Complaints about Airports
 

I have just returned to Asia after visiting family in Devon,As the city airport closed a while back my journey started by catching a National express bus at 0325 which reaches Heathrow at 0800 followed by the heathrow express to term 4 for a 1020 flight to KL followed by a flight to BKK and then on to Udon Thani arriving at 1545 .So next time you complain about your local airport think of the people who leave at 0330 on a bus!!

Would it not have been better to go Exeter to Paris CDG and pick up long-haul there?

Being retired, I have a very strict travel policy. If I can't find times that suit me I don't go. No, I'm not kidding!

That's what I was thinking too.

From Devon surely NQY, BRS, CWL or SOU are all much closer and all have a link to CDG/AMS to connect on to BKK. Only NQY doesn't, but FR could have taken you to STN for a much easier journey to LHR by road even if you still wanted to use London.

By the time you factor in all the hassle of the bus and the journey time and cost, surely any savings would have been negligible.

Exeter is about 45 miles east and Newquay is the same to the west.Both options mean extra costs and if your flight is about 0600 then you still have to leave very early!AMS or CDG then Bristol is an option but no cheaper from Asia.No chance of my family moving nearer to Exeter so Maybe staying in one of those ever so expensive hotels near Heathrow is the only answer!!

oldpax, I appreciate that we may all have different ideas of what is "expensive" but my experience is that there are quite a few reasonably priced hotels around the LHR area. Even more so with advance reservations.

I'd have taken a hotel for the night if not at LHR itself then somewhere pretty damn close, the Holiday Inn M4/J4 was OK, a lovely quaint little English pub right outside the gate ... But budget travellers and all that!

But, as others have suggested, to get to BKK there were connection options from NQY, EXT, BRS etc. thus no need to travel all the way to the Metropolis, particularly at 3.30am of a morning.

I appreciate everyone's budget is different but I've heard similar comment made recently and again would point out that it is perfectly possible to get a decent hotel room around LHR for under £50, but you need to look beyond the supposedly (!) upmarket brands on the hotel strip on the Bath Road.

I've just done a quick dummy booking at a well known hotel chain which has several hotels around the LHR perimeter and at one their brand new very accessible hotels, very very handy for Heathrow there are double rooms available for under £50 a night if you book about two weeks ahead.

( just to emphasise that the hotel I checked is not some remote hotel out at Slough or beyond Colnbrook, it's a big hotel on the perimeter road and is 5 - 10 minutes sheltered walk from one of the Terminals.......)

Hello Oldpax
 

Probably it would not work for you, but you could get to
Alicante from Exeter (I think), then a separate flight with
Norwegian to Bangkok. Bangkok flight one-way is 740Euro with
Premium seating.

I'd have likely hired a one-way hire car and overnighted perhaps at some place off the A303 or M3.

Looking at options I guess a hotel is probably best.If car hire was cheaper than bus/train then that would be best way.Coming to the UK I look at what time flights land as some land in the evening which is not good !Also taking of in the morning is difficult!One place I forgot(accommodation) was the union jack club (ex mil)which is reasonable.