Transportation options/prices Southampton to Gatwick

So I went to the Southwest Trains website today hoping for the 5 pound fare from Southampton Central to Gatwick. They are not offering the special, apparently. So I looked at National Express Coach and the price is basically the same as Southwest Trains. I then looked at MegaCoach and they do not offer Southampton to Gatwick.

Have I got it right? We are disembarking the QM2 on Nov. 1 and flying from Gatwick at 4:05pm so no rush. I have been watching the days for the train ticket sales to become available for our date and when it did - no bargain. Just want to verify I have not overlooked any option. Thank you.

JB may do better, but the best price I could find is £15.30. Note that only some trains are direct - many involve 1 or 2 changes.

OP, the £5 Advance fare is showing for trains in the weeks before your trip, so you may be too early, or they may all have gone, of course! Or they may not be offering it at all because there's a cruise in that day....

The off-peak single fare at £15-30 is a bit of a bargain, in any case, and requires no advance booking. You could keep checking to see if the Advance becomes available without losing access to that fare.

The cheaper fares are using Southern, not South-West, services, and they currently have a bitter industrial dispute going on, with a strike this week that would affect the services you'd use to Gatwick. Keep an eye on that!

Thank you. Southern is not yet showing tickets for Nov. 1. I am seeing a lot of notices about the railway dispute. I hope it does not drag on. So many people depend on the transport, but, that is why they strike. More impact, more bargaining power.

Yes, could be they haven't loaded their Advance fares yet. They have one or two things to cope with this week!

First, let's get Megatrain out of the way.

There's no Megatrain tickets available on this route. The only local routes with Megatrain tickets are between Southampton or Portsmouth and London Waterloo.

You're a little early to be seeing cheap train deals for November.

I'm seeing the £5 fare for September - eg 8th September, the 10.32am from Southampton, change trains at Havant, arrive Gatwick 12.36. Advance purchase price, ticket valid on that train only.

Same date, similar route & terms but £12 for the 8.32am or £8.50 for the 9.32. And same date, same terms £8.50 for a direct train at 10.13am.

(edit: just seen your flight time - there are also later trains at £5)

Haven't religiously checked every date but those terms appear to currently be offered up to about 21st October.

No deals, not even the £15.90 anytime tickets, currently showing for November so you'll have to hold your horses for a couple of weeks.

This route is operated by Southern Trains (that's the operator currently having problems), not South-West Trains.

I always use the national website, which shows all services by all operators.

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/

Southern is currently running a restricted service during the strike, which is due to end on Friday. There are no trains at all on part of this route - the gap is closed by rail-replacement buses, so Southampton-Gatwick journey times are much longer. The strike is only part of the story, it's a dispute which has been going on for months.

You can keep up-to-date with the Southern problems by checking occasionally on http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/england/sussex

Or on Southern's own website

http://www.southernrailway.com/

JB :)

Budget prices appeared! Got my tickets 😃😃😃. Thank you!

Budget prices appeared! Got my tickets . Thank you!

Amazing how two weeks seem to fly by. :D

JB :)

Now you just have to hope that the current dispute is resolved by then.