the tube it usually works out cheaper than Ryanair + Stansted Express ticket. (Plus BMI give you free alcoholic drink and food!)

It has been years since I was in Heathrow, what are aerlingus and bmi like for walking distance from the train and tube station to their departure/arrival gates?

Last time I was there I had a 15 minute walk/jog from one flight to another to catch a connection.

sceptre

John R wrote:

It has been years since I was in Heathrow, what are aerlingus and bmi like for walking distance from the train and tube station to their departure/arrival gates?

Not too bad, not too good. All Irish flights now leave from around gates 90-100 so it's a bit of a walk. On the other hand obviously you're still in terminal 1 so it's better than the bitch of a walk to get to the other terminals before you even get to start (I'd a flight to Tokyo once leaving from Terminal 3 - I mistakenly assumed it was a tiny walk))

Paddy20

Paddy20 wrote:

What beats me. Is why anyone posts 'asking' for advice, and then ignore's the best advice given, which naturally came from MOI ? and a few others :

Special Note: This is not to be taken too seriously, as it is a bit [tongue in cheek ] !.

Short message:-

To the person who took the above post personally and was offended by it. Take a chill pill, for heaven's sake ?...'Twit'. :mad:

tuty

can anyone tell me please if the flight from stansted to dublin for tomorow morning at 8:20 is cancelled?
thank you

Lump

Maybe look on DAA's website, they probably won't know till the morning anyway.

javaboy

Try Commuting and Transport: http://boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=246 or the DAA website as Lump said. Or check teletext or maybe phone the airport.