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LonCon 3 -- Airport Hookups Thread


DaveAx

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The purpose of this topic is simple: To help inbound con-goers connect at Heathrow to share cabs to hotels in the ExCel area.



Why? Well, if you're coming in to London via Heathrow, you may be surprised to learn that it's quite a journey from there to the hotels in the ExCel area. There are basically two ways to do it:



1) Public transport -- Via the Tube, you'll need to make at least three transfers, some with a bit of walking or lift-riding involved, and the travel time will be roughly 1.5 hours. This is definitely the cheapest method, but can be less than fun after a long flight, especially if there's luggage involved.



2) Taxis are more efficient and direct, but far more expensive. Fares from Heathrow to Central London run between 45-85 GBP, and the ExCel is a bit beyond Central London. On the flip side, they can usually hold 3 or 4 people, and the fare doesn't go up. And there are no transfers, no walking, no luggage-lugging.



(If you're feeling truly ritzy, you can pre-book a hire car -- the British equivalent of a private airport limo -- with a driver who'll meet you at your terminal and deliver you to your destination. Cost is about 100 GBP to Central London, more to the Excel. But I strongly suspect that this is out of range for most of us...)



Here's how it works:


Post your airline, flight number, date/time of scheduled arrival, and destination hotel (plus your off-board contact info, if desired).


Anyone else coming in at a similar hour can then contact you and make plans.



PS: I'm assuming that folks will make cab-sharing arrangements at the con for their outbound travel, so let's not clutter the topic with that...


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1) Public transport -- Via the Tube, you'll need to make at least three transfers, some with a bit of walking or lift-riding involved, and the travel time will be roughly 1.5 hours. This is definitely the cheapest method, but can be less than fun after a long flight, especially if there's luggage involved.

Would just like to add to this that if you're planning on Tube-ing it over to the EXCEL anytime around rush hour it involves the Picadilly Line, the Jubilee line and the DLR - Perhaps the three busiest lines in London. Dragging luggage around on those lines at rush hour will make you hate everything in the whole world

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Would just like to add to this that if you're planning on Tube-ing it over to the EXCEL anytime around rush hour it involves the Picadilly Line, the Jubilee line and the DLR - Perhaps the three busiest lines in London. Dragging luggage around on those lines at rush hour will make you hate everything in the whole world

It will also make everyone hate you (not that it's your fault) and it will be a generally shitty experience. One best avoided if possible by either using other routes/means of transport or by avoiding the busiest times (approx 5-7pm).

(Also lol bants)

ETA The airpiort express trains are a massive rip off cost-wise. Plus you'll still have to get across town somehow.

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Would just like to add to this that if you're planning on Tube-ing it over to the EXCEL anytime around rush hour it involves the Picadilly Line, the Jubilee line and the DLR - Perhaps the three busiest lines in London. Dragging luggage around on those lines at rush hour will make you hate everything in the whole world

Oh frigging hell. Didn't think of that when I booked that cheapo coach ticket. What's the best way of getting to the EXCEL from Victoria without generally pissing off the commuting population of London?

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Sit in a pub until around 6 or 7 and then try! Win-win for everyone.

What time does your bus get in, anyway? During the day the Tube isn't so bad, it's just the rush hour hours that are truly hideous.

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Oh frigging hell. Didn't think of that when I booked that cheapo coach ticket. What's the best way of getting to the EXCEL from Victoria without generally pissing off the commuting population of London?

When does your coach land?

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From Victoria Coach Station, the general way to con central is to walk to Victoria underground station, take the Circle or District line to Tower Hill, get out and cross the road to Tower Gateway DLR station, and take the DLR (destination Beckton) to either Custom House or Royal Victoria depending on which end of the Excel your hotel is on. Arriving at 4.30 you'll beat most (far from all) of the commuters into the District/Circle line. As you get onto the DLR at the beginning of the line you have more time and room to get yourself and your baggage into position before the train gums up.


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Thanks, and one last Q before I shut up and not clog up this thread - IF my coach is delayed, and I arrive smack bang in the middle of rush hour, would I be best just sticking to that route and pissing everybody off, or is there an alternative route?

I can't think of a sensible alternative route. Taking a taxi is not a sensible alternative, even if it didn't contradict your money-saving intent of taking the coach: at that time of day the taxi will get caught in traffic.

Personally I'd just push on with it and hope - make sure you're wearing lightweight clothing - or sit in a pub in Victoria till 8pm or so. (Bear in mind I drag a massive bag of fencing kit around each week during rush hour, so my tolerance for elbowing luggage onto tubes and dropping cases on strangers' feet is higher than most people's.)

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yeah, to be honest you should be fine so long as you don't have a trailer full of luggage with you (which I assume you don't if you're coming by coach). Just get yourself right down to the far end of the tube platform and stake your claim to a space on the train. At the end of the day people who get on at Victoria should be used to seeing luggage on the tube as it's such a big national transport hub. Fuck 'em


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If you're going anywhere near the ExCel, the Heathrow Express train makes very little sense. It adds about twenty pounds to the cost, and then leaves you with a ten minute walk followed by two tube trains (Circle + Jubilee) and then the DLR.
And, if it's not rush hour, it only saves you 5-10 minutes travel time.

The only possible benefit is that you could take a taxi to the Excel from Paddington Station, rather than from Heathrow.

If you're actually staying in Central London, of course, the train is a good option...but very few of us are doing that.

That's why it was not mentioned in the original posting.

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Not to further derail your thread Dave but I did want to mention that I have used this car service before for travel from Heathrow into various parts of London and found them to be reliable:

http://www.londonheathrowcars.com/

They were also less money than any other car service I looked into, an average of 40-60 pounds depending on the final destination in the London area. Looks like they would charge 61 pounds for 4 people to get to the Excel area based on their website price quote - although you would want to get an actual quote from them to confirm that. The advantage over a cab would be that their rate is fixed and no matter how bad the traffic and time spent on traveling, the price would not change.

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I can't think of a sensible alternative route. Taking a taxi is not a sensible alternative, even if it didn't contradict your money-saving intent of taking the coach: at that time of day the taxi will get caught in traffic.

Personally I'd just push on with it and hope - make sure you're wearing lightweight clothing - or sit in a pub in Victoria till 8pm or so. (Bear in mind I drag a massive bag of fencing kit around each week during rush hour, so my tolerance for elbowing luggage onto tubes and dropping cases on strangers' feet is higher than most people's.)

Thanks very much. I'll just stick to the route and cheese people off! :D And yeah, it was either £10 return on the coach or £90 or so on the train, so it was a no-brainer as to which I was going to do.

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And, just to keep the thread (ahem) on track...

If you want to plan travel via London Transport to the ExCel from places other than Heathrow, go here:

http://tfl.gov.uk/plan-a-journey/

Your destination will be "Customs House".

Thanks for the link, Dave. It's very helpful for me. :)

I'm probably the only person to fly into Stansted... :P

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