Well, technically it's
Willard who is a MUCCI, and he is carried to the Airport by one of his flunkies, and only really starts to pay attention once he's arrived at the
(premium) Check-In. (Though he does sometimes drive a
Hire Car).
As for
WillardKeeper and I:
For MAN -
Well, it really astounds me that an airport that has a railway station inside it can still have such hopeless ground transportation!! unless you happen to live next-door to Manchester Piccadilly station, the train seems pretty hopeless, we've tried it, and it's a day's journey on it's own! So we generally either take a car service (though finding one you can trust is always a problem) or drive and park at the airport. But over the years I think we've probably tried pretty much every option, including trains (as above - hopeless), taxis (expensive), Busses (Better than the train but a pretty long haul), stretch limos (makes a nice surprise for Pat) and, of course, driving myself. Approach by car is still the best option, though hardly the most environmentally friendly.
For LHR -
In the good old days, when there was a 2-class service MAN-LHR and you could clear security without a body cavity search, and check luggage through without a permission slip signed by Willie/Nigel*
(*Delete where not applicable) We would pretty much always arrive as domestic connecting passengers, as it started the trip off nicely, and made for a less stressful approach to LHR (i.e. without the need to navigate check-in with luggage). Thesedays, sadly, driving is the option, either via one-way hire (yes, it really is cheaper to hire a car 1-way in each direction than it is to park at LHR for a week!) or by driving down and using one of the Bath road Hotel "Park and Fly" deals (I'm off to BKK next week, and have got a great deal on parking - they even throw in a hotel room for free!). If I'm in London, then it's pretty much always the HEX, but rail connections seem to be a real pain into LHR, and even whilst I'm working daaan saarf it's still far simpler to drive into LHR than it is to use the railway line that seems to run within about 2 miles the the place
.
LGW probably has slightly better transport links, but I never will understand the logic of having a railway station at the airport than bans you from taking luggage trolleys onto the platform - and I think that sums up everything that is wrong with our transport system. Travelling from AMS, I wouldn't even think twice about taking the train in, and the process of getting from the train to the plane is pretty painless, FRA and ZRH are similarly well served, and even BRU has a well thought out rail link from the airport to the city, though it all breaks down a bit when you get to the station at the other end and find out that none of the lifts work and there are 10 million stairs between you and the taxi rank (which, incidentally, will be empty). I really,
really want to be a good boy and not use my car, and when I work outside the UK I generally don't even
have a car, but in my own country, public transport just seems to exist to make me arrive late, poor, and frustrated
Ken.
Willard the Bear - And at least I get my own seat when I'm in the car!