Travelling from Heathrow Advice

[rf_ioliver]

Hi,

what do people suggest for travelling from Heathrow to Cardiff.

I'm booking tickets for my parents - their plane arrives at 9h00 in the morning and giving them 2 hours before a Heathrow Express train at 11h00 and the train to Cardiff from Paddington around 11h30.

Is this enough time (Heathrow's website states max. 45 mins for EU immigration)? And more importantly what happens if things go wrong at Heathrow and they miss the 11h30 train?

I'm still waiting for advice from FGW about this, but can any of you experts help?

thanks

Ian

 

[yorkie]

For peace of mind, £58 will buy you a Super Off Peak Single from Heathrow Rail to Cardiff Central. This is valid on trains timed to depart London Paddington between 1010 and 1501, and from 1901 (and any train Heathrow to Paddington to connect).

If you can get FGW to honour an Advance ticket on later services in the even of delays, that could lower the cost considerably. Please let us know what they say.

 

[rf_ioliver]

I should also add at the moment with senior rail cards I can get a return (dep 2nd, ret 9th) for both for just over 100 GBP.

The situation I don't want is huge delays at Heathrow and then being stuck with a big bill at Paddington because they missed the train

Ian

 

[island]

Is this for during the Olympics? If so, I do not recommend buying Advance tickets.

 

[dzug2]

If you buy an 'Advance' ticket then it has no value if they miss the booked train. FGW will not make any allowance for the plane being late or being held up en route

If you buy a superoffpeak, offpeak or anytime ticket then it is not tied to any particular train. If they miss the booked train they can get the next one, subject to any time of day restrictions for the ticket type

Remember prebooked tickets cannot be picked up at Heathrow

 

[flymo]

Also bear in mind if they have bags to collect that may slow things down a bit and there is also the walk down to the HX platforms as well.
I have come through Heathrow a few times and been on an advance from KX to Newcastle and I gave myself 3 to 3.5 hours and that was at 05:00. If I were you and was using advances I would elect a later train than 2.5 hours after arrival but maybe that is just me.

 

[sonic2009]

If you travel via the RailAir coach to Reading and change there for a train to Cardiff Central.

Coaches run every 20 mins from Terminals 1, 3 and 5 direct to Reading Station.

A Super Off Peak Single via this route to Cardiff Central is £48.40.