£25–35 gets you a one-seat ride LGW–LHR
The RailAir coach runs directly between Gatwick and Heathrow for people who’d rather sit once than drag a suitcase through Farringdon and Paddington. Typical fares land around £25–35 one-way when booked in advance, with flexible tickets higher. Coaches use National Express-style vehicles with underfloor luggage holds and airline-style seats, so your bags stay out of the aisle for the whole 75–90 minute run.
Coaches usually take about 75–90 minutes between Gatwick and Heathrow, but M25 problems can push that past 2 hours. This is not the move for a tight connection; think “backup link” rather than precision transfer. Regulars on FlyerTalk talk about padding their schedule by at least 3–4 hours between flights if they pick the coach.
Daytime frequency runs roughly every 60–90 minutes, and schedules thin out heavily late evening with patchy or no overnight coverage. That means a missed departure can easily add another hour to your wait. Some travellers report coaches leaving late or slipping their slot, especially around peak rush hours on the M25, so don’t plan this like a train connection.
At Gatwick, you board from the airport coach stands serving the North and South Terminals, with luggage checked into the hold by the driver. At Heathrow, RailAir-branded services use specific stops at the central bus station or terminal-side bays, depending on your terminal. Several reviews mention a short extra 5–10 minute walk or shuttle from the drop-off to the actual check-in area.
Compared with rail plus Tube, frequent flyers point out that Thameslink to Farringdon or Blackfriars and then the Elizabeth line often beats the coach on pure speed. A common pattern: trains when travelling light, coach when hauling two checked bags and a carry-on. Many regulars pre-book but pick flexible or open-return tickets so a delayed inbound flight doesn’t wreck the whole plan.
Watch out for M25 crashes or heavy Friday traffic, which can turn a scheduled 75-minute ride into something closer to 120 minutes and eat all your buffer. If you book this, treat the coach as the slow but simple option and build your day around it.
Practical tip: if your total airside connection at either end is under 3.5 hours, skip the coach and take rail via central London; save RailAir for days when you have time to spare and luggage you don’t want to heave through multiple stations.