Post Captain

Good point. In such cases, it pays to compare the pricing--and to pay attention to the specific conditions--offered by each airline involved in the codeshare.

Just a quick note... Iberia's fleet does not include any 787s or indeed any Boeing aircraft at all; their fleet is composed primarily of Airbus jets plus some Bombadier Embraer jets (operated on short-haul routes within Europe by Iberia's regional subsidiary). A quick search on Google Flights for your route (random dates) indicates that the transatlantic portion of the service is a code-share aboard an American Airlines 787. You can book this flight through Iberia, Finnair, or British Airways, though I don't see any advantage to doing so. It's an American Airlines flight, so it probably would be simplest to book it directly via AA. As a general rule: When searching flights on any international route, be sure to check whether the flight is a code-share, and if so, which airline is actually operating the aircraft. _______ EDIT: Zach1213 posted exactly the same information as I was typing my response. Great minds...😉

If I read your timeline correctly, I assume that you will be arriving at Heathrow on Friday morning. Depending on your landing time, you'll likely get into the city centre no earlier than 10 AM, and perhaps after noon if you have a late-morning arrival. My default route from Heathrow to London proper has always been the Underground--the cheapest way of all, and easy with a manageable amount of luggage. In future, I would consider the brand new Elizabeth line (train)--a tad more expensive but still quite reasonable, and faster than the Underground. Some people recommend the Heathrow Express, but it terminates at Paddington Station, which is still some distance from where you'll want to be, and it is quite expensive unless you book well in advance. A pre-booked car service would be convenient and should cost less than a taxi--but the price might well be considered "an arm and a leg," depending on your definition of that term. Pre-pandemic, most hotels would allow you to drop off your luggage several hours before check-in. I've read conflicting reports about current practice, so it would be best to contact the hotel directly to find our their current policy. Otherwise, for short-term luggage storage in London, check Stasher.com. They offer numerous locations throughout central London, so there should be one reasonably close to your hotel. As for hotel location: There are numerous hotels in almost all price ranges within easy walking distance of St Pancras station, and the location offers excellent public transport links to other parts of London. At the upper end of the range, there's the historic St Pancras Renaissance and the Great Northern, as well as modern hotels such as Pullman London St Pancras and The Standard. In the budget range, there's the Premier Inn St Pancras and Premier Inn King's Cross. At Cartwright Gardens, a leafy Georgian crescent about 10 minutes' walk from St Pancras station, there are several town-house hotels. (There also are quite a few "cheap" small hotels clustered around Argyll Square, but they can be hit or miss, and personally I'd avoid them.) Not quite sure of the timing of your "tour"--do you mean the morning of your arrival, or the next day? Do you have a specific tour in mind, or are you just assuming there will be some "tour" that you can take on the spot? (HoHo bus?) Don't underestimate the effects of jet lag on the day you arrive. I think I would lean toward this option. London hotel as per recommendations under Option #1 aboive. I assume that the International Friends service would take any traffic delays into account in their schedule. Two hours at Dover Castle may not be ideal, but as you say, it will at least give you a chance to do a bit of exploring there. Hope this helps!

If you've never been to Bath, I would certainly recommend that you make the trip. An easy jaunt by train from Southampton, as per John Bull's post (#10) above. I would urge you to take one of the free walking tours of Bath offered by the Mayor of Bath's Honorary Guides -- one of the best bargains in the UK. I can think of no better introduction to the city and its history. https://www.londontoolkit.com/whattodo/bath_walking_tour.htm https://www.bathguides.org.uk/when-where/

I've not stayed at either of these Premier Inn locations, but know exactly where each one is, and both would be high on my list for a future visit to London. I have stayed at several other Premier Inns in London and elsewhere in the UK. In every case, I've been highly satisfied -- though my wants and needs are simple. Premier Inn room design is pretty much standardized across the whole PI chain, to the point where you can't really tell which hotel you are in when you're in the room. I've invariably found the rooms and bathrooms modern and spotlessly clean, and the beds are very comfortable. As is the case with hotels throughout the UK, the rooms are smaller than you might be used to in a similar hotel in North America, but everything is very well laid out. The Waterloo and Blackfriars locations each has its advantages, which previous posters have outlined above. I do agree with Markeb in recommending the Waterloo PI for a first-time visitor to London, notwithstanding (as a long-time frequent visitor) that my own personal preference would be for Blackfriars. As others point out, the Waterloo PI has the advantage of being super-convenient for the train from Waterloo Station to Southampton, and the proximity to the River Thames puts you within short walking distance of the riverside promenade along the South Bank, which in itself is one of the great attractions in London, as well as many other important sights that John Bull has listed. But the two hotels are only about a mile apart, so you're not depriving yourself of anything by choosing one location over the other. In short, don't agonize over your decision. Based on the good information already given by the other posters, go with the one that appeals most to you. You won't regret it.☺️

Hello GloriaF ~ Where to begin? It seems like you have already identified some of the places that you want to see, so that's a good start. So your question seems to be, How do you go about seeing these places? The very first thing I would suggest--now, while you are home and have time to plan your visit--is to get hold of a good London guide book and familiarize yourself with those sites you wish to visit and their locations. I can't emphasize how helpful it will be for you to get a sense of the overall layout of London--where things are relative to one another, and how to get around from place to place--before you actually arrive. A decent guide book will also introduce you to places you might not yet know about but which, when you read about them, you will decide that you want to visit. (For starters, take a look at Frommer's London Day by Day. It's a handy little guide book that you can slip into your pocket book, yet contains a wealth of practical information. The contents are well-organized; the book not only includes listings and descriptions of numerous tourist attractions and other places of historical and cultural interest, but also gives helpful suggestions for organizing your time in London, with maps showing suggested walks, among other things.) Virtually every museum, palace, cathedral, church, historic landmark--you name it--has a website that you will tell you everything you need to know about to help plan your visit. (E.g., location, how to get there, opening hours, admission prices, special events or exhibits, and the like.) I would also emphasize that you don't need a tour to get to Buckingham Palace or the Tower of London or any other site of interest. Wherever you are staying in central London, you will be able to travel to that site by public transport (Underground or bus) or, if need be, by taxi. And once you have arrived at your destination, you will find that you don't need a tour organized by an outsider. For example, the Tower of London has its own guides--the Yeoman Warders, aka Beefeaters, whose special status as guards and caretakers of the Tower date from Henry VIII. Most historic churches have leaflets detailing the history of that particular church and showing the locations of various points of interest inside the church, and many of the really historically significant churches such as Westminster Abbey have vergers who conduct tours within that church. I can't do more than begin to scratch the surface here. But once you get a bit of a handle on what you want to see and what you'd like to do during your visit, you can certainly ask more specific questions and get more detailed advice from locals and experienced travelers alike. (For what it's worth, I'm an American gent of a certain age who first stepped foot in London as a child in the mid-1960s. Over the past half-century, as an adult [allegedly😉], I've visited more times than I can count, and have lived there for extended periods. And even after all this time, there are still places in London that I have yet to visit.) Hope this helps.

Just to add two more bookshops the excellent suggestions already provided by previous posters: Any Amount of Books, 56 Charing Cross Road -- the quintessential second-hand bookshop. (Tube: Leicester Square) Daunt Books, 83-84 Marylebone High Street -- specializing in, though not limited to, travel books. Worth visiting for its unique internal architectural features, including oak galleries and skylights, as well as for the books. (Tube: Baker Street or Regent's Park) I am disappointed to see that the little second-hand bookshop on Great Russell Street, just across from the British Museum, seems to have vanished--replaced, I think, by an overpriced tourist cafe or tea shop.

Yes indeed. See the video below, shot four years or so ago. I've taken the ferry from Pier 11 in Manhattan to Red Hook (& vice versa) on a number of occasions, though not since before the pandemic hit. The videos in this playlist show the complete round trip between Pier 11 to Red Hook. (Shot in June 2017, shortly after the ferry service began):