want to go to England without breaking bank!

[packofjedis]

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?

He can easily buy a pay-as-you-go phone once he gets there. Or your other option is to get an unlocked phone here that works on their broadbands and then buy a SIM card once you get there.

 

[jedijill]

Check on flights with Iceland Air. They just started flying from Denver...may be a cheaper way to get there too.

Jill in CO

 

[apennel]

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.

I second the endorsement for the Warner Brother's Harry Potter Studio tour! On our visit to England last September, it was one of the highlights. Very well done.

I also agree with the previous advice about watching for travel flyers for 2-for-1 deals and the like. We found some of of those and it saved us significantly.

Airfare was much lower in September than the summer months.

 

[thebeesknees]

Check on flights with Iceland Air. They just started flying from Denver...may be a cheaper way to get there too.

Jill in CO

Thank you!!! It is coming up $500 less pp than what I had checked last week on Hotwire.

 

[swilshire]

We took our family of six to Great Britain a few years ago. The two biggest budget busters were the exchange rate (much worse then than now) and the taxes on the flights that were more than the fare. We bought almost NO souvenirs. Everything I picked up just didn't seem worth it when I did the math to convert it into "American" dollars.

We stayed 2 1/2 weeks in timeshares we exchanged for, one week in a timeshare we rented, and a night here and there in Marriotts using my points. The van rental wasn't terrible. Can't remember how much, but we used my AMEX car rental insurance that charges a standard fee no matter how long the rental is. $29.95, I think it is.

We spent a couple of days in Wales because DD was considering a student exchange there (she had changed her mind before the trip but we didn't change our travel plans), a week in London, a week in Scotland, and a week on the English coast. Great trip, but expensive.

Sheila

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

For those recommending Gatwick over Heathrow - just keep adding in the charge for the Gatwick express - per person and both ways it does add up.

We're fans of flying into Heathrow because it's so easy to just hop on the tube and get into London (dh is English)

just food for thought.

 

[manning]

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

And you may not get a free refill.

 

[kim929]

This article was on Yahoo today.


http://finance.yahoo.com/news/trick-cheaper-flights-hiding-plain-022700026.html

 

[eliza61]

First, sign up at one of the travel sites for airfare alerts. We are doing London/Paris this year with 7 people (oyvey). We got round trip airfare out of JFK for 900 bucks per person.

Also even if airfare is expensive.; hotel and food do not have to be.

This is my first time to london but I've been to Paris and contrary to popular belief I did not find eating in Paris all that more expensive. Heck, it's definitely cheaper than a ts at disney and the food was way better.

look for pubs and smaller eating venues.

Also go to Rick Steves website. He is famous for having low cost hotels and restaurants.

Also go over to Fodors.com and join up to their forums. I found absolutely great hotels from readers at extrordinary prices. We have booked a place called Premier inn London hanger lane. Well priced and supposedly very easy to get to. 185/night end of May.

I'm just starting to tour Europe but truthfully it's not that much more expensive than what I've been spending at Disney

 

[Lady V]

This advice is great you all, keep it coming! I was talking to my husband and he agrees to go during the school year. My kids have all A's and B's so I know I can pull them if I needed. I don't mind taking a train from the airport- I know that's what he always does. ( We did that when we went to Amsterdam and it wasn't bad. Well worth saving the money! )
As far as flying in and out of France because of Disney-that will only be for one or two days so we probably wouldn't want to fly out of there.
Any opinion on if Fall or Spring is cheapest?

 

[NotUrsula]

Usually Fall is cheaper. Easter tends to be a major family-visit holiday in the UK, so planes are more crowded.

You'll have to get to France somehow to do your DLP trip. Consider only flying home from there; it really will save you on the UK departure tax. FWIW, if you book it in advance, flying to Paris on an intra-European budget airline is normally going to be cheaper than taking the Eurostar train.

BTW, I'm all for spending the extra to take the airport express trains into London if you have kids with you. Even LHR is a long haul from central London on the Tube; it will take over an hour as there are about 33 stops between LHR and central London. Not fun when you are exhausted and dealing with luggage, and more often than not, having to stand. The express train is under 20 minutes and always has seats available; I consider it money WELL spent.

 

[Lady V]

ok-he says we would fly into Heathrow and his 'mum' would pick us up. Also, as I look into it I'm remembering that fall is football and basketball for my son so I'm thinking we could add a week to spring break. The spring break for 2014 for his school is April 21-25. So to sum it up....
*flying into Heathrow and have ride to his house.
*would like to add a week either in front of or after April 21-25 (BUT if much cheaper other spring dates that would be worth it)
*need plane tickets for all 5 of us and we will fly out of atlanta

 

[NotUrsula]

The school terms can vary a bit in the UK from county to county, but they are all very close to the same dates for most terms.

I checked Surrey, and their 2014 Summer term begins on April 22nd. This matters a *bit* because if you are flying to the UK in the days just before that, you may be competing a bit with families who are returning home from vacation trips to the States. I would guess that if they were expecting to start school again on a Monday, many of them would be returning on Saturday on night flights from the US.

OTOH, as you are visiting family, you might wish to try to overlap the school holidays a bit if there are cousins whom your kids would wish to spend time getting to know. I know mine are always a bit disappointed if we can't take their cousins along when we go out to the sights, and especially when we go to Legoland. If this is the case, your DH should check the counties where those families live so that he can find the best dates.

 

[Lady V]

great info!!!

 

[mhsjax]

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.

Wow. remind me to look you up in a couple of years if we decide to go. I wouldn't know where to begin on this stuff.