Post by ann on Oct 10, 2013 10:54:21 GMT 7
Hello,
My first post and I hope it may help others.
We recently had to fly to the UK for family reasons and as you can imagine the cost was terrifying but we did manage. My husband is disabled and this flight was a major worry for us.
I booked as early as possible so as to get the biggest discounts.
I hope our experience may help others.
FLIGHT
I booked online with www.bestflights.com.au/
It was a return trip from Melbourne to Gatwick - June - July 2014
The cheapest I could find was with Vietnam Airlines and cost $1377.00 return each
There are a few bogus sites for this airline so here is the correct link www.vietnamairlines.com
Problem was the return trip landed at Hanoi for about 6 hours, then an internal flight to Saigon then a wait of about 7 hours before we left for Melbourne. On the way to Gatwick we were only at Saigon for about 2 hours. The return trip was hard for us.
SEAT UPGRADE
After a LOT of research I applied to upgrade our seats to Premium Economy and was successful - the site for upgrades is called Optiontown www.optiontown.com You apply for an upgrade for different legs of the trip. Use the link at the bottom of the Vietnam Airlines home page.
We flew economy from Melbourne to Saigon then got the upgrade to London for $120.00 each - did the same on the return trip.
So the total paid for the ticket was $1617.00 each including 14 hours flying time in Premium Economy.
ACCOMMODATION
It was impossible to stay with relatives as they are too ill now so we had to find VERY cheap accommodation.
We stayed at the Travelodge Motels www.travelodge.co.uk/ They have over 500 motels in the UK and they are a Budget Motel chain. We were paying around 20 - 25 pound a night which is cheap, you can't get motel accommodation here that cheap!
The rooms are your typical motel room, bed, tv, tea, coffee, ensuite - no fridge though. Clean, enough room and most have an eating establishment in the same building. We were very pleased with them.
We used 5 different motels as the prices changed quite a lot for some of them, a few days here, a few days there. Doing it this way meant we were able to keep the costs between 20-25 pound a night.
FOOD
We had to purchase ALL our food. We bought bowls and cutlery and had muesli with fruit juice for breakfast in our room. Most of the supermarkets over there also have cheap cafe/restaurants and we ate in those.
But the VERY best was the couple of chain restaurants that specialise in roasts. We had a roast almost every day!!!!!! for just less than 4 pound each. Its a carvery and they give you the share of meat but you can take as much vegetable as you like. www.crowncarveries.co.uk there are a couple of chains and they all over the place.
A sandwich was almost twice the price of a roast.
ENTERTAINMENT
We were on the tightest budget you can imagine and our 'entertainment budget was 12.50 pound each. For that we got a 40 minute boat trip down the Avon River and a 2 hour trip up the Thames from Windsor.
Financially it has crippled us as you can imagine but we had to go over to see what we could do to help very elderly relatives who were not coping.
OUR VERDICTS
Vietnam Airlines - loved them,
PRO - in the past we have flown with the 4/5 star airlines and can honestly say we are super impressed with Vietnam Airlines and would love the chance to fly with them again. The staff are friendly, helpful and always around unlike other airlines where the staff disappear. A great bonus with them is the offer of free sandwiches at the galley during the flight and also free noodles - I can't imagine being hungry though as the food was about the best airline food you can get and there is plenty of it.
CON - the scheduled 12 hour stopover in Vietnam on the way home was terrible. I was so worried my husband might get ill as it was too long for him. The airport has airconditioning but it was still sticky and humid.
OPTIONTOWN
PRO - WOW it was fantastic to get the upgrades and I felt they were very cheap. It was great having the extra space as you can imagine. If you dont get the upgrade they refund you fee (less $3 within about 3 working days).
CON - we only found out we had the upgrades when we were at the checkin counter and had to actually ask if we had been upgraded. The staff knew of Optiontown but had no idea how to upgrade our boarding passes and both times it took about 20 minutes for senior staff to get new passes printed. Makes us think not that many people use them
TRAVELODGE MOTELS
PRO - Our home away from home, always clean and enough room for us. TV always worked, everything worked. Great having food and drinks on the premises too. Staff are all locals and very friendly we found
CON - Windows only open about 3 inches so it can get a bit stuffy but was ok. They are often near freeways and that can get noisey at times - you could always ask to get moved to another room.
FOOD
PRO - those cavery roasts are amazing and saved our lives
CON - we can't stand the thought of another roast
I hope this helps others who may have or want to go over to the UK and are wondering about costs. We had hardly any money and received the pension into our bank account when we were over there, it was scarey to be that far from home and with such a small amount of money. We did ok though, the flights, upgrades and accommodation were all paid for before we left so it was really only food we had to find money for.
If we had to return we would most definately use these same companies and strategies again and highly recommend all of them.
My first post and I hope it may help others.
We recently had to fly to the UK for family reasons and as you can imagine the cost was terrifying but we did manage. My husband is disabled and this flight was a major worry for us.
I booked as early as possible so as to get the biggest discounts.
I hope our experience may help others.
FLIGHT
I booked online with www.bestflights.com.au/
It was a return trip from Melbourne to Gatwick - June - July 2014
The cheapest I could find was with Vietnam Airlines and cost $1377.00 return each
There are a few bogus sites for this airline so here is the correct link www.vietnamairlines.com
Problem was the return trip landed at Hanoi for about 6 hours, then an internal flight to Saigon then a wait of about 7 hours before we left for Melbourne. On the way to Gatwick we were only at Saigon for about 2 hours. The return trip was hard for us.
SEAT UPGRADE
After a LOT of research I applied to upgrade our seats to Premium Economy and was successful - the site for upgrades is called Optiontown www.optiontown.com You apply for an upgrade for different legs of the trip. Use the link at the bottom of the Vietnam Airlines home page.
We flew economy from Melbourne to Saigon then got the upgrade to London for $120.00 each - did the same on the return trip.
So the total paid for the ticket was $1617.00 each including 14 hours flying time in Premium Economy.
ACCOMMODATION
It was impossible to stay with relatives as they are too ill now so we had to find VERY cheap accommodation.
We stayed at the Travelodge Motels www.travelodge.co.uk/ They have over 500 motels in the UK and they are a Budget Motel chain. We were paying around 20 - 25 pound a night which is cheap, you can't get motel accommodation here that cheap!
The rooms are your typical motel room, bed, tv, tea, coffee, ensuite - no fridge though. Clean, enough room and most have an eating establishment in the same building. We were very pleased with them.
We used 5 different motels as the prices changed quite a lot for some of them, a few days here, a few days there. Doing it this way meant we were able to keep the costs between 20-25 pound a night.
FOOD
We had to purchase ALL our food. We bought bowls and cutlery and had muesli with fruit juice for breakfast in our room. Most of the supermarkets over there also have cheap cafe/restaurants and we ate in those.
But the VERY best was the couple of chain restaurants that specialise in roasts. We had a roast almost every day!!!!!! for just less than 4 pound each. Its a carvery and they give you the share of meat but you can take as much vegetable as you like. www.crowncarveries.co.uk there are a couple of chains and they all over the place.
A sandwich was almost twice the price of a roast.
ENTERTAINMENT
We were on the tightest budget you can imagine and our 'entertainment budget was 12.50 pound each. For that we got a 40 minute boat trip down the Avon River and a 2 hour trip up the Thames from Windsor.
Financially it has crippled us as you can imagine but we had to go over to see what we could do to help very elderly relatives who were not coping.
OUR VERDICTS
Vietnam Airlines - loved them,
PRO - in the past we have flown with the 4/5 star airlines and can honestly say we are super impressed with Vietnam Airlines and would love the chance to fly with them again. The staff are friendly, helpful and always around unlike other airlines where the staff disappear. A great bonus with them is the offer of free sandwiches at the galley during the flight and also free noodles - I can't imagine being hungry though as the food was about the best airline food you can get and there is plenty of it.
CON - the scheduled 12 hour stopover in Vietnam on the way home was terrible. I was so worried my husband might get ill as it was too long for him. The airport has airconditioning but it was still sticky and humid.
OPTIONTOWN
PRO - WOW it was fantastic to get the upgrades and I felt they were very cheap. It was great having the extra space as you can imagine. If you dont get the upgrade they refund you fee (less $3 within about 3 working days).
CON - we only found out we had the upgrades when we were at the checkin counter and had to actually ask if we had been upgraded. The staff knew of Optiontown but had no idea how to upgrade our boarding passes and both times it took about 20 minutes for senior staff to get new passes printed. Makes us think not that many people use them
TRAVELODGE MOTELS
PRO - Our home away from home, always clean and enough room for us. TV always worked, everything worked. Great having food and drinks on the premises too. Staff are all locals and very friendly we found
CON - Windows only open about 3 inches so it can get a bit stuffy but was ok. They are often near freeways and that can get noisey at times - you could always ask to get moved to another room.
FOOD
PRO - those cavery roasts are amazing and saved our lives
CON - we can't stand the thought of another roast
I hope this helps others who may have or want to go over to the UK and are wondering about costs. We had hardly any money and received the pension into our bank account when we were over there, it was scarey to be that far from home and with such a small amount of money. We did ok though, the flights, upgrades and accommodation were all paid for before we left so it was really only food we had to find money for.
If we had to return we would most definately use these same companies and strategies again and highly recommend all of them.
