Tag: Gatwick Airport

Why Does London Have So Many Airports?

I grew up in New York City so I was always used to having 3 airports within a reasonable distance – JFK, LaGuardia and, the one closest to me, Newark. When I moved to Orlando, there was only the one big airport in town. Although if you’re willing to drive an extra 45 to 75 minutes and have greatly diminished choices of flights and airlines, Sanford and Melbourne could be options, too. But again, there are 3.

So I always thought it was pretty cool to have 3 airports within a reasonable distance, especially in light of so many cities only having 1. But now I think I’m developing airport envy, because of London? They have 6 airports. SIX! The history of all the airports in London (including some that have disappeared) is pretty cool. Here’s a funny but informative history lesson on them all…

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Lounge Review: No1 Lounge London Gatwick North Terminal (Priority Pass Lounge)

For our flight home from London, we booked a non-stop on Virgin Atlantic from Gatwick Airport to Orlando. After taking the Thameslink train from St. Pancras station, we arrived at the Gatwick South Terminal. Since we were departing from the North Terminal, we had to take the train between the two terminals, which only took a few extra minutes.

After checking in at the Virgin Atlantic Premium class desk, we went through security and entered the main North terminal area. I did a quick search and found that with Priority Pass we had access to three lounges in the Gatwick North Terminal. The No1 Lounge looked nice so we headed there. Since all the lounges are in the same area, we could have left and headed to a different one if it wasn’t nice or if it was full. We arrived at the lounge at 11:15 AM and our flight was leaving at 1PM so we wouldn’t have a ton of time to sit around anyway.

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Taking The “Express” May Not Be The Fastest Way From The Airport To London

If you’re flying to London and need to get from the airport to your hotel, it would be no surprise if you Googled “Heathrow to London.” If you do that, this will most likely be the first hit:

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While taking the express train will be the fastest way to get between the airport and the terminus station in London, if that’s not your final destination then the “express” may not be the fastest, and definitely not be the cheapest way for you to get from point A to point B.

We’ve visited London several times and have always used public transportation to get from the airport to our hotel and back. Even if that meant waking up early in the morning to catch the first Underground train of the day headed to Heathrow Airport from Kings Cross.

So it came as quite a surprise to me that while you’re bound to see marketing for either the Heathrow Express or Gatwick Express trains unless you’re conveniently located near to their final destination, there may be other cheaper, faster and more convenient options available.

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