Out of Gatwick, back into Heathrow

[SirBroccoli]

Hi all,

This weekend, i'm making a quick trip to the South of France, flying out of Gatwick on Friday morning (travelling to a hotel in Croydon on Thursday evening), back into Heathrow on Monday evening, and am looking for the cheapest way to get to and from those airports from my home in Basingstoke.

Current thinking is to buy an Off Peak Return, with Network Railcard, from Basingstoke to East Croydon, priced at £25.25, and use the return portion from Staines via Weybridge and Woking, after taking a local bus from Heathrow Terminal 5. But is this allowed as part of the routing guide and ticket codes? Alternatively, i'll get the railair bus to Woking and use the return portion from there.

Any thoughts much appreciated!

 

[m00036]

Basingstoke has a direct bus from Heathrow which costs only £4 (it's the 730 from Heathrow) - I suspect that will work out cheapest (and quite possibly quickest as well) when combined with your Gatwick ticket. Having taken the bus a number of times, it does work very well (albeit only hourly).

 

[SirBroccoli]

Basingstoke has a direct bus from Heathrow which costs only £4 (it's the 730 from Heathrow) - I suspect that will work out cheapest (and quite possibly quickest as well) when combined with your Gatwick ticket. Having taken the bus a number of times, it does work very well (albeit only hourly).

Oh wow. I didn’t realise the price had gone down to £4. I took it in September to and from Heathrow and it was £25 return. I was one of two people on the bus in both directions.

Even better, my flight arrives at 18:15, and there’s a bus at 18:40! Just got to hope that the flight arrives on time…

 

[Gwr12345]

I didn’t realise the price had gone down to £4

Part of the £2 fare cap, so £2 each way

 

[Alex365Dash]

Part of the £2 fare cap, so £2 each way

Except that Reading Buses takes the approach that because the service is split in Frimley(?), it’s £2 for each half, making £4 each way.

 

[m00036]

The buses are only marginally busier now, maybe five people per bus with none/one staying on board past Camberley. They have definitely not promoted the reduction in fares at all, I think the online brochure still has the old, much higher, fares on it.

 

[Thames99]

I think that longer distance bus routes are split because of rules regarding maximum distances to be regarded as a bus service. The Reading - Victoria bus route is similarly split into 701 and 702 although the same bus travels through and passengers can stay on with the through fare being £4. There routes are apparently well used especially from Windsor onwards - on some services an extra relief bus is operated. On railway strike days there are good loads along the length of the route - spending several hours on a bus v. 23 minutes on a train needs some incentive!

I understand that the Basingstoke route was not initially eligible for the capped fares as new routes introduced after the scheme started were not covered. This changed when the £2 scheme was extended.