want to go to England without breaking bank!

[Lady V]

Hello! We are a family of 5. (One is under 2 but would def get a seat for such a long flight!) I want to go this summer perhaps or next summer. MY husband is from England so he has flown there many times and can give lots of great tips BUT... I know my folks on the dis tend to have the inside scoop for even greater deals that I might miss!! We wouldn't need hotels since he has family there. We know that all the things we want to do will add up so any tips for discounts would be great! We will do a couple days at Disney Paris but I already have our tickets for that!
MY main concern is the flight. We can fly out of Knoxville, TN or Atlanta, GA. Five seats. I know summer is expensive but I want to be able to go for two weeks. Thank you for any advice!!!

 

[thebeesknees]

I'll be watching this thread! DH's uncle lives just outside London and has been asking for us to come for a visit. We checked fares over the weekend and I just about fell over - we flew to Sri Lanka 2 summers ago for less than the London fares currently are! There are 5 of us coming from Denver, so it will obviously cost more than going from NY, but I couldn't believe how expensive flights were. Hope to pick up some good tips here.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

The airfare is going to be a killer. If the prices of the last two summers hold, you are looking at paying around $1,200 RT per person. Doing a quick search on Expedia for June, tickets from ATL-LHR are running $1,400 RT. I knew in August 2011 that I needed tickets from Dulles to Marseilles for a wedding in August 2012. I kept watching prices from September when fares were released; they never went down.

If you're flying this summer, you should get your tickets soon. You will save a fortune not paying for lodging; unfortunately you'll be spending that on airfare. Make sure you have a reasonable budget; prices are very high in GB and the exchange rate is not good. A two week trip with a side trip to Disney Paris for 5 people is going to be very, very expensive.

FYI, for international flights on most airlines, you will be paying a percentage of a regular fare for a lap baby. They aren't free.

 

[sunshinehighway]

I'm keeping an eye on this thread too. I'd love to go to England. The flights can be so expensive. I always just end up back at Disney instead.

Op, maybe you could sign up for email alerts from various airlines and travel sites (like travel zoo).

 

[ColoradoDisneyFreaks]

The one tip that I have is that we use an airline miles credit card for everything we buy and pay it off a couple of times a month, so we're getting a mile for every dollar we spend.

We've used these miles lots of times to book flights for the family. We're actually going to Europe this summer and have 7 of 8 legs booked on miles (3 round-trips and 1 one-way). That really makes family vacations much more affordable and if you check often, mileage tickets come up all the time.

 

[mickeygaga]

Kayak.com has been helpful when my daughter went to London and Japan. Last June, I paid about $825 for round trip from Chicago to Manchester. Good Luck!

 

[Canooknic]

I can't help with flights I'm afraid, but when you're there if you plan to do London attractions check for flyers at the train station because you will usually get 2-4-1 entry to places like the Tower of London or The London Dungeons (although probably not a great place for your little one!)

 

[NotUrsula]

I also have family there, so I know this drill.

My best advice is to forget summer. It is much cheaper to go in Fall or Spring, and cheapest of all to go in January. IME, schools tend to be more flexible about family-related overseas travel than they are about domestic vacations, so long as you don't make an annual habit of it. If you can piggyback a week out of school onto something like spring break, you'll do much better on price. If you absolutely HAVE to go in summer, plan to leave the day the kids get out of school; late May into early June is your best bet.

Other than season, the two biggest issues are the fuel surcharge and the UK passenger taxes. The fuel surcharge is sometimes included in the fare itself and sometimes listed separately, and some airlines charge a flat rate and others vary it by fare class: make it a point to read the fine print.

The UK passenger taxes on int'l flights are the highest in the world (and are going up 55% this next April), so even though it is a PITA with kids in tow, it can sometimes pay big to fly into/out of Ireland and then take a separately-ticketed domestic flight (or the ferry!) to the UK. Oh, I just saw that you are planning to go to DLP; in that case fly in an out of France to save the taxes.

Also, is there any chance that Charlotte is a possibility for your departure point? Knoxville should be ruled out; the fares and extra travel time from a small domestic-only airport will bury you.

NOTE that if you are trying to save taxes by landing outside the UK, a simple connecting flight via someplace like CDG won't do it. The end point of the itinerary must not be in the UK, so it has to be done with a completely separate ticket.

 

[kiki02]

I wish. Not only is the airfare a killer, but the dollar is so week vs. teh pound, we'll be spending $10 fora coffee.

hotel prices? yikes

 

[laurafergie]

The UK passenger taxes on int'l flights are the highest in the world (and are going up 55% this next April), so even though it is a PITA with kids in tow, it can sometimes pay big to fly into/out of Ireland and then take a separately-ticketed domestic flight (or the ferry!) to the UK. Oh, I just saw that you are planning to go to DLP; in that case fly in an out of France to save the taxes.

I was just about to say this. Fly into Ireland if you are going to England first. Sometimes tickets to Ireland are less than for us to go home to Oklahoma!

 

[jmac323]

When I went a few years ago rather than flying into Heathrow I flew into Gatwick Airport as it was considerably cheaper to fly in there and share a cab to London. I would price check also different hubs to fly through as I've heard Frankfurt can be cheaper at times.

 

[bumbershoot]

The UK passenger taxes on int'l flights are the highest in the world (and are going up 55% this next April), so even though it is a PITA with kids in tow, it can sometimes pay big to fly into/out of Ireland and then take a separately-ticketed domestic flight (or the ferry!) to the UK. Oh, I just saw that you are planning to go to DLP; in that case fly in an out of France to save the taxes.

That is really interesting!

I know summer is expensive but I want to be able to go for two weeks.

You've just killed my money-saving advice right there. = "don't go during tourist seasons"


If you have any Harry Potter fans, visit Kings Cross Station and look for the trolley in the wall. And here is a list of HP filming locations there. And if DH's family is jaded and bored of HP stuff, go without them, if it's important to you guys. I have a relative who lives in a gorgeous tourist area and hates half the stuff people go there to do, and talks those things down every chance he gets. It's a real bummer, and I find myself happier if I just do them even if he teases me (ugh, brothers).

 

[Lizzim]

I wish. Not only is the airfare a killer, but the dollar is so week vs. teh pound, we'll be spending $10 fora coffee.

hotel prices? yikes

Where are you buying this coffee? A coffee in London would probably cost 3 or 4 pounds so max $6 by my calculations?!

I'll agree that things are expensive over here and the exchange rate won't help but don't scare everyone off

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

If you have any Harry Potter fans, visit Kings Cross Station and look for the trolley in the wall. And here is a list of HP filming locations there.

Actually, HP fans should do this tour:

http://www.wbstudiotour.co.uk/

I went right after it opened and even though I'm not a big fan, it was very interesting.

 

[Sparkly]

There's plenty of free stuff to do in London- The V&A Museum, The Natural History Museum and The Science Museum are all great days out.

 

[beansmom]

Where are you buying this coffee? A coffee in London would probably cost 3 or 4 pounds so max $6 by my calculations?!

I'll agree that things are expensive over here and the exchange rate won't help but don't scare everyone off

actually, the exchange rate for the British Pound is currently 1.60.

i just last week booked airfare to Ireland. R/t for 2 of us was $1575 on Aerlingus. We had planned to use FF miles for the trip over and just pay OP for the return trip from Paris but that was $1300 alone so we decided to pay the other $300 and save our miles for a trip to hawaii next winter.

we have no family so we hotel it. We are using Best Western gift cards from a cc reward program to pay for our hotel in Dublin, staying in a hostel for E29 a nite and staying right across from Blarney castle is $120 a nite.

my understanding per internet travel sites is that the trick is to buy airfare internationally as early as possible. I will say that we looked at a flight from Paris on Iceland Air last week that was $650ish--it is now over $900. I am glad we've booked and i won't have to worry about it now.

 

[bedogged]

We are going to London the 29th of April. British Airways is currently running a deal where you get two nights hotel room free with the purchase of tickets. You might want to check that out.

 

[Canooknic]

If you do fly to Gatwick and are going to London I would suggest getting the Gatwick Express train (although maybe not great with little ones after a long flight) its about £17 and takes you straight to London Victoria station, it takes about 25 minutes.

For suggestions on great places to visit I would totally recommend Brighton, down on the South Coast - just thought I'd mention it!!

 

[hsmamato2]

my Dad is going to England soon (March) I am looking for what type of cell phone to send him with....right now he has a tracfone, but I can't find any prepaid here in the states that will work there,(he is NOT a techie)
any ideas?

 

[jsmith]

Actually there was just an financail article out today that says research shows, and this aligns with my personal experience, that it is cheaper to by international airfare between 90 and 60 days prior to travel-not months in advance. I concur with those who have said fly to Gatwick rather than Heathrow as its cheaper, but flying to Shannon Ireland is usally cheaper yet.

For the poster with the phone question-your not going to find a tracphone that will work in the UK i dont think-you will need a phone that uses a GSM format rather than the CDMA that is used in the US-AT and T phones and T-mobile are usually GSM capable so you might look at a prepaid with them but be sure you are clear with the sales person that it needs to work in the UK.