Soulsearching
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 8, 2006
bump!
That's one of the reasons why I like to land early in the morning. Our plane landed at Heathrow at 6:30 am and we were waiting for our town car by 7:00.We did 2 weeks hitting up London, Paris, and Amsterdam. My advice: avoid airports when you can! We HATED flying into London-Heathrow. We were in the line for immigration for over an hour and a half.
That's one of the reasons why I like to land early in the morning. Our plane landed at Heathrow at 6:30 am and we were waiting for our town car by 7:00.
Yeah we were suppose to land about 6:30-7 am but our flight was delayed (another reason we won't be flying Delta ever again). Instead we landed at 8 with hundreds of other people. It really sucked. Same thing going home-the earliest flight from Amsterdam to London had us landing at 8 am and we took off for home at 10. We had to ask security at immigration to bump us up so we could catch our flight. If we did it again, I'd do it differently, it's just those flights we got so cheap it made sense at the time. Now we know better. Others said the same as you though so I think it's just a matter of day and time (we landed on a Saturday which I know is popular). When we go back to London and fly in, I do want to try Gatwick to really see if it's better.
Why did you go through immigration on your way home? At Heathrow, they have a 'connections' process - no need to go through immigration (though you do re-clear security). On my way home over Christmas, I had an almost four hour layover so was hoping to meet up with a friend for coffee (she lives near the airport), but took one look at the immigration line and gave up on that idea and did the normal connections route instead. Was in the lounge within about 30 minutes.
Coming back, I had a full day layover so was definitely entering London. We were the first plane to land and I was the first person in the non-EU line. My wait was snaking through the lanes and waiting for the officers to actually get to their desks!
I've now had my four entries into the UK and can apply for their "frequent visitor" program (not really what it is called, but blanking on the name), which would mean that I can use the e-passport lanes.
Not everywhere takes US cards (or credit at all) so make sure you have local currency cash. We took $100 each in Euros and Pounds. Had to take out a little bit more Euros. Only ran into 2-3 places that took cash only. Also, warn your bank and credit card companies when and where you're going. If you use your card and they ask if you want them to charge it in US or local currency, say US. The exchange rate should be better.
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I actually found quite the opposite last summer in London & Paris. If you ask the restaurant/store to convert currency to US$, it's to their benefit. If you ask them to charge your card in local currency, the credit card (Visa, MC, etc) determines the exchange rate which I found to be a very fair rate. Some waiters acted like they didn't know what they were doing and said, "Oops, I accidentally converted it to US$$!" grrr. Both times it was a crappy rate. They were bad enough that we started saying up front to charge in pounds or Euros.
Also, if you truly don't want to check a bag that's fine but both of our flights to Europe (2013 & 2017) 1 bag pp was included. This was on US Airways (now American but same rules apply) and Delta. Just saying, don't assume there will be baggage fees.
OP, I've never been to the countries you're looking at so I can't help you there but know it's easy to get local currency in Europe through ATMs. We use Capital One 360 checking accounts to keep our travel $ separate from our regular home $ for bills. I thought just in case my card was stolen, I don't want our mortgage $ to be stolen. Also I split our travel funds between dh's Cap One checking and mine. In case either of us lost a card, we could still easily get cash.
I agree with the pp who said to stay in prime areas that you want to see. Time & money are wasted trying to get to touristy places, just trying to save a few bucks staying in more remote locations. You "pay" in one way or another. For us, time was more precious than money so staying across the river from Big Ben was so worth it. We loved the convenience of having so much within walking distance of our door.
We flew Delta PHL to LHR and had a checked bag each free, that was fine. The problem was to country hop, it was just like it is here, a checked bag is extra, at least all the flights we found to go jump from London to Paris to Amsterdam and back to London. That's why I plan on just flying out there and back but using the rail system to country hop. My aunt and uncle did it in September and said it was much nicer that way. But yes, at least international flights to and from the US you should get one checked bag per person included in the fare. I should have pointed that out more clearly
Interesting about the rate...honestly we didn't use our cards until we were in DLP and at that point I don't think they asked, I think everything was charged as Euros. I liked using cash everywhere else as it kept us on our budget but good to know!
I’m interested too. Thinking of doing this next summer for five nights.Anyone Air BNB in Paris?
Anyone Air BNB in Paris?
Anyone Air BNB in Paris?
Looking at air BnB in a bunch of locations. The prices per night are SO good. Can that be right? I feel like something must be wrong. Under $100 a night in Paris? And there are a lot fo them. Not just one or two
How about Airbnb in London? Anyone? Or Copenhagen?
How about Airbnb in London? Anyone? Or Copenhagen?