Globaliser

From memory, I think that the HEX / EL platforms can only be "a much closer walk" than the Tube if you happen to arrive at T3. The Tube station is closer to T2. And there are plenty of Tube stations where it's easy to get a taxi. Again from memory, the taxi queue at Paddington can be a very long one (which is one of the reasons why it's been a very long time since I've done HEX + taxi). By the time you've waited in that queue for 15 minutes and then taken a taxi into central London, you might already have reached your destination by some other route.

There's an official taxi rank outside each terminal.

If going to Victoria (as the OP is), there's no point using the Elizabeth Line.

The OP is on a roll call for the 12 July 2023 Copenhagen --> Southampton sailing of Island Princess: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/profile/856697-snorkeler-gal/content/ That was the source of my guesses that the flying dates would be about 10 July 2023 for Chicago --> Copenhagen and about 26 July 2003 for London --> Chicago. I don't think that Chicago --> Copenhagen (or the reverse) can be done non-stop.

One-way long-haul tickets have traditionally always been crazily expensive. On the assumption that you want to fly from Chicago to Copenhagen on 10 July 2023, and then London to Chicago on 26 July 2023, a quick and dirty search on ITA Matrix showed flights for less than $1,350 for ORD-HEL-CPH // LHR-ORD. If you can defer flying from London to Chicago until 27 July 2023, it'll be cheaper than that.

And the relative merits of these routes depend on where exactly you are staying. Victoria Coach Station is about half a mile from Victoria Tube (especially if you're using the District Line), which is underneath the northern end of London Victoria mainline railway station. So if your hotel is (for example) the Clermont Victoria, which is actually in Victoria station, taking the National Express coach isn't the best route, because it leaves you with a long walk that would be entirely avoidable if you take the Tube. And the Tube is cheaper (even if you don't pay £5 extra to National Express for Change and Go). And you don't have to worry about picking a time.

Does that mean that flying on Monday is out of the question? You don't say where you're heading, so it's difficult to know whether there truly are no decent alternative routings on Sunday.

If the airline cancels a flight mid-travel and the travel is within the scope of Regulation 261/2004, it comes into play regardless of whether compensation is payable. 261/2004 is not only about paying compensation. It's actually principally about more important things than that, including an obligation to get you to your destination (if you still want to go there), and to make sure that you're fed, watered and housed in the interim. Too many people think that 261/2004 is just about paying out lottery wins.

I suspect that what you see is Tottenham Court Road. Tottenham is a suburb of London about 6½ miles away from the British Museum, and the suburb has a reputation for being somewhere that you don't want to find yourself in by accident. Only using half of a road name can be risky.

Buy separate tickets for a different Vancouver to Chicago flight, and throw away the NCL ticket.

If your ticket includes a stopover (ie your Vancouver --> Los Angeles flight is booked for a day or more after you arrive in Vancouver), then you'll have no option but to check your bags only as far as Vancouver.

In almost every case, it's immigration only; bags will go directly to your final destination and you will clear customs there (although that is usually just a walk-through formality).

For what it's worth, I think that the nearest entrance to Bond Street Tube from the hotel is via the West One Shopping Centre, through the entrance on Gilbert Street. It's an unassuming doorway, but it is marked with an Underground sign. Once in the central atrium, take the (world's slowest) escalators down to basement level. However, if you're going to use the Elizabeth Line, it's probably better to use the new entrance on Davies Street.

So you don't get off at the wrong station, it isn't non-stop between Waterloo and Southampton - but it is direct. There should be plenty of announcements and signs to let you know when your station is about to be reached. Personally, I'd pay $12 - primarily for a more comfortable seat. For perspective, many train companies (including South Western Railway) have a long-running promotion called Weekend First, where for a small flat-fee supplement you can travel in first class with a standard class ticket. I think that for Waterloo to Southampton it's currently £10. Despite this and other ways of (legitimately) getting first class seats for very little more, I don't think I've ever seen first class busy on these routes except at peak hours in the direction of the peak travel. The only thing to add is that if you're planning to do this on Sunday 6 August 2023 (or the day before), do keep an eye on the relevant websites in case engineering works are scheduled for that day.

And in the UK, payment surcharges were in fact banned for a very long time, then permitted (and widespread) for a number of years, and then banned again under the Directive.

At major airports, it often takes a long time to taxi from the runway to the gate (and vice versa on departure). A flight's scheduled time of arrival does not refer to landing time; it refers to arrival time at the gate. So it's better to estimate from scheduled time of arrival.

I can see plenty of direct Amsterdam --> Paris trains on 17 June 2023, both on ns.nl and bahn.de.

For your specific requirements, you have no choice: it's the Hilton Garden Inn or nothing. Every other option - whether at the airport, near the airport, or in town - involves schlepping your luggage. And it's more difficult to schlep your luggage to some airport hotels than it is to schlep your luggage to some hotels in town.

For clarity, this protection is provided by specific UK legislation covering UK credit cards, for transactions between specific minimum and maximum values. Consumer protection in other countries may differ.

It depends on which cruise you're on. The Southampton cruise ship schedule will tell you which berth is planned for your sailing, and the port map will show you which terminal that corresponds to.

How do you come to that conclusion? There's about half a dozen direct fast trains every hour from Rotterdam to Amsterdam, and they get to Amsterdam faster than you can be driven there. There are good reasons why (as you yourself said) the train is the way to go.

It appears to be available for multiple nights if you book through third party sites, and Aerotel's own website says to contact them for stays that are longer than 24 hours. If you can't book the Aerotel, then it's Hobson's choice for your criteria: the HGI is the only other hotel in the CTA. Anything else will require a transfer. Even transferring from either T5 or T4 for an 0715-ish flight would incur a large proportion of the pain that you'd suffer from staying in central London. You'd have to allow 30-45 minutes for the transfer, and in the morning you wouldn't have to allow that much more to transfer from a central London hotel.

Are you flying from Toronto to Heathrow? If so, then I'm pretty sure that you arrive at T5. The flight from Heathrow to Oslo does depart from T3. What time is your flight from Heathrow to Oslo? Unless it's at silly o'clock in the morning, I think that your best option is actually a hotel in town. Transferring from Heathrow to central London and back again just to go sightseeing will drive you up the wall, and staying at the airport means that you'll risk depriving yourself of evening entertainment. If you do have a silly o'clock flight from Heathrow, then in addition to the HGI (which is really at T2) there is also the Aerotel at T3. Walking distances from both hotels to check-in is probably about the same (because of where the Aerotel is), but I think it should be an easier walk from the Aerotel. AFAIK, these are the only two hotels in the Central Terminal Area, where T3 is located.

Are you referring here to 26 July, after you get to Southampton at about 11 am? If so, then with a 5 pm sailing (Island Princess?) I think that visiting Winchester that day is too ambitious, and you can't easily catch up with the ship if it sails without you.

You will always have had ticket numbers. Without a ticket, you don't fly. The ticket is the document of value that shows that the travel has been paid for. It doesn't matter how confirmed your reservation is, or how accurately you have recorded your reservation/confirmation reference/number - if you don't have a ticket, you don't fly. Beyond that, there's nothing to add to what 6rugrats has said.