Family trip to London late 2024 or 2025

Forums › Travel (planes, train, cruise) › Family trip to London late 2024 or 2025

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#3177965 5-Jan-2024 13:21

jonb:
Thanks all, has been a good thread for me too. Going to UK in April for three weeks, mostly family in North of England but planning a few days in London and realise need to start planning and booking time slots etc.

Have a great trip

jarledb

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#3178040 5-Jan-2024 14:33

cddt:

All good until there's a flight cancellation due to a volcano, a pandemic, "engineering", etc.

If you book yourself, if there are any problems you are on your own.

This is true if you don't book all the way through. But if you book with an airline for all your flights (so booked through) then you are covered, they will take care of you if you miss any of the flights because of problems on their end.

We have been using Emirates a lot, and that was booked with Quantas from Wellington to Melbourne for one of the trips we took.

Flight out of Wellington got delayed because of wind (shock), so we missed the connection in Melbourne (with Emirates) and was rebooked through Hong Kong with other airlines. No problem at all.

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shk292

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#3178187 5-Jan-2024 21:07

jarledb:

This is true if you don't book all the way through. But if you book with an airline for all your flights (so booked through) then you are covered, they will take care of you if you miss any of the flights because of problems on their end.

We have been using Emirates a lot, and that was booked with Quantas from Wellington to Melbourne for one of the trips we took.

Flight out of Wellington got delayed because of wind (shock), so we missed the connection in Melbourne (with Emirates) and was rebooked through Hong Kong with other airlines. No problem at all.

Having seen the trouble had getting refunds out of travel agents during COVID, I'm even less inclined to consider using one. I've always thought their target market is people without internet access, partly because to me, a good portion of the fun of travelling is doing the planning.

Handle9

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#3178195 5-Jan-2024 22:14

jarledb:

A tip about an airline you might want to check out: Emirates

They fly direct Auckland to Dubai, and then onward from Dubai to London. Both flights with A380.

Love not having to do a lot of stops to get there, and the A380 is a pretty comfortable plane.

If you want to fly the 380 make sure you are flying to Gatwick or Heathrow. Stanstead is a 777 service and substantially worse in economy compared to the a380.

Also if you are transiting DXB give yourself some time. It's a big airport and can take some time if you are down the end of the wrong concourse.

The Qatar service through Doha is pretty good and much better through the airport. The fly a 3 3 3 configuration in the a350 from Auckland to Doha which is pretty nice, certainly nicer that 3 4 3 in a 777.

Handle9

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#3178196 5-Jan-2024 22:19

shk292:

jarledb:

This is true if you don't book all the way through. But if you book with an airline for all your flights (so booked through) then you are covered, they will take care of you if you miss any of the flights because of problems on their end.

We have been using Emirates a lot, and that was booked with Quantas from Wellington to Melbourne for one of the trips we took.

Flight out of Wellington got delayed because of wind (shock), so we missed the connection in Melbourne (with Emirates) and was rebooked through Hong Kong with other airlines. No problem at all.

Having seen the trouble had getting refunds out of travel agents during COVID, I'm even less inclined to consider using one. I've always thought their target market is people without internet access, partly because to me, a good portion of the fun of travelling is doing the planning.

I'd tend to agree. Old people who want to do expensive bus tours and river cruises are their target market.

Stu1

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#3178237 6-Jan-2024 08:13

Handle9:
jarledb:

A tip about an airline you might want to check out: Emirates

They fly direct Auckland to Dubai, and then onward from Dubai to London. Both flights with A380.

Love not having to do a lot of stops to get there, and the A380 is a pretty comfortable plane.

If you want to fly the 380 make sure you are flying to Gatwick or Heathrow. Stanstead is a 777 service and substantially worse in economy compared to the a380.

Also if you are transiting DXB give yourself some time. It's a big airport and can take some time if you are down the end of the wrong concourse.

The Qatar service through Doha is pretty good and much better through the airport. The fly a 3 3 3 configuration in the a350 from Auckland to Doha which is pretty nice, certainly nicer that 3 4 3 in a 777.

Emirates looks a good option , having trouble with their web site it’s ok for return to London but selecting a return flight from Paris via Melbourne the site comes up with experiencing technical difficulties . Qantas had the same as well

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Stu1

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#3178443 6-Jan-2024 14:20

Made a draft plan, looking at catching fast train from London to Edinburgh, is it a nice way to see the country? It’s about 4.5 hours or better to fly?. Have planned 3 nights there, first day explore the city , next day take 12 hour tour to the highlands and Loch Ness then day 3 explore the rest of the city. The underground tours look amazing.

jonb

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#3178454 6-Jan-2024 14:31

Stu1: Made a draft plan, looking at catching fast train from London to Edinburgh, is it a nice way to see the country? It’s about 4.5 hours or better to fly?. Have planned 3 nights there, first day explore the city , next day take 12 hour tour to the highlands and Loch Ness then day 3 explore the rest of the city. The underground tours look amazing.

When I lived in UK would never consider flying on such a journey, waiting around each end at airport + transfers for whole family (Heathrow express isn't cheap, and then the other end at Edinburgh) Get a family railcard and buy tickets in advance on thetrainline.com, good for other journeys too.

shk292

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#3178465 6-Jan-2024 15:04

I always enjoyed train travel in the UK, you get to see the scenery and you depart and arrive in the CBD
In contrast, domestic air travel in the UK is a lot more hassle than in nz and as mentioned above, there are a lot of extra costs and delays

Stu1

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#3178561 6-Jan-2024 18:08

jonb:
Stu1: Made a draft plan, looking at catching fast train from London to Edinburgh, is it a nice way to see the country? It’s about 4.5 hours or better to fly?. Have planned 3 nights there, first day explore the city , next day take 12 hour tour to the highlands and Loch Ness then day 3 explore the rest of the city. The underground tours look amazing.

When I lived in UK would never consider flying on such a journey, waiting around each end at airport + transfers for whole family (Heathrow express isn't cheap, and then the other end at Edinburgh) Get a family railcard and buy tickets in advance on thetrainline.com, good for other journeys too.

The train looks pretty cool will have a look at the site thanks heaps

Handle9

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#3178564 6-Jan-2024 18:30

jonb:
Stu1: Made a draft plan, looking at catching fast train from London to Edinburgh, is it a nice way to see the country? It’s about 4.5 hours or better to fly?. Have planned 3 nights there, first day explore the city , next day take 12 hour tour to the highlands and Loch Ness then day 3 explore the rest of the city. The underground tours look amazing.

When I lived in UK would never consider flying on such a journey, waiting around each end at airport + transfers for whole family (Heathrow express isn't cheap, and then the other end at Edinburgh) Get a family railcard and buy tickets in advance on thetrainline.com, good for other journeys too.

I agree about trains in Europe and the UK. It’s a much nicer experience than flying.

You mentioned the Heathrow Express above - the Elizabeth line makes this largely redundant. It’s 30 minutes as opposed to 15 minutes but it’s half the price with lovely brand new trains.

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MurrayM

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#3178961 8-Jan-2024 13:04

Martynnz:

Cash isn't king anymore so a debit card is a good idea (we used Wise which was fine).

This is a very important point. When I was last in the UK back in August 2022 I found that hardly anywhere accepted cash, they all wanted to be paid electronically. This included places like McDonalds.

I found it particularly amusing that the gift shop within the Royal Mint's museum (which is free to enter and if you're at all interested in the history of money is well worth visiting) wouldn't accept their own cash!

I'd recommend getting a Wise card.

steve2222

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#3179326 9-Jan-2024 11:28

MurrayM:

Martynnz:

Cash isn't king anymore so a debit card is a good idea (we used Wise which was fine).

This is a very important point. When I was last in the UK back in August 2022 I found that hardly anywhere accepted cash, they all wanted to be paid electronically. This included places like McDonalds.

I found it particularly amusing that the gift shop within the Royal Mint's museum (which is free to enter and if you're at all interested in the history of money is well worth visiting) wouldn't accept their own cash!

I'd recommend getting a Wise card.

Quick question without any research on my part yet:

What is the benefit of a Wise card for use in the UK if one already has NZ Debit/Credit card (which can be used in the UK, even for things like tagging on to the London Tube)?

Is it that the Wise card is issued as a UK local currency card ie GBP? If so, do you not need a local UK residential address to get a GBP Wise debit/credit card?

Cheers

rscole86

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#3179338 9-Jan-2024 12:06

Wise is a stored currency card. You transfer money into it from your bank account into any currency of your choosing.

This allows you to have cash on your card at favourable, and known exchange rates, rather than hedging your bets on the day off purchase.

When you use your card it will use the local currency first, then any other foreign currency, before using your currency. Eg, you have a NZD account, and stored USD and GBP. If a purchase uses all of your GBP, it'll then go into the USD balance then your NZD.

There are pluses and minuses to using Wise vs your normal bank cards.
I found very little difference in rates/feed between using my Wise card in NZD vs ANZ when I was in Europe earlier this year.

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#3185748 24-Jan-2024 07:35

NZ Herald story today in case you don’t see it. @Stu1

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