It has been suggested that if you can manage to get the airline to issue it as LON rather than the specific airport, you might be able to avoid the surface sector.
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I believe LHR and LGW count as same city for fares that restrictions on the number if transits/stopovers in single city. But for the new segment limits rules on OneWorld Explorer, I do believe LHR-LGW would constitute a surface sector and hence count as one segment.
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