GABIT attendees thread

[ShimmeringStar]

So close!!!! Yet so far out I can't get prices for flights, which I know would be outragious at the moment, but I need to plan a budget!! Hey anyone who is staying longer then the weekend, where are ya'll staying? I have several friends in England who I am sure would love to kidnap - err.... show me ya. - their homes, but I still need a bed to sleep in! Any ideas, or what have some of ya'll done in the past?

I booked my flight two months before the last con. (I live on the US East Coast.) Flew American Airlines and the ticket was $349 before taxes/fees - $478.80 after. British Airways was slightly higher. Which was funny because when I bought my con ticket back in January '06, British Air was the cheaper of the two, which waaaay before the con was still about $100+ more than what I eventually got the air ticket for 8 months later... Midweek (Tues./Weds.) to midweek are normally the best rates. And.... don't fly American out of Chicago on a Saturday night! LOL! The plane was packed! (It ended up being the only day I could leave out and ooohhhhh... never again if I can help it!)

I came before the con to spend a couple days sightseeing in central London and found a nice flat at Aston's in Rosary Gardens (Kensington/Chelsea area, a block away from the Gloucester Rd. Tube station). The efficiency apartment was 60 pounds per night - a few pounds cheaper through Travelocity than Aston's own site.

But I agree with Sky. Overbudget yourself; it's better to come home with a wee bit more cash than have to hit the credit/debit/check cards unexpectedly. The exchange rate was $1.80 to a pound when I converted my cash at Heathrow arriving in London the weekend before the con. It tends to vary 10 cents up and down. So there's that to consider too.

[ForeverSg1]

I booked my flight two months before the last con. (I live on the US East Coast.) Flew American Airlines and the ticket was $349 before taxes/fees - $478.80 after. British Airways was slightly higher. Which was funny because when I bought my con ticket back in January '06, British Air was the cheaper of the two, which waaaay before the con was still about $100+ more than what I eventually got the air ticket for 8 months later... Midweek (Tues./Weds.) to midweek are normally the best rates. And.... don't fly American out of Chicago on a Saturday night! LOL! The plane was packed! (It ended up being the only day I could leave out and ooohhhhh... never again if I can help it!)

I came before the con to spend a couple days sightseeing in central London and found a nice flat at Aston's in Rosary Gardens (Kensington/Chelsea area, a block away from the Gloucester Rd. Tube station). The efficiency apartment was 60 pounds per night - a few pounds cheaper through Travelocity than Aston's own site.

But I agree with Sky. Overbudget yourself; it's better to come home with a wee bit more cash than have to hit the credit/debit/check cards unexpectedly. The exchange rate was $1.80 to a pound when I converted my cash at Heathrow arriving in London the weekend before the con. It tends to vary 10 cents up and down. So there's that to consider too.

Yeah and the exchange rate isn't as good right now --

it's currently 1 GBP = 1.97070 USD

Hopefully it will drop a bit by next May.

[rebelwriter03]

Count me in the tour! I am a Ripper fan... err.... you know what I mean, right?

Thanks ya'll for your help! I checked the exchange rate for the tickets and then rounded up - I suck at math (journalist here) - and know that the exchange rate is a fickle little bugger. I agree, the flight will be nice expenive goodie. I'm flying out of DFW, and am counting on a layover/change in O'Hare (yes I know the airport well... oh the beast!) or in NY (my former home turf, well around NY state anyway). I normally am not this efficent with my trips, but having to prepare for Burbank in Nov. and then London next May is a bit of a financial tight rope. Which I don't want to be paying on until AT4 hehe.

[antoa]

Count me in the tour! I am a Ripper fan... err.... you know what I mean, right?

Thanks ya'll for your help! I checked the exchange rate for the tickets and then rounded up - I suck at math (journalist here) - and know that the exchange rate is a fickle little bugger. I agree, the flight will be nice expenive goodie. I'm flying out of DFW, and am counting on a layover/change in O'Hare (yes I know the airport well... oh the beast!) or in NY (my former home turf, well around NY state anyway). I normally am not this efficent with my trips, but having to prepare for Burbank in Nov. and then London next May is a bit of a financial tight rope. Which I don't want to be paying on until AT4 hehe.

Yep, I am trying to work out the budget as soon as possible too. I want to rent a car and drive around Ireland, so that will be a huge expense.

I don't know if I will be able to stand a direct flight from L.A. but I also hate having to change planes. Decisions, decisions.

I will probably see you in Burbank if I don't decide to boycott all Cretin cons (I am assuming that's why you'll be here ). I already have a Gold ticket for the BSG con, but they don't even have one person lined up for that yet. I might just ask for my money back on that one and buy a cheap ticket to the SG con. I've also resigned myself to the fact that I will need to sell my ticket for the Vancouver con in April - two international trips a month apart is just not feasible.

[SEREN LWCH (MAL)]

I have been doing some internet surfing and have found the appropriate activity to mark Amanda's new series. So who's coming with me?

Jack the Ripper Tour

I've always wanted to do that!!! But i've never been able to arrange a time when anyone can come with me. The tour i've looked at finishes at 10pm approx and I dont want to be on my own in London that late at night.

[SEREN LWCH (MAL)]

346 DAYS TO GO!!!!!!!!!

[PengYn]

I have been doing some internet surfing and have found the appropriate activity to mark Amanda's new series. So who's coming with me?

Jack the Ripper Tour

I did the tour a few years ago, so I know how it ends but don't mind doing it again. Plus there's a mid-tour pub stop where many an 18th century prostitute used to frequent. It starts around 8pm I think. I did it in Winter so it was very dark. And spooky. I was a little afraid I'd be leaving without a kidney. Where was I? Oh, yes, I'm in

[ForeverSg1]

Count me in the tour! I am a Ripper fan... err.... you know what I mean, right?

Thanks ya'll for your help! I checked the exchange rate for the tickets and then rounded up - I suck at math (journalist here) - and know that the exchange rate is a fickle little bugger. I agree, the flight will be nice expenive goodie. I'm flying out of DFW, and am counting on a layover/change in O'Hare (yes I know the airport well... oh the beast!) or in NY (my former home turf, well around NY state anyway). I normally am not this efficent with my trips, but having to prepare for Burbank in Nov. and then London next May is a bit of a financial tight rope. Which I don't want to be paying on until AT4 hehe.

If you don't want to fly into O'Hare, there are daily flights from DFW to Gatwick, but then you have to get from Gatwick to Heathrow. So either way you have to pad some time to your travel plans. Personally once I'm an airplane, I don't want to deal with switching planes ect, so we just go to Gatwick. I'd much rather be sitting on a train or bus for an hour than sitting in a crowded airport.

[antoa]

If you don't want to fly into O'Hare, there are daily flights from DFW to Gatwick, but then you have to get from Gatwick to Heathrow. So either way you have to pad some time to your travel plans. Personally once I'm an airplane, I don't want to deal with switching planes ect, so we just go to Gatwick. I'd much rather be sitting on a train or bus for an hour than sitting in a crowded airport.

If you do fly into Gatwick, I recommend the 'Gatwick Express' I believe it is called. It's a train that takes you from the airport to Victoria Station (again a little fuzzy on the details) with no stops, and then it should also shuttle from there to your hotel. We did this to get to Gatwick when we were flying out, but I am sure it works in reverse too.

[SWMBOTGSG]

I've always wanted to do that!!! But i've never been able to arrange a time when anyone can come with me. The tour i've looked at finishes at 10pm approx and I dont want to be on my own in London that late at night.

Not a good idea, wandering around alone at night! Especially in that area. When I was first married, we lived in Stepney Green, just up the road from Whitechapel, and that was in the late sixties/early seventies when the infamous Krays were in 'control' of the area. The East End of London has had a pretty dodgy history for many, many years. It's still not a good place to be alone, after dark. Get yourselves a group together and enjoy the history in the safety of a crowd.

Kay aka Mumsey

[ForeverSg1]

If you do fly into Gatwick, I recommend the 'Gatwick Express' I believe it is called. It's a train that takes you from the airport to Victoria Station (again a little fuzzy on the details) with no stops, and then it should also shuttle from there to your hotel. We did this to get to Gatwick when we were flying out, but I am sure it works in reverse too.

It does This will be our third trip and we've used the Gatwick Express and the Heathrow Connect each time to get from Gatwick to Heathrow.

The cool thing is if you purchase a UK train pass during your trip, the Gatwick express and the Heathrow Express are included in pass price( that is if the days concur ).

One odd thing I noticed on our last trip was that no one actually stamped our passes at any of the stops we made, so theoretically we could have traveled for more than our purchased 8 days, since our pass was a flexipass that allowed us eight days of travel at any time during the next year, because only the first day was actually stamped.

And I have to say the UK trains are much nicer than Amtrak in my opinion, especially if you are travelling first class. The train we took from London to Edinburgh actually had free wireless internet service the entire way. The trains on the east coast in the states might be nicer, as I've never been on one, but I've taken trains from Texas to California and up and down the west coast and I don't think they are as nice.

[pixiesio]

the UK is just too expensive to do too much, and i'll be very surprised if hte US dollar is any better a year from now. If anything, i expect it to get worse

Whereas the Canuck buck seems to be doing much better, for once. I've even heard that it will be at par with the US dollar by December of this year. That's freaky to me, I'm used to having to pay ridiculous sums of money for foreign currency, and now it's becoming more affordable.

Still haven't decided yet on going over myself, though. Supposed to be going out west in the Fall of 2008, so that may put a crimp in any plans for the UK.

[scifithinker]

I've always wanted to do that!!! But i've never been able to arrange a time when anyone can come with me. The tour i've looked at finishes at 10pm approx and I dont want to be on my own in London that late at night.

Which is why a whole bunch of us will have to go together, right?

[scifithinker]

I recently read an article that illustrated a correlation between the popularity of the president in office and the value of the dollar abroad.

By that reckoning, those of us who are Americans are screwed.

[Skydiver]

oh yeah

our economy is pretty much screwed until late 2008 or early 2009. It's gonna be a long two years