trueblu

I understand the whole everyone prefers one way or the other...but travel on Christmas Day is, almost always, more expensive. That may include, on this occasion, the need to actually get the Uber to the desired destination!

Also, this probably belongs to the UK forum rather than BA, since by definition, the friend is not taking a BA flight..

tb

trueblu

The cost of free parking, in this case, may involve paying 6 quid more for the Uber!

tb

ahmetdouas

He would have taken a BA flight if it was a good price! Anyway I asked on the BA forum as you guys travel so much from T5 and know so much! Thanks for the advice guys, I'll tell him to take the inter terminal bus.

And no actually, its quite cheap to fly on Christmas Day, ticket was much cheaper than Christmas Eve. He is doing LHR-MUC-ATH-VIE-LHR, would have done BA but obviously the LHR-ATH route on BA is for the high rollers.

DYKWIA

A late entry for the most bizarre thread of the year...

ahmetdouas

Egham is a nice area, I'm sure his car will be fine. I always park on the street when commuting, for example I drive close to London and park on a street for free next to a tube station instead of paying for billionaire national rail near my house that is like double the price of the tube, even including fuel driving from my house to tube station!

ahmetdouas

No was quite helpful, thanks guys!

Maybe a good tip for BA travellers who don't want to pay LHR expensive parking charges if they are not expensing it, park for free in Egham and then take a 10 GBP uber to T5! So 25 GBP return with Ubers, much cheaper than parking in Terminal 5 if one lives far in the country from LHR.

I'm giving you guys good consumer advice, never let the system win, as I always say, capitalism is a contact sport!

And since I am being especially generous today, another Christmas present, if you are picking up people from T5 and don't want to pay billionaire pick up charges, tell your passengers to go to the T5 Sofitel, you can drive in through the gates and stay up to 20 minutes for free at the reception area, so it is possible to 'legally' pick up people for free in LHR!

trueblu

Yes, I had guessed the flight would be cheaper, but I meant, apologies for lack of clarity, that travelling within the UK on Christmas Day, since public transport less available.

As someone who also doesn't earn much, I'm not averse to cost savings, but this is taking to an extreme imo..perhaps your friend is young, carefree and single, with much more time on his hands, however...

tb

ahmetdouas

Let him enjoy his youth, he's 23 and flying on Christmas day alone, what rush does he have?

He is driving from Leicester, so yeah you can forget the train. Even if there was the train or bus and given he has a car anyway, it is probably cheaper to drive anyway then rely on UK's really expensive public transport.

by the way as long as it doesn't cost me too much time, i like these loopholes regardless of the amount I make, I see it as a game to beat the system, its not only about the money, I like winning, for example I never take a Uber from LHR on my own dime, I always do the bus to the edge of the rip off pick up zone and then uber outside of it if public transport is not practical.

Genius1

Inter-terminal transfer trains are definitely running every 20 minutes, they’re just not running to/from Paddington.

ahmetdouas

Thanks! Told my friend to do just that.

UKtravelbear

No it has nothing to do with the unions. In fact several thousands of people are working today (and tomorrow and across the whole christmas / new year period) on the railway as part of the many improvement projects around the country.


And why should the good people of Egham have to park elsewhere because of your relative taking up space because he's too tight to (a) pay for proper parking (b) to take an uber to his actual destination. Those are costs to factor in when taking a trip.

So he's not even flying BA? There is a perfectly decent UK destination board that has threads on UK Christmas Travel.

Crofton138

What a faff to save £6, this thread is surely a Christmas prank? Around MAN, parking on the residential streets to then catch an Uber will likely result in a 'nice' message from the locals, in paint, written across your car doors.

RichardInSF

This is wrong, I am at Heathrow and it is definitely running between terminals.

:D!

I see no problem with parking on the street as long as you don't block residents from parking outside their homes. It is possible to park for free near LHR and many main British stations without annoying anybody, although for MAN you do need to get a train, tram, bus or taxi.

NWIFlyer

I’m aware everyone must form their own moral compass, and I did all sorts of things to save money at the age of 23, but to put this in perspective - I live in a town ever so slightly bigger in population terms than Egham, but probably with slightly less pressure on residential parking most of the year.

Nonetheless, during summer it is nearly impossible for some residents to park anywhere near their own houses, and drives are routinely partially blocked by frankly selfish drivers who visit. Such are the perils of heavily relying on tourism, hence why we generally tolerate the imposition for short periods in order to have a vibrant town for the rest of the year.

To have that potentially imposed on you every day of the year would be intolerable. To leave a car in the same place for 8 days is something I’d never consider doing. If you can afford a flight and accommodation for that period of time, but don’t want to pay LHR parking charges, then get on a train as I do and pay for an overnight hotel. Trains would have been running from Leicester on 24th December, and Bath Road hotels would not be expensive. To still save all the money your friend has, yet begrudge £6 extra Uber fare, beggars belief. If there’s still time, tell him or her it’s far too much hassle (and that’s certainly true) and just to cough up for the practical option.

Travel is a privilege. With that privilege comes responsibility and consideration for local communities. Choose carefully.