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Belfast Moot 2


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Welcome to the board lilsisorcha :)

Right I got to call someone out here - Bruce from "The Other Ones" (Belfast SF&F fangroup). Parris forwarded your email on to me so I just wanted to say thanks for your suggestion. From the website and pictures of the bar you've suggested (which I won't name) I can't tell if it is going to be big enough for our requirements, we're looking at around 70-80 people and who knows maybe more. The other problem is that for logistical reasons we actually need to have made a decision about our venue by tomorrow which is why Rimshot and Silverjaime are checking out our two potentials today.

I tried to Google your fangroup but found nothing, maybe you don't have a website. We would love you guys to come join us so if someone from The Other Ones can sign up here and let us know how many people you want to bring that would be great. You mentioned that you will be at Octocon so maybe we can chat about it there.

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Don't you just hate cheap airlines? I thought I'd found a decent priced flight through Jet2, until they added on all these secret extra charges. So what was looking cheap has now just crossed £100. Am I being a total cheap skate here or is that just being daft? I even have to pay to choose a seat, can't they just give me one that with my fare I've already paid for? I thought secret extra charges was a ryanair thing. Apparently not. BmiBaby from Manchester was even worse. £60 for 1 piece of luggage to check in. £60!!! :shocked: Okay, so I'm sounding the total cheap skate here, but I can't get over it. That's extortion. I think I'm going to be hardcore and catch the coach and revel in my no-extra-charges-dom.

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About £100 is what you will pay for any flight to Ireland with any airline with the exception of Ryanair. With Ryanair you might be looking at £40 but the problem with that is that you are flying with Ryanair :uhoh: and there are plenty of horror stories about lost luggage, flight delays and anything else you want to know about all across the Internet.

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About £100 is what you will pay for any flight to Ireland with any airline with the exception of Ryanair. With Ryanair you might be looking at £40 but the problem with that is that you are flying with Ryanair :uhoh: and there are plenty of horror stories about lost luggage, flight delays and anything else you want to know about all across the Internet.

Hmm yeah, Ryanair wasn't particularly cheap when I had a gander. And I don't mind shelling out £100, but when the extra charges (such as checkin and baggage allowance (£60!!!)) costs more than the actual airfare and taxes, there is something wrong. Jet2 seems to be getting similar horror story reviews, has anybody flown with them before?

I'll probably end up biting the bullet and coughing up, as there are logistical issues on the return journey by coach with a 4 hour wait for a connecting train; the plane is looking to be the most reasonable option, but £60 to check in a suitcase. And not even a big one. Shows how often I fly doesn't it? :rolleyes:

Ah well. I shall figure it out.

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With the likes of Ryanair et al, the secret is not to check in luggage - ensure you can pack everyhing into one of those small cases you can take as hand luggage. It's amazing how much you can pack into those things - certainly enough for a few days travel. Also - ensure you uncheck the box for Insurance - otherwise you unknowingly take out their insurance. Do online check-in as well - it helps reduce the cost, I believe.

In short, you can often get these flights much cheaper than they appear - you just have to spot all the places where they are trying to fleece you with additional charges and circumvent them

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With the likes of Ryanair et al, the secret is not to check in luggage - ensure you can pack everyhing into one of those small cases you can take as hand luggage. It's amazing how much you can packinto those things - certainly enough for a few days travek. Also - ensure you uncheck the box for Insurance - otherwise you unknowingly take out their insurance. Do online check-in as well - it helps reduce the cost, I believe.

Yes. Totally agree.

When buying a seat on a flight, ask yourself do you need everything an airline is trying to sell you. If you don't pay for a particular seat then they'll just give you whatever is available when you check-in. That should be fine. Similarly insurance and luggage fees can be avoided as GoL said.

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Lol. It is becoming totally clear that I am one of those poor dears that get totally fleeced because I don't think about things like unchecking insurance and the likes. Do we have a Village Idiot emoticon I can make use of?

Paying for a particular seat - is there a way you can bypass this option; when I try on Jet2, it refuses to let me go any further until I choose where I want to sit.

Edit: never mind. I've figured it out.

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Paying for a particular seat - is there a way you can bypass this option; when I try on Jet2, it refuses to let me go any further until I choose where I want to sit.

Edit: never mind. I've figured it out.

Good you got that sorted.

Flying transatlantic - yeah ... definitely pay extra for a good seat. Crossing Irish Sea ... wouldn't bother :) No sooner do you hit flying altitude than you are starting to descend. For the airlines, it's just another way of getting you to part with hard earned cash :)

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I think in that case I shall avoid the Linen House Hostel. I'd rather pay a bit more and know I'm getting a half decent room (and bed) then go dirt cheap and hit loads of issues.

The Linen House has a horrific reputation locally, and you'd be lucky to get any sort of financial recompense for anything that went... awry.

There's a Premier Inn, Holiday Inn, Travelodge, and Jury's Inn all in the city centre, so you're not stuck for "known" chains. I haven't stayed in any of them, but some of the crew bunker down in the Premier Inn so it can't be THAT bad. Of course, there's also the Europa itself, which is nice enough.

One thing I would suggest to the board is that if the series continues to film in Northern Ireland then it might be worthwhile getting in touch with a hotel for some sort of "group discount". I'm sure at least one of them would enjoy the free advertising to our online community as well as an annual influx of visitors (likely to grow WHEN the series takes off... not if!!).

EDIT - Typos!

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The Linen House has a horrific reputation locally, and you'd be lucky to get any sort of financial recompense for anything that went... awry.

There's a Premier Inn, Holiday Inn, Travelodge, and Jury's Inn all in the city centre, so you're not stuck for "known" chains. I haven't stayed in any of them, but some of the crew bunker down in the Premier Inn so it can't be THAT bad. Of course, there's also the Europa itself, which is nice enough.

One thing I would suggest to the board is that if the series continues to film in Northern Ireland then it might be worthwhile getting in touch with a hotel for some sort of "group discount". I'm sure at least one of them would enjoy the free advertising to our online community as well as an annual influx of visitors (likely to grow WHEN the series takes off... not if!!).

EDIT - Typos!

Yeah, I'm probably going to end up in the Ibis.....decent price, central location. And yeah, if this is going to be a regular thing, group discount in a hotel would be cool. And that Linen House is sounded worse and worse as time goes on; how does it survive if it is so bad? I'm quite surprised that it is the only hostel that is pretty much -in- the city centre, but I guess that's coming from been spoilt for choice when I work in Bristol, London and the like.

But yes, I think that I am good to go.

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The Linen House has a horrific reputation locally, and you'd be lucky to get any sort of financial recompense for anything that went... awry.

There's a Premier Inn, Holiday Inn, Travelodge, and Jury's Inn all in the city centre, so you're not stuck for "known" chains. I haven't stayed in any of them, but some of the crew bunker down in the Premier Inn so it can't be THAT bad. Of course, there's also the Europa itself, which is nice enough.

One thing I would suggest to the board is that if the series continues to film in Northern Ireland then it might be worthwhile getting in touch with a hotel for some sort of "group discount". I'm sure at least one of them would enjoy the free advertising to our online community as well as an annual influx of visitors (likely to grow WHEN the series takes off... not if!!).

EDIT - Typos!

THe Premier Inn, Jury's, The Europa, the Park Inn - I either know or have heard good things about, the Travelodge not so much. They're all within 10 mins walk of anywhere you might want to go in Belfast centre - it's a very small city centre.

Hope you all get somewhere that suits!

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Well, my plane is booked. I shall be landing at 8am. It was either that or 7pm, so I figured morning was better. lol.

Much to my shame ( I work in Belfast ) I haven't taken any of the open-topped bus tours that now openly swarm for business; but I have heard a lot of good things about them, and believe they are worth recommending to anyone who arrives early and has a few hours to kill.

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Much to my shame ( I work in Belfast ) I haven't taken any of the open-topped bus tours that now openly swarm for business; but I have heard a lot of good things about them, and believe they are worth recommending to anyone who arrives early and has a few hours to kill.

I went on one of them last year when I had some time to kill the day after the Belfast signing, it was an interesting tour, although the open-top bit was a bit cold in November. It was a tour of two halves - the first was the standard summary of famous Belfast residents (George Best, C.S. Lewis etc.) and landmarks (the Harland & Wolf cranes, Stormont) but then the second half was a somewhat grimmer summary of decades of murders and sectarian violence.

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Much to my shame ( I work in Belfast ) I haven't taken any of the open-topped bus tours that now openly swarm for business; but I have heard a lot of good things about them, and believe they are worth recommending to anyone who arrives early and has a few hours to kill.

I went on one of them last year when I had some time to kill the day after the Belfast signing, it was an interesting tour, although the open-top bit was a bit cold in November. It was a tour of two halves - the first was the standard summary of famous Belfast residents (George Best, C.S. Lewis etc.) and landmarks (the Harland & Wolf cranes, Stormont) but then the second half was a somewhat grimmer summary of decades of murders and sectarian violence.

Sounds good to me (I'll bring a coat to keep warm :D); I'll certainly need something to do to kill some time, so doing the touristy bit seems like a plan. I think I leave around 7pm Friday, so I'll be going into tourist mode on the Friday as well, so any other recommendations are totally welcome. XD

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Welcome to the board lilsisorcha :)

Thank you. I finally made it! Im really enjoying discovering all the nooks and crannies around the site. Very much looking forward to hanging out with all you good folks at OctoCon and the Moot. Will be a blast! :)

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