Getting there is always an adventure, some trips more so than others. Because our new home in Arizona is 2 hours away from the nearest international airport (Phoenix), you can get there by a short hop flight from the local airport for $400 each round trip. Well that’s not happening. Or we could drive there and pay over $1000 for one month in long term parking at the airport, not happening either. You could ask friends to drive you to the airport, but they won’t be friends for long. The best alternative is to take the local shuttle bus. It is the best option for the budget, but the worst option for comfort. A little over 2 hours in a seat with less room than on the cheapest budget airline economy seat. Cramped no where comes close to describing the conditions.
But we made up for it on the flight to London. A couple of days before our departure, I got an e-mail from British Air offering an up grade to Business Class for a ridiculously low price. Without telling Cathie, I jumped at the offer. So because our original tickets were paid for with points on our credit card, we were now flying business class for a couple hundred bucks each out of pocket. Upon our arrival at the airport, Cathie noticed that we were in the fast lane for baggage check in, but I lied and told her it was be cause we were in the frequent flyer’s club. Once through security, we waited in the posh first class lounge upstairs from the cheep seats. With free drinks and food it was a nice change from downstairs. Once on board, Cathie was finally onto my trickery. The only downside will be that Cathie will be expecting the same treatment on future flights.
Upon arrival we breezed through the airport at Heathrow, with no waiting a passport control and only a short wait for our bags. Next up was an unpleasant experience dealing with the rental car. On all of our trips to Europe and the UK we have rented cars from a stateside consolidator called Auto Europe. I have discovered that they find the best deals and if a problem arises, like an overcharge, they fix the problem for you. This time the best deal was with Europcar. So we arrived at the counter with our voucher in hand and guy behind the counter said he had to check to see if our car was available. He came back with a set of keys for an upgraded car that he commenced to pressure us to agree to for an greatly increased price. I had to tell him several times to get me the car I wanted. Next was pressure to buy their insurance. He insisted that my coverage provided by our credit card was not valid. Again I had to tell him several times that I didn’t want their insurance. Then it was that we needed coverage for roadside assistance as though if the car broke down they wouldn’t come get it. I finally told him to cut the B.S. and give me the car we had paid for. Turns out the keys to the car I ordered were in his pocket. I overhead other employees using the same tactics on other customers, some of which were falling for the up-sale. They we trying to scam every customer. A bunch of criminals in my opinion. After the fact, I read some Google reviews about the Heathrow Location……mostly all bad with the same experience.
We didn’t drive the car much the first couple of days, but when we drove north to York, I noticed a metal to metal sound when applying the breaks. When we arrived in York, I went to the local Europcar car office and requested a new car. This office couldn’t have been more accommodating. They didn’t even question my diagnosis of worn out brakes, and provided us with a new car. While we were waiting for the car to be washed, we spoke to another woman who told us she had been ripped of by another rental car company, with an upgrade charge of $7200 for a three week rental. So, just beware, there are lots of crooks out there that will gladly take advantage of you.
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