How am I going to get to Loncon? And where will I stay?

[Fragile Bird]

London is one heck of a fine city to visit. It's also brutally expensive. And for those of us who need to cross an ocean, or two, to get there, the cost of the flight appears somewhat daunting.

I thought we could start a thread about logistics. Post if you see a seat sale. Post if you find some interesting accommodation. Post about stuff happening in London. Would it be better to tack on a few days before the con, or extend the vacation after the con, because of stuff going on in London.

Here's one thought to discuss: we pick one of the hotels and ask if BWBers can all be on the same floor, if requested. This could be handy because there will not be a "con" hotel, parties will be in the convention centre.

[Maltaran]

You could always look at flights into other airports - Heathrow is usually more expensive than anywhere else. Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow all do transatlantic flights and have good train links to London, or you could fly to Dublin or one of the European hubs and get a short haul flight to Luton or Stansted.

[Pebble thats Stubby]

Don't forget City and Southend if your looking for short haul connection.

Gatwick and Stanstead both also do long haul (although Stanstead is manly short distance)

[Mich]

Definitely what Maltaran said. Otherwise, just keep an eye on the flights. I find flights to the UK and that area of Europe usually get more affordable at odd time windows but will generally stay at the same price for a few days to a week... so pick your dates and check flights until you see a price you like generally be happy and jump on it if you get anywhere around $800.

[Arataniello]

Amsterdam is a large hub airport, and there should be many puddle jumpers from there to the UK.

It may be that transatlantic flights to Schipol followed by something back across to England is cheaper than trying to fly directly to London.

[SamanthaofHodorsfield]

Accom wise, keep an eye on the Premier Inn; they quite often do room sales with London prices starting at £49 a night.

[Angalin]

FB, we flew from Toronto to Edinburgh this summer for two-thirds of what we'd have paid to fly into Heathrow; the only hitch was that August is festival/fringe/everything season in Edinburgh. I scored us a couple of good deals for hotels by booking in January. Trains from Edinburgh to London are easy, especially if you know when you'll be travelling and can book and reserve the seats the max 12 weeks in advance. I thoroughly recommend seat61.com for tracking down good fares.

Friends tried airbnb this summer and found lovely places to stay, in London and elsewhere.

[Datepalm]

Cheapest transatlantic flights I can find right now (it's kind of a hobby) are actually direct London-Orlando, with flythomascook. Either their website is messed up or they just haven't scheduled that far, so I don't know what their costs might be in August, but right now they've got flights for under 200 pounds one way for this year, unless there's some hidden catch i'm not spotting. (i've never flown with them.) They're probably worth keeping an eye on and maybe giving a call to, because skyscanner is showing them as having flights in August already scheduled.

(I found buses were much cheaper than trains in the uk too, but I was booking kind of last minute all the time. And a 13 hour bus ride ended up testing even my willingness to travel by any means neccesary - but if it's not that long they're perfectly pleasant.)

ETA - my parents did one of those things where you switch houses with someone a few years back (a bit like airbnb, I guess) and it went pretty well. That might be worth trying too, especially since you have a whole year for someone relevant to pop up, (assuming you're ok with that kind of thing.)

ETA2 - I'd never checked out airbnb before...Here's a place that looks like borderline walking distance from the Excel thingy for 28 pounds a night.

[williamjm]

(I found buses were much cheaper than trains in the uk too, but I was booking kind of last minute all the time. And a 13 hour bus ride ended up testing even my willingness to travel by any means neccesary - but if it's not that long they're perfectly pleasant.)

To get relatively cheap train tickets it's best to book when they first go on sale, which is about 3 months beforehand. Even with the cheapest train tickets buses might well be cheaper anyway.

[SamanthaofHodorsfield]

To get relatively cheap train tickets it's best to book when they first go on sale, which is about 3 months beforehand. Even with the cheapest train tickets buses might well be cheaper anyway.

Also, splitting tickets can make a difference. I'm travelling up to Edinburgh soon, and a direct ticket from Hudds to Edinburgh was about £70. Now, I split tickets, which meant I bought a ticket from Huddersfield to Lancaster and then Lancaster to Edinburgh; that cost me £34. Good savings. :)

Coach is an alternative. Look at National Express for their Fun Fares (cheap prices) and also Mega Bus, which does £1 tickets if you books far enough in advance.

[Littlefingers In The Air]

Also, splitting tickets can make a difference. I'm travelling up to Edinburgh soon, and a direct ticket from Hudds to Edinburgh was about £70. Now, I split tickets, which meant I bought a ticket from Huddersfield to Lancaster and then Lancaster to Edinburgh; that cost me £34. Good savings. :)

Coach is an alternative. Look at National Express for their Fun Fares (cheap prices) and also Mega Bus, which does £1 tickets if you books far enough in advance.

if you're going to do Mega Bus, be sure to book three months in advance. You'll get the first seats guaranteed.

[deleted01]

Megabus can be pretty cheap whenever you book, but some days are better and of course the earlier you book the better. My friend got from Lincoln to Plymouth for £10 because he travelled Wednesday to Wednesday.

[MrSaturday]

What's the cheapest plane tickets so far folks have been able to find? Should I wait a few months?

[Padraig]

Yes. Start looking in November at the earliest. Early in the New year should be fine too. At this time of the year, airlines are happy to charge a little more for next August because they have almost a year to fill that flight. If nobody books now they can begin to focus on it in a few months when it matters.

[Fragile Bird]

What's the cheapest plane tickets so far folks have been able to find? Should I wait a few months?

I had looked just before Worldcom and flights for August weren't even up yet, they only went to mid July.

But that raises another point I mentioned in the OP, if a person wanted to tack on some additional vacation days to their trip, should it be done before or after? Prince Mountain Goat mentioned in the other thread that there might be an interesting event going on before Worldcom. Does anyone know anything about this?

[Xray the Enforcer]

There is at least one convention very close to WorldCon: Eurocon in Dublin, Ireland. http://www.shamrokon.ie/

It's August 22-24, so just after WorldCon.

The event before WorldCon will be announced if/when the organizers feel they can pull it off. More than that, I cannot say. :)

[MrSaturday]

I recommend going to both WorldCon and EuroCon if possible, especially since another great author of epic fantasy, Andrzej Sapkowski, will be there.

[Pebble thats Stubby]

Worldcon is happening in the middle of our School Holidays, So arriving early or staying late does not make much differance. It will cost you more to get here and all the touristy stuff (for families) will be just as busy. the weather should be similar at both sides.

Unless there is something in particular you wanted to do while here thats on certain dates then it doesn't matter which way you extend your stay. (if your going to be here for a month plus you should get (slightly) better weather before the con and more minuets of daylight, and more kids off school.

[Knight of City of Bayonne]

Yes. Start looking in November at the earliest. Early in the New year should be fine too. At this time of the year, airlines are happy to charge a little more for next August because they have almost a year to fill that flight. If nobody books now they can begin to focus on it in a few months when it matters.

This is very helpful info, Pod. I have a good sense of domestic US pricing trends, but none what so ever beyond the border.

Obligatory statement: If airfares are higher at the end of this year and into next, we will all blame Pod.

[Arch-MaesterPhilip]

Checkout airfarewatchdog.com. plug in your destination and when you're traveling and they'll e-mail you with prices. I got one for $728 round trip New York to London.