When you are catching a flight from London to any other part of the world, whether it’s just over to Brussels or Paris, to Sydney, to Honolulu, to New York, to Tokyo, or anywhere else at all, one of the worst parts of the journey is not the flight.
The flight is the easy part. You have a comfortable seat, you can watch a film, you can order a drink or three, have a meal, get up and stretch your legs if it’s a long-haul flight, and so on. There is really nothing that you have to do because you have stewardesses to look after your every need the whole way, whether it’s just a quick hour, or 11 hours.
Furthermore, you have no doubt organised being met and collected at the airport the other end, or at least know that there will be plenty of taxis waiting to take you to your hotel or other destination.
No, the real problem in London is getting to the airport in the first place. Whichever airport you are using, be it Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton, London City, or even Southend, there are several ways to get there, many of which can make you late for your flight, arrive frustrated and angry, or can even result in you losing your car. Yes, that has happened on several occasions.
You can get from Paddington to Heathrow by undergound if you want to carry a load of luggage around with you, up and down escalators, and are fit enough to do so. Sure, that might not be too bad if you are just popping over to Paris for a business meeting and only have a briefcase to carry. But it is a whole different ball game if you are going to Florida for three weeks.
You can also get to the airports by bus or coach, but once again you are in charge of your luggage and have to carry it about from one place to another, on the coach, off the coach, up and down stairs, and that’s just if you are doing it on your own. What about taking the kids with you?
“Are we there yet?”
Getting to the airport that way can be an extremely frustrating business: not only do you have to carry all the family luggage, you also have to take care of the kids and make sure they don’t run off and try to remember where you have put the passports and the tickets all at the same time.
Going by train presents virtually the same problems. It’s just another way of starting a holiday and getting wound up at the same time.
Then of course, is driving your own car to the airport. That is a LOT easier than using any form of public transport, but nonetheless it has its’ disadvantages. The first is that you are going to have to pay for two weeks, or however long, parking, so that all adds to the expense of your holiday. The second is that the car park is going to be two miles from the airport, so you have to get a bus or coach from the car park to the airport which is much the same as getting it all the way. You still have to cart your luggage about and make sure the kids don’t run off.
Then there are the car parks themselves. Gatwick, in particular, is notorious for rogue parking companies who promise the earth and tell you your car will be parked in a secure compound. Except that it’s not a secure compound, it is a field that they rent from a local farmer. If the weather’s bad, the best you can expect is that your car will be covered in mud when you return.
No, the real answer to London airport transfers is a chauffeured limousine. You can sit back and relax while someone else does all the battling through the London traffic, and you get delivered to the door. No lugging suitcases about, and the kids can’t run off either. You save on the cost of car parking, which of itself will pay for a chunk of the cost of the limo, and you arrive at the airport fresh as a daisy and really looking forward to your break. It’s a no-brainer.
Martin Wynn
Priya
