Help needed for trip to England.

[Grandma's Wings "]

Hi everyone,

I am planning the next tick off my " Bucket List" and am in need of good sound advice from the Members.. I have never been to England before ( my trips mainly to Canada & Mainland USA over the years ).. don't have enough Qantas FF points so am looking at other airlines.. a friend reccomended Emirates Economy ???.

Being 73 years young and travelling alone.. I would like to spend a few days in London for sight seeing then catch a train to Lincolnshire ( where Ancestors came from and methinks I'm too old to hire a Car) would also love to see Edinburgh Scotland for a couple of days.. then travel train to Lancaster, Lancashire to stay with a Cousin and then fly home from Manchester..

My problem is.. where to start journey, good safe airlines have a stopover ( methinks I will need it ) and most important nice safe/clean Hotels with a reasonable rates... of course I also need to watch the pennies... trip would be for 4 weeks duration, as I have to get back home to hubby.. ( he doesn't like travelling).

I know I'm asking a lot but I would really appreciate any advice given..

Yours in Flying..

Grandma's Wings.

 

[drmikki]

Good on you for living the dream and heading to England for the first time - my own grandma is the same, travelling the world at 81 years young!

First things first - where is home and when are you looking at going? That will affect the prices and options available to you. I would avoid the UK like the plague during the Olympics (unless thats the point of the trip) as it seems like the flight prices have jumped during that period.

Either way it's a long journey from Oz to UK, and stopping over both directions might be a good idea. If you fly a middle east carrier like Emirates it restricts you a little bit in that your stopover is limited to Dubai and maybe Singapore, whereas if you use Qantas and it's partners (or Star Alliance/SkyTeam) you may have a few more options for stopovers. Do you have points or status with any airline? If you could upgrade the longer legs on points it would make a long journey a little bit more comfortable!

The UK has an abundance of safe clean hotels and B&Bs - if you want just somewhere to sleep and leave your luggage, Travelodge or Premier Inn are everywhere and you can get rooms for 19pounds, but they don't have room service/concierge/any luxuries. I was there in July 2011 and January 2012 and stayed at Novotel and Ibis hotels mainly, (4 and 3 star respectively) - I got the rooms during a 40-50% off sale which reduced the rates to about 40-50 pounds a night, and then of course there are 5 star hotels in the bigger cities (Hiltons etc) which cost a bit more. Again, it all depends on what you would like and what you can afford.

The tube and trains are easy to use. While in London if you are there for more than a day or 2 it's worth getting an Oyster card - a small plastic card which you put money on (machines at every station) that you touch to the gates to get into and out of tube stations. You can also use this on buses and the DLR in London and it saves you having to buy tickets everytime you ride public transport, and its also cheaper than individual tickets.

For longer distance trains its a lot cheaper to buy in advance than at the station on the day. I use a website called the trainline ( Cheap train tickets, get UK train times & fares | thetrainline ) to work out which company runs the route I want with the best fares, and then I book on the company's website - you can book on thetrainline but they charge a booking fee and a credit card fee whereas the train companies themselves don't usually. The more restricted a ticket is the cheaper it generally is.

Unfortunately I can't get any of the train company websites to work currently to give you an idea of price- sorry!

Let me know more details (dates, departure point, airline status/points) and I can try to get you more information

 

[Grandma's Wings "]

Darn !! lost my message I just sent......

Thank you Drmmikki for your response.

I would be leaving from either SYD or BNE, live on Gold Coast... would be travelling say Late May/early June or... Late Sept/early Oct in 2013..a Shoulder season... so Olympics no problems.. the trip duration would be no more than 4 weeks... so have restrictions in time frame.

I would like to see London for a couple of days, also train trip to Edinburgh and stay a couple of days.. then go to Lincolnshire to Village of Pinchbeck/Spalding where my Ancestors came from ( I've been doing Family History for over 30 years )..there is a Bridge still used in the Village named after my family from 1851 and I want to stand on it and have a photo taken.. ( silly I know)... then I want to go up to Lancaster, Lancashire to stay with a Cousin for maybe a couple of weeks ??? .. then fly home from Manchester.. enroute having a stop over on the way home for a couple of days as I think I will need it.

I'm a Qantas FF member for over 3o years, but don't have enough FF points ( about 90K left I think).. I flew last year to Vancouver via Auckland with Air NZ and can't speak highly enough of them but do not want to go via LAX...otherwise I would not hesitate to go with them again...

Regarding Hotels.. I'm a member of Accor.. and only need a good clean and safe place to rest.. I don't need al the luxuries...but within a safe transport area., and somewhere to eat.. again nothing fancy.. the Oyster card sounds great... I did see and Ibis hotel at a place called Aldgate I think it was... is that far out of London and a safe area?

Finally.. yes methinks I would want a couple of days on the way home, would need a rest..

Thank you so much once again for your kindness I really appreciate it very much.. I look forward to hearing from you again..


Sincerely

Grandma's Wings.

 

[medhead]

I don't have anything much to add. But I was looking at the cost of a train from London to Glasgow during the week it was about £120 return second class. I think first class was from about £200. That was with Virgin trains, IIRC.


Sent from the Throne (80% chance) using Aust Freq Fly app

 

[Princess Fiona]

Hi Grandma's Wings. Regarding train travel we always use Britrail passes. Purchase online here prior to departure. Very economical way to use the rail system in the UK. Posted to you here and you validate the pass on arrival. Check out http://britrail.com/

 

[drmikki]

Searching for flights from Brisbane into London and returning from Manchester (no point backtracking if you don't have to) gives a few options:
AirFrance ($1998), FinnAir ($2015), Emirates ($2148), Virgin Atlantic ($2159), Etihad ($2199), Qantas/BA ($2386), Singapore ($2471), Malaysian ($2523).
Repeating the search using SYD instead of Brisbane (since many of the flights use a domestic leg Brisbane-Syd) brings the Virgin flight cheaper ($1972) and also the Singapore flight ($2161). Note I didn't search with stopovers so there may be a slight increase in price once you factor that in.

Now, I haven't flown all of those airlines so I'd bow to other peoples' opinions on the experience, but I would consider flying with all of them - none are particularly unsafe to my knowledge!
If flying thru Sydney, I'd be inclined to tend towards Singapore Airlines for a couple of reasons: firstly if you have any Airpoints from your Air NZ flights you can try for a Star Alliance upgrade on a leg or two. Secondly, you'd be flying with only one stop (well, non-stop 4 times if you break it up!), although from Manchester there is a brief refuelling stop in Munich. Thirdly, if you plan it you can get 3 out of 4 legs on the A380, and Singapore Airlines has some nice economy seats upstairs on the A380 where its paired seats against the window and feels a lot more roomy - if I am being stuck on a long flight in Y that'd probably be one of my preferred places to be! Fourth, I think Singapore is a nicer spot to have a stopover (although I can understand that some people like the Emirates...) as it's clean, easy to get around and if you don't want to make it into the city the airport hotel is pretty good. With Singapore you can also book the stopover as one of their "Stopover holidays".


If you want to take the sleeper train between London and Edinburgh (leaves about 23.50 and arrives 7.15, every night except Saturday night) you can get a cheap deal with ScotRail's "bargain berths" - can be as cheap as 19pounds! I booked a couple of weeks before travel and it was 49 pounds, twin share with another passenger of the same gender. Book through this link - First ScotRail - Bargain Berths

As Princess Fiona has mentioned, a rail pass may be of benefit - particularly if you want flexibility to jump on/off trains. However, if you know exactly where and when you want to travel, point-to-point bookings can get you some bargains. (18 pounds one way London-Manchester etc)

 

[Grandma's Wings "]

Thanks again for the wonderful advice given by you all especially the trouble you have gone too Drm !!!... I have certainly taken it all in and surely gives me a lot more to work on.. I shall investigate the Rail sectors for sure.. although I think I would prefer to see the London/Scotland route in daylight to see some of the Country a splurge if you like but 2nd class would be ok too...I hear it's a fast train, but at least I can see something...

It is Members such as yourselves that make this site what it is for people such as myself instead of floundering around.. Travel Agents can sometimes lead one astray to gain commission, therefore your advice is well noted & most welcome..

Thank you all once again... Happy & safe travelling..

Kind regards

Grandma's Wings..

PS: if you think of anything else I would love to hear from you.

 

[deejo77]

Hi Grandma Wings,

I have taken Air Asia out of Gold Coast to Kuala Lumpur - it is a day flight over and a night time flight back. You could get this for approx $600 - the 5* hotels in KUL are cheap - we stayed two nights for less then $200 - we used wotif.com. Then you could have a rest on the way over and way back.

I love emirates - flying from Kuala Lumpur to London and Manchester to Kuala Lumpur is approx $1300. I would depending on the time of flights pick one of the flights to have a stop over in Dubai (though I do find acc to be expensive here).

What you save in cost on the airfares you can use to spend on the hotels so only one direction is going to be a longish flight with no stop over in Dubai.

best of luck

 

[Grandma's Wings "]

Thanks Deejo..

I have often seen Air Asia leaving Gold Coast of a morning, depending on the wind it is a beautiful sight to see it flying to gain altitude... that's another option worth thinking of... Their website is a bit of a juggle to work out though...do you have to book say two separate sections ? ie: GC/KL then KL to London and visa versa coming home ?

Kind regards

Grandma's Wings.

 

[deejo77]

You would only need to book return - OOL to KUL and KUL to OOL, this would only be the one booking - their website is ok - if you have time I would keep an eye on it - they had a sale a few weeks ago return to KUL for $200 (take your on food on board and on the return eat at the airport before getting on the plane - as I am not fussed on purchasing their food unless you love asian). For the longer flights book emirates - they are so much nicer - so on Emirates book a multicity booking KUL to London (I like Gatwick) and then Manchester to KUL.

So for instance you may have:

Airasia - return ticket - departure 20 May 2012 - OOL to KUL and coming home 20 June 2012 - KUL to OOL

Emirates - multicity ticket - departure 22 May 2012 - KUL to London and coming home 17 June 2012 - Manchester to KUL (with a possible stop over in Dubai if need be)

 

[sinophile888]

Firstly, I would book as many daytime flights as possible with overnight stays in SIN/KUL and DXB. This virtually eliminates jet-lag and also means you have no tight connections.

Book a flight to either SIN or KUL. You could use QFF points to get to and from SIN/KUL, if you have enough. The Crowne Plaza hotel at SIN airport is very comfortable as is the Pan Pacific at KUL.

Then pick up Emirates flights from SIN or KUL into LON and out of MAN via DXB with stopovers in Dubai in each direction. I have stayed at the Premier Inn in Dubai for A$100. It is opposite the airport and has a half-hourly shuttle bus from just outside the terminal. Other choices could be the Holiday Inn Express, which is in a very similar location to the Premier Inn, and the Dubai Airport Hotel.

This was the approximate itinerary I booked for December 2010. The SIN-> FCO and LHR-> SIN legs on EK cost A$1200. The QF leg from PER-> SIN and return also cost A$1200. If I had booked early enough I could have used QFF points to fly to SIN.

I hope you have fun researching your flights and that they all work well for you.

 

[Grandma's Wings "]

Dear Sinophile,

Thank you very much for your wonderful suggestions... I do appreciate you taking the time to respond..I too like the idea of daytime travel and your Itinerary sounds great..I will also look at the hotels that you have suggested online as well..

I read in the paper yesterday (Quote). Australians booked on AirAsia X flights to Europe and India may not know for months if they have been transferred to flights on other airlines after Services were suspended.... The Air;ine said it wuld contact passengers at least two months before their departure date regarding alternative flights. leaving those who have booked far in advance in limbo.... The Carrier announced lst month it would suspend flight to London, Paris and New Dellhi in March and Mumbai in January... ( End Quote) Brisbane Courier newspaper Sunday Feb 26th 2012..

So it pays to always use a reputible Airline especially if booking in advance... and the cheapest may not necessarily be the best.

Again my appreciation..


Kind Regards,

Grandma's Wings "

 

[drmikki]

AirAsia aren't doing the KL-London route any longer, but the OOL-KUL and SYD-KUL (amongst others) remain - I think sinophile888 was suggesting taking AirAsia to Malaysia then Emirates or other carriers to London. If you are booking a stopover in KUL then there is less chance of missing your connection (since it's be 2 bookings, you wouldn't be covered if you miss the second flight because the first flight is delayed). AirAsia IS a low cost carrier though, so there is always the risk of them cancelling or rescheduling flights at short notice with only minimal support for the inconvenienced passenger.

That said, it has the advantage of departing from your home city and may be a cheaper option, since departures from Asia tend to be cheaper than Aussie departures - however that will of course depend on a number of things! Note also that whilst sinophile recommends day flights, I find I get less jet lag with overnight flights so you will have to work out which works for you (and also fits your budget and schedule!).

Finally, if you do get a BritRail pass, it's definitely worth spoiling yourself (well, slightly) - the first class pass has a senior's discount, but the second class pass doesn't.

 

[Grandma's Wings "]

Dear Drmikki,

Nice to hear from you again... I understand now what sinophile888 was trying to explain to me.. I was a little confused there but "Thanks" to your explanation .. I " Get It". LOL.. sorry..!!!.. I will check the hotels in KL and also check out the airfares from KL to London/ Manchester.. I would be nice to spend a day or two in KL enroute to and from England.... I will also take into consideration the Brit Rail First Class... you can't do everything on the cheap
eh !!.

Thanks again for your kindness..

Kind Regards,

Grandma's Wings "

 

[Pollywaffle]

Rail tickets in the UK are dirt cheap if you buy them when they go on sale 12 weeks out from departure. If you know when you plan to travel, these are great deals. Check out National Rail Enquiries - Official source for UK train times and timetables for all UK trains regardless of who runs them. You can then proceed to the official sellers site to buy them.

 

[Grandma's Wings "]

Thanks for the information... I appreciate it very much.

Kind regards

Grandma's Wings "

 

[Rallo]

Hi Grandma's wings

We travelled by train from London to Edinburgh last year with East Coast rail , the trip by memory takes about 4 hours.
We booked First Class , I think the only real difference was having your meal served as opposed to walking to the on board kiosk
If you do take this train try and book a seat on the right hand side of the carriage so as to see the coastline, town s etc
I have attached the link for EastCoast rail www.eastcoast.co.uk/
I hope this is of some help

Rallo

 

[grussellt]

Since you have lots of time to plan ahead perhaps you could consider a QFF award (64000pts) to England. For the return you could either book a one-way on the airline of your choice or consider buying AA miles (45000) for the return. There is lots of advice under threads in the American Airlines Forum.

 

[Grandma's Wings "]

Thank you Rallo & Grussellt, I've been away for a few days sitting Grandkids and only just now saw your response.... Thanks for the information and suggestions... especially with regard to the train trip and also using my QFF points... that's a great idea.. yes I do have plenty of time to plan ahead and believe me it had all been worthwhile...

Sincerely,

Grandma's Wings.

 

[TonyHancock]

Spalding and to a greater extent Pinchbeck are not the easiest places to get to. I think you can get to Spalding from Peterborough and maybe Nottingham by rail but I believe the number of rail services maybe limited. I'm pretty certain Pinchbeck no longer has a railway station. Pinchbeck is right next door to Spalding though so only a short taxi trip.