LHR suspends free travel zone

[Ianno87]

Depends what terminal you are using and what bus route you use.

Yes, if you're going to T4/5 there's less advantage to Hoppa as TfL routes drop outside the terminal as well.

 

[Bletchleyite]

The cheekiest of all hotels in the area must however go to the Thistle, who charge a £6 each way “gate supplement,” allowing customers to use the Pods to and from Terminal 5 to take a shortcut through a gate to the hotel from the car park where the pods drop you off.

It would appear, to be fair, that this charge is levied by the airport for use of the pods, and not by the hotel (but the hotel collect it for them) - it might be that you can "fare dodge" by walking round another way of course:

Airport Pod Transport & Parking Cost | Heathrow Terminal 5 | Thistle Hotels

Travel between Thistle London Heathrow T5 Hotel and the airport’s Terminal 5 in just five minutes with the Heathrow Pods parking and shuttle service.

www.thistle.com

Nonetheless it is, I would agree, utterly outrageous.

 

[A Challenge]

It would appear, to be fair, that this charge is levied by the airport for use of the pods, and not by the hotel (but the hotel collect it for them) - it might be that you can "fare dodge" by walking round another way of course:

Airport Pod Transport & Parking Cost | Heathrow Terminal 5 | Thistle Hotels

Travel between Thistle London Heathrow T5 Hotel and the airport’s Terminal 5 in just five minutes with the Heathrow Pods parking and shuttle service.

www.thistle.com

Nonetheless it is, I would agree, utterly outrageous.

There is no charge for using the pods to the business parking, I did in 2019, just as an out and back from the terminal.

 

[Bletchleyite]

There is no charge for using the pods to the business parking, I did in 2019, just as an out and back from the terminal.

The cost of using them will be factored into the price of the parking. I suspect Heathrow wanted a cut if a hotel was going to provide direct access onto their land for the specific purpose of using them. OK, there's nothing to stop you just riding them for fun, but that's fairly niche and not worth their while bothering about.

That link I posted specifically states that the hotel does not retain the fee, it goes to the "pod operators" i.e. Heathrow. Were that false, then it would potentially be fraud. OK, it could just absorb the cost if it wanted (because the facility will make the hotel more desirable than others and so more profitable generally) or add £12 to each room price, but it's not the same as if they were just charging £6 each way and pocketing it.

 

[camflyer]

Agree, £1.50 is still a bargain.



You do get the added convenience of boarding at the hotel door (rather than traipsing to a bus stop) and then alighting at the terminal (rather than the Central Bus station). And enough people seem happy to pay it.

I think a lot of people pay it as they aren't regular users of Heathrow and know no better.

 

[goldenarrow]

AFAIK it is only TfL buses, though I could be wrong.
EDIT:
Seems like all are included though trains and LU are only available for transferring between terminals.
https://www.heathrow.com/company/te...ransport/changes-to-heathrow-travel-subsidies

It's been horrendously communicated in public but yes, the preliminary retrenchment of sponsorship from HAL covers non-London Bus routes.

They were supposedly chosen since the operators concerned are getting support from a Department for Transport scheme (as are RailAir through an 'exchange mechanism') and relatively speaking aren't a loss since TFL operated routes cover all of the destination combinations either directly or through one change.

Plans are still being poured over how to proceed next but we can't be more than a couple months away from another switcheroo.

 

[PG]

Plans are still being poured over how to proceed next but we can't be more than a couple months away from another switcheroo.

Free travel only as far as the first stop beyond the tunnel?

 

[goldenarrow]

Confirmation now finally in the public domain that HAL sponsored route agreements on TFL London Bus routes will end from Monday 1 March 2021.

 

[FlambeGarlic14]

Confirmation now finally in the public domain that HAL sponsored route agreements on TFL London Bus routes will end from Monday 1 March 2021.

Where? All I can find is saying it’s suspended from 1/1 (which it’s obviously not been).

Granted I’ve only had a quick flick on Google.....

 

[221129]

Where? All I can find is saying it’s suspended from 1/1 (which it’s obviously not been).

Granted I’ve only had a quick flick on Google.....

It was cancelled on the 1st of January for the non TFL routes included in the scheme (as planned) and then the cancellation of the rest of it was always planned for a later date.

 

[goldenarrow]

Where? All I can find is saying it’s suspended from 1/1 (which it’s obviously not been).

Granted I’ve only had a quick flick on Google.....

When I said public domain, I was eluding that this was no longer commercially sensitive information and it was appropriate to disclose in a public setting such as an online forum for example.

 

[neilmc]

My country is, I am sorry to say, an expert at cheating the travelling tourist - Heathrow has been as exception as it lies on TfL bus routes, but looking at a flight magazine some years ago at the cost of getting into the city centre at various European destinations was an embarrassment - the airline didn't do Heathrow but Gatwick, Luton and Stansted were all subject to tourist rip-offs. Similar situations exist at Edinburgh, where the last stop into the airport incurs a fare way above the rest of the network, and Bristol, with a dedicated but expensive bus service. Manchester has always been OK for local journeys, maybe because the local authorities own the airport and the airport is so close to housing estates, likewise Liverpool, but on National Express the fare from Manchester Airport going south was more expensive than from the city centre despite the shorter journey. There seems to be a philosophy in the UK that people who can afford to use aeroplanes can be conned out of money when they touch down as they won't know any better.

 

[Ianno87]

My country is, I am sorry to say, an expert at cheating the travelling tourist - Heathrow has been as exception as it lies on TfL bus routes, but looking at a flight magazine some years ago at the cost of getting into the city centre at various European destinations was an embarrassment - the airline didn't do Heathrow but Gatwick, Luton and Stansted were all subject to tourist rip-offs. Similar situations exist at Edinburgh, where the last stop into the airport incurs a fare way above the rest of the network, and Bristol, with a dedicated but expensive bus service. Manchester has always been OK for local journeys, maybe because the local authorities own the airport and the airport is so close to housing estates, likewise Liverpool, but on National Express the fare from Manchester Airport going south was more expensive than from the city centre despite the shorter journey. There seems to be a philosophy in the UK that people who can afford to use aeroplanes can be conned out of money when they touch down as they won't know any better.

That really, really isn't unique to the UK.

 

[neilmc]

No it isn't but people from overseas consider the UK to be some bastion of integrity and honesty and the first thing we do when they arrive here is to consider how much we can rip them off before they have time to get acclimatised to the cost of things.

 

[221129]

No it isn't but people from overseas consider the UK to be some bastion of integrity and honesty and the first thing we do when they arrive here is to consider how much we can rip them off before they have time to get acclimatised to the cost of things.

Welcome to the Real world. People who live here also pay it, so it can't be that bad.

 

[Mojo]

As quite a seasoned traveller, I think the UK is a lot more reasonable how it treats tourists with regard to public transport than most other countries I've visited.

 

[markymark2000]

My country is, I am sorry to say, an expert at cheating the travelling tourist - Heathrow has been as exception as it lies on TfL bus routes, but looking at a flight magazine some years ago at the cost of getting into the city centre at various European destinations was an embarrassment - the airline didn't do Heathrow but Gatwick, Luton and Stansted were all subject to tourist rip-offs. Similar situations exist at Edinburgh, where the last stop into the airport incurs a fare way above the rest of the network, and Bristol, with a dedicated but expensive bus service. Manchester has always been OK for local journeys, maybe because the local authorities own the airport and the airport is so close to housing estates, likewise Liverpool, but on National Express the fare from Manchester Airport going south was more expensive than from the city centre despite the shorter journey. There seems to be a philosophy in the UK that people who can afford to use aeroplanes can be conned out of money when they touch down as they won't know any better.

Heathrow is the worst because if you land in the centre terminals, you can not physically get out of the airport without using a bus, taxi or tube so people are forced to pay.

Luton has good local transport links at reasonable prices. The only scammy part is the Parkway shuttle. If you don't know to pay for the shuttle in your train ticket, you pay the extra. At least is's reasonable but I think it's still a bit high for the journey being made. I suppose they have to pay for the bus and team though which can't be cheap. I am interest to know the fees of the shuttle when it changes to the automated thing rather than the bus.
Gatwick has excellent local public transport links which don't seem to incur stupidly high fees (GatEx is a tourist scam yes but the majority of people know to use Southern or Thameslink so it's not so bad)
Stansted does have the express train but it is also served by local GA trains so there is an option to pay much lower fees. Their bus stations don't seem as high with fees either.
Liverpool JLA, I'm sure they have an exclusivity agreement in place with Arriva (except for tenders) and so they have no need to charge since their bus income would come from Arriva paying up in an exclusivity agreement.
Manchester Airport Bus Stn is ran by TFGM so it's under TFGM rules and fees. Also the trains are in the national rail network.

I think the tourist scams at the airports can be avoided in the above. These ones below though aren't avoidable unless you walk out of the airport and try to avoid the fees that way.
Edinburgh charge the access fee for buses and for the trams, I think they have got people because the trams go onto airport land and as it was a council/government aim to get the trams to the airport, they would pay silly fees to ensure that it happened as promised.
Bristol is a bit of a scammy one as the bus tickets are extortionate.

 

[Ianno87]

Heathrow is the worst because if you land in the centre terminals, you can not physically get out of the airport without using a bus, taxi or tube so people are forced to pay.

Yes you can; inter-terminal transfer to T4 (when open) or T5, and then out from there.

 

[221129]

Heathrow is the worst because if you land in the centre terminals, you can not physically get out of the airport without using a bus, taxi or tube so people are forced to pay.

£1.50 on the bus is hardly a scam!

 

[markymark2000]

Yes you can; inter-terminal transfer to T4 (when open) or T5, and then out from there.

Depends how long that stays in for.

£1.50 on the bus is hardly a scam!

Depends as people NEED a card though, no cash.

 

[matt_world2004]

If I was an employee I would be pissed at paying £1.50 to leave my workplace.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Depends how long that stays in for.

Very, very few airports don't have some form of free inter-terminal transfer. The only one that springs to mind is Kuala Lumpur to the LCCT (low cost carrier terminal, basically a big shed).

If I was an employee I would be pissed at paying £1.50 to leave my workplace.

How many employees are going to be living within walking distance?

FWIW I do think they need to bring back the pedestrian/cycle tunnels and instead restrict cars and taxis. It seems completely against modern ideals not to be able to walk to the terminal.

 

[matt_world2004]

How many employees are going to be living within walking distance?

FWIW I do think they need to bring back the pedestrian/cycle tunnels and instead restrict cars and taxis. It seems completely against modern ideals not to be able to walk to the terminal.

It appears virtually every house on the bath road has airport employees in it . Plus how many employees live within cycling distance.

 

[221129]

If I was an employee I would be pissed at paying £1.50 to leave my workplace.

How many other empoyees around the world have to pay to get to and from work?

 

[matt_world2004]

How many other empoyees around the world have to pay to get to and from work?

I don't think many employees have to pay to get a bus to leave or enter their workplace or to go to where they have parked their bike.

 

[Bletchleyite]

It appears virtually every house on the bath road has airport employees in it . Plus how many employees live within cycling distance.

Pretty sure there's a "cycle hub" with a shuttle bus, isn't there? There are also dedicated staff car park buses.

I don't think many employees have to pay to get a bus to leave or enter their workplace or to go to where they have parked their bike.

It's not really any different to employees who have to pay their employer for car parking, to be fair. But they are paying TfL, not their employer.

 

[matt_world2004]

Pretty sure there's a "cycle hub" with a shuttle bus, isn't there? There are also dedicated staff car park buses.



It's not really any different to employees who have to pay their employer for car parking, to be fair. But they are paying TfL, not their employer.

Employers have a choice weather to drive in or not or what mode of transport they take to work there doesn't appear to be a choice here

 

[Bletchleyite]

Employers have a choice weather to drive in or not or what mode of transport they take to work there doesn't appear to be a choice here

Well, one choice (foot) isn't provided for, but I'd venture that the vast, vast majority of people who work at Heathrow don't walk there, and as mentioned cycling is provided for.

I can't imagine foot is viable if you work in a motorway service station either. Sure, you technically can if you walk in the back way, but they are in the middle of nowhere.

 

[matt_world2004]

Well, one choice (foot) isn't provided for, but I'd venture that the vast, vast majority of people who work at Heathrow don't walk there, and as mentioned cycling is provided for.

I can't imagine foot is viable if you work in a motorway service station either. Sure, you technically can if you walk in the back way, but they are in the middle of nowhere.

Heathrow commuter says that 20 000 colleagues live within a three mile distance of the airport, A distance that the heathrow commuter appears to think is walkable.

Employees who use the cycling hub have no dedicated shuttle bus to the airport, and as such if they leave their bike their they will have to pay. They are expected to catch local buses from the cycling hub, to the central travel area.

Active travel

Blank

www.heathrow.com

 

[darloscott]

Employers have a choice weather to drive in or not or what mode of transport they take to work there doesn't appear to be a choice here

Of course there's a choice... either catch a bus or train or you drive and catch the staff bus