V-Flyer

Have now hit Level 3 of our trip to Norway to take a cruise north...

Level 1 - taxi to Huntingdon rail station. Really didn’t need contingency for traffic at 5:30 am

Level 2 - Huntingdon to Gatwick on the direct train. That worked well. Could have shaved a few minutes off by changing at Blackfriars. Total return trip cost less than a car one way.

Level 3 - check in kiosks and security done in 10 mins. Now in the MyLounge which looks *very* familiar. Strange obsession with cardboard boxes and wooden cutlery but an ok range of food and drink.

Level 4 - flight to Bergen already an hour and a quarter late. Oh well, it is Norwegian and at least they are still in business...

Have a good trip !

Hope you’ve packed warm clothes if you are sailing to the North Cape !

hiljil wrote:Hope you’ve packed warm clothes if you are sailing to the North Cape !

We have and we are. Nothing fancy in our luggage - just layers and layers of thermals! After we disembark in Kirkenes we are spending a night at the Snowhotel...

pjh wrote:Level 2 - Huntingdon to Gatwick on the direct train. That worked well. Could have shaved a few minutes off by changing at Blackfriars. Total return trip cost less than a car one way.

Fantastic service that, I wonder who might be running it

ColOrd wrote:

pjh wrote:Level 2 - Huntingdon to Gatwick on the direct train. That worked well. Could have shaved a few minutes off by changing at Blackfriars. Total return trip cost less than a car one way.

Fantastic service that, I wonder who might be running it

I have to admit it is - and it introduces a lower cost way of getting south of the river for those of us with rail cards.

Only problems are;

1. when there’s a breakdown in the St Pancras to London Bridge stretch

2. The persistence of KGX only at the weekend

Trains and breakdowns. One reason we don't use them in the winter.
About ten years ago we were flying out of Gatwick in February. We only live about 40 miles away.
A friend picked us up about 5.30 a.m. to take us to Northcamp rail station where there is a direct line to Gatwick.
During the night it had snowed and his car couldn't get up the hill out of the estate that we lived in.
Fortunately a second road was less steep and he got us to the train station in time.
In time to see that our train had been cancelled because of the snow.
We had allowed plenty time and half an hour later a train arrived and off we went.
All fine until Redhill where there was another problem and we spent 20 minutes at rest there.
Arrived at Gatwick to find the shuttle train between terminals wasn't working.
They got it going and we got to the terminal in time.
But, since then we have always gone the night before.
In a few weeks we have a flight from Heathrow and even though it's only 35 miles away we will go the night before and stay in the Premier Inn.
I'm happy all went OK for you on your trip.
Dick D

Even when we only lived 50 miles from LHR we went the night before and this was proved correct on the occasion we were flying to the Maldives and we got stuck for almost FOUR HOURS on the M4 between J 8&9 or J9&10 due to an accident. Had we been flying, we'd have missed the flight for sure.

Nowadays, living in S.W. Wales we have to travel the day before, and do so for peace of mind even when taking an overnight flight.

I was tempted to take a hotel the night before, but MrsPJH decided otherwise. For our LHR to ATL trip in 5 weeks we’re overnighting as I had no wish to repeat the last two nerve shredding trips round the M25. MrsPJH did grumble a bit but I was vindicated when they moved the flight forward an hour and a half.

ColOrd wrote:

pjh wrote:Level 2 - Huntingdon to Gatwick on the direct train. That worked well. Could have shaved a few minutes off by changing at Blackfriars. Total return trip cost less than a car one way.

Fantastic service that, I wonder who might be running it

As a commuter from Stevenage I can only assume you dont actually have to use this "service" or have a sick sense of humour.


"According to the results of a questionnaire, Great Northern had the lowest overall satisfaction of all 25 rail operators across the UK, at 68 per cent, while Thameslink was in the bottom five at 77 per cent."