Travel to London

[Ravell76]

Want to fly out to london at the end of July for 2 weeks maybe a couple more when I decide on my destinations... Nos is it cheaper to buy a return ticket now or one way then once I get there buy a return ticket?

I am going to trave around to paris, spain etc...

Any input?

Thx Rav

[GemInite]

It would make sense to have a rough itinerary of where you want to go first.

It can be cheaper to buy a round trip ticket out of the same location e.g. fly to London fly out of London.

However on my last Europe trip I found it cheaper for me to buy 2 one way tickets. I flew into Paris and out of London.

I bought both these tickets months in advance before I left.

[Ryu69]

i bought a open jaw ticket from travelcuts.com as they had a sale on air transat flights. flying into amsterdam from vancouver, flying back to vancouver from london. this is in june. it cost me 898.50 all in.

the sale is still one. basically from what i got, they take $100 off the air transat price. there is a processing fee but i got that waived. you will have to call in for this deal. hope this helps.

[GemInite]

i bought a open jaw ticket from travelcuts.com as they had a sale on air transat flights. flying into amsterdam from vancouver, flying back to vancouver from london. this is in june. it cost me 898.50 all in.

the sale is still one. basically from what i got, they take $100 off the air transat price. there is a processing fee but i got that waived. you will have to call in for this deal. hope this helps.

Yes the openjaw tickets is what I was referring to. It is still sometimes cheaper to buy 2 one way tickets than getting the openjaw.

[mcmc]

I just purchase a few tickets to London Heathrow airport with AC. for $980.xx each all in. A bit more then AirTransat. Unless you are only going to travel out of London on the weekend. Otherwise AirTransat won't have flight leaving from Heathrow airport during weekday. They will leave at Gatwick airport, which is at least another 30mins away from Heathrow airport.

[twotterdhc6]

They will leave at Gatwick airport, which is at least another 30mins away from Heathrow airport.
It takes less time to go from Victoria Station to Gatwick on the Gatwick Express than getting to Heathrow on the Tube (albeit quite a bit more expensive). There are also discount express buses that you can book for as little as a few GBP.

My point is to not limit your choices by picking airports: Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton, City airports all have relatively good transportation to the city.

~~

Too bad Zoom Airlines is gone. Last May, I got return tickets from Toronto to London on Zoom for about $530, inclusive of all taxes and fees.

[Talamasca]

Too bad Zoom Airlines is gone. Last May, I got return tickets from Toronto to London on Zoom for about $530, inclusive of all taxes and fees.

Looks like they're coming back. From Wiki:

On January 14, 2009, Globe Span Capital announced the acquisition of Zoom Airlines Inc. A plan is in place to get the new Zoom off the ground in early 2009. The Kingston, Ontario, based financial services company plans to relocate Zoom Airlines finance, human resources and call-centre divisions to Kingston. The operation centre of the airline will remain in Toronto.[8]

[twotterdhc6]

Looks like they're coming back. From Wiki:

I didn't know anyone would still finance a leisure airline in the current environment? It's difficult enough even in boom times.

[heymikey]

What about the rumors (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27508594/) about RyanAir offering trans-atlantic flights for "cheap" prices? I've been hearing about the rumors for about a couple of years now.

[Psubs]

What about the rumors (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27508594/) about RyanAir offering trans-atlantic flights for "cheap" prices? I've been hearing about the rumors for about a couple of years now.

Ya, but their baggage allowance is smaller than Easy-Jet, you'd be paying so much for extra weight charges.

[Psubs]

It takes less time to go from Victoria Station to Gatwick on the Gatwick Express than getting to Heathrow on the Tube (albeit quite a bit more expensive). There are also discount express buses that you can book for as little as a few GBP.

My point is to not limit your choices by picking airports: Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton, City airports all have relatively good transportation to the city.

~~

Too bad Zoom Airlines is gone. Last May, I got return tickets from Toronto to London on Zoom for about $530, inclusive of all taxes and fees.

EasyBus is like 2 GBP but you have to buy online ahead of time and it drops you off at Fulham Broadway Station.

Should I get this Oystercard? :confused:

[twotterdhc6]

EasyBus is like 2 GBP but you have to buy online ahead of time and it drops you off at Fulham Broadway Station.

Should I get this Oystercard? :confused:

See for yourself:
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/fares-and-tickets-zones1-6.pdf
Pages 3 and 5

I'm sure you can make your own decision ;)

Remember, you can get a refund for whatever amount of unused balance at a tube station. before leaving London.

[Psubs]

See for yourself:
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/fares-and-tickets-zones1-6.pdf
Pages 3 and 5

I'm sure you can make your own decision ;)

Remember, you can get a refund for whatever amount of unused balance at a tube station. before leaving London.

There seems to be a daily price cap which is equal to the day pass amount. Makes sense. I guess I should use the card and if I don't hit the cap, I save. If I do hit the cap, I save.

Though, Heathrow is in zone 6 to get to 1, so if I use the card then, the cap is $14.30 gbp. So I might as well pay the $4 gbp in cash then use the card in zone 1 only so the cap will be $6.70 gbp. So the most I'd spend on day 1 would be $10.70 instead of $14.30 which is like $7 Canadian in savings.


It looks like I might have to land in Gatwick. Take the EasyBus for $2 gbp and then just get the day-pass and not worry about loading the card or going to get money back if I don't use it enough.

[heymikey]

It looks like I might have to land in Gatwick. Take the EasyBus for $2 gbp and then just get the day-pass and not worry about loading the card or going to get money back if I don't use it enough.
If you'll only be in London for a day, then you're right -- the travelcard is better than the Oyster card especially since there is a £2 non-refundable charge for the card. Also keep in mind though that the sights in central London is within walking distances to each other so if your hotel/hostel is in the West End, you might not even need it at all.

Anyway, this is off-topic (or maybe not), but Google Maps has added the StreetView feature for a handful of cities/towns in the UK, including London (see Oxford Circus (http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&sll=49.891235,-97.15369&sspn=22.176983,34.804687&ie=UTF8&ll=51.515713,-0.140848&spn=0,359.966698&z=15&layer=c&cbll=51.515429,-0.142149&panoid=ITlcm0ly8_-ep3ijjady6Q&cbp=12,163.98132002495356,,0,-6.250000000000003) as an example).