Cheap flights to the UK??

[Honeystar120608]

This MAY happen next June (2012) and I'm trying to get an idea of the cost.

We would need to fly out of Moncton New Brunswick, potential to fly out of Halifax as well. But any more than a 3 hour drive on our return is just too much. Otherwise I'd assume Bostom would be our cheapest bet.

Anyway, Just took a peak, Air Canada from Moncton, last week of June, last 2 weeks of June, into July. Somewhere around there to take advantage of the long weekend, and kids will be out of school. Total came to $6205 for the 4 seats. Is this normal? I knew it's be a lot, but I was hoping to stick around $1000 a seat if not less... am I dreaming?

Most of our trip will be in Scotland, but if you have any suggestions on hotels for a family of 4 in London and any city in Scotland, it would be much appreciated. Inverness is our main destination as we are sort of doing a ancestoral vacation so to speak.

 

[phabric]

Check out www.canadianaffaire.ca. I found their ad in the Toronto Star. They are a charter that flys from Canada to/from Britain. They use Thomas Cook and Air Transat. They fly out of Halifax to London Gatwick. We have used them a couple of times. There is 2 ways to book - a deposit and pay balance later or pay now ususally save $10/flight.

Keep checking their site for 2012 after the summer/fall. I had booked Toronto - London Heathrow with Canadianaffaire on Air Transat before Air Transat had prices and dates on their own site. Air lines release their prices usually 330 days out. I call Canadianaffaire and ask why they had the dates/prices before Air Transat and was told they are a charter and buy in bulk.

When I booked, the seat selection was not available and a couple of months later I called and paid for the seats I wanted.

Here are some sites to check out for London

www.bhrc.co.uk - (hotels)
www.london-hotels.co.uk (hotels)
www.theoriginaltours.com (London Hop On/Hop Off bus)
www.bigbustours.com (London Hop On/Hop Off bus)
www.nationalexpress.com (coach service)
www.justairports.com (car service) we used to get from airport to hotel
www.simplyairports.co.uk (car service)
www.londoneye.com
www.londonpass.com

 

[Honeystar120608]

Check out www.canadianaffaire.ca. I found their ad in the Toronto Star. They are a charter that flys from Canada to/from Britain. They use Thomas Cook and Air Transat. They fly out of Halifax to London Gatwick. We have used them a couple of times. There is 2 ways to book - a deposit and pay balance later or pay now ususally save $10/flight.

Keep checking their site for 2012 after the summer/fall. I had booked Toronto - London Heathrow with Canadianaffaire on Air Transat before Air Transat had prices and dates on their own site. Air lines release their prices usually 330 days out. I call Canadianaffaire and ask why they had the dates/prices before Air Transat and was told they are a charter and buy in bulk.

When I booked, the seat selection was not available and a couple of months later I called and paid for the seats I wanted.

Here are some sites to check out for London

www.bhrc.co.uk - (hotels)
www.london-hotels.co.uk (hotels)
www.theoriginaltours.com (London Hop On/Hop Off bus)
www.bigbustours.com (London Hop On/Hop Off bus)
www.nationalexpress.com (coach service)
www.justairports.com (car service) we used to get from airport to hotel
www.simplyairports.co.uk (car service)
www.londoneye.com
www.londonpass.com

Fantastic information!!! Thank you so much!! With Disney seems overwhelming the first trip, but so easy now. With UK it's a whole different ball game. Overwhelmed is an understatement. I want to be realistic with what we can do for the time given.

Right now I'm in the pricing out stage so we know how much to save. Being 4 of us going, I can tell it's not going to be cheap..even to British standards. lol

Thanks once again!!

 

[phabric]

Here is another site for you for London - www.londontravelpass.com

I kept a log with air prices for ie 2011 that gave me an idea of roughly what the prices might be for the following year. Then when 2012 prices comes out you will know if it is a good price.

Check out this site - www.matrix.itasoftware.com

This is not a booking site but it will give you ideas what prices are for the different airlines and then go to the airline's own site to book.

This site helps when you want to book your seats - www.seatguru.com

We went to London 2x before cruises. The first year, I bought the London Travel Pass with travel. We used it for some of the attractions but I didn't think we got our moneys worth as you can only do so much in a day. It did save time lining up at some attractions ie: Tower of London. We did use the travel portion for the city buses. I bought this online.

We did do the Hop On/Hop Off (HO/HO) bus. Both bus lines have the same routes. The tickets are good for a 24 hour period. They have 3 routes. Can get off/on as many times as you want, they have earphones for commentary in many languages. As we only had 1 1/2 days in London, we did one route, switched to another route (didn't get off the buses) and the next day took the 3rd route to Tower of London then finished that route. The Orginal bus company offered (pay the conductor) 3 GBP fish & chips at Sherlock Holmes pub (on their route). With the HOHO ticket you got a river cruise. I bought the tickets online and save a few GBP.

We did the London Eye, well worth the money. I bought online with the certain time ticket. We got there early, and was able to switch our time. If you don't pick this type, can be a long line up.

The second time, I bought the Travelpass for travel on the city bus and tubes, we used this allot. The bus does not take cash. Some people use the Oyster card for bus & tube travel for an alternative travelcard scheme. Check this site; www.londontoolkit.com on how to use this card.

I bought the above attractions online and save a few GBP on each. I felt that when we were in London, we weren't spending that much since I had bought tickets before leaving. I also watched the GBP rate and bought some when the rate went down a little.

We used a car service (www.justairports.com) to take us from the airport to the hotel. It was nice to get met at the airport and be drivern to the hotel after a long overnight flight. Some people take the tube from the airport. To get a quote put in your hotel's postal code - 2 letters and number (our hotel's postal code was SW1), price is based on size of car and distance.

We stayed both times in the Victoria area of London. It was close to Buckingham Palace, the Mews, The Mall, restaurants/pubs,stores, grocery store, HOHO buses, regurlar bus, Victoria Coach station, Victoria train station. In that area, here are some hotels that I have read about, Premier Inn, Comfort Inn, Holiday Inn, Thistle Westminster, Luma & Simone B&B. We have found that the rooms are small compared to what we are used to here and most do not have A/C.

As a tourist, you can get some of the VAT tax back at the airport or by mailing it in. The VAT refund is good on things you can bring back home, not good for food, restaurants, or hotels. At the store, ask for the VAT refund form, they will fill it in and hand back to you with an envelope. The store takes a commission for this. I had bought some clothes at Marks & Spencers and the next day remembered about the VAT refund. I went back to the store with my receipts. They filled out the form and asked if I was buying anything else in any of the stores as they charge a commission and if buying more to do it all together and save on the commission. Some stores will do the VAT refund only at a certain $ amount. Take your VAT form and your store receipts to the office at the airport. They will refund in cash or they will mail it in and will be credited your credit card.

 

[Honeystar120608]

Awesome! Yes I will keep track in my book of the air prices. Good idea! I just found, through flight centre, $4298 out of halifax for the 4 of us. So it's getting better. That is with IcelandAir. Stop over in Iceland would be sort of neat.

That is awesome information. I can't wait to start diving in and pricing it all out. I think I will most definitely go get a book specifically for all this info.

The basic (non educated) idea is to fly in, do 2 full days in London with the HOHO type of deal, definitely have to check out Tower of London and London bridge. Those are 2 big things on the list. The Thames river cruise would be great. Kids would enjoy that (as will I, I am a big Hisotry nerd and can't wait to go there...been reading since Junior high about England, london, and more specifically since I am older, Scotland.)

After 2 full days, train it to Edinburgh and rent our car there. Would that be advisable? Is it the best way so to speak? I am told the best situation is to train it out of London for sure. This is where Im unsure, when/where do we get a rental car. We are strapped for time. 1.5 weeks at most for the entire trip is all DH can leave work for. My thoughts are to go from Edinburgh up the coast to Inverness where both of our ancestory stems. Maiden name of MacBeath, married name McIntosh... we have VERY Scottish roots.

this is all so exciting!!! YAY!!! TOTAL dream come true.

You both have been a HUGE help!! If you think of anything else, please let me know!

 

[phabric]

I would not drive in London. The British people use the train for a lot of their travel. All the car companies are in Britain. Check out www.autoeurope.com and the main car rental companies. Gas is very expensive over there. In 2010, we paid over $40 Cdn for a less than 1/4 tank of gas.

Do you have CAA? You might want to inquiry about cars prices with them. My travel agent I use for cruises was able to get a better rate using a travel agent's sites (I think it was Holiday House) than what I would have got going through the internet plus I paid in CDN.

Sign up on www.kayak.com and it will advise you when prices change then go that website if see what it is.

 

[Honeystar120608]

I would not drive in London. The British people use the train for a lot of their travel. All the car companies are in Britain. Check out www.autoeurope.com and the main car rental companies. Gas is very expensive over there. In 2010, we paid over $40 Cdn for a less than 1/4 tank of gas.

Do you have CAA? You might want to inquiry about cars prices with them. My travel agent I use for cruises was able to get a better rate using a travel agent's sites (I think it was Holiday House) than what I would have got going through the internet plus I paid in CDN.

Sign up on www.kayak.com and it will advise you when prices change then go that website if see what it is.

Oh totally forgot about the bad gas prices! That's right. ok, so we will train it to Edin. then. From there do the car. DH really wants to drive...to give me a mild heart attack I'm sure. lol Will be an adventure.

we don't have CAA.. but I will definitely consider a travel agent.

Love Kayak, will start checking prices on there to compare costs. How did you find the cost of the rental itself?

 

[ChisJo]

Holy Moly!! From NB, the cost is $6200???

We just went last year from Edmonton to Glasgow (direct to the London, connecting only took 1.5 hrs), and the cost pp was only $850 (all taxes incl). This was on Air Canada!

Eeeks...keep looking...I wouldn't pay that much!

 

[phabric]

It was in 2009, so I think it was close $350-$400 CDN for 2 days. We had booked one size of car then we got there the agent didn't think the car would fit our luggage 2- 26" bags so upgraded + insurance. Cars are smaller than ours. I was stressed out sitting on the over side of the car but my DH enjoyed it. It took him a while for judging the car size (since he was on the other side of the car) for turning into parking spaces. If your DH only drives automatic, make sure you reserve that. Most rental cars in Britain are standard. We got the car at Heathrow and drove out of London.

I use this site www.cruisecritic.com for my cruises. I learned so much when I am planning my cruises and my trips to London. If you go to Boards then Ports of Call - Shore Excursions then Britain (British Isles), there are British people that help answer some of the questions plus of course other people. Why not sign up and ask some questions there.

It is hard to plan trips when you have never been there before, you never know where to go, what to do, where to stay (you never know how old the pictures in the brochures are). It is always nice to hear from people that have done it before. Some travel agents have never been anywhere so they cann't help answer questions.

 

[Honeystar120608]

Holy Moly!! From NB, the cost is $6200???

We just went last year from Edmonton to Glasgow (direct to the London, connecting only took 1.5 hrs), and the cost pp was only $850 (all taxes incl). This was on Air Canada!

Eeeks...keep looking...I wouldn't pay that much!

that's very encouraging!! I sure hope we can get those prices. I have seen them that low before, but out of major cities, not Halifax and definitely not Moncton. However, if we can get a better flight out of Halifax, I'd chose the 3 hour drive. DS is NOT a good flyer. Gravol is his best friend.

It was in 2009, so I think it was close $350-$400 CDN for 2 days. We had booked one size of car then we got there the agent didn't think the car would fit our luggage 2- 26" bags so upgraded + insurance. Cars are smaller than ours. I was stressed out sitting on the over side of the car but my DH enjoyed it. It took him a while for judging the car size (since he was on the other side of the car) for turning into parking spaces. If your DH only drives automatic, make sure you reserve that. Most rental cars in Britain are standard. We got the car at Heathrow and drove out of London.

I use this site www.cruisecritic.com for my cruises. I learned so much when I am planning my cruises and my trips to London. If you go to Boards then Ports of Call - Shore Excursions then Britain (British Isles), there are British people that help answer some of the questions plus of course other people. Why not sign up and ask some questions there.

It is hard to plan trips when you have never been there before, you never know where to go, what to do, where to stay (you never know how old the pictures in the brochures are). It is always nice to hear from people that have done it before. Some travel agents have never been anywhere so they cann't help answer questions.

Wow, that's a lot of money. lol But, worth the experience I am sure. Also, you'd pay a little more getting it from the airport as well. I used to work for Avis in the international dept. It's been a while, but remember the types of cars offered. Family of 4, I don't want a huge car because of gas (and am told some highland roads are very narrow...heart attack starting already) but I need it to be big enough. Im going to pack as light as possible since we are going from one place to another so often.
I will definitely check out that forum! thank you!

 

[chimo2u]

I am watching this thread with much interest We, too, are a family of 4 wanting to go to England...perhaps over Easter 2012.
The airline prices I've found have not been encouraging.....approx $6,000.00 for 4 with aircanada from Edmonton to Heathrow.
I have also looked at Canadian affair web site, but am a little leary of booking with them as I have read some not very good reviews about the charter flights (particualarly Thomas Cooke).....overbooking, cramped seating, cattle car type flight experience! That is not something I'd want to put up with for an 8 or 9 hour haul!!!
We are lucky as my brother is currently posted to London with the Canadian Military, so we have accomodations and a "tour guide" of sorts for our activities/travel. My husband was born in England, so this trip would be his first trip back to his roots since he was 18.
The price is putting us off a little though...when you think $6,000 for flights alone, and even if we managed to save $5,000 or so for incidentals/travel/tickets/touring/souvies.....that $5,000 once converted would be less than $2,500.00 !
A 10 day trip averaging over $1,000 per day is a bit steep for me! I could do so much with $10,000-12,000.00! Wish it wasn't so expensive!
I hope you have fun on your trip, and I will be checking back to read the wonderful tips from those who have done this type of trip before!
Marie

 

[stitchfan23]

Just a couple of ideas...

#1, I second Canadian Affairs. Thomas Cook is a budget airlie (ie no frills) but it is more comfortable than Air Transat but either work.

#2. Having just travelled up the east coast (which I am assuming you are talking about) last year it is pretty but honestly I much prefer the drive from Glasgow (can be done from Edinburgh too) up past Loch Lomond right up to Loch Ness and up to Inverness. Scenery to die for! Absolutely beautiful and so much history up there.

#3. If you are planning on staying over in Inverness you will pay a pretty penny for it as it is a tourist area and therefore expensive.

Just an idea, you could always take the train right up to Inverness and then drive back down to Glasgow or Edinburgh. The train would take you to area that your wouldn't normally see unless you went off the beaten path. Oh the nice thing about Canadian Affairs is that you can fly into one city and out of another.

 

[stitchfan23]

I am watching this thread with much interest We, too, are a family of 4 wanting to go to England...perhaps over Easter 2012.
The airline prices I've found have not been encouraging.....approx $6,000.00 for 4 with aircanada from Edmonton to Heathrow.
I have also looked at Canadian affair web site, but am a little leary of booking with them as I have read some not very good reviews about the charter flights (particualarly Thomas Cooke).....overbooking, cramped seating, cattle car type flight experience! That is not something I'd want to put up with for an 8 or 9 hour haul!!!
We are lucky as my brother is currently posted to London with the Canadian Military, so we have accomodations and a "tour guide" of sorts for our activities/travel. My husband was born in England, so this trip would be his first trip back to his roots since he was 18.
The price is putting us off a little though...when you think $6,000 for flights alone, and even if we managed to save $5,000 or so for incidentals/travel/tickets/touring/souvies.....that $5,000 once converted would be less than $2,500.00 !
A 10 day trip averaging over $1,000 per day is a bit steep for me! I could do so much with $10,000-12,000.00! Wish it wasn't so expensive!
I hope you have fun on your trip, and I will be checking back to read the wonderful tips from those who have done this type of trip before!

I travel to Scotland every 2 years and my parents travel every year and they always fly Thomas Cook booked through Canadian Affairs. It is a great airline, budget yes but not cattle car or cramped by any means. The seats are bigger and more comfortable than Air Transat (I am Pooh sized and Air Transat seats are cramped - Thomas Cook seats are close to Air Canada). We have never had a problem or heard of a problem with overbooking (not saying it can't happen but that is a risk with any airline.) It is a buget airline meaning no blankets or pillows & you have to pay from drinks. Meals are adequate and entertainment is good. Thomas Cook is a UK based airline. Are they Air Canada or British Airways? No but then again you aren't paying that price either.

If traveling with Air Canada just really check into the flight. Most Air Canada flights going to Scotland only go to London and then you have to change planes. Usually it changes to a BMI plane. These are classified as shuttles and alot of business people use them. Now here you are talking cramped. Also check your layover times for coming home as most have at least 4 hours or longer. This has been my experience anyways.

 

[chimo2u]

I travel to Scotland every 2 years and my parents travel every year and they always fly Thomas Cook booked through Canadian Affairs. It is a great airline, budget yes but not cattle car or cramped by any means. The seats are bigger and more comfortable than Air Transat (I am Pooh sized and Air Transat seats are cramped - Thomas Cook seats are close to Air Canada). We have never had a problem or heard of a problem with overbooking (not saying it can't happen but that is a risk with any airline.) It is a buget airline meaning no blankets or pillows & you have to pay from drinks. Meals are adequate and entertainment is good. Thomas Cook is a UK based airline. Are they Air Canada or British Airways? No but then again you aren't paying that price either.

If traveling with Air Canada just really check into the flight. Most Air Canada flights going to Scotland only go to London and then you have to change planes. Usually it changes to a BMI plane. These are classified as shuttles and alot of business people use them. Now here you are talking cramped. Also check your layover times for coming home as most have at least 4 hours or longer. This has been my experience anyways.

That's good to know! I would only be travelling to London, (no plans for us to go to Scotland)...so the less time on an airplane, the better, Canadian Affair flies into Gatwick, not Heathrow from my city (Edmonton)....but I have been told that Gatwick is not that long of a tube ride to London, so it would work out for us if we choose to fly with Canadian Affair....Do you think it would be worth it to pay that upgrade price (I think it is currently $199 each way) to upgrade to Premium Class??/ or Club?? (I believe it's called on Air Transat).... Funny enough that you mention you like Thomas Cooke, from what I read on reviews, more people where leaning towards a better experience from Air Transat! I guess I will have a lot to think about!

 

[ChisJo]

If traveling with Air Canada just really check into the flight. Most Air Canada flights going to Scotland only go to London and then you have to change planes. Usually it changes to a BMI plane. These are classified as shuttles and alot of business people use them. Now here you are talking cramped. Also check your layover times for coming home as most have at least 4 hours or longer. This has been my experience anyways.

Yep - the 2 times we've been back to Glasgow, this is what we did. BMI was very small...but the flight wasn't that long, so it didn't really bother us.

 

[phabric]

We upgraded to Club on Air Transat both ways. They advertise $199 to upgrade but it depends of the dates, our was more for the summer (I think about $250/way). The seats are wider with more leg room. On our flight there were only 21 seats, 2, 3, 2, coach was 3,3,3. They give you blanket, blow up neck pillow, socks, eye mask, ear plugs, lipchap, toothbrush all in a felt bag (coach had to pay for these). They seem to feed you the whole time. Drinks when you sat down, 2 choices for dinner on china plates, small bottle of wine with meal, drinks, irish coffee, selection from the snack tray (full size chocolate bars, small bags chips, small can of pringles), more drinks, hot cinnamon rolls, hot cookies, 2 choices for breakfast. We never felt so full after a flight. Since there were only the 2 of us, well worth the money for the room as my DH is 6'2".

We travelled on BA the year before in their Club class. The seats were about the same except BA's had footrests, for me only 5"1" that helped with the long flight. They did not feed you as much as Air Transat.

We would travel again on Air Transat in Club.

 

[Susan2771]

Aren't the summer olympics for 2012 being held in the UK? If they are then you can bet that airfare for that destination for summer of 2012 will be very expensive as well as accomodations.

 

[Honeystar120608]

Aren't the summer olympics for 2012 being held in the UK? If they are then you can bet that airfare for that destination for summer of 2012 will be very expensive as well as accomodations.

Yes, I had thought of this, but they aren't due to start until July 27th. Hoping that gives us some time... I don't know what happens prior to that date and how much travel happens beforehand.....

I don't mind going a bit sooner, but I'm trying to work with the kids' schedules since we will be taking them out end of Sept for DW as well.

 

[taylor91]

A hi from the UK If you are wanting to take the train from London to Scotland I would recommend buying your tickets as soon as they are released (usually 3 months in advance of the date of travel) and play around with the times... at the moment I can book a ticket London to Edinburgh for £37 per person which takes 4 hours 30 mins...http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/en/s/planjourney/query. Obviously will go up with inflation but with petrol prices rising over here like crazy, I would advise the train Petrol is around £1.37 ($2.16CAD) a litre at the moment!!
I am from Yorkshire in the North East of England, but I can tell you both Scotland and London are beautiful.

 

[Honeystar120608]

A hi from the UK If you are wanting to take the train from London to Scotland I would recommend buying your tickets as soon as they are released (usually 3 months in advance of the date of travel) and play around with the times... at the moment I can book a ticket London to Edinburgh for £37 per person which takes 4 hours 30 mins...http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/en/s/planjourney/query. Obviously will go up with inflation but with petrol prices rising over here like crazy, I would advise the train Petrol is around £1.37 ($2.16CAD) a litre at the moment!!
I am from Yorkshire in the North East of England, but I can tell you both Scotland and London are beautiful.

Thanks so much for helping me out! I think I will have to frequent the UK dis threads in the near future. That is great info about the trains. Do you advice this to be the cheapest route for 4 people? And quickest perhaps? (besides flying). We do want to see a lot of England, but time wise, it's just not going to happen. 37 pounds is actually really good compared to what train costs are here. It's very expensive to take a train anywhere (for 4!). Gas prices locally are $1.25 litre...so yeah... pricey, but... again, pay for the experience of the drive I suppose.
Your help is very much appreciate, you all are leading the blind.

I bought my notebook to write all the costs and prices down. You know your excited when the research book gets you going.

lol