Scotland Meets Thread (formerly Scotland: A Brave Adventure)

[disneydeb8]

This is great info to start the planning--- so BIG thanks to everyone! Keeping this a secret is not so easy, as the kids would love to be part of the planning process. I'm determined though since we've been planning Scotland for their entire lives!


I am curious about the airport to hotel transfers ---- I see this is quite an ordeal. I was expecting a hotel shuttle or perhaps a taxi but now not so sure...
First, do the big London taxis seat 6 with luggage? If so, what is the cost. Did I read correctly one way from Heathrow for six passenger is close to GBP 200 on the train?? Yikes!!

 

[sayhello]

I am curious about the airport to hotel transfers ---- I see this is quite an ordeal. I was expecting a hotel shuttle or perhaps a taxi but now not so sure...
First, do the big London taxis seat 6 with luggage? If so, what is the cost. Did I read correctly one way from Heathrow for six passenger is close to GBP 200 on the train?? Yikes!!

A friend of mine recently went to London & took a taxi from Heathrow to Marylebone. It was about £99 each way. I think that's probably for the taxi, not per person, but I don't know for sure. So it might end up cheaper than the train, depending on how many cabs you needed. If you buy the tickets online, the Express train is £21 for adults and £10.50 for children (unless you want to splurge on Business First). I don't know if your kids qualify as children or not, but at most it would be £126 for 6 of you for one way. (Your plans sound like you're not going back to Heathrow). But then you'd probably need a taxi from Paddington to your hotel, so you need to count that in, also.

Sayhello

 

[disneydeb8]

WOW! That's great to know --- I will purchase online for certain.

Yep, just one way from Heathrow than we head to Glasgow by train. Learning about the rail cards/oyster cards and discounts if well planned has been en eye-opener. I can't say how uninformed I was before this post --- and how broke I would be unnecessarily if I hadn't gotten these tips

 

[RSM]

In terms of transport from the airport to central London. We booked a private car service (we used Hummingbird Cars) from Heathrow to the Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington. One way trip was 44 pounds. Much cheaper than a taxi, and they picked us up in a Mercedes SUV. This was a great option as the request form asks things like the number of people, number of bags, etc, so you don't have to stress about finding a taxi large enough.

 

[kristilew]

I second car service. Much more flexible than taxis. Can't remember who we use, as DH always handles it, but you should be able to find reviews of several on trip advisor.

As for touring London, don't forget to leave time for nonHP things as well! We loved the Globe Theater tour, and many museums. The Museum of London was a great way to start, as it takes you in order from ancient times to the present and gives a really good picture of how the city developed and came to be. It really gives perspective to anything else you do.

My DD16 was fascinated by the little Florence Nightingale museum that is located just by the Westminster bridge. Really well done, and if your DD is at all into women in history, maybe worth an hour or so of your time.

And of course the biggies like Tower of London and Westminster Abbey. You are going to have so much fun! We can't wait to go back!

 

[WeLoveABD]

Our end of June trip at 38-what a great adventure ahead! ABD rep said there may be something new for ABD itinerary (no details if whole new trip or 2015 schedule or what) announced end of April or early May...

 

[sayhello]

Our end of June trip at 38-what a great adventure ahead! ABD rep said there may be something new for ABD itinerary (no details if whole new trip or 2015 schedule or what) announced end of April or early May...

You reminded me to call. At the moment, there are 19 signed up for my Adults Only trip, so as long as no-one cancels, I should be good to go (3 out of 4 of my Adults-Only trips went with less than 19). Fingers & toes crossed!

Did the rep say it was new for ABD or new for the Scotland ABD?

Sayhello

 

[calypso726]

Our end of June trip at 38-what a great adventure ahead! ABD rep said there may be something new for ABD itinerary (no details if whole new trip or 2015 schedule or what) announced end of April or early May...

Fingers & toes crossed for a whole new Scotland itinerary!

 

[WeLoveABD]

You reminded me to call. At the moment, there are 19 signed up for my Adults Only trip, so as long as no-one cancels, I should be good to go (3 out of 4 of my Adults-Only trips went with less than 19). Fingers & toes crossed!

Did the rep say it was new for ABD or new for the Scotland ABD?

Sayhello

I took him to mean a new ABD trip (or trips)-perhaps tweaking Scotland itinerary as well.

 

[rebeccam31]

My daughter has an opportunity to participate in a regional theater production this summer, so we have changed our trip dates to the August 3-11 trip. If you could change it on the first page, I'd be appreciative.

 

[sayhello]

My daughter has an opportunity to participate in a regional theater production this summer, so we have changed our trip dates to the August 3-11 trip. If you could change it on the first page, I'd be appreciative.

Done! You are now on the same departure as JLoane & family!

Sayhello

 

[sayhello]

Anyone who hasn't purchased your airfare to Scotland yet, I just got notification from Kayak that American Airlines has the route from Columbus to Edinburgh for $824 right now, which is $400 less than the airfare has been for months and months (there's been *no* movement in the price up until now). I have no idea how long it might last, or if it's good for other routes, but I just thought I'd mention it.

Why I keep monitoring the airfare when I've already purchased my airfare is a mystery to me.

Sayhello

 

[SingingMom]

Anyone who hasn't purchased your airfare to Scotland yet, I just got notification from Kayak that American Airlines has the route from Columbus to Edinburgh for $824 right now, which is $400 less than the airfare has been for months and months (there's been *no* movement in the price up until now). I have no idea how long it might last, or if it's good for other routes, but I just thought I'd mention it. Why I keep monitoring the airfare when I've already purchased my airfare is a mystery to me. Sayhello

JetBlue gives credits if the rate drops - did you call American?

"SingingMom" ....Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Anyone who hasn't purchased your airfare to Scotland yet, I just got notification from Kayak that American Airlines has the route from Columbus to Edinburgh for $824 right now, which is $400 less than the airfare has been for months and months (there's been *no* movement in the price up until now). I have no idea how long it might last, or if it's good for other routes, but I just thought I'd mention it.

Why I keep monitoring the airfare when I've already purchased my airfare is a mystery to me.

Sayhello

Too funny, Sayhello! I've pretty much decided not to go on the 9-nt Med I have signed up for this year and hope for the BTB Norway/Baltic cruise that everyone is speculating on in 2015. I've been monitoring airfare from SFO to Venice for over a year daily on kayak. It's been $1700ish for an entire year--with little to no movement--and then all of the sudden last week for a couple days it dropped $400! Wasn't sure to be happy or sad that I still had that Kayak alert. Had the fares dropped that much a few months ago, we probably would have pulled the trigger. So for those following european airfare drops, in my case it was about 4 1/2 months out that the fares dropped, but if you didn't have a kayak alert you would have missed them.

 

[sayhello]

JetBlue gives credits if the rate drops - did you call American?

"SingingMom"

I booked with United. Their fares haven't changed. So I doubt American will give me a refund!

Too funny, Sayhello! I've pretty much decided not to go on the 9-nt Med I have signed up for this year and hope for the BTB Norway/Baltic cruise that everyone is speculating on in 2015. I've been monitoring airfare from SFO to Venice for over a year daily on kayak. It's been $1700ish for an entire year--with little to no movement--and then all of the sudden last week for a couple days it dropped $400! Wasn't sure to be happy or sad that I still had that Kayak alert. Had the fares dropped that much a few months ago, we probably would have pulled the trigger. So for those following european airfare drops, in my case it was about 4 1/2 months out that the fares dropped, but if you didn't have a kayak alert you would have missed them.

It's about 6 months out for me. I've been watching it for probably 5 to 6 months, and it's not moved at all until today. Like you, I probably would never have known if not for the Kayak alert.

Sayhello

 

[Bobo912]

Anyone who hasn't purchased your airfare to Scotland yet, I just got notification from Kayak that American Airlines has the route from Columbus to Edinburgh for $824 right now, which is $400 less than the airfare has been for months and months (there's been *no* movement in the price up until now). I have no idea how long it might last, or if it's good for other routes, but I just thought I'd mention it.

Why I keep monitoring the airfare when I've already purchased my airfare is a mystery to me.

Sayhello

I'm so glad you posted this. I foolishly went to the Delta website to see if the airfare had gone down since I purchased our flights, even though there is nothing I can do about it if it has, other than possibly suffer regret. But I discovered that, for the second time since I booked, there had been a flight change and I would miss my connection. I didn't get a notification or anything, although I'm signed up for their email notifications. I called Delta and got it all straightened out and I like the flight we're on now better than the what we had. But if I hadn't checked, who knows what we would have ended up with. I get alot of emails from them, including flight changes that don't require any action on my part. But this is the third time in the last couple of years (and twice for this trip) that they have failed to notify me when there was a change that required me to rebook. Other than this issue, I like Delta. I guess I need to put a weekly reminder on my calendar to check my reservation for changes, just in case. Good news, I guess, is that the price has gone up by $200 over what I paid. So no regrets about the price.

 

[sayhello]

I'm so glad you posted this. I foolishly went to the Delta website to see if the airfare had gone down since I purchased our flights, even though there is nothing I can do about it if it has, other than possibly suffer regret. But I discovered that, for the second time since I booked, there had been a flight change and I would miss my connection. I didn't get a notification or anything, although I'm signed up for their email notifications. I called Delta and got it all straightened out and I like the flight we're on now better than the what we had. But if I hadn't checked, who knows what we would have ended up with. I get alot of emails from them, including flight changes that don't require any action on my part. But this is the third time in the last couple of years (and twice for this trip) that they have failed to notify me when there was a change that required me to rebook. Other than this issue, I like Delta. I guess I need to put a weekly reminder on my calendar to check my reservation for changes, just in case. Good news, I guess, is that the price has gone up by $200 over what I paid. So no regrets about the price.

So glad you caught this! Unfortunately, it's my biggest beef with Delta. Every flight I've booked with them for the last 5 years at least has been changed over and over again. Either messing up the connections or making me lose my seat selection and have to re-select seats. (One time, they changed the type of plane I was booked on, and re-assigned me a seat that did not exist on the new plane!) When I fly Delta I do feel like I have to constantly re-check my reservation because Delta is always messing with it. And I don't get any emails about it, either, even though I signed up for them.

Sayhello

 

[calypso726]

I'm so glad you posted this. I foolishly went to the Delta website to see if the airfare had gone down since I purchased our flights, even though there is nothing I can do about it if it has, other than possibly suffer regret. But I discovered that, for the second time since I booked, there had been a flight change and I would miss my connection. I didn't get a notification or anything, although I'm signed up for their email notifications. I called Delta and got it all straightened out and I like the flight we're on now better than the what we had. But if I hadn't checked, who knows what we would have ended up with. I get alot of emails from them, including flight changes that don't require any action on my part. But this is the third time in the last couple of years (and twice for this trip) that they have failed to notify me when there was a change that required me to rebook. Other than this issue, I like Delta. I guess I need to put a weekly reminder on my calendar to check my reservation for changes, just in case. Good news, I guess, is that the price has gone up by $200 over what I paid. So no regrets about the price.

So glad you caught this! Unfortunately, it's my biggest beef with Delta. Every flight I've booked with them for the last 5 years at least has been changed over and over again. Either messing up the connections or making me lose my seat selection and have to re-select seats. (One time, they changed the type of plane I was booked on, and re-assigned me a seat that did not exist on the new plane!) When I fly Delta I do feel like I have to constantly re-check my reservation because Delta is always messing with it. And I don't get any emails about it, either, even though I signed up for them.

Sayhello

These are just a couple of the reasons that Delta is the only major airline I don't bother to try to earn miles on through travel hacking

 

[knewton64]

have a direct flight booked outta DFW late August -
booked it months ago when the airfare rates were =


Ah well - gives me more time to watch some of my dvds -
1) "The Boys" = story behind the Sherman brothers (never seen it)
(got a few more to watch but this is the one I really am looking forward to)


and read the book, "Mary Poppins She Wrote" a biography on P.L. Travers






T.T.F.N.
&
Cheers Y'all

 

[OhanaCuz]

These are just a couple of the reasons that Delta is the only major airline I don't bother to try to earn miles on through travel hacking

It would be even harder to now. I think I've read that they are one of the airlines that is switching their frequent-flier miles to be based off of your trip price, and not the number of miles in the trip.