Flight time to Gatwick with Ryanair

CuppaCocoa

In a bit of a panic here. Booked lunch on the Orient Express from Mother's Day for my mother and myself. Train was supposed to leave at 11:15 but when the booking confirmation came through it's been changed to 10:40. Am flying to Gatwick with Ryanair and they have the flight time as 1 1/2 hours. We leave at 8 and get in at 9:30. Has anyone been on this flight? It seems a bit long. I though it should only take an hour. This leaves us very tied for time if it does land at 9:30. I know there is a Gatwick Express that takes 35 mins to get to Victoria but I don't know the departure times. Can anyone help?

BuffyBot

Time can be up to 1.5 hours - the flying is short, but the plane way have to circle a while until a landing slot is found. Gatwick can get congested at peak times. However, most of the time it seems a 1 hour 15 minutes/20 minutes trip

Gatwick Express runs pretty much every 15 minutes.

Nosh*tsherlock

BuffyBot wrote:

Gatwick Express runs pretty much every 15 minutes.

Yes it's 05 - 20 - 35 - 50 past the hour from Gatwick and takes about 35 mins, costs about £15 each way. Mind you today it was more like 1 or 2 an hour, the excuse was not enough rolling stock :eek: not the easiest thing to lose I would have thought :D

John R

The flight time is a little less than an hour assuming there are no delays but Gatwick is VERY busy, it is the busiest single runway airport in the world. The Ryanair time is long to allow significant stacking delay and still arrive on time. There is no way to tell exactly how long it will take, you may be down in an hour or it may take longer.

If you only have hand luggage it is fairly quick from the plane to the station, it is all one building. You should be able to do it in under 10 minutes as long as there are no security delays.

The gatwick express departs every 15 minutes at 05, 20, 35, 50 past the hour and takes approx 30mns.

You can buy tickets on-line or on the train, there is no barrier so you can just go straight to the platform and buy on-board if you are in a rush but it may be cheaper to buy at the ticket office or on-line.

If you just miss a train it can save a few minutes to take a Southern railways fast train (2 intermediate stops) to Victoria but you can not buy on board or use Gatwick express e-tickets, ticket office or self-serve machine tickets only.

You should ring up the orient express operator to get confirmed departure times, those trains can be shuffled around the schedule to fit in with regular trains. AFAIK they only get confirmed slots a week or two before departure.

CuppaCocoa

Thanks. We're flying on a Sunday so hopefully shouldn't be too congested.

BuffyBot

You can buy tickets on-line or on the train, there is no barrier so you can just go straight to the platform and buy on-board if you are in a rush but it may be cheaper to buy at the ticket office or on-line.

I believe they are the same price on-board too

therecklessone

I hope I'm not the one to break bad news, but...

Flew into Gatwick the last two Saturdays on that same flight, I'd no bags so was straight through each time. Took the Gatwick Express, the earliest I arrived in Victoria was 10.50.

CuppaCocoa

Bloody hell:eek: This is turning into a nightmare. When I booked the flights I managed to book for the wrong day and it cost me €90 to amend the booking:mad: Will wait for the reply from the Orient Express to see if the 10:40 time is a definite. Fingers crossed.

okidoki987

The Gatwick flight can be anything from 70 mins to 90 minutes as said depending on what other flights are arriving.
If you have no luggage, go straight through the passports, straight down to the trains.
www.gatwickexpress.com shows times and fares.
Ticket is same price on board as at the ticket booths in the station
so don't bother waiting in a line, just get on baord.

Tip
(never ever queue for a ticket at the first train ticket booth when you arrive into the airport, there are much smaller queues inside!).

http://www.southernrailway.com/main.php?page_id=93
Southern trains leave very 15 minutes (same schedule as GE but at different time so you might get lucky with the time.
Southern is 40 mins into Gatwick
GE is 35 minutes.
(Southern is way way cheaper if anybody is interested).

jrey1981

Trains at weekends in uk can be a nightmare due to engineering works etc

I'd have gone the night before in your situation as the chances of missing your connection look all too high to me

CuppaCocoa

Thanks for all the replies. I don't think I can risk it by keeping the original schedule. We'll have to go the evening before. Bugger the budget! I can book 2 new flights cheaper than paying for a change to the original one!
Now for the next part - can anyone recommend a reasonably priced hotel suitable for a 78 year old mother and her impoverished daughter?

BuffyBot

There is a Travelodge at Gatwick, rooms vary between £15 stg a night. Around Mother's day I can see rooms at £39 STG per night - which is a family room, with a main bed and a pull out bed if you're inclined to share. However, the shuttle bus to/from the airport is about £4 per trip.

http://www.travelodge.co.uk/find_a_hotel/hotel/hotel_id/28/GatwickAirport

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g504228-d250361-Reviews-Travelodge_Gatwick-Lowfield_Heath_West_Sussex_England.html