Frequently Asked Questions


1) I have booked a National Express ticket for a particular service but I may be early / late - is that a problem?
No, you can go on services before or after, there isn't much of an issue. At LGW there is one ground agent who tries to discourage people going on earlier services (but not late services) but if there are seats available you can press the point with her. You may need to remind her that T5 is the next stop since she may argue that seats need to be held back for joining passengers. Formally, however, there is a £5 supplement option which allows a 12 hour either way variance on your booked coach time.

2) If I have a lot of luggage, which is the best option?
Taxi and National Express. There are baggage limits for National Express but they don't seem to be stringently enforced.

3) I have a several hours before my flight, which is the best value option which isn't too complex?
This is subjective, but probably Option 4 above via Barons Court, if you don't have too much luggage. Particularly offpeak the cost is £10.20 on Oyster and contactless, and it should take around 90 minutes. It can be done without using steps, though at Victoria it is easiest to use steps/escalators if you can.

4) Can I use a railcard?
For Heathrow Express and Gatwick Express, yes, and that includes the Network Card, subject to the various time restrictions in place for your railcard. In the case of the Gatwick Express unless you have the railcard attached to your Oyster then it's unlikely to work for you. Paper tickets are sometimes better, depending on your other trips that day (e.g. one day travelcards).

5) What are all these references to "contactless" payment?
Over the last few years, transport in the London area has been largely moved over to contactless payment methods, where you enter a tube station by putting an eligible bank or credit card on a yellow pad to the right of the entrance gate. It will bleep once (not very loud though) if payment is accepted, and the mini screen will confirm all is well - it's ok to touch the pad while the gate is open from the previous passenger, it will stay open for you too. You do the same to exit the station. For buses you touch the same pad either at the driver's door, or in some cases entering by other doors and using the pads in the middle of the bus. Once only in the case of a bus trip, you should not touch out when leaving the bus. On the DLR you do need to swipe out if leaving a DLR station and not continuing your trip via a tube connection at the same station but that won't feature on these transfers. An Oyster card is also available from stations and newsagents if you don't have such a bank card, but AMEX now issue them as standard globally. In the diagrams above, we have indicated where you will need to deploy your card. Other cities also use contactless for public transport (e.g. Salt Lake City since 2009! And Chicago). You can tell if your card should work by this symbol, usually on the front of the card:


And see this video (health warning: Estuary English in full deployment)


Note that so far at least the Heathrow Express is not on contactless - almost the only public transport operator in the London area not to be so connected. It does at least accept App and website bookings. Apart from that, and with the exception of some railcard users, contactless and Oyster are the best and most cost effective way to use public transport in the London area. Contactless card will also allow you to use the tube between T5, T3-T2 and T4 for free, you just need the card to enable gate access.

6) Is Apple Pay available for contactless travel?
Yes, including the Apple Watch, they can be used to touch in on the yellow pad. Full details here: http://tfl.gov.uk/fares-and-payments...ment/apple-pay. Also see this post to see how you can use multiple cards, e.g. for a family.

7) I'm transferring between Gatwick and Heathrow on a Sunday / Bank Holiday / Christmas / Easter - is that a problem?
Quite possibly! These are the times that the public transport operators can do major upgrade and repair works so it's often the case that one or all of the above will be affected by this. Typically the service isn't cancelled all together but you'll soon learn the fear and loathing that Brits have when they hear the words "Rail Replacement Bus Service". You can check the Tube/bus via their website: https://tfl.gov.uk/ and rail via http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/. If there is going to be disruption the websites tend to have links on the front page. Also the Heathrow Express, Gatwick Express, Thameslink and Southern websites but this should just repeat the National Rail information. There is a nifty enquiry screen here: http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/servic...AndFuture.aspx