Car Hire -- Chelsea to Stansted

OK, so, I'm having a nervous fit two months before my vacation and I'm turning to YOU, my beloved V-Flyers, for comfort and assistance. Here's the dealio:

* I have a flight from Stansted at 7:20am on a Sunday morning
* I am flying EasyJet
* I want to get to Stansted early enough to get a decent boarding position for my flight (I'm thinking that means 6:00am at the latest).
* I bought tickies for the Stansted Express
* I'm having palpitations now -- will there just happen to be a cab prowling Chelsea at 5:00 am to get me to Liverpool Street Station? What if the bugger goes tech?

So I'm ready to throw away the relative pittance I've spent on Stansted Express tickies ex-London (I'll still use the ones coming back), and have a reserved car service take me to Stansted -- I assume they can make very good time at that hour of the morning on a Sunday.

Can I even hope to find a cab in Chelsea at that hour (5:00am)?

Should I just hire a reserved car service for the Stansted run? If so, which service?

I took a taxi back to my rooms from there once and it cost about USD120...I'm willing to pay this much for the piece of mind of being met at the door of my hotel that morning and deposited at the doors of Norman Foster's glorious aerodrome.

Help me, fellow V-F'ers!

Gratefully,

GJ

[Pete]

In theory you should be able to spot a black cab at any hour that far into the great metropolis, however finding one on the street directly outside your abode will depend very much on the remoteness of said street. Any major thoroughfare is like to have at least the occassional free cab trundling past at regular intervals.

However, that said, Sod's 1st rule of obtaining a taxi always means you'll never get one when you really, *really* need one, so pre-booking with a service such as ComputerCab will get you the same Black Cab you'd be looking for on the street delivered to your door at a prescribed time. Peace of mind and the lack of roaming around the streets at 5am, inviting accusations of solicitation.

Cabbing all the way to Stansted would seem overkill (particulary given the choosen carrier), and likely to be slower & more stressful than the Stansted Express. Having sat in the back of a black cab from Soho to Reading (probably a similar distance given the price I paid, and at a similar hour), watching that meter tick over like a hamster wheel kinda of starts to hurt after a while, especially given London's traffic lights seem to switch into a curious game of 'stop the solitary motorist' game in the early hours.

Pete

Personally with a flight at that time and all the palaver of checking in etc I would have gone out to Stansted the night before and stayed in a hotel!!

Then you are rigth on the airport - up and away!!

Why not go for EZY's "Speedy Boarding" option? You can then legitimately barge in front of the very young, the infirm and the poor souls who have been there since 0600.

Regards

John

Sorry, just cannot get my head around the fact that GJ is going toi be flying Easyjet....

"where's my premium cabin seat?"
"Whats this? no recline??"
"Waiter! where is my complimentary champagne"
"Ooh I say, this is rather common isn't it?"
"No madam, I do not want to see your operation scars"
"No sir, I do not want a swig from your bottle of White Diamond"

[:o)][:o)][:o)][:o)]

[honey lamb]

Like AlanA, I too cannot comprehend GJ flying on Easyjet. When I saw STN, I immediately thought something like Maxjet or Silverjet (can't remember which one or if both fly from STN. Haven't been paying attention at the back of the class) but then wondered why he was using those when he could fly VS and when they only go to the east coast of America and LAS

GJ, you disappoint but I look forward with eager anticipation for the TR. It will surely be in the mould of the wonderful Black Cat episodes (where's BC, by the way)

[HighFlyer]

I am flying EasyJet

*HighFlyer faints in astonishment*

Thanks,
Sarah

Originally posted by JAT74L
Why not go for EZY's "Speedy Boarding" option? You can then legitimately barge in front of the very young, the infirm and the poor souls who have been there since 0600.

But you still have to be around the departure gate when the call is made, and fight your way through the crowds of the infirm and infant bearing who will clog up the gate at the first call and resolutely refuse to accept that those with "SB" on their boarding cards have any kind of precedence.

Originally posted by AlanA
Sorry, just cannot get my head around the fact that GJ is going toi be flying Easyjet....

"where's my premium cabin seat?"
"Whats this? no recline??"
"Waiter! where is my complimentary champagne"
"Ooh I say, this is rather common isn't it?"
"No madam, I do not want to see your operation scars"
"No sir, I do not want a swig from your bottle of White Diamond"

A common misconception about LCC; on Easyjet from Stansted the latter two are more likely to be:

"No madam I do not want to discuss whether you should buy another house in the Dordogne"
"No sir, I do not wish to discuss the most effective approach to funding school fees for the twins"

I am already placing a reminder in my Outlook calendar for two months hence in anticipation of the TR.

Paul

[Decker]

http://www.addlee.com

[fozzyo]

Originally posted by GrinningJackanapes
* I am flying EasyJet

Oh you poor dear!!

Originally posted by fozzyo

Originally posted by GrinningJackanapes
* I am flying EasyJet

Oh you poor dear!!

I second that!

When we were in Sorrento, and the Amalfi Coast (Ravello is just BEAUTIFUL!) You could tell some of the Easyjet pax! [:w]

You don't need a translater do you GJ? I am very happy to oblige!!![y] Or just a fun person to have a few drinks with? [y]

GJ

Two things:

1. I'm not convinced that 6am would be early enough to get a decent boarding position. On our recent Malaga flight (same time on a Sunday) the check in was rammed at 5.20. As JAT74L suggested it may be a peace of mind option to spend the tenner on Speedy Boarding.

2. If 6am is still your aim, and you wish to use the Stansted Express, you may need a re-think about the time you rise to face the coming morn. To get to Stansted by 6am at the latest you'd need to get the 4.55 am train from Liverpool Street; the next service on a Sunday is 5.25 am and it takes an average of 46 minutes so it would likely by after 6am that you would be at check-in.

Paul

Did you miss my point about Speedy Boarding?

[RichardMannion]

Oh my. How did I miss this?

GJ, shall I call thou a doctor to check your temprature?

EZ? Let's just hope the flight isn't full for you as they are abysmal when it comes to IDB. Say the letters IDB infrotn of them inthe event and they run a mile. My sibling decided to utilise EZ recently to get from STN to AGP, and got IDB'd. I had to step in to argue the toss over EU IDB compensation and then point out to some fool the correct distance from STN - AGP usign the Great Circle method as they were struggling by magnitude of around 500km so that they could try and pay less compensation.

I digress, GJ I could always lend you number for a private air charter. Given the cost of a black cab from Chelsea to STN......

I'd be tempted to drive you from Chelsea to STN myself just to see you reaction when faced with the melee of British 'chavellers' that are off on their holidays via their LCC of choice.

Thanks,
Richard

Originally posted by pixuk

However, that said, Sod's 1st rule of obtaining a taxi always means you'll never get one when you really, *really* need one, so pre-booking with a service such as ComputerCab will get you the same Black Cab you'd be looking for on the street delivered to your door at a prescribed time. Peace of mind and the lack of roaming around the streets at 5am, inviting accusations of solicitation.

I would _never_ rely on ComputerCab. The two times I've _tried_ to use them from here in the Royal Borough, they take your request then call you back when you expect the pick up with a recorded message to say they don't have any cabs about so will cancel the booking. Useless.

Cheers, Howard

Originally posted by GrinningJackanapes
OK, so, I'm having a nervous fit two months before my vacation

* I'm having palpitations now -- will there just happen to be a cab prowling Chelsea at 5:00 am to get me to Liverpool Street Station? What if the bugger goes tech?

There is a 24 hour garage in Chelsea Cloisters on Sloane Avenue that I guarantee you attracts cabs 24/7. Either that or the Kings Road and Fulham Road invariably have cabs running up and down them at all hours, especially on a Saturday night/Sunday morning.

Plus, there is a National Rent-a-car in the car park underneath Chelsea Cloisters that is my local car rental place, but it is only open during normal hours. You could pick up the night before.

One problem with being dependent on the Stanted Express from Liverpool Street on a Sunday morning is that they often rip up the tracks for engineering works at the weekend, leaving you on a bus. However they do tell you of planned engineering works on there website (http://www.stanstedexpress.com, choose Service Update then Planned Engineering Works).

If it were me, I would take a cab to Liverpool St and take the Stansted Express if it's running.

Oh, and I trust you're going to PM me when you're but a short walk away for a wee dram.

Cheers, Howard

[Decker]

Involuntary denied boarding

Originally posted by RichardMannion
Oh my. How did I miss this?


I'd be tempted to drive you from Chelsea to STN myself just to see you reaction when faced with the melee of British 'chavellers' that are off on their holidays via their LCC of choice.

Thanks,
Richard

Someone needs to point you in the direction of a good surgeon Richard.

Regards

John

[honey lamb]

To this end, one actually gets a frisson of cultural interaction when one sits on a plane with more than five people wearing the identical Burberry baseball cap. And trackies. With gold chains. Who speak with dropped "H"'s and who dress like Pat on EastEnders.

One hopes that one's Paul Smith attire does not stand out too much among the plebs....

....or dare one suggest that Paul Smith is eschewed for a Burberry baseball cap, trackies and gold chains [:0]

....or that the cultured and rarefied vocabulary is morphed into something that would be more at home in Walford, interspersed with the ubiquitous "innit?" [:0]

I'd choose easyjet over Ryanair any day. I had a really great flight with them in September last year back from Barcelona (out to Rome with Ryanair and the experience couldn't have been more different). And they do say that orange is the new black. You'll be OK GJ, once you get yourself to the airport

Phil

[RichardMannion]

Screw that. A LCC is a LCC.

There is slumming and then there is that. The closest I have ever got to travelling on one is when my company chartered an entire EZ flight. Fortuantely the trip got cancelled, and got stung with getting their money back so no chance of that scenario coming up again.

Sorry if it seems elitist but I would rather not go if it meant I had to travel on a LCC. There is a reason why it's cheap. Reminds me of a snippet I once saw of 'Airline' (which good Lord, are EZ in the camp that all publicity is good publicity?) that had some travelling football 'fans' bitchign about the service on their £4 tickets after they had spent 100 times more on the tickets for the game. Have they opened up travel to the masses, yes they have but I want no part of it.

GJ, I think I might have to nominate you for Time Man of the Year if you pull this one off. But then if it matches your prior experience might be time to send some of the piss poor staff we have had on VS flights recently over to Orange towers to learn that C word. No the other one, consistency. Maybe that is the key to future success for some of them, start at the bottom and get the basics right, and get it consistently right, and then progress up.

Talk about waiting in anticipation for the TR though!

Thanks,
Richard

I can never understand peoples dislike of LCC's.

True you run the risk of flights being cancelled and you being abandond with terrible land side service. But I've always found once on board that the cabin crew are a cut above some of the "full service" airlines when it comes to cheerful effeciency.

Admittedly they have the closest thing to a 9-5 job in the airline industry, get home most nights and don't have to deal with multiple timezones, or the punters bitching that they seem to disappear for half the flight to the crew rest areas. Plus they only have to put up with us for a couple of hours at the most, but I've always found them to be far less "sour faced" than a lot of the long haul crew i've seen in recent years.

I and a number of other friends and colleages used to travel weekly between Luton and Aberdeen or Amsterdam on EZ, and probably had less problems then I used to get on BA or BD before them.... I did miss the friday afternoon cream tea on BA, but you i doubt you get that any more.

And as for the "class" of the punters... Well, I find something annoying in most of my fellow pax, regardless of the airline or cabin.

Originally posted by GrinningJackanapes
Erm, anyone have any actual advice? LOL
I will be staying in London in my usual rooms (though they are in Chelsea, and the stink of Mourinho is in the air..).

Hahahha!! [y]

[RichardMannion]

It's about personal preference in reality. In my eyes, the LCC's have a horrible image and poor attitude to customer service - my prior observation to 'Airline' affirms this. Yes they are cheap (sometimes, see later) but then there is a reason they are cheap.

The flight times on the whole are not that great, and in all honesty I would rather pay not that much more to fly with a reputable scheduled carrier, be it BMI/BA/LH. The amount of times I have seen tiny differences between the aforementioned and LCC fares, or actually the other way round where the LCC's are actually more expensive. Yeah I might be able to get a £2 flight +taxes if I go at 4am in the morning from STN which is a long journey, or for a bit more I can go at a more sensible time from LHR.

Again, it's down to personal preference. I just don't do LCC's. But then on the flipside, I don't do Economy for flights over 4 hours now. Again, I would rather not go on holiday. Some of you may see this as harsh or elitist, but it's my choice. I like to spend my money on luxury travel. It's my raison d'etre; I don't smoke, or drink.

Thanks,
Richard

Originally posted by RichardMannion
It's about personal preference in reality. In my eyes, the LCC's have a horrible image and poor attitude to customer service - my prior observation to 'Airline' affirms this. Yes they are cheap (sometimes, see later) but then there is a reason they are cheap.

The flight times on the whole are not that great, and in all honesty I would rather pay not that much more to fly with a reputable scheduled carrier, be it BMI/BA/LH. The amount of times I have seen tiny differences between the aforementioned and LCC fares, or actually the other way round where the LCC's are actually more expensive. Yeah I might be able to get a £2 flight +taxes if I go at 4am in the morning from STN which is a long journey, or for a bit more I can go at a more sensible time from LHR.

Again, it's down to personal preference. I just don't do LCC's. But then on the flipside, I don't do Economy for flights over 4 hours now. Again, I would rather not go on holiday. Some of you may see this as harsh or elitist, but it's my choice. I like to spend my money on luxury travel. It's my raison d'etre; I don't smoke, or drink.

Apart from the drinking, I'm with you on this one, although I'd go one further in that I don't go economy if there's a pointy end.

True I have dabbled with LCCs, although the first two times were by accident (QF dropped many of their shorthauls and switched them to JetStar). The second and last two times ended up only being one time due to a late incoming connecting flight and if I'd had my way it wouldn't have happened at all, but sometimes a battle, even over taking an LCC, is not worth fighting. "You're only on it for a couple of hours" she'd say. Screachy music, cold sweats, the shower scene from Psycho, fingernails down the blackboard. That's what LCC says to me.

Life's too short to be treated like ....

Cheers, Howard