London to Gatwick car service timing

[TouchstoneFeste]

We have a 7am flight out of Gatwick on Thursday, September 5 (yes, I know; but all the other alternatives for our destination are immeasurably worse) to connect to a cruise departure. We'll be staying at the Clermont Charing Cross.

 

I booked our departure from London for 4am, but asked the car service what their recommended pick up time would be. The response was

 

"Upon checking, the journey from The Clermont London to Gatwick airport can take up to 2hrs depending on traffic. Gatwick recommends passengers to be at the airport at least 2-3hrs before flight departure. Please let us know what pickup time would be more comfortable for you and we will update your booking."

 

Does that make sense? or could we stick to our original estimate ("at that time of the morning allow an hour or so to get there, a couple hours to process through Gatwick")?

 

(I know that one option would be to transfer to a Gatwick-adjacent hotel the night before, but we'd like to avoid that because it would mess up our last night in London.)

[Globaliser]

22 minutes ago, TouchstoneFeste said:

Does that make sense? or could we stick to our original estimate ("at that time of the morning allow an hour or so to get there, a couple hours to process through Gatwick")?

 

Who are you flying, and to where? From where is the cruise departing, and to where? How difficult would it be to catch up to the ship if you were to miss departure day?

 

The car service's response makes sense, as does my own pithy reply to it. The problem is that the car service and I are looking at the problem in different ways; that's why there are different answers. Given your parameters, I'd do the 4 am departure and know all my backup plans well.

 

But to be frank, the only thing that actually makes sense is staying at Gatwick.

[TouchstoneFeste]

1 hour ago, Globaliser said:

 

Who are you flying, and to where? From where is the cruise departing, and to where? How difficult would it be to catch up to the ship if you were to miss departure day?

[snip]

But to be frank, the only thing that actually makes sense is staying at Gatwick.

BA to Malta, arriving three days before our cruise starts, so no problem (other than a tour we wanted to take on arrival) if we totally miss the flight. But I'm starting to think the overnight at Gatwick is inevitable.

[Globaliser]

9 minutes ago, TouchstoneFeste said:

BA to Malta, arriving three days before our cruise starts ...

 

Is this on a Thursday morning, then, during the current northern summer?

 

If so, another option might be to change the flight to Friday afternoon (or even Saturday afternoon), assuming that the timetable is the same in the week that you're flying.

 

If you already have plans for the last evening in London, you could try booking a cheap crash pad at Gatwick, and only head down there at the very end of the evening (ie close to midnight).

[TouchstoneFeste]

2 minutes ago, Globaliser said:

 

If so, another option might be to change the flight to Friday afternoon (or even Saturday afternoon), assuming that the timetable is the same in the week that you're flying.

 

Well, if we have to drop something, it would be the evening in London (which we visit often) rather than Malta.

 

[Island2Dweller]

Even in the early hours of the morning, the road journey to Gatwick is purgatory.  An hour might be possible, but I would not bet on it.  I would rather stick needles in my eyes than do that journey by road.  On top of which, Gatwick has a large 'first wave' of flights so it can be very busy at 5am.  If you want to keep that flight, I would book a hotel right at the terminal in Gatwick such as the Premier Inn by N terminal.

[Twickenham]

22 minutes ago, Island2Dweller said:

Even in the early hours of the morning, the road journey to Gatwick is purgatory (...) I would rather stick needles in my eyes than do that journey by road. 

 

 

This, although you probably put it more politely than I would.

 

Save yourself a world of hurt, and go down the night before... by train. Seriously.

[TouchstoneFeste]

1 hour ago, Twickenham said:

 

 

This, although you probably put it more politely than I would.

 

Save yourself a world of hurt, and go down the night before... by train. Seriously.

Decision made. We'll go down the night before. Thanks, everyone, for the advice.

[Cotswold Eagle]

The awfulness of the drive from central London to Gatwick is one of the few things that unites us on this board, I think. I have a pad not too far from London Bridge and I have taken the longer early morning drive from the Cotswolds, rather than stage from my flat in town, to get to Gatwick for an early flight... I'll even pay for the airport hotel instead. 

And Gatwick at that time can be a zoo, a completely surreal out of time experience, particularly in any of the licensed premises 🤣

Edited May 20 by Cotswold Eagle

[Thejuggler]

There are trains to Gatwick Airport from London every hour of the day. You can still have an evening in London then catch a train to the airport hotel.