Cotswold Eagle

Why would you take the Elizabeth Line to Paddington to catch a cab? You seem to be recommending the Elizabeth Line on several threads where it is hard to follow the reasoning, in my opinion.

There are previous thread on Le Havre on this board too - it is more sensibly grouped with other Western Europe ports, rather than Mediterranean, but Cruise Critic has always had an odd sense of geography! The search function will bring up previous discussions. OP, Le Havre is IN Normandy, a region of France, so when you say “Normandy is too expensive” can we presume you mean “excursions to the D-Day memorials and sites”? What are you seeing as too expensive? It would be a shame to be so close, but not able to pay your respects to the young men who paid a much higher price in June 1944 - there may be more affordable options, perhaps in combination with other things if a full day of military history is not your thing. Otherwise, the pretty port of Honfleur is a possibility - it’s easy to do by yourself. This recent post has a link to useful report on a Cruise Critic member’s blog about getting there by bus, which is likely to be the cheapest option, other than simply walking round Le Havre (which isn’t a terrible option, but it is a town almost completely rebuilt after WWII).

Oh, no, that sounds horribly like you have bought a ticket to Waterloo (Merseyside), rather than to London Waterloo….

How peculiar! I hope you can get a better arrangement.

This is not strictly accurate, JB. Surcharges were only banned in EU under the second Payment Services Directive in early 2018 (and this still applies in the United Kingdom). They are legal in the US, other than in a handful of states, and in my experience still common in other parts of the world (I have no experience of Canada).

Which website, as a matter of interest? I am struggling to find a connection with an hour in Brussels - and I would really hate to spend an hour at Brussels Midi, unless I really, really had to! Thalys tickets can be quite flexible, so I would recommend you look to exchange to a direct train.

The Biltmore Mayfair is a Hilton property, but maybe you have booked it through Cunard? Bond Street station is probably closest, and gives an extra line option over Marble Arch (which is about the same distance). Green Park is a little further, but offers another couple of lines, so most convenient, rather than closest, may depend on your destination for any given journey.

Same currency, but Scottish banks issue their own notes. See discussion up thread about the difficulty spending those in England occasionally.

A good lesson in subjective language - I wouldn’t regard 30 minutes as particularly long (and it would be well within service standard target in the U.K.) - so thank you for quantifying!

The Leap Visitor Card includes (per the website): All Dublin Bus scheduled services (not valid on tours) Go-Ahead Ireland Dublin City services All Luas (tram) services DART and Commuter Rail in the Short Hop Zone (all of Dublin city and county) Essentially, all the public transport you’ll need in Dublin 😃

Tricky one! Personally, I’d stay at the Curio (for others, that’s what was the Mint, and the City Inn before that, on John Islip Street), partly because I know and like that corner of Westminster well. It’s tucked away, whereas the Hampton is on a main road, and a few steps away from the river. And you would feel more in the sights, as you say. Downside, it’s not particularly convenient for any tube station (but you’re never more than about 10 minutes away in central London). Lots of buses on Millbank and Horseferry Road though.

Fortunately, EI hasn't flown 757s for a few years now. It's an all Airbus fleet.

Just a word of caution that the only call to Dundee showing in August I could see is on the 26th. The Balmoral Estate is only open to visitors to the 16th.

Yes, that’s it. You’ll need to have checked in online first, of course (or there may be kiosks to get a printed boarding pass, too)

You scan your boarding pass at a kiosk, which prints luggage tags for your bags (the machine weighs them and you will answer security questions on the screens). You attach the tags, and your bag gets sent off by conveyor. This video shows the process.

Absolutely. It can be quicker getting to T5 from Paddington than from the hotels attached to T4!

This video may also help - it's of the T3 arrivals hall (landside). You can see drivers waiting in various parts of the hall. At 1:30, WH Smith is in the centre of the screen - it's the shop with the vertical sign (it says WH Smith, but hard to make out) under the train on the large Heathrow Express advert. Basically just swing to the right when you can in the arrivals hall and you'll see it in front of you.

Exchange of some old notes (the most recent withdrawn series, up to a value of £300) is also now possible at some Post Offices. https://www.postoffice.co.uk/banknote-exchange

None of those airports have a policy of closing check-in two hours before departure (which in any case would be an airline/ground handler decision). There are a few airline/destination combinations that do have longer than normal (generally an hour) check-in cutoff. At CDG, for example, Air France has a few (mostly Africa or Caribbean) at 75 minutes, but only one at 120 minutes, their flight to Mali. But as another poster established earlier, at Gatwick the OP will almost certainly have a 60 minute cut off.

Can you point to an example of this? Are you saying that check-in closes three hours before a flight somewhere?

This is frankly ridiculous. The idea that you should tip a professional driver for not driving off a cliff (i.e. fulfilling the most basic requirements of their role) is nonsense. Going out of their way to deliver you somewhere, or helping with overweight luggage maybe, but not for simply doing their job. I have never understood why Europeans in the States are expected to abide by a ludicrous and exploitative tipping culture, but Americans coming to Europe feel free to ignore local mores.

In many cases, all these sectors may have contactless card solutions. It is impossible to overstate how much this has permeated in the U.K. in the last three years.

Just to avoid any confusion for other visitors, this no doubt will have been outside London. Cash has not been accepted on London buses for several years.

If it's near the Shard, it's in the London Bridge area, not Waterloo. Equally close to the river and lots of things to see and good transport links, but you'll need to hop on a very short train journey (or take a cab or the tube) to get to Waterloo.

You can get three double rooms at the Premier Inn County Hall for a total of £510, so around $640, on 23 June. As you say, rooms for three adults are unusual in the UK, so you may be better off looking for three rooms.