Missed flight

[VauxhallandI]

That the railway is awful at the moment (with which I'd agree, parts of it are borderline useless) is not the airline's problem. You need to get there on time for your flight. If the railway is unreliable, either don't use it or travel very early or the day before.

Yes that’s what I think. However one should be able to rely on the railways without building in hours of buffer time on top of the airport buffer time.

 

[ashkeba]

I don’t agree.

Heathrow bath road premier inn has never set me back more than £50.

I paid £42 at Manchester airport premier inn on Saturday night.

Previous trip I paid £47 at stansted premier inn. It removes a lot of stress and helps arrive relaxed.

All not refundable and booked far in advance? I am sure those prices exist but only for a few rooms. They cannot be counted on.

 

[VauxhallandI]

All not refundable and booked far in advance? I am sure those prices exist but only for a few rooms. They cannot be counted on.

I have to agree there. This month I paid £150 for the Thistle on the perimeter road, the Sofitel wanted £350 odd

You can add extras for getting to the terminal to any other hotel, about £20 for a taxi

 

[Bletchleyite]

I have to agree there. This month I paid £150 for the Thistle on the perimeter road, the Sofitel wanted £350 odd

The Thistle and Sofitel are full-service hotels and so don't really sit in the same bracket as the Premier Inn. There are tons of budget hotels around Ee'throw, you can usually get one at a decent price. For Birmingham there's an IBIS Budget right by the terminal which is usually fairly cheap too. If you're arriving late and leaving early you hardly need fancy (though I'd stay away from some of the independent places towards Slough which are often quite literally ratholes).

The Leonardo (right by the entrance tunnel, you can get a TfL bus in) wants £89 for tonight, for instance. It's not a great hotel (i've stayed in it, it has the character of and may well be one Hilton have sold on, with once-nice but now quite tatty interiors, but the bed was fine), but it has beds and it's very well sited. You can even get the Radisson for £99 (nearby).

Edit: the Leonardo is a sold-on Holiday Inn: https://www.bighospitality.co.uk/Article/2015/03/06/Leonardo-Hotels-makes-debut-in-UK

You can add extras for getting to the terminal to any other hotel, about £20 for a taxi

The Hopper is about a fiver, or if there is one use the TfL service bus for under £2.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 2 Nov 2022 ==

Yes that’s what I think. However one should be able to rely on the railways without building in hours of buffer time on top of the airport buffer time.

Yes, one should be able to. But also if I leave my house unlocked nobody should walk in and nick my telly, but if I did it deliberately and my telly did get nicked I'd feel very stupid.

One has to make decisions based on how things are, not how they should be.

 

[rs101]

The Thistle and Sofitel are full-service hotels and so don't really sit in the same bracket as the Premier Inn. There are tons of budget hotels around Ee'throw, you can usually get one at a decent price. For Birmingham there's an IBIS Budget right by the terminal which is usually fairly cheap too. If you're arriving late and leaving early you hardly need fancy (though I'd stay away from some of the independent places towards Slough which are often quite literally ratholes).

The Leonardo (right by the entrance tunnel, you can get a TfL bus in) wants £89 for tonight, for instance. It's not a great hotel (i've stayed in it, it has the character of and may well be one Hilton have sold on, with once-nice but now quite tatty interiors, but the bed was fine), but it has beds and it's very well sited. You can even get the Radisson for £99 (nearby).

Edit: the Leonardo is a sold-on Holiday Inn: https://www.bighospitality.co.uk/Article/2015/03/06/Leonardo-Hotels-makes-debut-in-UK



The Hopper is about a fiver, or if there is one use the TfL service bus for under £2.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 2 Nov 2022 ==



Yes, one should be able to. But also if I leave my house unlocked nobody should walk in and nick my telly, but if I did it deliberately and my telly did get nicked I'd feel very stupid.

One has to make decisions based on how things are, not how they should be.

I flew out of Heathrow on a Saturday at the end of September - despite booking a month in advance, the cheapest hotel I could find was the Sheraton at £100 for the night. Even the Ibis was more expensive. Then add on £10 for the hoppa service.. Flight was midday on the Saturday so in theory I could have left Colchester around 6am and gotten there in plenty of time, but that would assume the services out of Paddington were actually working properly!

Went up on the Friday, leaving Manningtree at 6:30pm, but didn't get there until gone 10pm - delays on the mainline to Liverpool Street, then got to Paddington to discover no overground trains at all due to overhead line issues. So off to Earls Court and the Piccadilly line. I'd forgotten just how slow that was...

Put a delay repay claim in and Greater Anglia very helpfully refunded me the entire cost of the ticket

 

[miklcct]

Flight was midday on the Saturday so in theory I could have left Colchester around 6am and gotten there in plenty of time, but that would assume the services out of Paddington were actually working properly!

I flew out of Heathrow on a Saturday at the end of September - despite booking a month in advance, the cheapest hotel I could find was the Sheraton at £100 for the night.

I can't believe that there is nothing below £100 in the whole of London!

 

[MikeWh]

I can't believe that there is nothing below £100 in the whole of London!

I think the point is that if you're booking a hotel to ensure you're at the airport in time then you don't want the hotel to be too far away.

 

[rs101]

I can't believe that there is nothing below £100 in the whole of London!

There's not a lot under £100 nowadays. I'm in London in a couple of weeks time and the cheapest Premier Inn was £140 !

And yes, if I'm staying at a hotel, I want one near the airport, especially with the regular problems I've encountered at Paddington.

 

[Watershed]

I think the point is that if you're booking a hotel to ensure you're at the airport in time then you don't want the hotel to be too far away.

Probably - but public transport within London is much better (and there are typically far more alternatives) than when travelling from outside London, e.g. Kettering as in this case.

I must admit I have never struggled to find reasonably priced hotels near Heathrow, Luton or Gatwick. Ok, occasionally you have to be willing to compromise a little (e.g. staying at T4 even if your flight is from T5 at Heathrow, or South Terminal instead of North at Gatwick), but nothing earth shattering. The Premier Inns tend to be around £40-60 a night so long as you avoid the really popular dates.

Stansted is another matter entirely though, as the Premier Inn there seems to always be expensive, and it's not particularly conveniently located either. When factoring in the cost of a Radisson Blu/Hilton stay (they're the only two hotels near the terminal), early morning flights from Stansted are generally quite expensive as a result!

 

[Sultan]

One of the cheapest options for a hotel when flying from Heathrow is to stay at either the Premier Inn or Travelodge in Woking. Usually about £50 a night (1 month out), close to the main railway station, and from there take the RA2 Rail-Air coach for £11 which takes about 30 minutes door to door to Terminal 5 (10 minutes more to other terminals). Plenty of reasonable eating places within 5 minutes walk as well.

Guildford as well (although allow another 30 mins for the same RA2 coach.

I think the RA2 is hourly between 5am and 11pm. https://www.firstbus.co.uk/sites/de...de_images/railair leaflet guildford oct22.pdf

 

[rs101]

Probably - but public transport within London is much better (and there are typically far more alternatives) than when travelling from outside London, e.g. Kettering as in this case.

I must admit I have never struggled to find reasonably priced hotels near Heathrow, Luton or Gatwick. Ok, occasionally you have to be willing to compromise a little (e.g. staying at T4 even if your flight is from T5 at Heathrow, or South Terminal instead of North at Gatwick), but nothing earth shattering. The Premier Inns tend to be around £40-60 a night so long as you avoid the really popular dates.

Stansted is another matter entirely though, as the Premier Inn there seems to always be expensive, and it's not particularly conveniently located either. When factoring in the cost of a Radisson Blu/Hilton stay (they're the only two hotels near the terminal), early morning flights from Stansted are generally quite expensive as a result!

Didn't have a choice on dates - I had to attend a conference in Florida..

Stansted's only an hour's drive from me (or 2 if the A120 is bad), so is easy enough by car. But I prefer City airport - that's only an hour by train/DLR and you walk straight off the DLR into the checkin area.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 3 Nov 2022 ==

One of the cheapest options for a hotel when flying from Heathrow is to stay at either the Premier Inn or Travelodge in Woking. Usually about £50 a night (1 month out), close to the main railway station, and from there take the RA2 Rail-Air coach for £11 which takes about 30 minutes door to door to Terminal 5 (10 minutes more to other terminals). Plenty of reasonable eating places within 5 minutes walk as well.

Guildford as well (although allow another 30 mins for the same RA2 coach.

I wouldn't want a 30 minute coach ride when the Hoppa bus takes about 10 minutes.. Getting to Woking would have been pretty challenging too, given that there weren't any overground services.

 

[VauxhallandI]

I think the point is that if you're booking a hotel to ensure you're at the airport in time then you don't want the hotel to be too far away.

I agree, I wouldn’t be paying to stay local then faffing around with buses and luggage. Or relying on coaches from Woking Etc.

 

[Watershed]

Stansted's only an hour's drive from me (or 2 if the A120 is bad), so is easy enough by car. But I prefer City airport - that's only an hour by train/DLR and you walk straight off the DLR into the checkin area.

I suppose that depends on where you live. Airport parking is also generally quite expensive.

 

[Sultan]

I wouldn't want a 30 minute coach ride when the Hoppa bus takes about 10 minutes.. Getting to Woking would have been pretty challenging too, given that there weren't any overground services.

My post wasn't specifically in reference to your own journey - just suggesting an option for anyone struggling to find a hotel near Heathrow for under £100. Apologies if it appeared to be.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 3 Nov 2022 ==

I agree, I wouldn’t be paying to stay local then faffing around with buses and luggage. Or relying on coaches from Woking Etc.

I have taken the coach from Woking many times (although as I live there also, no need to use a hotel). The travelodge is less than 100 yards from the stop, and you'll be at Terminal 5 less than 30 minutes later. The coach drivers know when to avoid the M25 in the event of hold-ups, taking the local roads instead.

Anyway, this is just information for anyone where it might be a cheaper option.

 

[Mag_seven]

Hey, thanks very much for this. A super train buff ! This helps alot and i appreciate your expertise on the matter. I'll put in a complaint and see what they say. This breakdown is very helpful. Thanks again. A very informative forum !

We will draw this thread to a close now but @mcauley358@goo if you have any joy with the advice you have received then please contact a member of forum staff and we will look to reopen the thread.

thanks all