Help .. Globalizer .. Dover ??

[KLLund]

When cruising from Dover .. Do I want to look at Heathrow or Gatwick or some other airport ???

Thanks .. in advance :confused:

[6rugrats]

The closest large airport is Gatwick.

 

Links have lots of useful information:

 

http://www.londontoolkit.com/travel/gatwick_dover.htm

 

http://www.londontoolkit.com/travel/heathrow_dover.htm

 

Google is your friend.

[FlyerTalker]

I would factor in the following aside from distance to Dover (not in any order):

 

Price

Number of connections

Location of connections

Timings at your connections

Operating airlines

Time of day

Airport issues at departure, arrival and connections

Inflight service amenities of carriers

FF program considerations

Ground transport to/from Dover

Alternatives available if your flights go irrop

 

Personally, I'd be looking at either BA or NW from SEA to LHR. NW leaves late in the evening - good if you have to stick around PDX through departure day, but gets in late to LHR. BA departs earlier. You could also go on LH direct from PDX to Frankfurt to London, or NW PDX to AMS to London. SFO is another convenient option for your USA connection point.

 

Lots to consider, and you have many options. All depends on what's important to you, and at what price.

[scottbee]

When cruising from Dover .. Do I want to look at Heathrow or Gatwick or some other airport ???

 

Thanks .. in advance :confused:

 

First the rough geography. Dover is about 90 miles SE of London

 

You have 5 choices for London airports, first rule out STN/London Stansted and LUT/London Luton, which are North East and North of London respectively. Not exactly convenient.

 

That leaves 3;

 

1) LHR/London Heathrow is the largest, but further from Dover. It's 20 miles west of London. You'll probably have the biggest selection flying here.

 

2) LGW/London Gatwick 25 miles due south of London. Not too bad to get to from Dover, but no direct rail. You have to travel into London and back out (although it's not really that bad)

 

3) LCY/London City. As there are no direct PDX-LONDON flights, you'll need to transfer somewhere, and if you transfer in Europe you can probably fly into city airport. Located just east of london in the dockyards (the runway runs between two dry docks). And, it only serves smaller airplanes (such as you'd be travelling from FRA or AMS)

 

Given all of that, LGW is probably the most convienient, and would be my choice, although you may not have the choice.

 

As for transport to and from the airport. The best choice is get a large group of people together from your roll call. Failing that, taking the train is a decent option (especially from LGW).

[KLLund]

Oops I see I should have posted that we will fly from Boston or NYC .. We like to break up a flight from west coast to Europe by an overnight on the east coast.

[FlyerTalker]

Oops I see I should have posted that we will fly from Boston or NYC .. We like to break up a flight from west coast to Europe by an overnight on the east coast.

Time for you to consider a little-known aspect of international travel.

 

When on an international itinerary, your legal connection times go up from 4 hours; to 24 hours OR the first flight out to your destination, whichever is later.

 

What this means is that you can get a free "almost-stopover" by some creative scheduling. No need for two tickets, or paying for the stopover. For example, if you fly NW PDX-MSP-LGA, you can arrive at 22:17. The DL flight to LHR leaves JFK at 20:55. Since that difference is under 24 hours, it is considered a connection, not a stopover (which is priced differently and is most times more expensive). Yet it gives you a full day to spend in NYC.

 

You can play around with different gateways if you don't want NYC or BOS, and it works for other airlines as well. I just used DL/NW since I have their timetables on my computer. You could undoubtedly do this also with AA.

 

You will likely have to research flights and times, because online booking tools are not set up to readily give you these longer connections without you "forcing" it by asking for results by schedule, not price. More laborious, but a hidden benefit you can use.

 

One of the best of these is to route a flight to South Africa by way of Buenos Aires. Malaysian flies Buenos Aires - Johannesburg only 3 times a week, so you can get a couple of days there with creative planning -- you are taking the "first flight" so it's a legal connection. Unfortunately, TATL flights run daily, so you don't have the one or two times a week gimmick to use.

[6rugrats]

I learn something new on this board everyday. The next time I have to book a complicated trip, I'm coming right here and asking you FlyerTalker.

 

Very clever!

[FlyerTalker]

Compared to the real pros at FT, I'm a piker and know it. When I meet them at FT gatherings, I'm amazed. I just try to take some of the easier aspects and pass them along here.

 

Of course, in the wacky world of airline pricing, there are a dozen ways to skin a cat, and it's usually worth looking at different options and combinations. One more trick in the arsenal.

[keltic]

Well, as a local, Globalizar could answer it in more accurate way, but I am affraid Kent International is the closest but I am affraid, it doesn´t have scheduled services any longer after the demise of EUJet. I think Gatwick and London City could be the best located ones.

[Globaliser]

... LUT/London Luton ...

Actually, LUT is Laura Station, Queensland, Australia.

 

Luton is LTN.

I think Gatwick and London City could be the best located ones.

I would personally put choice of airline and schedule (including routing and connections) top of my list for preferences.

 

Then your transfer arrangements would have to be taken into account.

 

If you're prepared to go by public transport, then Gatwick and London City are both reasonably good. The easiest (but neither fastest nor cheapest) way from Gatwick is probably Gatwick Express to Victoria, then direct train to Dover. The easiest way from London City is DLR to Canning Town, Jubilee Line to either London Bridge or Southwark (for Waterloo East), direct train to Dover.

 

If you're going to do a private car transfer anyway, then the airports are really much of a muchness - no huge differences between them for ease of transfer.

[KLLund]

 

If you're going to do a private car transfer anyway, then the airports are really much of a muchness - no huge differences between them for ease of transfer.

Thank you .. that is exactly what I wanted to know. We like to go spend the evening in Boston 2 days before and then fly out the day before the cruise so that there is plenty of time to get to Dover. Private car would be our preference so if there is no great difference I will just price both airports and see what I get for price and routes.

I appreciate all of your imput.

[Keith1010]

Thank you .. that is exactly what I wanted to know. We like to go spend the evening in Boston 2 days before and then fly out the day before the cruise so that there is plenty of time to get to Dover. Private car would be our preference so if there is no great difference I will just price both airports and see what I get for price and routes.

 

I appreciate all of your imput.

 

 

You have asked excellent questions. As you work through the airlines just be sure to give yourself lots of time to get from the port to the airport. Add in time should there be delays getting off the ship, finding your luggage and for the time it takes to get to the airport should there be bad weather (say heavy rains) and/or lots of traffic.

 

Keith