Southhampton to LHR for 11:30 am flight?

I can get a reasonable deal that goes from LHR at 11:30 am to JFK. Will Princess let us use a transfer if the flight leaves before noon? Has anyone made a flight that early? Thanks

I can get a reasonable deal that goes from LHR at 11:30 am to JFK. Will Princess let us use a transfer if the flight leaves before noon? Has anyone made a flight that early? Thanks

I would consider arranging a private transfer, so you don't have to wait for an entire cruise line bus to fill up before leaving.

I can get a reasonable deal that goes from LHR at 11:30 am to JFK. Will Princess let us use a transfer if the flight leaves before noon? Has anyone made a flight that early? Thanks

The chance of you making an 11:30AM flight out of LHR when you are coming from Southampton is pretty darn slim even with private transport (which will cost you a pretty penny). It is about 1.5 hours just transport time (and that means no traffic). Then two hours to get checked in, clear all the security, get your name on the manifest so it can be cleared so you can even enter the USA, etc. etc.

I sure wouldn't try it. You may be spending part of your vacation sleeping in the airport or have to pony up a large chunk of cash for a walk up ticket.

Thanks! I don't know why so many flights leave there at 11:30 when many will be flying post cruise.

Will Princess let us use a transfer if the flight leaves before noon?

No, they will not. The earliest flight they schedule with EZAir is noon, so that's the earliest flight time for their transfer.

As someone very familiar with this part of the world (I lived in Southampton for 3yrs) I'd say you should allow 2hrs for the journey by car to Heathrow from Southampton. The M3 leading up to the M25 gets very snarled up, and that stretch of the M25 near Heathrow is amongst the busiest roads in Europe.

If you want predictability then train to Woking and private car from there, or the Railair coach would work. It's mostly backroads from Woking to LHR.

Thanks! I don't know why so many flights leave there at 11:30 when many will be flying post cruise.

Err, because the number of cruise passengers on LON-JFK, or LON-Anywhere is tiny!

There are probably another 20 flights to JFK/EWR in the afternoon from Heathrow alone.

Thanks! I don't know why so many flights leave there at 11:30 when many will be flying post cruise.

Allow me to add: So on the rare day when there is a cruise at Southampton or Dover, airlines are supposed to change their schedules just to try to accomodate those cruise passengers? Is that what you are saying?

LHR flights are scheduled for the overall demand on a route, not just for the occasional event. And FWIW, as mentioned there are MANY flights to JFK/EWR that depart in the afternoon and even into the evening. Both BA and VS have flights that depart after 8pm.

Oh...it's because there's a cheap price on the early flight.

I don't know why so many flights leave there at 11:30 when many will be flying post cruise.

To build on fbgd's example, British Airways alone flies about 2,000 seats a day between London and New York, each and every day. Almost 500 of these are business class seats, and almost 100 more are first class seats. There's another 900 seats a day, each and every day, to Los Angeles. And so on. BA has over a dozen more routes to the US, and that's before you even start counting any other airlines.

Many cruise passengers flying after a cruise? They aren't even a drop in the ocean.

Thanks! I don't know why so many flights leave there at 11:30 when many will be flying post cruise.

Because the vast majority of people flying LHR to the states on any given day are finishing land-based trips, not cruises, or they are Brits embarking on the front end of a trip to American, and for all of those people 11:30 is a great time to depart.

And the pax getting off your ship? I'll bet many of them will be staying on in London for a few days, so the "many" you refer to is even less than you probably think. ;)

Let us not forget that LHR is a major connection port for airlines. They schedule flights to be logical connections for flights from other European, Asian, and African airports.

I believe the OP has a case of "target fixation". If it was important for a timely flight for a group of cruisers to get back to a US connection airport (where the cruisers would then disperse onto flights back to their home airports), cruise lines would be in the charter flight business.

If you have never been to LHR before, it's an interesting airport with lots of duty-free shopping options and places to eat. And, there are airline lounges which will let you in to relax for a few hours for a fee (if you don't qualify for free entrance via status or a particular credit card). Take a later flight, don't stress the large possibility that you would miss that early flight.

The proportion of cruise passengers flying from Heathrow to the US, even on a cruise ship day, is tiny.

 

 

 

To build on fbgd's example, British Airways alone flies about 2,000 seats a day between London and New York, each and every day. Almost 500 of these are business class seats, and almost 100 more are first class seats. There's another 900 seats a day, each and every day, to Los Angeles. And so on. BA has over a dozen more routes to the US, and that's before you even start counting any other airlines.

 

 

 

Many cruise passengers flying after a cruise? They aren't even a drop in the ocean.

2000 a day sounds awfully small...

I believe the OP has a case of "target fixation". If it was important for a timely flight for a group of cruisers to get back to a US connection airport (where the cruisers would then disperse onto flights back to their home airports), cruise lines would be in the charter flight business.

And an example to show that's not a successful business model for them:

Next?

I forgot about Carnival Air! Back in the day, they made a sizable equipment order with my employer. They paid in full for the equipment and the first years of a maintenance and support contract. Shortly after, they went bankrupt and ceased operations. Fortunately we weren't holding the bag on any balance due and never had to provide the support.

2000 a day sounds awfully small...

Next Monday (using typical aircraft capacities):-

BA1    LCY-JFK  318      32J
BA3    LCY-JFK  318      32J

BA117  LHR-JFK  744  14F 70J 30W 185Y
BA175  LHR-JFK  744  14F 70J 30W 185Y
BA113  LHR-JFK  744  14F 70J 30W 185Y
BA113  LHR-JFK  744  14F 70J 30W 185Y
BA177  LHR-JFK  772  14F 48J 40W 124Y
BA173  LHR-JFK  744  14F 70J 30W 185Y
BA115  LHR-JFK  744  14F 70J 30W 185Y
BA179  LHR-JFK  744  14F 70J 30W 185Y

BA185  LHR-EWR  772  14F 48J 40W 124Y
BA189  LHR-EWR  788      35J 25W 154Y

Total:-
 126 first class seats
 685 business class seats
 315 premium economy seats
1,697 economy seats
[b]2,823 seats total this day[/b]

So you're right: it's more like 3,000 seats. That's on one airline, on one city pair (London-New York), for one day.

Another broad brush statistic is this: On Monday, there will be something like 24 non-stop flights between London and New York. Some of the aircraft are smaller than some of those listed above, but at an average of 225 seats per aircraft that's about 5,400 seats on Monday on this one city pair (London-New York) alone.

The Los Angeles numbers work like this: BA operates two A380s every day to Los Angeles. Each has 14 first class, 98 business class, 55 premium economy and 303 economy seats = total 470 seats. So that's 940 seats a day, every day, on this one single airline to one more destination.

Many cruise passengers? You'd hardly notice them.

2800, wow. Figured it would be more like 3500. Impressive! Thanks for the research