Drive & Stay or Fly

[jools]

We will be catching a 11.00am flight from Heathrow in March next year and are considering what would be the best option on getting to Heathrow.

We live up North near Preston.

Option 1. Get up in the middle of the night ('lik road clean wuth tung') and drive straight down to Heathrow. Pay for parking at Heathrow Don't really like this idea because we will have to do the same on homeward journey, not good after a long haul flight and we can never sleep on planes.

Option 2. Have been quoted £98 each for connecting flights from Manchester. There are 4 of us so this bumps up the price of the holiday. Drive to Manchester and pay for parking there. Still have to get up in the middle of the night.

Option 3. Drive to Heathrow evening before and stay at a Hotel close to Heathrow. Are there any that will provide parking? This option is looking the best but still have the long drive home after the holiday.

Does anyone have any other options or can recommend places to stay?

 

[AndRu]

Er ... why not fly direct from Manchester?

If you have to go via Heathrow I'd look into the cost of a taxi there and back; I guess that would be cheaper than a hotel and/or parking your car down there.

 

[USA_mad02]

Hi we live an hour and a bit away from Heathrow and we opted to stay on site, although it is different for you becuase you are a lot further. We stayed at the Marriott hotel and it included parking. It cost £80 for the two of us which worked out cheaper than paying for parking only. The hotel was lovely no complaints, it was of a very high standard. The bus that took you to the airport was every 20 mins and cost £3 each person, each way. We do wish we would ahve paid for another night at the hotel on the way home because my partner found it difficult to drive home. But accomedation before and after will be expensive especially for four people.

 

[carolfoy]

I'd probably getthe train down and stay overnight then you can have a leisurely morning and not have to worry about driving on the return

 

[AndRu]

I'd probably get the train down and stay overnight then you can have a leisurely morning and not have to worry about driving on the return

I reckon there would be at least one tube journey within that. Preston trains would come into Euston. They'd then have to go by tube to either Kings Cross or Paddington (former would be easier) and get on either the Heathrow Express or the Picadilly line to Heathrow.

It'd be tiring enough on it's own but before (and especially after) a holiday with suitcases it would be a bit of chore.

 

[Goofyish]

If you decide to drive down to Heathrow the day before then check out the HolidayExtras site for hotel+parking deals:

ABC Holiday Extra

They do hotels plus 15 days parking for as low as £75!

Although, I do think you will be too tired to drive back the same day as your return - I struggle to drive back upto Leicester from Gatwick. You could always book another night at the same hotel on your return or perhaps drive a little way and stay over night at a Travel Lodge or Holiday Inn Express or similar and then drive back home the next day.

It may be more cost effective to get a taxi - you would need to ring round local cab firms to compare prices to staying in a hotel.

We find getting to the airport the day/evening before the flight means you can relax more. Driving down on the morning of the flight with all the traffic worries etc. isn't a great start to a vacation

Don't forget t'lock shoe box up well when you leave

 

[carolfoy]

I reckon there would be at least one tube journey within that. Preston trains would come into Euston. They'd then have to go by tube to either Kings Cross or Paddington (former would be easier) and get on either the Heathrow Express or the Picadilly line to Heathrow.

It'd be tiring enough on it's own but before (and especially after) a holiday with suitcases it would be a bit of chore.

Or into watford junction and change on to the railair bus (takes you around all 4 terminals) total journey time approx 3hr 45 mins, fares start at around £46 return pm me if you need to but the fares aren't on sale yet past end september.

 

[AndRu]

Okay ... but they'd still have to travel into Manchester to get a train to Watford Junction. Virgin do do a direct service from Preston to WJ but most of the trains go via Manchester. Then you'd have a bus journey around the M25 to get to Heathrow. And you'd still have to lug your cases all over the place ...

 

[Boo Boo Too]

Hi, may I enquire which Marriott this was?

We stayed at the Slough Marriott for one trip - seemed quite a bit more reasonable than the other heathrow hotels.... UNTIL, when we checked in, we were told that there was no shuttle bus and we would have to take a taxi... Fine, until the taxi charged us £25 one way and £40 the other!!! Made is a lot more expensive than even the most expensive Heathrow hotel...

Boo

Hi we live an hour and a bit away from Heathrow and we opted to stay on site, although it is different for you becuase you are a lot further. We stayed at the Marriott hotel and it included parking. It cost £80 for the two of us which worked out cheaper than paying for parking only. The hotel was lovely no complaints, it was of a very high standard. The bus that took you to the airport was every 20 mins and cost £3 each person, each way. We do wish we would ahve paid for another night at the hotel on the way home because my partner found it difficult to drive home. But accomedation before and after will be expensive especially for four people.

 

[jools]

Thanks for all your replies.

AndRu - Can't fly Direct from Manchester, Flying to California with Virgin, only option was Heathrow.

Boo Boo Too - Just priced up the Marriot Slough, including petrol to drive there and back total cost £209 ish. But that did not include a further stay on homeward journey. That journey home would be and down right dangerous I think.

Anyway think we have sorted it. Shuttle flights from Manchester for 4 total £214.40. Park at Dads house for free and get him to drive us to Manchester airport (he's only 25mins from the airport). He can pick us back up on the return and if we are tired, we could have a kip at his house before heading home. Just got to sweet talk him into an (very) early morning drive now!

 

[Boo Boo Too]

Boo Boo Too - Just priced up the Marriot Slough, including petrol to drive there and back total cost £209 ish. But that did not include a further stay on homeward journey. That journey home would be and down right dangerous I think.

No, I DEFINITELY wouldn't recommned the Marriott Slough to ANYONE looking for a "park & stay" for Heathrow - posted as a warning, not a recommendation! . The hotel is fine, but the taxi prices to Heathrow and back are ridiculous (it is only a few miles!). The hotels closer to the airport are much better (you can catch the hoppa bus or whatever).

Agreed - a 3.5+ hour drive home after a night flight is a BAD idea...

Anyway think we have sorted it. Shuttle flights from Manchester for 4 total £214.40. Park at Dads house for free and get him to drive us to Manchester airport (he's only 25mins from the airport). He can pick us back up on the return and if we are tired, we could have a kip at his house before heading home. Just got to sweet talk him into an (very) early morning drive now!

Does sounds like a good idea.

One question, though, are the shuttle flights "on the same itinerary" as your Virgin flights (i.e. provided by Virgin and ticketed on the same itinerary as your California flights) AND how much time do you have to connect at Heathrow?

Boo

 

[jools]

When we booked the holiday with Virgin they offered us a shuttle to Heathrow for £89 pp = £356. We said we would think about it. Checked the websites and found BMI baby £6 pp + taxes = 214.40.

To be honest we were worried about booking the cheap option, what if its delayed, miss the connection, etc. Rang Virgin back to ask for more details about the shuttle, turns out all they were going to do is book the BMI baby flight for us.

I think we'll do that ourselves, thankyou!

 

[jools]

AND forgot to add the shuttle departs Man. 6.40am arrives Heathrow 7.50 am Virgin flight departs 11.00am. The shuttle time was a worry because I didn't think it gave us enough time, but when we rang Virign back and that was the shuttle they would put us on, well it must be OK (fingers, legs and everything else crossed).


Boo Boo Too - just notice you're off to LA, who are you flying with?

We come back through LA on the return journey.

 

[Miffy2003]

I'd probably getthe train down and stay overnight then you can have a leisurely morning and not have to worry about driving on the return

This is what I would do. It's great to be able to fall asleep on the train on the way home without worrying about doing it when driving!!

ETA: Sorry jools, I didn't realise you had sorted out something else !

 

[Boo Boo Too]

AND forgot to add the shuttle departs Man. 6.40am arrives Heathrow 7.50 am Virgin flight departs 11.00am. The shuttle time was a worry because I didn't think it gave us enough time, but when we rang Virign back and that was the shuttle they would put us on, well it must be OK (fingers, legs and everything else crossed).

That sounds like a reasonable connection time. You MIGHT be able to through check your liuggage to your final destination, BUT it could be a good idea not to (incase anything goes awry - at least if you reclaim it and re-check it at Heathrow, you know that Virgin has got it...). Pros and Cons... Presumably BMI fly into Terminal 1? Virgin are Terminal 3.

The only dodgy thing with NOT having your flights booked by Virgin is that, if you miss your connection, Virgin are not obliged to put you on another flight (i.e. they have no legal requirement to get you on another flight to California). If Virgin provide your connecting flights (from Manchester), then they are responsible for your WHOLE itinerary (i.e. you miss your connection, they are legally responsible to get you on the next Virgin flight with seats available...).

That being said, if you book seperately AND you miss your connection, hopefully Virgin would still put you on a later flight. BUT, if they did, it would be them being very nice - since they are not required to do that.

(that's what I wanted to warn you about when booking seperately...).

Boo Boo Too - just notice you're off to LA, who are you flying with?

We come back through LA on the return journey.

We are flying a mixture of BA and AA. We are flying to Orlando with BA (a few days in Orlando and a cruise), connecting to Los Angeles on AA (visit the in-laws), then coming home via Houston (flying to Houston with AA, connecting to a BA flight home). So the transatlantic flights are on BA. A bit complicated, but want to visit my husband's Grandma in LA and we are using airmiles are part payment for our flight (hence the funny routing home... )

Have flown with Virgin from LA quite a few times, but not this time

Boo