Disembarking Southampton airport transfer

[Cruise NH]

I have gotten off the QM2 Ana QV a number of times in Southampton but never flown home the same day, but now I am.  I never paid attention to transfers before 😗

 

We haven’t made our flight reservations yet so we can leave out of Heathrow or Gatwick. The flights were interested in leave around 1pm.  We’re thinking transfers because we’ll have plenty of OBC but we’re open to anything.  We could even self disembark and get a car service if leaving that early is really necessary. 

 

 Is one airport better than the other for our purposes?  This is an international flight.  Thanks.

[Pushpit]

By road both are are about 90 minutes away, the road network to Heathrow (particularly terminals 4 and 5) is easy from Southampton, for Gatwick it's a bit more complex, but there's not going to be a lot of difference.

 

By rail, Gatwick has an hourly direct service from Southampton Central to the door of the airport, but it's a bit of a plodder, taking nearly 2 hours. Heathrow is just more complicated.

 

In a sense, getting off early isn't going to help, you'll be in traffic that you will largely avoid if go later. So if you assume a self-disembark at 08:30 (this isn't usually ambitious), you should be at LHR or LGW for around 10:00 hrs. If you left 30 minutes earlier I'm not sure you would arrive much sooner.

[david,Mississauga]

We have used Cunard's coach transfer to Gatwick several times. We have not flown from Gatwick the same day, but we stay at a hotel there.

 

Generally the coach departs the dock at 8:30 or shortly after. It can take up to two hours depending on traffic. Cunard wants to know what flight you are taking or they will not issue a ticket for the transfer. It has been indicated that flight must be at 1:00 p.m. or later. (Even though we are not flying the same day we have to indicate something so I just pick a flight at random after 1:00 p.m.)

 

We have occasionally used a car service. It can take a little less time because the driver can take the scenic route if traffic is heavy.  Our arrival at Gatwick has always been approximately 10:30 except once when it was 11:00.

[D&N]

Day of week that you arrive could make a difference.

On a Sunday last June we left Mayflower Terminal by taxi at 08:09 and arrived at Heathrow T5 at 09:17. We had self disembarked and been at Mayflower from 07:18. Taxi was booked for 08:30 and company sent it as soon as possible after we phoned.

It's unlikely that time could be achieved on a weekday.

[Cruise NH]

2 hours ago, D&N said:

Day of week that you arrive could make a difference.

On a Sunday last June we left Mayflower Terminal by taxi at 08:09 and arrived at Heathrow T5 at 09:17. We had self disembarked and been at Mayflower from 07:18. Taxi was booked for 08:30 and company sent it as soon as possible after we phoned.

It's unlikely that time could be achieved on a weekday.

Good point.  We’ll get in on a Sunday so maybe all options are open?  Well not the train though, I’ve been on a train in England on a Sunday where I learned the phrase ‘track works’!

[Wonky]

Where are you flying to? You could catch a flight from Southampton itself, for example there’s an Aer Lingus to NYC via Dublin that lease at 1255pm. Additional advantage of doing immigration in Dublin.

[Cruise NH]

On 5/1/2023 at 11:36 AM, Wonky said:

Where are you flying to? You could catch a flight from Southampton itself, for example there’s an Aer Lingus to NYC via Dublin that lease at 1255pm. Additional advantage of doing immigration in Dublin.

I didn’t know that, I’ll look into it.  Thanks.  We’re going to Boston.  

[Pushpit]

On a Sunday, Aer Lingus' service at 12:55 from SOU gets you to DUB at 14:20, with a good connection on Aer Lingus' service to BOS departing 16:45, arriving into Logan at 18:50 hrs. Southampton is a small airport which can't currently take large jets. Turning up an hour before departure would be fine.

[Cruise NH]

1 hour ago, Pushpit said:

On a Sunday, Aer Lingus' service at 12:55 from SOU gets you to DUB at 14:20, with a good connection on Aer Lingus' service to BOS departing 16:45, arriving into Logan at 18:50 hrs. Southampton is a small airport which can't currently take large jets. Turning up an hour before departure would be fine.

I see that.  I’ve never flown on a plane with propellers before!  🛩️

[exlondoner]

1 minute ago, Cruise NH said:

I see that.  I’ve never flown on a plane with propellers before!  🛩️

It gives you something to watch!

[neeuqdrazil]

20 hours ago, Cruise NH said:

I see that.  I’ve never flown on a plane with propellers before!  🛩️

 

Porter out of Toronto uses turbo-prop planes, so I've flown them a bunch (they're actually the best way to get between Toronto and the US Northeast). The thing to keep in mind is that they can be louder than larger jets (the planes are tiny), so make sure you've got noise cancelling bits for your ears. 

[D&N]

It's a while since I was on an ATR-72, but don't think they are too loud. Can't remember if they were louder or quieter than a Dash-8. There was something I flew Manchester-Glasgow on a few times in 1990s that was louder; either Fokker, ATP or Dash-7. It shook quite violently!

The overhead lockers are smaller so make sure you know what the luggage rules are. Particularly cabin bag size and weight.

[exlondoner]

1 hour ago, D&N said:

It's a while since I was on an ATR-72, but don't think they are too loud. Can't remember if they were louder or quieter than a Dash-8. There was something I flew Manchester-Glasgow on a few times in 1990s that was louder; either Fokker, ATP or Dash-7. It shook quite violently!

The overhead lockers are smaller so make sure you know what the luggage rules are. Particularly cabin bag size and weight.

If you want noise, try a Trislander.

[D&N]

23 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

If you want noise, try a Trislander.

Never tried them or the Islander. Think smallest was a Twin Otter tourist flight at Ketchikan. We had headsets to listen to the captain so didn't hear the noise that much.

Smallest commercial was a Dornier 328, which was quite pleasant. Although landing at Norwich at tail end of a hurricane style episode was quite good fun. Bit like a rollercoaster but they made it first time.

[Cruise NH]

I checked out a youtube video of some ATR-72 flights.  The engines are pretty loud but the plane looks comfortable.  

[Nikita4]

On 5/3/2023 at 8:43 PM, D&N said:

Never tried them or the Islander. Think smallest was a Twin Otter tourist flight at Ketchikan. We had headsets to listen to the captain so didn't hear the noise that much.

Smallest commercial was a Dornier 328, which was quite pleasant. Although landing at Norwich at tail end of a hurricane style episode was quite good fun. Bit like a rollercoaster but they made it first time.

I like Dornier 328 planes!
On our small local airport here they use always Dornier's 328, but all airlines here were insolvent at the end, so it was not a good business model....

My favorite airport in London ist London City, but from Southampton to far and there are only small planes for european flights. Its much better organized than Heathrow oder Gatwick in my opinion.

When you fly with BA or an other Airline from Heathrow Terminal 5, plan enough time for check in and security! Last time it tooks 3 hours for a European flight!
The Transfer with Cunard is good organized and the departure time depends of your flight time. I always fly back home on the same day and had a transfer with Cunard.

[D&N]

We were at Heathrow T5 on 12th April. It took us 20 minutes from our aircraft door to the gate for our connecting flight including passing through passport e-gates and security.

Unfortunately BA had decided that our checked bag couldn't move as fast as us and switched us to a later flight!