Cotswold Eagle

I find it very strange that both Blackberry and West Quay would offer the same quotes. The differential sounds more like recently reported fares for the two firms, with Blackberry being the more expensive. Of course, another way to look at it is that October 18th is high demand, hence the higher price. That might affect your chances of an immediate booking - as JB says, that would depend on the operator having a car in the Heathrow area with nothing to do. It will be interesting to see if you can replicate the results, which might give you confidence. But I have never heard of this as an advantageous way of booking before (caveat, I have never used either firm!)

I’m afraid I am neither Globaliser nor JB, but I can tell you that Boots (another large, well know pharmacy chain) are also still offering in store testing, according to their website. The list of stores include Victoria Place and Victoria Station, both of which are a short walk from the St Ermin’s.

Genuinely curious to know what you thought you would be seeing at Giants Causeway when you booked?

Or indeed, Thameslink, avoiding going Underground from St P.

This is one of those journeys about which there are about as many opinions as users of the Tube! Personally, I'd probably do Victoria Line to Oxford Circus, then Bakerloo to Waterloo. The change at Oxford Circus is effectively a flat x-platform one (albeit through a short tunnel) and the Bakerloo might thin out there as folk from the north and west change to head for the City...but I have no experience of post-pandemic rush hours.

That's simply not the case - the Commission have officially announced it!

Just to update this, the European Commission has put back the expected date for the start of the Etias travel authorisation scheme by six months to November 2023. There is a six month grace period in the Regulation, so in practice it is unlikely that travellers will require an Etias until sometime in 2024 at the earliest. https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/policies/schengen-borders-and-visa/smart-borders/european-travel-information-authorisation-system_en

🤣

I see what you've done there! To be fair a couple of disadvantages with using regular bus routes (which I recommend for visitors over the tube as well in many circumstances - you get a better idea of how London fits together) instead of the tourist sightseeing ones: - no commentary - no open tops - no river trip included in the price you mention Possible further advantage: - you might meet some Londoners....

Per Cruise Critic policy, ride share requests should be posted in the Roll Call thread for your cruise, not in the Ports of Call boards.

I think Bizzie07 was responding to the OP, who was asking about staying a night at Heathrow before taking the cruise line transfer.

T5 for most BA flights and the hotel there is the Sofitel. There are also hotels attached to the other terminals at Heathrow. But most ‘airport hotels’ are a short bus or taxi ride away. The OP would not be able to return to the baggage collection area, of course, as that is ‘airside’, but I imagine cruise transfers meet somewhere in the arrivals concourse? This is pretty simple, as even if dropped at departures level there are lifts to get to arrivals. OP - generally speaking, if you are not prepared to catch a bus, you’ll need a car. Easiest may be to ask the hotel to arrange a local taxi firm. Heathrow charges a drop off fee at terminals, which will be added to the fare.

It's impossible to sensibly answer this question without knowing which hotel you are staying in!

This is the wrong way round - they are travel authorities for non-visa nationals. You can't have a "visa waiver" if you don't need a visa in the first place 🙂

Yes. Where outside the Schengen Zone you are travelling from is irrelevant - all non-visa nationals, which includes US nationals, will require an ETIAS from May 2023. It's Eurostar, not EuroTrain by the way 🙂

The UK is planning to introduce an Electronic Travel Authorisation over the next couple of years, as per the link I posted above.

There is little hard information about when the UK ETA will be introduced - the official line, as per the link below, is only that it will be fully operational by end 2024. I think I have read that initial trials next year will be for Gulf states. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nationality-and-borders-bill-electronic-travel-authorisation-factsheet/nationality-and-borders-bill-electronic-travel-authorisation-factsheet

Yes, the off-peak contactless is set at half the off-peak return, so is a bargain in the unlikely event of only going one way (for example if going to stay in Windsor). To be clear for other readers this only applies to Great Western services on Windsor and Eton Central branch and does not include Oyster cards (there is a technical problem with extending the current Oyster system any further). It is most definitely NOT a more general extension of contactless across the network.

As mentioned up thread, they are exploiting American attitudes to tipping and, in my view, should be avoided!

As a general rule, expect to pay at (increasingly rare) standalone conveniences provided by the local council. Fee is often something like 20 p or 30 p. Those in visitor attractions, museums, galleries, large stores etc will be free, as will those in motorway service (rest) areas. Major railway stations now generally have free toilets too. Popping into a pub to use the loo without buying anything at the bar is frowned upon, but can be a last resort….

I hope you can see the tension inherent in your question 😂 I admire the spirit, but of course what you think of as “not real expensive” may not coincide with what hotels can sell on-airport rooms for at Heathrow…. For walking to T3 you have two options - the Hilton Garden Inn at T2 mentioned above (depending if the 10 minute walk from T2 to T3 counts as “really close”) or the Aerotel attached to T3 itself. That’s it, all other Heathrow area hotels will require transportation to T3. The Aerotel offers hourly booking, so make sure you enter the correct times when comparing prices. London Toolkit do a great job of describing the hotel situation at Heathrow: https://www.londontoolkit.com/travel/heathrow_hotels.htm

Regarding the question that relates to the title of the thread, be aware that some of the airside ATMs at Schipol are operated by the currency exchange company Travelex. However, unlike Heathrow, there appear still to be ones operated by large Netherlands banks too (certainly there used to be in the baggage hall, but I have not gone through AMS recently). That will occupy about 2 minutes of your very long layover! As regards your bonus question about your onward travel, have alternatives in mind, which in this case, as well as KLM’s direct flights, should include Lufthansa flights changing at Munich and, in extremis, flying to Munich and taken a train to Nuremberg.

I don’t really understand the relevance of the information about going to The Open. It’s hard to say if there will be any disruption to your journey from Dover without knowing the date.

Niche Rotherhithe knowledge, to be fair! The old dockers’ community of Downtown (which may have meant just ‘downriver from Rotherhithe village’) there got wiped out in the Blitz. Famous (in some circles) nightclub of the same name by the river in Odessa Street in the 70s/80s, then it got heavily squatted until the docklands development folk got their hands on the area.

I understand your wishes, but do keep in mind that London is one of the most expensive cities in the world to stay in. If you think you have found a real bargain, almost certainly you haven’t, and one of your criteria will have been badly compromised. Plenty of threads on here with recommendations that do fit your wish list, and if you see a decent rate at one of those, don’t hesitate, particularly if it’s one you can cancel.