Has anyone had the misfortune to use this appalling service lately?
Yesterday morning, it took 25 minutes to get off the airport and to anywhere
vaguely resembling a hotel, having picked up at Terminal Two, then going to
3, then pulling into a bay somewhere odd, changing drivers, going through
vast swathes of airport roadworks, into uncharted bowels and tunnels,
stopping at dozens of traffic-lights...and eventually to the exit, through
the main tunnel and onto the A4 Bath Road!

And they (National Express) charge three quid for it, on a 20 year-old,
freezing cold bus with rock-hard seats! I remember the days when airport
hotels used to provide a free courtesy bus service.

Not sure if there's any alternative, though - would a black cab take you to
a local hotel? Perhaps utl's Mike Hughes could enlighten me?

Ian

"Ian F." wrote in message
...
Has anyone had the misfortune to use this appalling service lately?

Never had the need, but personally can't understand why people do.
The normal bus from the central bus terminal passes many of the hotels
and is free.

Yesterday morning, it took 25 minutes to get off the airport and to
anywhere
vaguely resembling a hotel, having picked up at Terminal Two, then going
to
3, then pulling into a bay somewhere odd, changing drivers, going through
vast swathes of airport roadworks, into uncharted bowels and tunnels,
stopping at dozens of traffic-lights...and eventually to the exit, through
the main tunnel and onto the A4 Bath Road!

This is not the fault of the bus. You'd have to do this whatever form
of transport you used.

And they (National Express) charge three quid for it, on a 20 year-old,
freezing cold bus with rock-hard seats! I remember the days when airport
hotels used to provide a free courtesy bus service.

so do I.

Not sure if there's any alternative, though - would a black cab take you
to
a local hotel?

They woud. They wouldn't be happy.

tim

On Sat, 5 Mar 2005 13:21:16 +0100, "tim" wrote:


"Ian F." wrote in message
...
Has anyone had the misfortune to use this appalling service lately?

Never had the need, but personally can't understand why people do.
The normal bus from the central bus terminal passes many of the hotels
and is free.

Hey Tim... The normal bus to where? Which buses are free from the
central bus terminal?

Ta!

HVB.

HVB wrote:
"tim" wrote:
"Ian F." wrote

Has anyone had the misfortune to use this
appalling service lately?

Never had the need, but personally can't understand
why people do. The normal bus from the central bus
terminal passes many of the hotels and is free.

Hey Tim... The normal bus to where? Which buses are
free from the central bus terminal? Ta! HVB.

The following pdf file shows all the London Transport
buses from Heathrow:-
www.tfl.gov.uk/buses/spiders/pdf/heathrow.pdf
This is a big sheet, actually it looks like a copy
of the poster you see in the bus shelters. I have a
copy on my wall printed out on 9 sheets of paper as
my printer supports poster printing. I suggest
you print out just the middle of it, to show the
Central Bus Station and Bath Road. If you get on the
bus and say you are going to one of the Bath Road
hotels you are not charged.

The free buses do not serve all hotels. When I was booked into
the Holiday Inn at Junction 4 (Originally Post House, then
Crest, on Sipson Road) a late night Taxi cost GBP 11 and the
Hoppa was six pounds for two of us the next morning. What
is more - it does no harm to ask the taxi driver particularly
nicely - as by taking a local fare he loses the lucrative ride
into town, then has to rejoin the back of the queue of taxis
at the airport.

More generally there are similar large pdf bus map files
for most places in London, very useful if you want to see
London on the surface and not just get around quickly by tube.
The list is at:
www.tfl.gov.uk/buses/spiders/borough.shtml
My tip is to go straight to the bottom of the page where you
can find the areas listed alphabetically.
HTH

In message .com,
writes

What is more - it does no harm to ask the taxi driver particularly
nicely - as by taking a local fare he loses the lucrative ride into
town, then has to rejoin the back of the queue of taxis at the airport.

No. Taxis on local runs do not have to return to the back of the queue,
providing they return to Heathrow within a specified time.

--
Paul Terry

"Paul Terry" wrote in message

In message .com,
writes

What is more - it does no harm to ask the taxi driver particularly
nicely - as by taking a local fare he loses the lucrative ride into
town, then has to rejoin the back of the queue of taxis at the
airport.

No. Taxis on local runs do not have to return to the back of the
queue, providing they return to Heathrow within a specified time.

I think they have quite a bit of time to get back (45 mins?). I live 11
miles away and once got a cab home and the driver thought she might just
be able to get back in time to avoid getting in the long queue.

Paul Terry wrote:
semiretired wrote

What is more - it does no harm to ask the taxi driver
particularly nicely - as by taking a local fare he
loses the lucrative ride into town, then has to rejoin
the back of the queue of taxis at the airport.

No. Taxis on local runs do not have to return to the back
of the queue, providing they return to Heathrow within a
specified time. Paul Terry

Where, in these circumstances, do they rejoin the queue?

"tim" wrote in message
...

"Ian F." wrote in message
...
Has anyone had the misfortune to use this appalling service lately?

Never had the need, but personally can't understand why people do.
The normal bus from the central bus terminal passes many of the hotels
and is free.

Yesterday morning, it took 25 minutes to get off the airport and to
anywhere
vaguely resembling a hotel, having picked up at Terminal Two, then going
to
3, then pulling into a bay somewhere odd, changing drivers, going through
vast swathes of airport roadworks, into uncharted bowels and tunnels,
stopping at dozens of traffic-lights...and eventually to the exit,
through
the main tunnel and onto the A4 Bath Road!

This is not the fault of the bus. You'd have to do this whatever form
of transport you used.

And they (National Express) charge three quid for it, on a 20 year-old,
freezing cold bus with rock-hard seats! I remember the days when airport
hotels used to provide a free courtesy bus service.

so do I.

Not sure if there's any alternative, though - would a black cab take you
to
a local hotel?

They woud. They wouldn't be happy.

tim

PMFJI ~

FWIW, after the policy switched mandating the Hoppa service, I learned early
on to take a black cab to the Crowne Plaza at LHR. Only once did a driver
give me a hard time (at Terminal 3) so I told the starter I refused to ride
in that man's cab and requested another. The first cabbie was told to get
out of line and lost his spot. That said, the other drivers I have had over
the years have done a good job for me, which in turn I do a "good job" for
them. The extra money is, to me, worth it rather than spend the increased
time and frustration on the Hoppa.

Rich

On Sat, 05 Mar 2005 17:48:12 GMT, mookie89 wrote:

The extra money is, to me, worth it rather than spend the increased
time and frustration on the Hoppa.

Out of interest, roughly how much extra are we talking about?
--
http://gallery120232.fotopic.net/p9767288.html
(Gatwick Express, Mark 1: 4VEG unit 7910 at London Victoria in 1980)

"Chris Tolley" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 05 Mar 2005 17:48:12 GMT, mookie89 wrote:

The extra money is, to me, worth it rather than spend the increased
time and frustration on the Hoppa.

Out of interest, roughly how much extra are we talking about?
--
http://gallery120232.fotopic.net/p9767288.html
(Gatwick Express, Mark 1: 4VEG unit 7910 at London Victoria in 1980)

The meter usually reads from £6 to £7 for two of us. If the driver has a
good attitude and drives appropriately (not like a race car driver), I will
tip the driver £3. Once I did £5 for a particularly excellent driver. This
for a 8 minute ride. So, while it may cost me an extra £4, I go directly to
the hotel in a third less time. Same goes for reverse as there always seems
to be a black cab dropping off when we leave to go home.