Heathrow pricing

[sliver]

Hi

I and a companion need to travel:
Harpenden to Heathrow Terminal 3 to catch a flight.
Friday 10th Nov arriving around 08:00

Heathrow Terminal 3 to Harpenden
Monday 13th Nov leaving after 18:00 (land at 17:10)

I looked at Trainsplit and it gave me a price of £93.06 (HPD, St Pancras, Paddington, Heathrow) Splits at Hays and Harlington

I looked at the trainline and it gave me a price of £72.80 (HPD, ST Pancras, Paddington Line to Heathrow)

Any idea what schoolboy error I have made that makes Trainsplit and The Trainline so different in pricing please (just so I understand the next time). Is it simply putting on the Heathrow connect/express rather than the tube?

Thank you

 

[Mojo]

Having had a look at the itinerary offered by both sites, yes it is because Trainline is selling you a ticket for travel on the Piccadilly line whereas Trainsplit is selling you one for Heathrow Connect.

 

[Paul Kelly]

TrainSplit will give you the same price if you select "London Underground and DLR Zones 1-6" as your destination. The various "Heathrow Terminal X" and "Heathrow TX No Underground" locations used by Trainline appear to be non-standard.

 

[gray1404]

Would it not be cheaper to just get tickets into London and then use Oyster or Contactless on the Piccadilly line.

 

[mrmartin]

TBH Taxi is probably going to be cheaper/same price as that. Uber is saying around ~£40 each way. Maybe taxi there and tube/train back to avoid the anytime fare, but tbh uber is still going to be roughly the same price and door to door.

 

[sliver]

Hadn't even considered Uber.

Will look at Oyster too.

Thanks for the suggestions and clarifications.

 

[yorkie]

There are lifts to all lines at King's Cross, so I wouldn't rule out the Piccadilly Line.

If speed is required, then there are lifts at Paddington too.

At busy times, road transport can be very slow indeed.

 

[Tetchytyke]

To Harpenden the road will be faster. It was for me to and from Hemel, even at 6pm on a Friday.

tbh if the timings work the 724 to St Albans might not be much slower either.

 

[paddington]

Despite the awfulness of Luton, if I lived in Harpenden I would try to fly from there wherever possible. The exception would be a long-haul flight where one may prefer to fly directly from LHR, but the OP is only going for a long weekend (well I have gone to New Zealand and back where the flying time exceeded the time I spent there, but I don't think the OP is doing that.)

tbh if the timings work the 724 to St Albans might not be much slower either.

I think the 724 may be the best choice. I have taken the 724 all the way to Harlow. I would find the bus to be much more pleasant than early morning rush hour Thameslink to London, possibly getting lost on the 10 minute walk (if bringing luggage) to the tube station, then having to stand on a tiny cramped Piccadilly train probably until Ealing.

Heathrow Connect is OK but may mean up to half an hour wait in the cold and dark (outside) at Paddington not to mention still needing to take the tube from Kings Cross St Pancras. I don't know how familiar the OP is with the tube but there is the potential for getting on a Met line by mistake then ending up on Baker St platform 2 and needing to walk over the bridge to get back on track.

On the 724, you are very likely to get a seat and then can try to sleep all the way to Heathrow, which I would want to do if I had to get up at 0430 in November.

There is a 724 departure from St Albans City at 0554 arriving Heathrow 0737 (despite the timetable taking traffic into account, it may still be 10-15 mins late) which would work.

On the return, the timing is not that great but afternoon arrival times at LHR are unreliable anyway. There is a departure at 1840 arriving 2025.

Tickets are £15 each for a 3-month return. If you are anti-cash, you can even buy the tickets online (which also means you have a less flimsy ticket than the thermal paper from the bus).

For the true moneysaver, there is a 321 bus from Harpenden at 0533 to Watford Junction, after which you take TfL 258 to Harrow Weald and connect to 140 for £1.50 (but £3 on the return since you won't make it to Harrow within an hour). You could also take the 321 to St Albans high st instead of the train or taxi.

 

[Gareth Marston]

Online Planners can default to route of choice and the average punter is not always aware of the different choices possible.

Newtown to Heathrow we have 8 different routes.