Former Lancastrian

Yes these are the famous words from a 1981 hit by The Clash.

So I am sure there are a few of us thinking of visiting the UK however with the current cluster **** of the travel industry (airports, carriers) the Govt still insisting that the ArriveCan app is required, an uptick in new cases of Covid variants which the current vaccine regime may not be offering much protection, should we be getting a 4th jab or in some cases 5th jab. I have 3 but still only need 2 to be considered fully vaccinated.

So do I take the risk of booking a flight for March next year or just hold off to see if things get any better. I am in no rush myself but my mother who will be 84 wants to take my fathers ashes back to the UK and she is also thinking this might be the last time she goes back. Our preference is a direct flight to Manchester and avoiding Heathrow however we might not have a choice. Currently Air Transat are advertising a direct flight from Pearson but no guarantees it will go out on the flight dates and should I risk spending nearly 6 grand on a return flight and even with insurance if I have to try and get the money back we have all seen how the airlines have treated their customers once they have your money.

I am OK with transiting/stopovers in any other country and there are a few carriers to chose from however my mum less so.

I know I won't be checking any bags in on the way there but now passengers are taking too much carry on and airlines insisting some now needs to be checked in so now have to endure the long wait for baggage and possibly searching through a mountain of luggage.

Decisions, decisions

BristolUK

Surely just wearing your ID/badge will get you waved through like royalty

bats

It's all a shit show and who knows what crap will be happening by then. Book it, avoid connections, get insurance for trip cancellation etc. and just go with the flow. I flew Pearson Heathrow recently and for me it wasn't much worse than i've experienced in "normal! times. Lots or crowds, huge line ups for food so take snacks, and dope.
Is a flight to Dublin then rental car and ferry an option?

Former Lancastrian

Even rental cars are in short demand plus they aint cheap. I know the airlines have been hit hard but why insist on giving travellers hope that a flight is available on X date? Just the other day there were more flights scheduled in the USA than air traffic controllers could handle. Airlines want to run full schedules, airports want as many aircraft they can (landing fees) but as we have seen there is a shortage of pilots, cabin staff, baggage handlers, airline staff within airports, CBSA and CATSA staff shortages and it goes on and on. Still not in a rush and waiting.

dbd33

Just yesterday I booked a car in the UK and one in Switzerland, both for August. If the price was different from last time I want, in March, it wasn't noticeably so.

SanDiegogirl

I've just had 1 flight changed when flying to Amsterdam and one cancelled when flying back from Geneva to the UK - and this for late September?
Is this chaos never going to end?

Atlantic Xpat

Probably not an option for you, but travel I had planned last month and this, was based around smaller airports (St John's & Halifax) rather than transiting through Toronto or Montreal. OK, So I wouldn't have avoided the clusterf*** that is Heathrow or Gatwick but at least the Canadian end would have been reasonably painless. I think I would book for March of next year but I would ensure decent travel insurance was in place and I'd plan my itinerary to allow for delays at airports - i.e. stay near the airport nightt before for early check in, ensure that any connecting flights on a different ticket to the transatlantic, allowed plenty of times for connection and delays.

Circumstances (See life changing events thread) meant that I haven't travelled and likely wont for at least the next year. I did dispatch a 13 year old kid, unaccompanied on an internal flight in Canada recently but that was between two small airports on a direct flight, albeit one that involved going via a third airport but not getting off the plane. That was successful if a little nerve-wracking for Mrs AX and I.

bats

How much time do you have? How about the Queen Mary? of course you would have to get to New York so that won't work.

dbd33

There's a bus to New York from Toronto so train/bus/thumb to Toronto and then the bus would work. Depending on the starting point, entering the US and catching a Greyhound from another city might also be an option. I have, in fact, taken the bus to several US cities and the train to Canadian ones to avoid having to go to YYZ; I did that for important presentations, when using YYZ or taking AC meant risking losing a sale.

bats

Train to NYC is apparently good for cruise ships as the train comes in to Penn Station then you can walk to the docks. So I am told. I like the idea of the QM2 and probably isnt that much different in price

NYC is still on our list of places to visit, the plan is to drive to Syracuse or Rome and get the train from there. So many plans so much procrastination.

dbd33

One year we drove to Albany and took the train into town for New Year's Eve. Massive snow storm in Buffalo on the way back. Probably a better route in another season.

Paul_Shepherd

I am thinking of a trip for Christmas, my aunt passed away in Feb, I agonised weather to go to the funeral or not, i chose not to in the end through fear of not being able to get back in to Canada if I got Covid. Its a decision I deeply regret, even though a large proportion of people at the funeral did get covid,...its little consolation So now I am thinking of Christmas as a time to catch up with my cousin (my aunt's daughter) and the rest of my family after such a great loss to us all, and try and help with the regretful decision I made. But of course.... airport chaos and I have a nasty feeling they will reimpose restrictions again...I really hope not, but really in this new messed up world who knows .


This is something that really appeals to me, its actually a bucket list thing I want to do...I always wanted to do the QE2, so the QM2 would be the next best thing...(and as the worlds last true ocean liner) are you suggesting sail one way and fly the other way (at least only potential chaos the one way then) .. or sail both ways, that would be adding another week, so that could be a stumbling block... nice idea though.

bats

i would imagine both ways plus a decent visit in the middle would make it only feasible for retired people, unless you can work on the ship. I'd like to do it, cruising doesn't really appeal but this trip does.

sharkus

If I may, I’ll add my experience on flying from Pearson to gatwick with air Transat on Friday.
flight was 22:45, I got there a bit early, think around 19:15. I had normal sized carry on wheel case thingy, plus my trusty shoulder bag. It took about maybe 10 - 15 minutes total to get through security. Masks are required in the airport unless you are eating or drinking.

Flight was full, and they asked for 20 - 30 volunteers to check their carry on as there would not be space in the cabin for it all and not getting the volunteers would delay departure. It did seem everyone had more carry on than usual, however it has been about three years since I’ve taken an international flight so maybe this was normal

There was a delay anyway due to the plane arriving late.

I and a lot of others were called up to the desk. This seems to be due to us having checked in online, and they needed to check our documentation.

After I had boarded, ten minutes later they stated overhead baggage was full and you needed to hand over your carry on and boarding pass and they’d check your carry on and give you the boarding pass back.

I think we might have been delayed overall by an hour maybe a bit more.

we made up most of the time and landed about 10 minutes late.

Passport control was, amazingly, very quiet. No line up for the fancy new scanner things, which I have to say were a great experience (of note, I did enter Canadian passport information for my online check in, but used my UK passport at the passport control machine. I think Canadian passports can use the same machines in the same location from what I recall)

As I passed through the baggage hall it didn’t look too crazy, but I’ll admit I wasn’t paying too
much attention.

All in all, the outbound journey was very good.

Jingsamichty

I flew into Manchester Airport (for the first time) a couple of days ago and it took over an hour to get through passport control. I really didn't like Manchester Airport, will do my best to avoid in future.