Heathrow or Gatwick?

[mike80]

Welshbeef said:

Tight yet lives in London

Indeed, should move to Yorkshire. Doesn't she know it's against the law to live in London and not chuck money about..?

Seriously OP, just go for whichever airport has the best deal and most convenient times. For a first time flyer it won't make any difference.

[Welshbeef]

mike80 said:

Indeed, should move to Yorkshire. Doesn't she know it's against the law to live in London and not chuck money about..?

Seriously OP, just go for whichever airport has the best deal and most convenient times. For a first time flyer it won't make any difference.

Not sure if being serious.

We're talking about a touch of duty free ie saves the 20% so it's cheaper. Or that she grabs a bite to eat hardly - I doubt homemade sandwiches will be taken.

[Zetec-S]

mike80 said:

Welshbeef said:

Tight yet lives in London

Indeed, should move to Yorkshire. Doesn't she know it's against the law to live in London and not chuck money about..?

Seriously OP, just go for whichever airport has the best deal and most convenient times. For a first time flyer it won't make any difference.

She actually lives near Leicester, but will be staying overnight at a friends in London (I said she was tight )

(It's also quite possible she'll want to take homemade sandwiches).

[//j17]

Why does everyone keep saying "T5 is nicer than Gatwick". Yes, it is but only BA fly from Heathrow T5 and chances are the OPs family member won't be flying BA.

If the airline's unknown I'd generally recommend Gatwick out of the 2 for a first-time flyer as there are only 2 terminals and an easy internal train transfer if they end up at the wrong one. Heathrow has 4 terminals (numbered 2-5 just to upset people with OCD) and it's not always quick/easy to get from one to another.

[llewop]

toon10 said:

I'm in Heathrow (T5) quite a lot and it's a decent airport if you're after some high end shopping. The issue I have is that the majority of flights I've been on from there get delayed. Not such a big issue if you're starting there but it's a connection hub for me so it can be a real pain. Sometimes it's only 20 minutes and not the end of the world but it's something I've never had an issue with when at other hubs like Schiphol which I try and use for most trips now.

Interesting how experiences differ: I think of all the flights in or out of Schiphol I have had - the only one on time was one that was a connecting flight after a (late) in bound flight. Inevitably, despite the assistance of a nice lady from KLM, we didn't make it and had to switch to a later flight. The nausea of Schengen/non-Schengen parts of the airport are also a pain.

Also - the distances inside the terminal are huge! As long as you get to the right terminal (which should be fairly obvious from booking/check in information) then at least each Heathrow or for that matter Gatwick terminal are a finite size so not as bad.

[toon10]

llewop said:

Interesting how experiences differ: I think of all the flights in or out of Schiphol I have had - the only one on time was one that was a connecting flight after a (late) in bound flight. Inevitably, despite the assistance of a nice lady from KLM, we didn't make it and had to switch to a later flight. The nausea of Schengen/non-Schengen parts of the airport are also a pain.

Also - the distances inside the terminal are huge! As long as you get to the right terminal (which should be fairly obvious from booking/check in information) then at least each Heathrow or for that matter Gatwick terminal are a finite size so not as bad.

I do a fair bit of travel for work and I request Schiphol whenever possible, it's always been hassle free for me. I can't remember a KLM flight being delayed that I was on. I get free access to the crown lounge which helps and I also have the app which alerts me of when I need to get my backside off the comfy chair and wander over to the departure gates and it even guides me to the gate with estimated arrival time so it's less stressful.

Unfortunately I still have to use Heathrow as one of my team is based in Hemel and I do regular visits. I'm struggling to think of the last time my flight was on time. My impression is the place is over subscribed so one slight delay has a knock on effect with all of the other flights on the runway which sets everyone back. I'm happy to give up my Avios points to use KLM.

I was unfortunate enough to get caught up in the air traffic control issue a few years ago when they couldn't get the control to switch to day service. Although this affected most of Europe and wasn't Heathrow specific, they way they treat us was a disgrace. We'd cleared security and after hours of trying to get other flights and trying in vein to get information, they just opened a door and asked everyone to go through it. A lot did but we got into an argument as to what was on the other side of the door. They wouldn't answer. Turns out they were actually dumping people out the airport to sort themselves out for transport or hotels. It was shocking. We refused to leave but managed to grab a hire car from the airport so drove back to Newcastle. That was a long night.

[Gareth1974]

Where in Italy? I flew to Milan from London City, which I found very hassle free. The flight was cheap too.

[The Leaper]

I live almost equidistant between Gatwick and Heathrow. Gatwick is quicker and easier to get to and to get around after parking etc.

Flew BA to Funchal Madeira in past fortnight from Gatwick. On line booking, check in, was dead easy. Bag drop now they have the automated system was so simple and quick..there were many more bag drop machines available than passengers wanting to use them. Getting through security etc was also very quick. Maybe I just travelled on a good day/time, Monday/09:30. The return was rather different with long queues at border control as once again many of the auto entry machines were not in use. Baggage reclaim was less than 5 minutes.

Overall, an excellent experience at Gatwick.

For the record I've flown BA from Gatwick to almost all their Italian destinations in recent years, never really an issue. Note they fly to Florence too from LCY...not mentioned in earlier posts.

R.

[marcosgt]

I live closer to Heathrow, but prefer Gatwick for holidays.

It's easier to get to usually and seems less hectic, whilst long stay parking (on airport) is usually a fair bit cheaper.

Whilst Heathrow's new terminals are pretty efficient at getting you airside (great on a late arrival business trip), they're very samey if you're hanging around waiting for a plane.

Gatwick's terminals aren't as swish, but they've a little character.

On balance, Gatwick shades it for.

Southampton is great if you can get a flight from there!

M

[gregs656]

The Leaper said:

Getting through security etc was also very quick. Maybe I just travelled on a good day/time, Monday/09:30. The return was rather different with long queues at border control as once again many of the auto entry machines were not in use. Baggage reclaim was less than 5 minutes.

Gatwick has a very smooth operation for security outbound IME but like you have been caught out a couple of times coming back. Worth getting ahead of the masses.

[Carl_Manchester]

gregs656 said:

The Leaper said:

Getting through security etc was also very quick. Maybe I just travelled on a good day/time, Monday/09:30. The return was rather different with long queues at border control as once again many of the auto entry machines were not in use. Baggage reclaim was less than 5 minutes.

Gatwick has a very smooth operation for security outbound IME but like you have been caught out a couple of times coming back. Worth getting ahead of the masses.

for shame I buy the queue jumper passes for inbound and outbound at Gatwick. The inbound fast-track became available fairly recently (in aviation terms).

[Yipper]

Gatwick is rubbish. Too spread-out.

Heathrow T5 is massively overrated. Not particularly easy to navigate and long walks to many places. T2 and T4 are much better and faster.

Southend Airport is the best in Britain. You can roll right up to the front door by train or car, and planeside is just minutes from checkin. A fantastic little airport and how flying used to be.

[StevieBee]

OP: For a first time traveller, Heathrow will all seem very daunting.

Gatwick or Stansted would be far better bets.

[The Leaper]

So, does Southend Airport has multinational global direct flights? Does it have any direct flights to anywhere in Italy as per the OP's post? I agree that there are many UK airports where the service is excellent and I have used quite a few but do their flight services go anywhere where large numbers of people wish to go to?

R.

[//j17]

The Leaper said:

So, does Southend Airport has multinational global direct flights?

Yes.

The Leaper said:

Does it have any direct flights to anywhere in Italy as per the OP's post?

Yes. Milan and Venice (FlyBE).

Only issue with Southend is National Rail seem to have spend the last 5 years closing the line to the airport on (at least winter) Saturdays, but that's not under the airport's control.

[StevieBee]

//j17 said:

Only issue with Southend is National Rail seem to have spend the last 5 years closing the line to the airport on (at least winter) Saturdays, but that's not under the airport's control.

But you do have a choice of two lines: Liverpool Street to Southend Victoria (direct access to Airport) or C2C from Fenchurch Street to Southend Central - requires a taxi to airport but not far.

[anonymous-user]

Zetec-S said:

She actually lives near Leicester, but will be staying overnight at a friends in London (I said she was tight )

(It's also quite possible she'll want to take homemade sandwiches).

Is East Midlands not an easier option? Quite a few Italian destinations if I remember rightly....

[Biker 1]

Depends where you're coming from. I need to make a massive allowance for M25 traffic to get to Heathrow, meaning I am often extremely early for a flight. Gatwick I can get to without even needing the M23. Also, as another poster pointed out, Heathrow is MASSIVE & quite daunting for non-flyers

[NordicCrankShaft]

swerni said:

I hate Gatwick, seems to be full of the great unwashed on package tours.
I'm also 25 mins from T5 so it's always a winner for me.

Go for which ever is the closest and best value.

Exactly this.

I have to fly into Gatwick when I come back to the UK, I'd avoid it completely add to that 90% of Gatwick staff are not very pleasant to deal with.

[marcosgt]

NordicCrankShaft said:

swerni said:

I hate Gatwick, seems to be full of the great unwashed on package tours.
I'm also 25 mins from T5 so it's always a winner for me.

Go for which ever is the closest and best value.

Exactly this.

I have to fly into Gatwick when I come back to the UK, I'd avoid it completely add to that 90% of Gatwick staff are not very pleasant to deal with.

And yet Heathrow is full of business travellers who still don't seem to realise they need to take their laptops out of their bags...

I can't understand this - My wife does 2 or 3 flights a year, but she knows this. 'Washed' business people who probably travel 10 to 100 times more than her still seem surprised!

Can't say I'm a big fan of BA these days - If they want to play budget airline games with in-flight food, they need to be as cheap as the budget airlines... Athens (3.5 hours) is NOT short haul in my book - You could, at least, give us a free cup of tea or coffee you bloody cheapskates...

M