Cambridge to Gatwick

[amsutcliffe]

I'm part of a group of four who will be travelling from Cambridge to Gatwick in February and I'm struggling a little to establish the cheapest way of doing so.

We need to be at Gatwick by 7.30am on the 16th February and travelling in the peak means prices are higher than I'd hoped - it might almost be cheaper to travel on the Sunday evening and pay for a hotel near Gatwick. We're returning on the evening on Sunday 22nd.

Between us we have one YP railcard and 2 network railcards. (The holders of the network cards also share a Two Together railcard, but I suspect that's not helpful here).

I can find return fares totalling £173.85, but I'm not sure if it's possible to do it more cheaply?

 

[bb21]

For a start, two singles would be cheaper.

Neither Network Railcard nor Two Together is valid at 0730 on a Monday, so for the outward, three full fare Anytime Day Singles and one discounted with Y-P using the Route +Southern & AGA fare is a total of £98.80.

For the return, a GroupSave Super Off-Peak Day Single is a total of £57.80 for four people.

If you travel out to the airport Sunday night, you can make use of the Route +Southern & AGA Off-Peak Return on GroupSave deals and that is a total of £99.80 for four people.

Beware that next year's prices are released 28 days before the fare change on 2nd January, which means that these prices will in all likelihood go up within the next week.

 

[gazthomas]

Taxi!

 

[johnnyp_360]

I'm Going to be doing the same journey myself soon. Worked out that cost of petrol and airport parking for a week is 6 an 2 3s.

 

[bb21]

Taxi!

Not a bad shout I must say.

 

[SAPhil]

We need to be at Gatwick by 7.30am on the 16th February and travelling in the peak means prices are higher than I'd hoped - it might almost be cheaper to travel on the Sunday evening and pay for a hotel near Gatwick.

My wife had a similar problem in Feb 2013 and it really was cheaper to stay at the Premier Inn at the North Terminal on the Sunday night - plus she didn't have to get up so early on the Monday!

 

[extendedpaul]

How about National Express ?

Direct service from Cambridge departing 03.05 arriving Gatwick 07.10. Current fare for Mon 16 Feb is £15 and you could just get on and drop off to sleep with no changes to worry about !

 

[johnnyp_360]

I find it silly that road is often cheaper than rail for journeys such as this. Not to mention the hassle of delayed trains and getting though central London. Roll on 2018 and we will hopefully have a direct connection to Gatwick

 

[extendedpaul]

I travel most weeks between Kent and South Wales. For the first three years I used the train but the cost went up every year and in 2012 I switched to the ( usually Megabus/sometimes National Express) coach.

I do prefer the train but the saving is considerable and if my plans change it costs only 50p to change a Megabus booking up to 24 hours before travel and the higher fare is usually only a few pounds more.

For cross country journeys the difference in cost can be even greater especially if unable to book much in advance, eg Cardiff to Cambridge for tomorrow costs £81.50 by train or £18.50 by coach.

 

[Goatboy]

For cross country journeys the difference in cost can be even greater especially if unable to book much in advance, eg Cardiff to Cambridge for tomorrow costs £81.50 by train or £18.50 by coach.

And only £35 in marginal costs if you already own your own mid sized hatchback.

Some of the fares are just unbelievably expensive.

 

[Hadders]

And only £35 in marginal costs if you already own your own mid sized hatchback.

Some of the fares are just unbelievably expensive.

It may only be £35 in fuel but what about the cost of airport parking?

 

[Abpj17]

I find it silly that road is often cheaper than rail for journeys such as this. Not to mention the hassle of delayed trains and getting though central London. Roll on 2018 and we will hopefully have a direct connection to Gatwick

central london isn't too bad if you change at Kings Cross to the Thameslink at St Pancras

 

[jopsuk]

Whilst the journey planner will show the first journey option (0515 from Cambridge) arriving at Gatwick at 0730, having taken the Northern Line to London Bridge, there's a Thameslink that departs St Pancras 0622 arriving Gatwick 0710. As your Cambridge service is scheduled to arrive 0609 you'd almost certainly make that 0622.

Edit: looking at it, not sure whey it sends you over to London Bridge anyway. The same 0730 arival at Gatwick departs St Pancras at 0638
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

central london isn't too bad if you change at Kings Cross to the Thameslink at St Pancras

Well no. But two direct services per hour will be better!

 

[bb21]

The reason it does not put you on that 0638 train is because it falls under the minimum interchange time, which I believe is something like 35 minutes.

 

[Tetchytyke]

It may only be £35 in fuel but what about the cost of airport parking?

At Gatwick that'd be about another £30-£40, depending on stay and how close you want to be to the airport terminal.

If the OP has a car then I think it's a no-brainer to drive.

 

[Abpj17]

The reason it does not put you on that 0638 train is because it falls under the minimum interchange time, which I believe is something like 35 minutes.

Even for St P to Kings X interchange which I would think anyone could do within 20 mins? (including heavy luggage and visiting a couple of shops!)

If the timings work and you do go by train, Kings X/St P is infinitely better than trekking down to the underground and back up

The TL trains won't be called at LBG by then, so it's worth checking the arrival times at Gatwick

 

[bb21]

Minimum connection times do not work like that though.

The way it is calculated iirc is by adding up the interchange times at both stations, and then the walking time between the stations.

The interchange times at these two stations are 15 minutes each, so you are already at 30 minutes without adding in the walking time.

 

[Goatboy]

It may only be £35 in fuel but what about the cost of airport parking?

Since when was there an airport in Cambridge? I was replying to the post about Cardiff to Cambridge.

 

[TonyR]

Since when was there an airport in Cambridge?

Since 1919. http://www.cambridgeairport.com

 

[Greenback]

Some rail fares are simply uncompetitive with the costs of using a car when there are four people travelling. It's always been the same, despite efforts by BR and TOC's to make group travel more attractive by way of Railcards and Group discounts.

In this case I'd bet that a pre booked private transfer to the airport wouldn't be much more expensive than using the train. It wouldn't surprise me if a local company would be cheaper than the train.

 

[johnnyp_360]

Since 1919. http://www.cambridgeairport.com

Pretty pointless passenger airport in my opinion. Being so close to Stansted and adding to that, there are not many flights to and from Cambridge.

 

[button_boxer]

Pretty pointless passenger airport in my opinion. Being so close to Stansted and adding to that, there are not many flights to and from Cambridge.

Think of it as a general aviation airfield that just happens to have the odd one or two scheduled services.

 

[amsutcliffe]

Thanks for all the help. Taxi firms in Cambridge seem to be quoting over a hundred pounds for the transfer, so even with four people, the train might be slightly cheaper (although perhaps less convenient).

Some of the others travelling have access to a car, so we may well go down that route if they're willing to drive.

For me, the 3.15am coach option would need to be even cheaper to make it appealing!

 

[TonyR]

Think of it as a general aviation airfield that just happens to have the odd one or two scheduled services.

Big enough to land 747s though. Its less a general aviation field than a working airfield for its owners, Marshalls, a $Bn family owned company that repairs, refurbishes, refits and converts commercial and military aircraft. It was also where Concorde's droop nose & visor was designed and built.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Aerospace

 

[paul1609]

Whilst the journey planner will show the first journey option (0515 from Cambridge) arriving at Gatwick at 0730, having taken the Northern Line to London Bridge, there's a Thameslink that departs St Pancras 0622 arriving Gatwick 0710. As your Cambridge service is scheduled to arrive 0609 you'd almost certainly make that 0622.

Edit: looking at it, not sure whey it sends you over to London Bridge anyway. The same 0730 arival at Gatwick departs St Pancras at 0638
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---


Well no. But two direct services per hour will be better!

By this time the direct services wont call at London Bridge and will take around an hour to get from St Pancras to Gatwick (blackfriars to East Croydon will be around 30 mins).
If your on any permitted tickets quickest way will be Cambridge to Kings cross, Victoria Line to Victoria, Gat Express or fast Southern Train to Gatwick.

 

[Greenback]

Thanks for all the help. Taxi firms in Cambridge seem to be quoting over a hundred pounds for the transfer, so even with four people, the train might be slightly cheaper (although perhaps less convenient).

Some of the others travelling have access to a car, so we may well go down that route if they're willing to drive.

For me, the 3.15am coach option would need to be even cheaper to make it appealing!

I'd be happy paying slightly more for the added convenience. Others may not!

I must say I wouldn't fancy the 0315 coach, but if money was really tight...

 

[jopsuk]

Cambridge is curiously poorly served by coach services.

National Express:
the 727 is every two hours, from Norwich to Brighton, taking in Cambridge, Stansted, Heathrow and Gatwick (hence how Cambridge-Gatwick is a four hour slog), with four extra Cambridge-Stansted services. There's two Cambridge-Stansted trains per hour plus connections via Bishops Stortford.
The 787, Cambridge-Luton-Heathrow, only has ten services a day, and they take about an hour and a half to get to Luton Airport. This would be less of an issue if there were fast frequent bus services from Hitchin or Stevenage stations to Lurton, but there aren't...

the 010 Cambridge-London has nine services per day plus an 11 & 12, taking over two hours to get to Victoria.

There's also the half-hourly Stagecoach X5 Cambridge-Oxford, but I'm led to believe that's officially a Bus?

Of course, that poor coach service is more than offset by having outstanding rail connectivity that's only getting better- once all the Thameslink stuff is done by my reckoning there will be, off peak, 56 coaches on the GN side* and 8-16 coaches on the WA side every hour to London, all getting there faster than road could possibly hope to achieve (especially with traffic). E-W Rail should hopefully sort the Luton problem too.


*2x 12 car Thameslink, 2x 8 car Thameslink, 2x 8 car Kings Cross Express