Transfer: Southampton—London (incl. LHR/LGW) train, car, other?

[John Bull]

3 hours ago, fstuff1 said:

 

my flight is at 2pm so getting there at 11am should be ok

 

Out 09:13 Thu 04 May 2023

• Depart09:13 Southampton Central
• Arrive11:09 Gatwick Airport
• Duration1hr 56m

 

 

That timing will be fine 🙂

 

 

2 hours ago, fstuff1 said:

there's another app for England railways: Trainline

 

but it seems to have a service fee. 

same train ticket is $5 more on Trainline 😮

 

 

That's why we don't mention Trainline 😏

 

JB 🙂

[fstuff1]

On 4/29/2023 at 8:07 PM, John Bull said:

That timing will be fine 🙂

 

if i get to the station by 8am, can i pay the price difference between the 9am train and the 8am train?

[gumshoe958]

3 minutes ago, fstuff1 said:

if i get to the station by 8am, can i pay the price difference between the 9am train and the 8am train?

Yes, but there’s an admin fee of £10 plus the difference between what you paid and the standard walk-up fare of £20.

[rtdiva]

Flight to the states. Ask your TA to check the super low priced business class flights by United only for cruisers. Not found online. 

[fstuff1]

On 5/2/2023 at 1:31 PM, gumshoe958 said:

Yes, but there’s an admin fee of £10 plus the difference between what you paid and the standard walk-up fare of £20.

At the train station, the price at the ticket counter to goto Gatwick is just 27 pounds, not 42.

[fstuff1]

So i'm booking my Lhr to southampton bus from national express: HEATHROW Airport London T2,3 (LHR)

 

I'm coming in on Virgin Atlantic. Looks like i'm coming in on terminal 3.

 

$1 booking fee for National Express? anyway around this?

Edited May 10, 2023 by fstuff1

[gumshoe958]

1 hour ago, fstuff1 said:

So i'm booking my Lhr to southampton bus from national express: HEATHROW Airport London T2,3 (LHR)

 

I'm coming in on Virgin Atlantic. Looks like i'm coming in on terminal 3.

 

$1 booking fee for National Express? anyway around this?

You can set up ‘My Account’ which apparently exempts you from booking fees. I have no idea whether you can do it outside the UK though, you’ll have to try and see.

 

https://www.nationalexpress.com/en/help/my-account

[b7440]

We are arriving @ Heathrow, on Virgin Atlantic. We have a car service picking us up. I am told to meet the car driver @ WH Smith? 
Not sure what this means.  I assume we go to Customs, and then get our luggage. Then go find the driver. Can anyone tell me how fare it is to this pickup spot?

 

thank you

Brian & Lisa

[gumshoe958]

9 minutes ago, b7440 said:

We are arriving @ Heathrow, on Virgin Atlantic. We have a car service picking us up. I am told to meet the car driver @ WH Smith? 
Not sure what this means.  I assume we go to Customs, and then get our luggage. Then go find the driver. Can anyone tell me how fare it is to this pickup spot?

 

thank you

Brian & Lisa

WH Smith is a newsagent/bookstore, ubiquitous in the UK. They have a store in the arrivals hall at Terminal 3, just after you exit customs with your luggage and go landside.

[b7440]

9 minutes ago, gumshoe958 said:

WH Smith is a newsagent/bookstore, ubiquitous in the UK. They have a store in the arrivals hall at Terminal 3, just after you exit customs with your luggage and go landside.

 

9 minutes ago, gumshoe958 said:

WH Smith is a newsagent/bookstore, ubiquitous in the UK. They have a store in the arrivals hall at Terminal 3, just after you exit customs with your luggage and go landside.

Ok thank you, makes sense.

[Globaliser]

1 hour ago, gumshoe958 said:

WH Smith is a newsagent/bookstore, ubiquitous in the UK. They have a store in the arrivals hall at Terminal 3, just after you exit customs with your luggage and go landside.

 

Open this PDF map of Terminal 3, and go to page 5 (Arrivals, Ground floor). You exit from Customs through the arrivals shop, which is number 3 (marked "World Duty Free", although it isn't a duty-free shop), and cross into the public area at the dotted orange line. WHSmith is number 14, in the row of shops towards the bottom of the page.

[Cotswold Eagle]

This video may also help - it's of the T3 arrivals hall (landside). You can see drivers waiting in various parts of the hall. At 1:30, WH Smith is in the centre of the screen - it's the shop with the vertical sign (it says WH Smith, but hard to make out) under the train on the large Heathrow Express advert.

 

Basically just swing to the right when you can in the arrivals hall and you'll see it in front of you. 

 

Edited May 15, 2023 by Cotswold Eagle

[Csphoenix]

We are arriving in Southampton and need to hire a car service to a hotel in London. Any recommendations?

 

thanks😀

[John Bull]

19 hours ago, Csphoenix said:

We are arriving in Southampton and need to hire a car service to a hotel in London. Any recommendations?

 

thanks😀

 

https://westquaycars.com/southampton-cruise-port-transfers/

https://www.aquacars.co.uk/

https://gunwharf-executive-travel.co.uk/

 

West Quay cars are in Southampton, the other two in nearby Portsmouth. All three used & recommended by Cruise Critic members.

More options if you scroll back thro this thread, but ignore references to Smiths for Airports - sadly they were a casualty of the pandemic.

Expect the quotes to be north of £200

 

Southampton train & coach stations are no more than a £10 taxi ride from any cruise terminal.

Frequent train service to London Waterloo takes about 90 minutes & can cost as little as £14.50 pp for an advance-booked ticket (available from about 10 weeks out, and prices rise close to the date of travel)

https://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/

Hourly coach service to Victoria coach station takes about 2 hrs 30 mins and costs about £6 pp. Again prices are dynamic & altho the increases are minimal do book early to avoid the coach being booked-out

https://book.nationalexpress.com/

 

Do check the locations of Waterloo train station and Victoria coach station compared to your hotel address 

 

JB 🙂

Edited May 19, 2023 by John Bull

[silkismom]

I'm sorry if this has been covered, but our flt from Chicago is "scheduled" to arrive at LHR at 8:30 AM, how much time should we allow to get our luggage and to the National Express office, for Southampton. We are on United and think we land at terminal 2. I'd like to get advance tickets. Thank you so much.

[njkruzer]

1 minute ago, silkismom said:

I'm sorry if this has been covered, but our flt from Chicago is "scheduled" to arrive at LHR at 8:30 AM, how much time should we allow to get our luggage and to the National Express office, for Southampton. We are on United and think we land at terminal 2. I'd like to get advance tickets. Thank you so much.

It's a very, very long walk from the United gates to immigration.  US citizens are allowed to use the express, automated lines, if not traveling with children. Then to baggage.  Had to wait a few minutes for luggage,  not long. We had a driver pick us up so not sure where National Express is.  This was this past October.  Hope this helps. 

[John Bull]

1 hour ago, njkruzer said:

US citizens are allowed to use the express, automated lines, if not traveling with children.

....... and assuming they have a biometric passport (camera icon, centre bottom of the front cover).

 

Expect to take 80 to 100 minutes from touchdown.

Best to book a coach which gives you plenty of time, and pay the extra £5 to make it flexible.

If you're lucky enough to roll up in time for an earlier one you can switch to it if there are seats available, but your booking is safe . But if you book the earlier one and miss it, you could be in for a looooooooong wait if the next coaches are fully-booked

 

JB 🙂

[John Bull]

3 hours ago, silkismom said:

how much time should we allow to get our luggage and to the National Express office, for Southampton. We are on United and think we land at terminal 2. I'd like to get advance tickets. Thank you so much.

 

2 hours ago, njkruzer said:

  US citizens are allowed to use the express, automated lines, if not traveling with children.

 

....................... and assuming they have a biometric passport (camera icon, centre bottom of the front cover).

 

Expect to take 90 to 120 minutes from touchdown to Central Bus Station.

After collecting your luggage & passing thro Customs, follow signs for buses or Central Bus Station - it's a 10-minute walk from T2..

Best to book a coach which gives you plenty of time, and pay the extra £5 to make it flexible.

If you're lucky enough to roll up in time for an earlier one you can switch to it if there are seats available, but your booking is safe . But if you book the earlier one and miss it, you could be in for a looooooooong wait if the next coaches are fully-booked

 

JB 🙂

Edited May 22, 2023 by John Bull

[silkismom]

Thank you so much!!

[rapister]

is radio taxis a good choice when it comes to transport between hotel in Southampton and cruise terminal?  westquaycars is also recommended by some forumers here as well.

 

which taxi company would be best? i am thinking of booking one in advance,

for both embarkation, and disembarkation

 

many thanks

Edited May 23, 2023 by rapister

[John Bull]

20 minutes ago, rapister said:

is radio taxis a good choice when it comes to transport between hotel in Southampton and cruise terminal?  westquaycars is also recommended by some forumers here as well.

 

which taxi company would be best? i am thinking of booking one in advance,

for both embarkation, and disembarkation

 

many thanks

 

 

Both are well-established and well-respected taxi operators.

But I wouldn't bother booking in advance for a So'ton city hotel to terminal, an advance booking for a little job like that would potentially get lost in the best-run organisation. A phone call the previous evening, or even an hour before needed would be fine.

Not sure I'd bother for the reverse either, long waits for a taxi from the rank at cruise terminals are rare.

A transfer out of Southampton - for instance to London or an airport - is another thing entirely, for that you need to pre-book for a fixed price as well as availability.

 

JB 🙂

[rapister]

2 minutes ago, John Bull said:

 

 

Both are well-established and well-respected taxi operators.

But I wouldn't bother booking in advance for a So'ton city hotel to terminal, an advance booking for a little job like that would potentially get lost in the best-run organisation. A phone call the previous evening, or even an hour before needed would be fine.

Not sure I'd bother for the reverse either, long waits for a taxi from the rank at cruise terminals are rare.

A transfer out of Southampton - for instance to London or an airport - is another thing entirely, for that you need to pre-book for a fixed price as well as availability.

 

JB 🙂

Thank you for your advice

 

In that case, I would probably book a taxi on their website on embarkation morning , probably, so I can meet it at the hotel entrance.

👍

[Moxiefurball]

Has anyone ever booked through Get your guide and booked the London to Southampton cruise termonal  shared transport through them?  They use a group called Travel In Group.

 

 

[fstuff1]

From Landing at Heathrow to passport check to the long walk to central bus station (terminal 2) where National express bus is took me 50min.

 

And I only had carry on.

Didn't have to wait for the baggage claim

 

[Globaliser]

37 minutes ago, fstuff1 said:

From landing at Heathrow ...

 

 

At major airports, it often takes a long time to taxi from the runway to the gate (and vice versa on departure). A flight's scheduled time of arrival does not refer to landing time; it refers to arrival time at the gate. So it's better to estimate from scheduled time of arrival.