It is possible that I may fly to london heathrow and need to transfer for a flight to Geneva ( No viable cheap fares via heathrow)

I see flights available from Gatwick,Luton,stanstead and London city.
Which would be the easiest? For the return from Venice to London I can go direct. RR

Never mind, It looks better now. I can't delete the topic above

Glad to see you have found a solution Robert, that hopefully does not involve making an airport to airport transfer.

I think the difficulty and cost of doing this is something that people sometimes do not account for when they are looking at cheaper flights via London. The 'London' airports are not near each other. They either involve train and tube treks into, across and out of the capital or the very good, direct National Express coach services which are simple but have the problem of utilising the M25, the London orbital motorway - clockwise for Stanstead or Luton or anticlockwise for Gatwick.

When all is clear it is a very good service but is just takes an accident or some roadworks for the bus timetable to go awry - I am particularly aware of this today as I checked the traffic conditions before I set out today (a rainy one) to visit a friend and luckily found out about the 8 mile tail back caused by an accident between my junction and the M4 (for Heathrow) followed by road works for the next few miles for my intended exit!

(I do know all the back double roads around, but with that sort of jam, they all get clogged as well). The Heathrow/Gatwick transfer (£19.50) is only about 1hr 5 or 15 mins, for example, but it would be fairly unwise not to build a lot of leeway into timings.

Something to keep in mind when finding apparently bargain itineraries.

It really depends on the final price of our open Jaw itinerary. It could potentially be a savings of 1000 dollars for the two of us.
I can't price it out quite yet as it is mid august to begin Sept.

I am sure we would not do a change both ways or even one way for just a few hundred. One way for a thousand I think so! RR

quote:

One way for a thousand I think so!

Couldn't agree more!

I was really talking in general terms to those less experienced who might think it worth saving £25 on an in and out from different London airports, without factoring in the transfer fees and stress.

For a thousand dollars, it is worth a bit of hauling stuff across London and even enduring the joys of Stansted ( although August, peak school holiday time, in the charter and low cost airline processing factories of Stansted and Luton - and to some extent Gatwick - one would have to approach with a deep intake of breath and a mantra of 'think how much I'm saving!')

On the other hand, the motorway traffic is so much reduced in August that my previous comments about factoring in extra time do not apply as strongly!

Robert, the other thing to consider is that if you are using two different airlines (as opposed to one booking with a change in London) and due to a delay in the first flight, or traffic you miss your second flight you will probably loose your reservation on the second flight - especially if it is a low cost airline booking.

This could easily end up costing you way more than the $500 per person you saved.

One further consideration. There is a huge Air Passenger Duty levied by the UK Government for flights out of the UK (GBP40 for an economy ticket right now, incresing to GBP45 in November 09 and GBP60 in November 2010 - double that for business/first class tickets). This tax is not charged on valid connections in the UK, so again if you are on a single ticket flying from mainland Europe via the UK and stopping for less than 24 hours you will not pay the tax. If you are on two different airlines then the flight from the UK airport will consider that your journey originated in the UK and you will pay the tax.

Hi Sheena,
When I first read about the Air Passenger Duty, I thought business/first was double economy, but you say the opposite. Wow, they are really sticking econcmy! Do you know if one can pay with a US credit card or does it have to be GBP?
Thanks, Brenda M

Sorry Brenda, poorly worded - business/first is double the cost of economy so GBP80 right now, increasing later this year and again next year.

The price is included when you purchase your airline ticket, it is not a separate fee collected at the airport.

I priced tickets out of Heathrow and the cost was not too bad I think 300 dollars or so RT London-Geneva-Venice-London,(actually two different airlines) Are you saying there would be a tax added and when would they collect? RR

I am not an expert here, but my understanding is that if you purchase a flight originating in London you will pay APD. If your flight connects in London you do not pay it.

The fee is included in the price of your ticket (probably in the taxes and duties add on).

Is it not possible to book that open jaw as part of your trans Atlantic ticket? That way you would avoid the APD.

Robert - something else to keep in mind, too! If you are planning on using an airline like Wizz, EasyJet, RyanAir, etc., be sure to check their luggage restrictions policies. I know you often plan on an extra suitcase for wine -- the cost to carry that suitcase on EasyJet, for example, if it brings your total baggage weight to more than 20K, is currently GBP10 per kilo for the excess - one way; rates are higher on RyanAir - and there may be restrictions on other carriers as well.

You may already have factored this in, but it is worth considering.

Judy

I'll put this here as I am exploring the possibility of British airways with open Jaw as well, on the return there is an airport transfer gatwick to heathrow with 3 hrs and 20 minutes between flights (Monday 12:40 pm until 4Pm).

Is this enough time?

Do bags get checked through?

This would be taking advantage of my friend's mega miles with Business class. RR

When you say between flights, do you mean 12.40 is the time of landing at Gatwick and 4pm the time of the next flight's departure?

If so, I think that's too tight for deplaning, passport control, baggage and customs getting out to the transport then travel and then rechecking bags and going through security to get to the gate on time. The BA website says 3 hours minimum- I wonder how often that is actually acheived under real conditions:

http://www.britishairways.com/...xlhrlgw/public/en_gb

If you are still talking about August/early September then Gatwick is very, very busy with holiday flights then (hope it's not Bank Holiday Monday) and Monday is a popular day with some charter flights so the baggage might not be too speedy coming through. The motorways (M23 and M25) would be OK at that time of day.

Yes that is the time between flights landing to takeoff which was a connection given by BA.

It will be Monday Sept 6th Labor day in the USA. I suppose it is achieved at least at that time of day?

What happens if we don't make our flight is it considered our fault and we don't get rebooked? I assume if we don't make it most others would not make it as well, assuming others do not take a helicopter.

The reason I am choosing this connection is the other options involve an overnight stay and I plan to work on Tuesday.
We don't want to leave a day earlier as that is the Regatta Storia

If this itinerary is available for reasonable miles I would be going Business class!

RR

Even if in the future you do fly into one of the London airports and need to fly from one of the others, there ar coach connections between all of them - thus is is fairly straigh forward.
Certainly though if you can fly in and out of the same oen you will save a few hours and a few pounds.

quote:

It will be Monday Sept 6th Labor day in the USA. I suppose it is achieved at least at that time of day?

UK Bank Holiday Monday is the weekend before - most law abiding families with school age children should have returned home by 6th but there will be a new surge of families with under fives clogging up the halls of Gatwick (been there, done that!). The timing would theoretically be possible under perfect conditions but allows no time for slippage in any of the variables (and I am not talking about a major problem like delays in landing or the M25 or the M4 approach road to Heathrow going into tailback)

It's the getting from the plane and onto the coach (depends which Gatwick terminal) that frustrating time could be lost.

Well, it's a gamble - could be plain sailing or could involve fingernails being bitten off up to the elbow. I totally see your dilemma when the opportunity of Business Class is involved!

A few questions remain unanswered. I assume that if we don't make it many other will not as well. Do we just lose our seats? RR

Robert, why don't you call BA. They have an office in New York with an 800 number (1 800 452 1201).

Certainly if your incoming flight is delayed they will put you on another TATL flight. I am not sure what they do if your incoming is on time but you miss your connecting flight for any one of the reasons Panda has listed.

My suggestion, if you call them, is that you get the name and employee number of the person you speak with - or better yet get them to fax or email the answer to you.