Airport check-in for Caribbean flights

Trying to decide whether we need to book a hotel overnight before our flight, or make a very early start and drive on the morning of the flight.

Can anyone tell me what is the usual length of check-in time for P&O's Caribbean flights out of Gatwick? Haven't been able to find anything on the P&O or Thomas Cook websites.

Thanks.

We are sailing on Britannia's transatlantic from Barbados next March and two weeks ago I had an Email from P & O giving flight details which said check-in was four hours. Our flight is from Birmingham and when we last flew to Barbados two years ago it was three hours. Hope this helps.

Trying to decide whether we need to book a hotel overnight before our flight, or make a very early start and drive on the morning of the flight.

 

Can anyone tell me what is the usual length of check-in time for P&O's Caribbean flights out of Gatwick? Haven't been able to find anything on the P&O or Thomas Cook websites.

Thanks.

Can confirm that check in opens 4 hours before the departure time for Thomas Cook and Thomson flights to Barbados from Gatwick. Whether you do overnight stay depends how far you have to travel. If your parking up for 14 days at Gatwick, it could be worth looking at a one night hotel stay with their parking. This is sometimes cheaper than airport parking. We always stay night before, but travel by National Express coach. Have a great cruise.

I'm from Essex and takes us about 1.5 hrs to Gatwick but I always book the hotel the night before as it's less stress for one knowing all I've got to do is walk across a bridge to get to check in and not worrying about traffic. Two it is actually more cost effective to purchase the one night with 14 days parking (if that's what you have) and three it is the start of your holiday and immediately relaxes you :)

I'm from Essex and takes us about 1.5 hrs to Gatwick but I always book the hotel the night before as it's less stress for one knowing all I've got to do is walk across a bridge to get to check in and not worrying about traffic. Two it is actually more cost effective to purchase the one night with 14 days parking (if that's what you have) and three it is the start of your holiday and immediately relaxes you :)

What hotel do you stay in?

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The caribean flights from gatwich go quite early (around 9am) and the gates open 4 hours prior (which doesn't mean you have to be there 4 hours before Boarding though).

We always stay at one of the Hotels right next to the Airport (that one that Lenny Henry uses) :)

If you book early a double room will cost around 50 Pounds which is not bad. And you avoid the stress of getting up in the middle of the night etc.

The only minus really is that you can't check you cases in for the flight the evening before.

We always stay the night before when we are flying to the Caribbean and on the next cruise we have to get from Cornwall to Gatwick so we are definitely staying the night before.

In the past we have stayed at the Hilton as it is actually in the terminal but this time we might stay where we can park if we have to. The initial plan is to fly from Newquay but if the weather is bad and the flights cancelled we shall have to drive instead so we will book a hotel with parking just in case and include the extra cost into the budget!!! :D

Peter and Jenny

Thank you all. My inclination would be to do an overnight in an hotel, DH is thinking drive on the morning of the flight, we're about 1 1/2 hours from Gatwick. At that time in the morning the M25 shouldn't be too bad, but in mid-December the weather may be a factor as well. I hate firkling around in the cold and dark in the wee small hours!

I wasn't aware that you could stay overnight in an hotel and then park there for two weeks, or that it can be cheaper than airport parking, so will look into that pronto. Can I echo Dorset Cruiser's question to natross1110 - which hotel do you stay in that only involves a walk across a bridge?

I wasn't aware that you could stay overnight in an hotel and then park there for two weeks, or that it can be cheaper than airport parking, so will look into that pronto. Can I echo Dorset Cruiser's question to natross1110 - which hotel do you stay in that only involves a walk across a bridge?

Many hotels in Crawley offer this facility. The Europa hotel a few minutes away from where I live offer this as part of a package with airport transfers also. I wouldn't particularly recommend that hotel as it is a Britannia hotel with awful reviews, and the parking is atrocious.

However, there are loads of hotels in the Crawley area offering the same parking facilities.

Living a 5-minute taxi ride away from Gatwick, I can roll out of bed a few minutes before check-in close ;)

We usually stay at Sofitel on Avios points. Used to use remote car park but now splurge on the one in the terminal as it saves so much time 😃

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Thank you all. My inclination would be to do an overnight in an hotel, DH is thinking drive on the morning of the flight, we're about 1 1/2 hours from Gatwick. At that time in the morning the M25 shouldn't be too bad, but in mid-December the weather may be a factor as well. I hate firkling around in the cold and dark in the wee small hours!

 

I wasn't aware that you could stay overnight in an hotel and then park there for two weeks, or that it can be cheaper than airport parking, so will look into that pronto. Can I echo Dorset Cruiser's question to natross1110 - which hotel do you stay in that only involves a walk across a bridge?

The Sofitel is actually inside North Terminals just next to shuttle train, so okay for both terminals. We now park in the valet car park again in North Terminal. Okay so it costs a little more but we factor it into holiday cost. If we fly from Heathrow we use any of the Bath Road area hotels and park our car there and use Hoppa bus into terminal.

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Many hotels in Crawley offer this facility. The Europa hotel a few minutes away from where I live offer this as part of a package with airport transfers also. I wouldn't particularly recommend that hotel as it is a Britannia hotel with awful reviews, and the parking is atrocious.

 

However, there are loads of hotels in the Crawley area offering the same parking facilities.

 

Living a 5-minute taxi ride away from Gatwick, I can roll out of bed a few minutes before check-in close ;)

I'm staying in Sofitel this time with parking on site. It's north terminal but I just get the tram to South which is less than five mins. Hilton is another although that's not parking on site. Last year I used long stay and that was ok but horrible waiting in the cold for the bus especially on the way home. I've also used pick up parking but had a bad experience when my car didn't turn up for an hour after landing despite ringing the company as soon as we landed. I also get a lounge in the airport as it's reasonable and comfortable and I like to relax.

I'm staying in Sofitel this time with parking on site. It's north terminal but I just get the tram to South which is less than five mins. Hilton is another although that's not parking on site. Last year I used long stay and that was ok but horrible waiting in the cold for the bus especially on the way home. I've also used pick up parking but had a bad experience when my car didn't turn up for an hour after landing despite ringing the company as soon as we landed. I also get a lounge in the airport as it's reasonable and comfortable and I like to relax.

The older we get, the more we are prepared to spend a little more than on pre-flight hotels and parking. We love the Sofitel, its so comfortable and the breakfast is lovely. We save our Avios points and use them for hotel stays. We also park at the terminal now; so much easier than the off airport car parking companies.

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What everyone else said! We live about 1.5 hours from Gatwick, but I will never take the risk of driving round M25 on a weekday. We stay overnight near the airport and regard it as part of the holiday. Book hotels early. I have booked Premier Inn At Gatwick for a very good price for next Feb, £40, tho I did book it in May!

Another vote for the Sofitel at the North Terminal and for the No. 1 Lounge at the North Terminal. We have stayed at the Hilton at the South Terminal which is fine but when we last went to the No. 1 Lounge at the South Terminal (about 18 months ago) it was dreadful, nothing like the one in the North Terminal but maybe it has been improved since then.

We live near Southampton which would mean, allowing for travel time and check in we would have to leave home about 3am - no way, especially not in winter. Our holiday starts the moment we check in to the hotel.

We have always found it's a 4 hour check in at Gatwick for Barbados - and by that 4 hour mark there are always people already queueing.

But as posters have already said, just because the check-in opens at the 4 hour mark, dosen't mean you need to be there, why should you ? If you have pre-booked your seats on the aircraft, we tend to arrive around two and half hours before, which is ample for check-in and security.

We would rather get through check in and security fairly early and then have time for a leisurely breakfast without having to worry about how long it's going to take to get through. On one occasion it took nearly an hour to get through security - not my idea of fun.

The main advantage of staying overnight at the airport is that you have removed the potential for delays.

The last time we stayed at the Hampton Inn in the North Terminal which is actually closer to the check in desks than the Sofitel and cheaper.

We arrive at the check in approx 1.5 hours before the flight when there are virtually no queues. This gives us plenty of time to get through security and get to the gate but remember once your baggage has been checked in, the plane will not be leaving without you.

If in doubt ask the airline what time the check in desks close and be there prior to that.

Thanks for all the great suggestions everyone.

That's my concern annieuk - driving in the early hours in mid-December if the weather is bad, plus despite being an early riser, I hate getting up in the middle of the night to travel, puts me out of sorts for the rest of the day. I also agree with your point about getting there in good time. When we flew to Germany last year checking in and security took over one and a half hours, which left us no time for the planned breakfast before boarding.

DH thinks he might get a discount on airport parking through his work, I think I might get a discount through one of my professional associations, so we are going to look at those and the hotels that offer stay and park packages and work out which gives us the most bang for our buck.