whiskerxx

I might have some spare time coming up, which gives me an opportunity to burn some Avios.
The cost of travelling to Heathrow and parking would dwarf the cash I'd have to spend on Avios redemptions to Europe.
I'm trying to find the cheapest route to get to, and fly out of Heathrow.
I live in the Midlands.
I wouldn't want to hitch, but would welcome any ideas, knowledge or sensible (!) suggestions people might have?
Are there any threads/websites I should be reading?

Tim1975

see if you can get a cheap advanced train fare either to London (which will likely bring you into Euston from where you get the Piccadilly line to LHR, or to Reading from where you can catch the railair coach to LHR.

have a look at the London Midland, Virgin trains and cross Country Trains websites and possibly also Chiltern Railways.

pauldb

Megabus?

The Midlands is a big area - you could be closer to MAN so perhaps you could be more specific.

BOH

It's normally a National Express coach that would be cheapest - and usually by some margin.

And an added bonus is a coach will take you straight to either T5 or the Central Area so no messing about changing trains at least twice which you would have to do if you went into Euston, then either the Tube or HEX to LHR.

There is also a advance booking system for off-peak fares too called "Megabus" - ah, I see somneone just mentioned that.

yokozuma

I used to get the Mega Bus from Loughborough to Victoria some years ago for Ł1, might be a little more these days.

Left about 5am so very little traffic into London then just got the tube from there for about Ł5.

National Express coach may go straight to Heathrow from the midlands these days.

BOH

Piccadilly doesn't run from Euston so a change is necessary. Or a 10 minute walk from Euston to Kings Cross where the Piccadilly line does run from

Ldnn1

Easier than going through Euston is to take a train that stops at Watford Junction and get the 724 coach link from there. It's only hourly but can be an efficient route if the timings work for you.

That said, a direct NX coach from your starting point in the midlands may well be easiest.

Swiss Tony

Depending where in the Midlands you live, do remember that a reward flight saver also gives you a free connecting flight, so you need to check that it's not cheaper to get to Manchester or Leeds first.

If you're near the Chiltern Line, one option would be to try and get an advance fare to Northolt Park station, then take the 140 (I think) bus to the Central Terminal Area, then head over to T5 from there. Yes it would take a while, but you say you are time rich.

There's also a bus from High Wycombe but this will cost more than from Northolt. Not sure of exact fares so you need to do the analysis.

Using a similar line of thought, depending on where you start an advance fare on FGW might get you to Slough where you can hop on a local bus to the airport.

But that said, megabus into London and tube out is probably going to be cheapest overall.

mad_rich

Not so much 'cheap' as 'good value' is the Europcar Airport Special. Ł49 IIRC for a one-way airport rental. In the past, I have been able to stack these with cash back, miles, and discount codes to make it a very good deal.

Also, depending on when you are travelling, the London Midland Great Escape. Ł15 for unlimited travel on the LM network, although that's coming to an end soon.

Echo the advice to look at flying from Manchester. Although that depends on where you are starting from.

Don't write off hitching. Cheap, fast, frequent and only a small chance of being murdered.

I suppose another question is, if you have't got the cash to spend on getting to LHR, will you have the cash to enjoy the time at your destination? No point burning Avios (and cash!) just for the hell of it if you aren't going to get any fun out of it.

Swiss Tony

But by the time you add fuel and insurance waiver (x2) and reepat on the return then you're going to be struggling.

Hmmm....

You're looking at Ł35 for the flight. Depending where you go (stay?) I'd suggest you can easily get by on Ł50 a day. I can quite see the appeal of not spending Ł100 on the transport, if it means you can spend another two days away.

OP - just another thought however - have you really checked out the parking options properly? NCP run the car park at the Hilton T5 and it was very cheap when I looked at Christmas.

Cymro

The very cheapest way, if you are well served by it, will be Megabus to Victoria, District Line to Earls Court or South Ken and then Piccadilly to Heathrow.

The disadvantage is that you will be limited in your options as to which flights you can take without staying the night before.

irishguy28

Your flight from the Midlands to Heathrow will be free of charge as an RFS

HIDDY

Very good suggestion.

If that doesn't work Kevincm is the man to give you advice on how to get to LHR on the cheap from the regions. He's used to setting off from Birmingham at some god awful hour of the day in order to catch a bus to LHR to connect to his gruelling long haul flight in budget economy. Come to think of it I haven't seen him around lately.......did he win the lottery?

hmados

Kevin is busy flying Birmingham to Birmingham!
http://boardingarea.com/ghettoife/20...an-bangladesh/

HIDDY

Thanks for the link. ^

Good to see he's still doing cheap...."Virgin Trains did the honours to Birmingham Airport for a paltry Ł3 return".