Planning trip to London this Summer

Starting to get really excited! We'll probably fly Canada since it's the cheapest ($1155 total.) It stops in Vancouver though, but that shouldn't be a big deal.

I'm confused on the time gap though, so London is behind Phoenix correct? Says I'll be leaving July 8th at 11am and getting to London at like 4pm, and I know the flight is around 20 hours. It's hard to figure out the time difference with the flight time duration.

TV seems important since an entire Ipod life is going to run out and for some reason I can never read on a plane. Although with a 20 hour trip I'm sure I'll have to fall asleep.

I'm confused on the time gap though, so London is behind Phoenix correct? Says I'll be leaving July 8th at 11am and getting to London at like 4pm, and I know the flight is around 20 hours. It's hard to figure out the time difference with the flight time duration.

No, London is ahead of Phoenix - either 7 or 8 hours ahead depending on time of year (it is 8 hours ahead of PST and 7 hours ahead of MST), 11am Phoenix time is going to be 6pm or 7pm the same day London time (right now, as I write this message, it is 5am Monday morning in the UK - which is why there is hardly anyone online at the moment).

If you are landing at 4pm GMT, that will be 8am PST. But 4pm seems rather late to be landing in the UK (unless you are leaving Vancouver in the early hours of the morning or have another connection) - most direct overnight flights from the US/Canada land in the UK between 6am and midday.

We're having problems finding flights that don't have super long connection times. On the way back almost every flight has an 11 hour wait at the Toronto airport. Is this common? Am I reading this right?

Air Canada
 Flight AC590
Depart Tue, Jul 8 11:35a Phoenix Sky Harbor Intl Apt., US (PHX)
Arrive Tue, Jul 8 06:50p Toronto Lester B Pearson Intl Apt, CA (YYZ)
Flight Time 05hr 15min | Economy
Aircraft Embraer 90

Connection Time: 01hr 45min

Air Canada
 Flight AC848   
Depart Tue, Jul 8 08:35p Toronto Lester B Pearson Intl Apt, CA (YYZ)
Arrive Wed, Jul 9 08:35a London Heathrow Apt, GB (LHR)
Flight Time 08hr 00min | Economy
Aircraft Boeing 777-200ER/300ER

Total Travel Time: 13hr 00min

Air Canada
 Flight AC859
Depart Tue, Aug 5 07:00p London Heathrow Apt, GB (LHR)
Arrive Tue, Aug 5 10:10p Toronto Lester B Pearson Intl Apt, CA (YYZ)
Flight Time 07hr 10min | Economy
Aircraft Boeing 767-300/300ER

Connection Time: 11hr 10min

Air Canada
 Flight AC589
Depart Wed, Aug 6 09:20a Toronto Lester B Pearson Intl Apt, CA (YYZ)
Arrive Wed, Aug 6 10:50a Phoenix Sky Harbor Intl Apt., US (PHX)
Flight Time 03hr 30min | Economy

It really depends.

The more convenient flights with fewer layovers/shorter connection times cost more, so if you wish to pay as little as possible for the flights, you may have to put up with a less convenient itinerary.

For example, in the past I have found really cheap flights across the Atlantic, but unfortunately they've had terrible itineraries (e.g. leaving at something like 6 am, with two or more connections and/or an overnight layover), so I've ended up paying more for better flight times/connections.

I have endured a 10-hour layover in Toronto in the past, although it was actually deliberate because I had booked separate flights from the US to Toronto and then from Toronto to London. I needed as long a connection time as possible because if I'd missed the second flight I would have lost the money from it (they can only guarantee to put you on the next flight if you have a connection booked right through).

Basically, you have two options: 1) Put up with the long connection if you can't find anything better for the same price or 2) pay more money for a more convenient flight.

I just did a search on the Air Canada website for flights with better schedules - there are several listed with only between 1 and 3 hours of connection time, but most of them have 2 connections (e.g. Denver or Chicago and then Toronto) and you'd be looking at between about $1300 and over $2000 per ticket.

One other thought: is it absolutely essential for you to travel in July/August? If you were able to travel at a different time of the year, you could save a lot of money. You can get round trip flights in April/May for $725 upwards and in May/June for $760 upwards. Unfortunately, July and August sees (literally) millions of travellers (both foreign and British) flying to and from the UK and so because it's peak season, the flights practically double in cost.

Yeah we definitely have to go from those dates. Basically +/- 1 or 2 days from July 7th to August 5th.

That is what happened to me.  The airport in Toronto was so small with nothing to do.  It sucked!

How far away are the three London airports? Heathrow, London City and Gatwick? We're looking at this flight, but don't know if it'll be too far from where we want to stay. Also, anyone know anything about these "Airbus" planes? They sound... interesting.


US Airways
 Flight US1544
Depart Mon, Jul 7 11:50a Phoenix Sky Harbor Intl Apt., US (PHX)
Arrive Mon, Jul 7 06:59p Charlotte, US (CLT)
Flight Time 05hr 09min | Economy
Aircraft Airbus A321

Connection Time: 00hr 56min

US Airways
 Flight US732   
Depart Mon, Jul 7 07:55p Charlotte, US (CLT)
Arrive Tue, Jul 8 08:45a London Gatwick Apt, GB (LGW)
Flight Time 08hr 50min | Economy
Aircraft Airbus A330-300

Total Travel Time: 12hr 55min

US Airways
 Flight US731
Depart Thu, Aug 7 12:30p London Gatwick Apt, GB (LGW)
Arrive Thu, Aug 7 04:00p Philadelphia International Apt, US (PHL)
Flight Time 07hr 30min | Economy
Aircraft Boeing 757-200/300

Connection Time: 02hr 20min

US Airways
 Flight US192
Depart Thu, Aug 7 06:20p Philadelphia International Apt, US (PHL)
Arrive Thu, Aug 7 08:59p Phoenix Sky Harbor Intl Apt., US (PHX)
Flight Time 04hr 39min | Economy
Aircraft Airbus 320-100/200

How far away are the three London airports? Heathrow, London City and Gatwick? We're looking at this flight, but don't know if it'll be too far from where we want to stay.
I prefer Gatwick because it is so much easier to get around than Heathrow. London City is a new one to me. I think it had a different name and was changed. There is a direct express train into London from Gatwick which is very convenient

Fantastic, exactly what I needed Jim!

How far away are the three London airports? Heathrow, London City and Gatwick? We're looking at this flight, but don't know if it'll be too far from where we want to stay. Also, anyone know anything about these "Airbus" planes? They sound... interesting.


US Airways
 Flight US1544
Depart Mon, Jul 7 11:50a Phoenix Sky Harbor Intl Apt., US (PHX)
Arrive Mon, Jul 7 06:59p Charlotte, US (CLT)
Flight Time 05hr 09min | Economy
Aircraft Airbus A321

Connection Time: 00hr 56min

Whenever Dh & I fly we always make sure we have extra time to play with on connecting flights. we had a scare on one of the first times we did the flight back home to the States actually it was the flight back to the UK. Our flight into Chicago was over 2 hours late so we literally had to run through the terminal to catch our connecting flight to the UK. we just barely made before the last passenger got on the plane an they closed the doors. so now we always make sure we have at least a 3 hour gap window when flying there to the States & back to the UK. WE would rather be waiting in the connecting flight area than take a later flight an possibly miss our flight. Dh & I usually fly to the States in November so we usually have delays because of the weather. I realise you are going in the summer months but 56 mins doesn't give you alot of time to get through to your connecting flight.

We are looking at a flight with 3 hour time gaps each, sounds perfect.

Problem with this flight is it's saying 6 hrs from Phoenix to Philly, that seems a bit much. Anyone know if that sounds a bit right or is the Airbus just a jankey plane?

We are looking at a flight with 3 hour time gaps each, sounds perfect.

Problem with this flight is it's saying 6 hrs from Phoenix to Philly, that seems a bit much. Anyone know if that sounds a bit right or is the Airbus just a jankey plane?

Doesn't sound too bad - it was 3.5 hours from Chicago to Albuquerque, NM when I flew in January and about 4.5 hours from Atlanta, GA to Las Vegas, NV when I flew that route a few years ago. Remember, you're travelling more than 2,000 miles between Phoenix and Philadelphia, which is about 2/3 of the distance between Philadelphia and London. If the flight to London takes about 8 hours, then it makes sense that the flight to Philadelphia should be 5-6 hours.

Of course, the flight time is also going to depend on the size, crusing speed and altitude of the aircraft itself.

Problem with this flight is it's saying 6 hrs from Phoenix to Philly, that seems a bit much. Anyone know if that sounds a bit right or is the Airbus just a jankey plane?

Doesn't sound too bad - it was 3.5 hours from Chicago to Albuquerque, NM when I flew in January and about 4.5 hours from Atlanta, GA to Las Vegas, NV when I flew that route a few years ago. Remember, you're travelling more than 2,000 miles between Phoenix and Philadelphia, which is about 2/3 of the distance between Philadelphia and London. If the flight to London takes about 8 hours, then it makes sense that the flight to Philadelphia should be 5-6 hours.

Of course, the flight time is also going to depend on the size, crusing speed and altitude of the aircraft itself.

When I was flying from Chicago to San Jose California it took just under 4.5 hours.

So how long is this train ride from Gatwick to central london? The map looks like about 20 miles, doesn't seem bad. We WANT to go on a few train rides so that should be great anyways.

How's the weather in London in July? Humid I assume? It'll still be a break from Phoenix's 110F! We will still need a light jacket now and then during the night right?

I still can't figure out how we should go about buying tube tickets. There are so many and so many different options it's confusing. Should we do it in advance?

Thanks as always guys!

So how long is this train ride from Gatwick to central london? The map looks like about 20 miles, doesn't seem bad. We WANT to go on a few train rides so that should be great anyways.

How's the weather in London in July? Humid I assume? It'll still be a break from Phoenix's 110F! We will still need a light jacket now and then during the night right?

I still can't figure out how we should go about buying tube tickets. There are so many and so many different options it's confusing. Should we do it in advance?

Thanks as always guys!

The Gatwick Express takes about 30 minutes, but is expensive - about $75 for 2 people for a single journey or $110 or so round trip. On the other hand, you can just get a normal train (again about 30 minutes) for anything from less than $20 to $50 each (the earlier you book, the cheaper it is, although you can usually only book up to 3 months in advance).

To be honest, I wouldn't expect much from the weather - one night last July, we had a month's worth of rain (2 inches) in 24 hours and only about a week or two of sunshine all summer (we had a few days of about 70F in April/May and then four or five days of the same in late August - and the rest of the time it rained). It is more humid than the dry desert air out here in the southwest, but compared to the deep south, it's not bad. As well as summer clothing, I would bring jeans/pants, sweaters, a jacket, a raincoat and an umbrella!

Average summer temperature in the UK is about 68F, although it may be warmer than that - hopefully around 75-80F if you're lucky (I'm hoping it will be warm as I'm planning to spend 2 weeks in the UK visiting my family in July). Taking a look at climate data for Phoenix, I'd equate the average UK summer to say February/March temps in Phoenix (highs of 70F, lows of 50F), but with twice as much rain and a lot of cloud.

For tube tickets, it really depends on what zones and how often you will be travelling. If you will be travelling to other cities and only using the tube occasionally, you can just buy a day ticket from a tube station (a zone 1-2 ticket is between $10 and $14 per day - depending on peak/off-peak times) or you can buy a 3-day zone 1-2 ticket for $35. Travel between zones further out is more expensive. A month's season ticket costs almost $200, but if you won't be using it everyday, it's probably not worth it. Or you could get an Oyster card for overseas visitors, a pay as you go card which costs £2, plus either £10 or £15 starting credit and I believe gives you slightly cheaper fares.