Gatwick Express - There are alternatives (Gatwick Express)

Member Name: Bandi

Product:	Gatwick Express
Date:	23/11/08 (108 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: it's the default option

Disadvantages: More Expensive, only one route

The Gatwick express does provide a wonderful service. Thirty minutes in to London Victoria, I mean that's unbeatable isn't it?

The answer, the one Gatwick airport don't like you to know, is that it isn't unbeatable. What many passengers don't realise is that most of the normal trains that pass through Gatwick airport take about two minutes longer to get you to the city centre. There is very good service of high speed trains that stop only once between Gatwick and the city centre.

These trains are not quite as clean or as comfortable, but they are almost as frequent and they are cheaper. There's another advantage to them too. You don't have to go to Victoria. Trains also go to Kensington Olympia, London Bridge or Blackfriars, which is more convenient for many people. By changing trains, you can increase that again.

You can also buy a national rail ticket for London "Terminals" which means that while you travel to Victoria on the way out, you can travel from London Bridge on the way back.

The trick is to look carefully at the options when purchasing your ticket. The machines present you with the Gatwick express as the default and you need to go further into the options to pick the non-Gatwick express routes.

Summary: Don't follow the crowd, go for a normal train instead