Mar 27, 2017, 5:53 am
Last edit by: Globaliser
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 on 23 September 2017. 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 18 April 2015
Held on 6 December 2013
Attendee List - Confirmed
KARFA
angeloedades
Gastrocnemius
Cymro
BLHD
BLHD +1
rapidex
rapidex + 1
PETER01
Sherwood Hampton
atmorris
S_W_S
tomparskate
Tobias-UK
The Lady Tobias
pjh981
Ikaz
Mrs Ikaz
PJSMITH0
tjeuk
Tiffywren
toothy
Fontana
LPQ
LPQ + 1
Ldnn1
hcuk94
gwarke
WickedStepMother (Saturday drinks only)
GadgetGal (Friday only)
Attendee List - Potentials
JamieABZ
sebanto2001
madfish
OldFruity
MHendo84
psollitt
Jamier45
navylad
Party trains, planes
Friday 22nd September
Saturday 23rd September (*attending the CCR Mini-PreDo Brunch)
BA1340 0755-0855 Cymro (regretting the early start and hoping for some flexibility)
BA1342 1400-1505 Tobias-UK*, The Lady Tobias*,pjh981*, tomparskate*, angeloedades*, PJSMITH0*,TravellerFrequently** +1** (*crashing the CCR Do only.
), WickedStepMother (having champagne and a sandwich in the Flounge )Sunday 24th September (*attending the CCR Mini-PostDo Dinner)
BA1343 1430-1540 Tobias-UK*, The Lady Tobias*,tomparskate*, angeloedades, PJSMITH0*, KARFA*, pjh981, Tiffywren,* gwarke,* Cymro
Date, Time, & Venue
Friday 22 September 2017
→Informal evening gathering for anyone arriving on Friday.
Saturday 23rd September 2017
→Things to do in Leeds if you are around during the daytime
Lots of details of things to do posted here.
→Evening Do
1800-2015 Pre-dinner drinks - SkyLounge bar at DoubleTree hotel, see this post for details
2030 Dinner at 8.30pm at Sukhothai http://sukhothai.co.uk/restaurants/leeds-city-centre/
2230 Post dinner drinks
Sunday 24th September
→Plan for Sunday morning
Hotels
Doubletree
KARFA 22/9-24/9
Tobias-UK & The Lady Tobais 23/9-24/9
Tomparskate 23/9-24/9
kwisstan +1 22/9-24/9
PJSMITH023/9-24/9
Gastrocnemius 23/9-24/9
Tiffywren 22/9-24/9
WickedStepMother 23/9-25/9
GadgetGal 22/9-23/9
Hilton
PETER01
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 and Leeds City Centre (Whitehall Road) are 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 0930-1045
BA1342 1245-1350, BA1343 1430-1540
BA1344 1730-1835, BA1345 1910-2020
Saturday
LHR-LBA, LBA-LHR
BA1340 0755-0855, BA1341 0930-1045
BA1342 1400-1505, BA1343 1540-1650
Sunday
LHR-LBA, LBA-LHR
BA1340 0755-0855, BA1341 0930-1045
BA1342 1245-1350, BA1343 1430-1540
BA1344 1730-1835, BA1345 1910-2020
To/From Airport
There is a 757 Bus Service that is every 20 minutes during the day, or every 30 minutes in the late evening. It takes around 35 minutes to get to the city centre and costs Ł3.80 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.
- For access to the Doubletree there is now a new entrance at Leeds station which leads directly down to Granary Wharf.
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.
.
The FT Leeds Do - 23 September 2017
Sep 1, 2017, 10:56 am
#166
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: LHR GVA HKG TLV PVG JFK
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 3,942
I am about to start a large project in Leeds (technology to completely clean up the air there, City of Leeds is the beta site) so count me in for the Do (but still tentative as I may have to dash to ATL that weekend instead)
Sep 1, 2017, 11:08 am
#167
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 42,879
Btw - air in Leeds is fine, very bracing
I only spotted this a few weeks ago... would love to have joined you esp. given the guest list containing some names I'd really like to put a face to... and also as my daughter joins Leeds Uni the week before so would have been a good op to check in on her too! . But alas - I am signed up to a work do in Manchester for 23/24 
- can't see it will be possible to hop across the dales. ... but looking forward to hopefully making the London do again once we know when!
- can't see it will be possible to hop across the dales. ... but looking forward to hopefully making the London do again once we know when!
Sep 1, 2017, 2:10 pm
#168
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Yorkshire Dales, UK
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold, Marriott Platinum Elite, Avis President's Club
Posts: 120
Sorry I can't make it Karfa as I have to go watch Burnley v Huddersfield and then go to a kid's birthday party... Living the dream my friend!!! I am sure we will meet soon though, if we haven't already in the Priority queue!!!??
Sep 1, 2017, 2:40 pm
#169
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 42,879
A what a shame you can't make it. hopefully next time we have a do or maybe on a flight.
Sep 2, 2017, 2:54 am
#171
Join Date: May 2012
Programs: BA Gold, HHonors Diamond, IHG Platinum, Senior Railcard & Bus Pass
Posts: 983
Sep 2, 2017, 4:50 am
#172
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Portsmouth, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR
Posts: 790
Sep 2, 2017, 4:56 am
#173
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: LCY
Programs: BAEC Gold, HHonors Gold
Posts: 1,208
Sep 3, 2017, 1:27 am
#174
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Cheshire / Wherever they send me
Programs: BA Blue, Marriott Plat Life, UA Silver (thx Marriott), IHG Gold, Accor Plat, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 943
Last time KARFA taxis were rather good value - from Bradford iirc
T
Sep 3, 2017, 1:33 pm
#175
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: London
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 834
one day!!
Sep 5, 2017, 5:45 am
#176
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 42,879
Sorry for the silence folks.
Firstly I have some bad news, sadly due to an event at the simulators on Saturday we aren't going to be able to go over anymore - unfortunately we can't do anything about this and the only times available on Saturday are not going to be of use to us. I am really sorry about the news.
As an alternative we could have both anytime after 6pm on the Friday and we could have it pretty much as long as we want that evening. Also cost would be much less. However, I guess this would not be any good for those who expressed an interest? @toothy @S_W_S @Cymro
For those meeting up on Friday did you want to go for dinner somewhere? Perhaps Fazenda which is across the way from the Doubletree? It is very good. Assuming I am not doing the above should we book a table?
Firstly I have some bad news, sadly due to an event at the simulators on Saturday we aren't going to be able to go over anymore - unfortunately we can't do anything about this and the only times available on Saturday are not going to be of use to us. I am really sorry about the news.
As an alternative we could have both anytime after 6pm on the Friday and we could have it pretty much as long as we want that evening. Also cost would be much less. However, I guess this would not be any good for those who expressed an interest? @toothy @S_W_S @Cymro
For those meeting up on Friday did you want to go for dinner somewhere? Perhaps Fazenda which is across the way from the Doubletree? It is very good. Assuming I am not doing the above should we book a table?
Sep 5, 2017, 6:02 am
#178
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Gloucestershire
Programs: BA Gold (ex-GGL, maybe future Silver), Hilton Diamond
Posts: 6,197
I can't do the Friday - might see if I can do a same day change and take the party plane but I booked CE on the early morning flight, so suspect that will be out, too. Shame.
Sep 6, 2017, 4:05 am
#180
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: LCY
Programs: BAEC Gold, HHonors Gold
Posts: 1,208
Sorry for the silence folks.
Firstly I have some bad news, sadly due to an event at the simulators on Saturday we aren't going to be able to go over anymore - unfortunately we can't do anything about this and the only times available on Saturday are not going to be of use to us. I am really sorry about the news.
As an alternative we could have both anytime after 6pm on the Friday and we could have it pretty much as long as we want that evening. Also cost would be much less. However, I guess this would not be any good for those who expressed an interest? @toothy @S_W_S @Cymro
For those meeting up on Friday did you want to go for dinner somewhere? Perhaps Fazenda which is across the way from the Doubletree? It is very good. Assuming I am not doing the above should we book a table?
Firstly I have some bad news, sadly due to an event at the simulators on Saturday we aren't going to be able to go over anymore - unfortunately we can't do anything about this and the only times available on Saturday are not going to be of use to us. I am really sorry about the news.
As an alternative we could have both anytime after 6pm on the Friday and we could have it pretty much as long as we want that evening. Also cost would be much less. However, I guess this would not be any good for those who expressed an interest? @toothy @S_W_S @Cymro
For those meeting up on Friday did you want to go for dinner somewhere? Perhaps Fazenda which is across the way from the Doubletree? It is very good. Assuming I am not doing the above should we book a table?
