Ladies and Gentleman, having been born and grown up in Leeds, and as a proud FT member and contributor to the BA board, it gives me great pleasure to invite you to the Flyertalk Leeds Do in April 2015. Leeds is the third largest city in the UK, and the cultural, financial, and commercial heart of Yorkshire. Leeds Bradford International Airport (LBA) to London Heathrow is one of the newer routes on the BA network having started in December 2012.

Previous Leeds Do
Held on 6 December 2013

Attendee List
angeloedades, BLHD, chris1979, DGM1985, DYKWIA, fiona_, Gastrocnemius, hugolover, Jamier45, JohnSydney2000, KARFA, Polomarc, psollitt, rapidex, skye1, The Lady Tobias, Tobias-UK, toothy, YorkieFlyer

Party trains, planes, and hotels
Friday 17th April
JohnSydney2000 - LHR-LBA, BA1340, 0755-0855

Jamier45 (plane) - ABZ-LHR, BA1305, 0930-1110 & LHR-LBA, BA1342, 1240-1340
rapidex (plane) - LHR-LBA, BA1342, 1240-1340

angeloedades (train) - KGX-LDS, 1203-1416

Saturday 18th April
chris1979 (plane) - LHR-LBA, BA 1342, 14.05-15.05
skye1 (plane) (10D) - LHR-LBA, BA 1342, 14.05-15.05

Sunday 19th April
Jamier45 (plane) - LBA-LHR, BA1343, 1425-1535 & LHR-ABZ, BA1316, 1820-1950
rapidex (plane) - LBA-LHR, BA1343, 1425-1535
chris1979 (plane) - LBA-LHR, BA1343, 1425-1535
skye1 (plane) (10D) - LBA-LHR, BA1343, 1425-1535

angeloedades (train) - LDS-KGX, 1405-1624

Date, Time, & Venue
Friday 17 April 2015
Informal evening gathering for anyone arriving on Friday. See here for details.

Saturday 18 April 2015
→Things to do in Leeds if you are around during the daytime and not going to the simulator
Lots of details of things to do posted here.

→737-800 Simulator - afternoon
737-800 fixed based simulator at http://www.flightdeckexperience.co.uk/ - see here, here, and here for more details. Total cost will be Ł190 to be shared equally by those coming.
KARFA, toothy, Jamier45, JohnSydney2000, psollitt

Full details for the simulator group are posted here.

→Evening Do
1700-1915 Pre-dinner drinks - SkyLounge bar at DoubleTree hotel, more details here

1930 Dinner at Sukhothai Thai Restaurant, 15 South Parade, LS1 5QS
Menu [pdf]
Ł5 deposit per person, provisionally booked for 18

2130 Post dinner drinks, details in this post

Sunday 19 April 2015
→Plan for Sunday morning

Hotels
Doubletree - angeloedades 17/4-19/4, Jamier45 17/4-19/4, KARFA 17/4-19/4, toothy 18/4-19/4, Gastrocnemius 18/4-19/4, JohnSydney2000 17/4-20/4

Marriott - rapidex 17/4-19/4

Novotel Leeds City Centre - chris1979 18/4-19/4, skye1 18/4-19/4

There are various hotel options in the city centre, including Radisson Blu, Hilton, Novotel, Doubletree (formerly Mint), Park Plaza, The Met, and Malmaison. Also The Chambers Park Place which seems to be fairly new and has quite a few positive reviews on tripadvisor. These ones are all pretty central and will be near where we are going out to (wherever that will be).

Crowne Plaza, Travelodge, Jurys Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Premier Inn Leeds City Centre, Ibis, and Bewleys are outside the city centre. These ones may be a bit less convenient. The Queens hotel whilst central is really not recommended.

Despite the wording the Premier Inn Leeds City Centre is not in the city centre, and is out near the Holiday Inn. The Premier Inn Leeds City Centre Leeds Arena is closer to the city centre. However, city centre Premier Inns are often not very cheap on a Saturday night so I don't think they will offer much in the way of savings.

Personally I quite like the Doubletree and a few had a night there at the last Leeds Do. Have a look at tripadvisor for reviews and photos. As always check the price of the hotel separately to see what works out best. Hopefully there is enough to cater for any budget or loyalty program.

Also see this review by BotB on the Doubletree.

Airport
There are three daily BA rotations from LHR to LBA on Friday and Sunday, and two on Saturday;

Friday
LHR-LBA, LBA-LHR
BA1340 0755-0855, BA1341 0930-1040
BA1342 1240-1340, BA1343 1425-1535
BA1344 1925-2025, BA1345 2100-2155

Saturday
LHR-LBA, LBA-LHR
BA1340 0720-0820, BA1341 0930-1040
BA1342 1405-1505, BA1343 1540-1650

Sunday
LHR-LBA, LBA-LHR
BA1340 0755-0855, BA1341 0930-1040
BA1342 1240-1340, BA1343 1425-1535
BA1344 1925-2025, BA1345 2100-2155

To/From Airport
There is a 757 Bus Service that is every 30 minutes during the day, or every hour in the late evening. It takes around 35 minutes to get to the city centre and costs Ł3.60 for a single. Timetable here.

• If you are staying at the Holiday Inn Express the 757 goes along the main road right outisde (Kirkstall Road). Get off at the stop just past the fire station next door.
• If you are in the Doubletree/Hilton/Novotel then get off the 757 at Park Row (the bus turns right on to Park Row after passing the law courts and town hall). The stop is at the east side of city square. To go back to LBA on the bus you can get the 757 from stop S7 from right outside the station entrance (New Station Street). Some directions for the Doubletree and Hilton are below.

Alternatively, the only official private cab company at LBA is Arrow which you can pre-book, or book when you arrive at LBA. To use the taxi service head out of the terminal builidng and across to the marked up taxi "hut". You then book and pay for the taxi inside and then head outside to the specific taxi which you are booked on. The cost for LBA-city centre is likely to be around Ł22. Hopefully we can do a bit of coordination if people are arriving at LBA to share cabs.

There is no train service at LBA.

Rail
Leeds has one main railway station right in the centre of the city. There are plenty of trains run by East Coast to London King’s Cross, with one every 30 minutes usually. Journey time is around 2hrs 30 mins from London, and advanced tickets can be had for Ł13 each way. There are also direct services to Leeds from York, further north from Scotland, and from most other major cities in the UK either by Cross Country trains or TransPennine Express.

• If you are staying at the Holiday Inn Express then the best way is just to get a taxi - it is a short taxi ride and shouldn't cost more than Ł6. For the taxi rank at the station walk to the entrance/exit straight ahead after passing the ticket barriers, and it is across the road.
• If you are in the Doubletree or Hillton then the hotel is a short walk from the station. Head straight ahead to the entrance/exit after passing through the ticket barriers, across the pedestrian crossings. Take the covered stairwell on your right (round building to the right of the cycle shop - signed to Bishopgate and Granary Wharf), turn right again at the bottom and head under the railway arches.
  Doubletree - whilst walking under the railway arches take the right turn after Brooks Newsagents - there is a sign for the DoubleTree here. Walk along Granary Wharf Arches and over the metal bridge, which spans the River Aire. Turn left and exit the arches in to the plaza. The DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Leeds City Center is located diagonally to your right.
  Hilton - follow the same route but do not turn right turn after the Centre Newsagents, instead keep walking until you pass out of the other side of the railway arches and the Hilton will be on your right hand side.

City Centre
Leeds city centre is fairly compact, and we are not likely to wander too far, so once you get here you can usually walk most places with 15 minutes at most. Alternatively, there are plenty of taxis at the rail station taxi rank, or at other taxi ranks scattered around the city centre. The Leeds Hackney cabs are black and white.

If you have any question about the Leeds Do please feel free to send me (KARFA) a PM.