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Getting to Heathrow for early flight

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
edited January 2023 in General Chat
I'm flying to New York from Heathrow in a few weeks. I need to be at the airport for 6am. I was going to book in a travelodge, but the closest one has no rooms.

I have a few choices of how to get there: train from Birmingham, leaving at 11pm, changing at Euston. That gets me there 4 hours early so I have to hang around the airport all night, and get no sleep. But it only costs 14.50 if I book now.

Or I can get a coach, which costs 29 pounds. They leave all through the night from Birmingham, but I still end up missing a night of sleep.

Oh, the final option is to stay with a relative in Hertfordshire, then I can get a bus from there to Heathrow at 4.30am...but I then have to pay for the cost of the ticket to get to her house and lug all my bags around.

I can't sleep on flights, and I want to enjoy the flight/watch films/indulge in the free drinks. Plus when I get there I have to use public transport to get to my apartment. I'm really bad with no sleep, grumpy and stuff..

I'm getting all confuddled... anyone got any ideas?? :) I should have chosen a better flight time!
Post edited by JustV on

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    The flight is long enough to have 3/4 hours sleep and enjoy the rest of the time drinking and watchings movies and stuff.
    ETA: Just read that you find it hard to sleep on flights.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Go to the docs and tell them you have a hard time with flying (even if it's just not being able to sleep). They'll give you Diazepam which will let you get to sleep nicely. :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Seems to me this is a fairly simple situation. You can either

    1. Book a different hotel.
    2. Go earlier to the airport, and try to sleep there (though they frown upon that I think).
    3. Sleep during the day before, so that you don't need to sleep that night.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Would diazepam mak me drowsy afterwards? I don't want to be sleepy on the subway, alone with all my possessions.

    Can't find any reasonably priced hotels at Heathrow at all, or I would stay overnight.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    katchika wrote: »
    Would diazepam mak me drowsy afterwards? I don't want to be sleepy on the subway, alone with all my possessions.

    Can't find any reasonably priced hotels at Heathrow at all, or I would stay overnight.

    They never do with me. On a long flight, I'll drop a couple before I get on, crash straight out when I am on there. As soon as food is put in front of me, I wake up, scoff it and drop back off, no worries. Fully functioning when I get off the plane, too.

    Also, if you don't take the stuff regularly, it won't take much to send you off :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I don't really have a doctor at the moment...well I do, but they are miles and miles away and never have any appointments. Is there anything else I could get over the counter?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    you could probably find some dodgy person to sell it to you
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Do antihistamines make you sleepy? Piriton can make some people very very dozey.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Why not stay in the Yotel at Heathrow? cheap and you cant get any closer.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Just had a look at the yotel..nice idea, but not cheap by my standards..37.50 for 4 hours! thanks though
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    When is your flight? They always say you need to be there 3 hours before, but I've always found 2 hours to be plenty, I've arrived with less than an hour for a trans-antlantic before and not had a problem.

    Come down to London the day before, find a cheap hotel on the Piccadilly Line, then get the first tube into Heathrow, it will cost you a lot less.
  • **helen****helen** Deactivated Posts: 9,235 Supreme Poster
    you could probably find some dodgy person to sell it to you

    I assume you're joking, but not the best advice I've read all week. budda's idea is a good one, although I'd never risk it with check in. The last time I went to the States from Heathrow it said 3 hours and that's exactly how long it took. :(
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    **Helen** wrote: »
    The last time I went to the States from Heathrow it said 3 hours and that's exactly how long it took. :(

    Ahh, but thats probably because you got in line like a mug. The trick is to turn up later than they say, act all flustered and ask for help from a staff member, they dont want you to miss your flight so they push you through the system faster if it gets too close.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    £37.50 sounds ok i think! Think that's the option id choose rather than medication, if youve never taken it before you cant be sure how it will make you feel.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    It also is likely to depend on which airline you're flying with, because some will have bigger check-in queues than others.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Well in the end I've decided to get a coach from Birmingham to London, then the tube to the airport. So I'll be at the airport around 1am...5 hours to kill before I can check in. Can't wait...
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Be careful to check when the last Heathrow tube leaves the centre of town, otherwise you may well be stuck. Personally I'd have a back up plan just in case of a traffic jam or coach break down.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Should be ok..I think the last tube is 1ish, and my coach should get to Victoria at about 11.30. There's always the night bus if I miss the last tube.
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