Bristol to Gatwick overnight advance

[VisualAcid]

I want to travel from Bristol to Gatwick on an advance ticket (via Slough)- the last train at 22:30 for a 7am flight. I have somewhere to stay for a few hours - but I can't work out if the Victoria to Gatwick part is reserved, could anyone help? As I would rather not get to Gatwick asap, which is 3am, when I could delay until 5ish.

Not strictly in the rules To do this but...

 

[andrewkeith5]

It's fairy rare to get a reservation as only the Brighton trains are reservable from Victoria I believe. In any case the Gatwick Express services are unreservable and I've always used those with a long distance advance without issue.

 

[tsr]

As far as I am aware none of the "Southern overnights" other than the 0102 & 0402 from London Victoria will be mentioned on reservations.

If you use an Advance from the previous day then I would recommend following the itinerary, but I would be interested to know how it recommends you get across London to Victoria and what timings are allowed. All Southern-branded overnight services do have conductors, and you could always ask to extend your journey a little beyond the previous day's validity; be aware that some trains around this time, especially the 0502 Victoria-Brighton, do have thorough ticket checks at least from time to time, and people do get picked up on using previous days' tickets without permission.

So in other words, you may not be bound to a specific train with a reservation, but if you're going beyond the time overnight (0429) when your ticket expires if it's an Advance booked for the previous day, you would do best to speak to staff for advice. There will always be someone around to assist.

 

[VisualAcid]

As far as I am aware none of the "Southern overnights" other than the 0102 & 0402 from London Victoria will be mentioned on reservations.

If you use an Advance from the previous day then I would recommend following the itinerary, but I would be interested to know how it recommends you get across London to Victoria and what timings are allowed. All Southern-branded overnight services do have conductors, and you could always ask to extend your journey a little beyond the previous day's validity; be aware that some trains around this time, especially the 0502 Victoria-Brighton, do have thorough ticket checks at least from time to time, and people do get picked up on using previous days' tickets without permission.

So in other words, you may not be bound to a specific train with a reservation, but if you're going beyond the time overnight (0429) when your ticket expires if it's an Advance booked for the previous day, you would do best to speak to staff for advice. There will always be someone around to assist.

Ah I had forgot about the change in day!

The itinerary suggests something like a 54 minute wait in Victoria .

 

[Paul Kelly]

I think the latest train you can get from Victoria is the 0330 Gatwick Express, arriving 0406 at Gatwick. Any later and your ticket's validity will expire during the journey; the old rule about being able to stay on a train past the cut-off time if already travelling doesn't apply any more not that the cut-off has moved to 0430.

 

[paul1609]

Have you looked at National Express Coaches from Bristol? I think they run every couple of hours through the night.