Heathrow to Stansted?

[Gina]

Hi everyone!

Love this Forum!

Anyway, I'm flying from the US and would like to start at SJPP. I'll probably fly into London-Heathrow and catch a Ryanair from Stansted to Biarritz.

My biggest question is:

How do I get from Heathrow to Stansted?

How much time do I need to allow?
How much will it cost?

On my return trip from Stansted to Heathrow, do I need to allow the same amount of time?

Any advice you can give would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Gina

 

[Andrewere]

Your best bet is to take the underground train from Heathrow to Liverpool Street station (which is in central London). This may take as much as 2 hours. from Liverpool Street you can go directly to Stanstead on a British Rail train. this should take less than an hour. However, I would allow 5 hours to be on the safe side. There are coaches between the two airports but as they use the London orbital motorway (M25, often very slow) it might take too long to cover the 90 miles.

Andrew, England.

 

[Andrewere]

Sorry, forgot to add I think the price will be between £10 - £20. I haven't been on this train for a while so I'm not sure of the exact price. The return should take the same amount of time but travel times very much depend on the time of day and which day.

A

 

[santos]

Stansted Express is the fast and convenient way to Stansted Airport from central London (London Liverpool Street), with trains departing every 15 minutes with an average journey time of 45 minutes. about 18ponds

 

[WolverineDG]

A cheaper alternative might be to fly into Paris CDG & then take the Air France Flight to Biarritz. You can see the flights on the Air France site. Some flights are only $71 US + tax. However, some flights leave from Orly (ORY) so be careful in choosing! If you fly into CDG & can get a flight to Biarritz (BIQ) from CDG, you can save a lot of worry & $ in getting to another airport.

dg

 

[LaurenE]

National Express?

I'm also flying from the US to Heathrow, then switching over to Stansted airport to fly to Biaritz on Ryanair. Very cheap to go that way (relatively anyway...) I've been talking to a Brittish friend who travels to and from London a lot and he tells me the the national express bus is th best way to go.
http://www.nationalexpress.com
Looks like it takes about 90 minutes to get from Heathrow to Stansted airport and cost about 25 GBP for a return ticket. If anyone knows if the times listed on their site are overly optomistic please let me know as I have about 4 hours between flights. Hope that helps!
Lauren

 

[Mercury]

National Express

The Journey time between Heathrow and Stanstead by road can vary considerably by time of day. It could take a lot longer than 90 minutes if you you are leaving Heathrow at around 8am in the week (Monday to Friday) weekends would be ok.

I think the train should be more reliably quicker during the Commuter Rush hour.

Fastest would be
Heathrow Express to Paddington (£14) 15 minute journey and runs every 15 minutes
then Circle/District line to Liverpool Street (£4) (takes about half an hour but allow 45 minutes for finding tube station etc),
then Stansted express. (£15.50) 45 minutes runs every 15 minutes during the day

Like other budget airlines, Ryan Air will be very strict on when the Check in desk closes - 40 minutes before the flight and on baggage size/weight.

Mercury

 

[santos]

i check on ryanair 15kg max each kg extra is 8euros and seize too if too big they charge you extra per inch! :shock:

here its in francais if you ppl can read it!!

Bagages enregistres 15 kg par personne avec application du supplément en vigueur pour la prise en charge des bagages. Aucune addition de franchises de bagages n'est autorisée (pas de franchise de bagages pour les nourisssons)

- Si le poids des bagages enregistrés est supérieur à la limite, des frais supplémentaires fixés à 8 EUR / 5.50 GBP par le kilo (ou l'équivalent en devise locale) seront imputés.

- Bagage à main : 10 kg maximum par passager (à l'exclusion des nourrissons).

- La taille du bagage à main ne doit pas dépasser 55 cm x 40 cm x 20 cm.

 

[LaurenE]

Hmmm. Well now I'm wishing I hadn't allready bought my tickets. 10 kg for carry-ons? I don't know what that is in pounds and I'm not sure yet what my pack will weight exactly but....well I don't think a pack will fit into the carry-on dimensions anyway. I guess I'll just have to see. To travel to Biarritz any other way would have cost me a few hundred dollars more so I guess it will still be worth it.
Plus now I'm worried I will miss my flight from Stansted!

 

[LaurenE]

Ok so 10kg is 22lbs. That should be fine as I'm wanting to keep my load well under 20lbs anyway. ( I sure hope that's feasable...) But does anyone know if Ryanair will allow you to carry on a backpack (small, like 30 liters) instead of the normal "carry-on" bagage perameters?

 

[ambriel]

Thank you for the information about the best and quickest way to transfer from Heathrow to Stansted.

My daughter and I are flying into Heathrow and then flying out from Stansted via Ryanair to Germany late May 2007...we have about 7 hours between flights (arrive at Heathrow at 11:30 a.m. and then at 18:40 from Stansted), so I was interested in finding out the most cost and time efficient way to get from one to the other. It had entered my mind as to whether taking the National Express could potentially present problems if there was a traffic jam on the highway, and I don't really want to spend excessive time at Stansted as I believe (please correct me if I'm wrong)that Heathrow offers a little more as far as things to do (stores, etc.) than Stansted.

I guess the most important thing to me is what the cheapest, easiest and yet also quickest way would be for us, given the time we have between flights, to get from Heathrow to Stansted.

Any help would really be appreciated...this is my graduation gift to my daughter....the concerns about getting from one aiport to the other, Ryanair's luggage limitations, their exorbitant excess baggage charges, and my limited budget are all putting a strain on my nerves and I really don't want anything to spoil this special time and trip with my daughter )

Again, thank you for listening.

 

[WolverineDG]

You didn't say if you were flying to Heathrow from the US, but Ryanair's seating is similar to that used by Southwest--first come, first serve. You may want to look into getting a "day pass" to one of the lounges at Stansted to pass the time. I hope you & your daughter have a wonderful trip!

dg

 

[Deleted member 397]

I was looking at ryan airs web site for my return to London in late august but I'm perplexed by the latest remark about first come first serve-sounds like a bus! That sounds more like stand-by.
Is that really Ryan air's system? By the way their cheapest seat was about 45E which seems reasonable-I would need to book a flight early as I would have a connecting flight to Oz from London.

 

[WolverineDG]

EasyJet operates the same way. "First come first served" means that the earlier you check in, the lower boarding # you get. If you're one of the first on the plane, you get a better choice of seats.

I'm sorry because my prior post was unclear. If you have purchased a ticket, of course you are going to be on that flight. They just don't have assigned seating, so if you want a window or aisle seat, you need to check in early to get the low boarding # or get placed in the first boarding group.

dg

 

[Peter Robins]

both Ryanair and easyJet now have online check-in for those with hand luggage only (Ryanair charges a small fee) - see their websites for details

 

[windeatt]

hand luggage only problems

The only thing about 'hand luggage only' is that it is VERY difficult now to travel with only hand luggage because anything sharp (scissors, walking poles etc.) has to go in the hold.

Similarly anything liquid - and liquid means any sort of gel as well, e.g. toothpaste, vaseline, etc. has to go in the hold or be taken in a special bag in very small quantitites, e.g.

http://www.dft.gov.uk/transportforyou/a ... w=Standard

And they are very strict too now on the dimensions of hand luggage (maximum size of 56cm x 45cm x 25cm) and when we last came through in February someone was stopped and not allowed through because his bag was of slightly different dimensions. If they are feeling really strict then they don't let you carry on any plastic carrier bags of shopping either and you may find your airport purchases confiscated.

This is anything going through the UK - other places may be less fierce.

I'm hoping to get my rucksack through in the hand luggage but have accepted that my poles and a small bag of things that are sharp, my washing stuff etc will have to be checked in.

Windy

 

[WolverineDG]

My solution to the walking poles/liquids problem was to find a duffle bag that could be folded up & carried along or mailed to my final destination. It took me a while to find one, but I finally did yesterday. For those of you in the US, Target sells a Pro Spirit duffle (medium size) that can hold a retractable walking stick, as well as your shampoo, deodorant, sunscreen, AND folds up small enough to go in the back pack. If the weight gets to be too much, I'll simply mail it & my "going home clothes" to my final destination in Spain.

dg

 

[ambriel]

Hello!

I'm so glad that this forum exists. It's nice to have some knowledgeable and relatively unbiased information.

Anyway, I wrote earlier about my and my daughter's pending trip from Canada to Germany arriving at London Heathrow at 11:30 a.m. Our Ryanair flight leaves from Stansted at 6:40 p.m.

I have read the suggestions about taking the underground to Paddington and then over to Liverpool Stn to take the Stansted Express and think we'll take that suggestion to save money.

My question is that I have noticed that there have been delays on the Stansted Express. Can anybody tell me whether this is a regular thing, and how long it usually takes before the trains are operating again? I'm really concerned about getting to Liverpool Stn and finding out that there's no train to take us to Stansted. I've written to Stansted Express's office to make an enquiry, however, they're indicating that their reply will take a while. I'd really like to have some peace of mind, plus I am a bit wary that they'll give me an answer which is good for them.

Thanks for listening and any help you may be able to give.

 

[William Marques]

Delays happen from time to time but they are not a regular thing. The rail company will not be able to guarantee there will be no delays tomorrow or late May. Given the time of day you are traveling the National Express coach will probably be the quickest but again neither I nor the coach company can guarantee that.

Buen Camino
William

 

[spursfan]

The Stansted is regular, quick and reliable (apart from the occasional Sunday or Bank Holiday when the service is replaced by buses) but expensive

Once you get out of central London, there is a quick Motorway to Stansted

Best to get the underground (not to Paddington as suggested) but take the Piccadilly line to Holborn, then the Central Line to Liverpool Street - should take a little over an hour

At Liverpool Street, see how much time you have and either choose the Terravision bus (stop outside the station on Bishopsgate) or the train

Here are details of alternatives from London to Stansted

http://www.londontoolkit.com/travel/sta ... nsport.htm

 

[Minkey]

I'm gonna be contraversial! If you want to save on cash, get the Piccadilly Line from Heathrow to Green Park, change to Northbound Victoria Line and take that to Tottenham Hale and change onto the train there. It's cheaper.

 

[spursfan]

yes, but then you'd be stuffed at Tottenham Hale if there were problems with the train to Stansted and no alternative bus

 

[Minkey]

Hmm... Good point.