My trip to Oxford

[sasguru]

So how come you need a big "secret" discount on already discounted price of a hotel with the full expenses you were on?

FTFY.

Oh wait ...

[doodab]

FTFY.

Oh wait ...

Many clients will only pay up to a certain maximum for a hotel, per meal and so on. Negotiation isn't always possible on this sort of thing when you are dealing with policies put in place by large multinationals.

[AtW]

Negotiation isn't always possible on this sort of thing when you are dealing with policies put in place by large multinationals.

£115 hotel room near Oxford should be damn nicer than £115 tulip hole near Heathrow airport.

[doodab]

£115 hotel room near Oxford should be damn nicer than £115 tulip hole near Heathrow airport.

I wouldn't bet on it, I've stayed in my fair share of £100-150 a night "chain" hotels across the UK that were utterly minging and I've also seen some really nice places that cost less. It's very much luck of the draw I find.

[AtW]

I wouldn't bet on it, I've stayed in my fair share of £100-150 a night "chain" hotels across the UK that were utterly minging and I've also seen some really nice places that cost less. It's very much luck of the draw I find.

You should have tried one of those "secret" hotel deals.

[darrenb]

the sandwich is cold

Flew in to Heathrow and boy, I was fleeced left right and centre the moment my foot touched the ground. Talk about expensive?!! How do people do it?

I recently took a trip to England myself. Not on business though, good grief. Are there really still people doing contracts in Britain? It's lovely of them to soldier on.

Anyway on the way back the worst happened: I missed my flight, last flight of the evening. Long story but it should be enough to say "British train system".

So there I was at Heathrow wondering what to do till the morning. According to various advertisements I could get a hotel room nearby really easily for sixty quid. This being Ripoff Britain, I didn't believe that for a second. One way or another I would have ended up paying double that, and for a horrible "we've got you" hotel experience like scooter's, and a load more stress with trains, taxis, and what have you. So I decided to spend the night in the terminal and had quite a few productive hours on my laptop before catching the 7am flight.

Unlike scooterscot I came to London expecting to get ripped off in every little purchase. When you're expecting it, it doesn't feel so bad. An example: one-way, one hour train trip: 35 GBP. (I seem to have lost the pound symbol on my keyboard, and I blame that on Gordon Brown.)

I would never again work in a city where finance is the main industry. It is a fool's game to be in direct competition with the Worthless Wealthy for services, women, and everything else.

But it isn't just limited to London. Take any country village in England, go into an obviously working-class cafe, ask for a sandwich, and you will get charged High Society prices. You look at them like "Who do you think you're fooling?" but it doesn't make any difference. Your sandwich is cold.

[Sysman]

Why the fook would you stay in a hotel near Heathrow? Why not head towards Oxford and find somewhere en route?
Honestly scooter, they really do see you coming.

Nice country pub with decent food would be just the ticket.

Unless he arrived late in the evening of course.

I don't know if it still exists, but 20 years ago your best bet was to go to the Hotel Booking service in the Arrivals Hall. They had a list of Heathrow Hotel rooms to fill and you could get the same hotel at less than half the price than simply turning up, and maybe the bonus of a double room for the price of a single.

[Sysman]

Write them a snotty letter detailing how crap everything was. You might get something free out of it.

Be careful what you wish for.

They might offer a free night there.

Or if you are really unlucky, a free weekend.

[shaunbhoy]

I recently took a trip to England myself. Not on business though, good grief. Are there really still people doing contracts in Britain? It's lovely of them to soldier on.

Kudos to you mate. I had no idea we were still allowing skilled Lollipop men to leave the economy.

[doodab]

Kudos to you mate. I had no idea we were still allowing skilled Lollipop men to leave the economy.

Hey! Where is my kudos? I took a 60% rate cut to come back.

Well, that's not strictly true, I came back and there is **** all here so I have to keep jetting off overseas for loads of money, but it's an effective 60% cut because everything is so ******* overpriced.