It was purely chance and coincidence that Elizabeth and I ended up in London on Christmas day 2016. Of course much of life, at least my own, is chance and coincidence, “thin threads,” I like to call them. I received an Email from our favorite airline, okay, maybe not most favorite, but at least most used. You see, we live about three hours away from Atlanta’s Hartsfield airport, home base to Delta. It was an offer of discounted travel through Delta Vacations.

I had never used Delta Vacations before, but the offer of deeply discounted travel by combining air fare and hotel into one package intrigued me. Three things pointed me toward London at that time 1) Elizabeth, my wife, is an avid Anglophile 2) the British Pound had just taken a big dump due to the Brexit vote and 3) the people; well most of them, still speak English there, but of course, with a very funny accent.

The user interface at Delta Vacations is very easy to use, intuitive so to speak. You select your dates, price range, and amenities (we always opt for an indoor pool, hot tub, and breakfast included). The combination pool and hot tub immediately knocked out a lot of contenders. However, we still had about a dozen to select from.

Not knowing the area or the hotels being offered now required some research on my part. After some time of researching the areas and reviews of the hotels I settled on Crowne Plaza Docklands. I must confess at this juncture that we are Hilton Loyalists and in particular Embassy Suites is our “go-to-hotel-of-choice.”

The Crowne Plaza and especially the far-east London location was rather whimsical on my part, but it seemed to have everything we wanted at an excellent price. Oh, one last thing about Delta Vacations, you don’t have to pay for it all at booking. They allow you to place a 25% deposit with the remainder payable about a month and a half before take-off.

Flying east is a bitch, at least for me. We departed Atlanta at 9:46 at night and arrived in London at 11:00 the next morning. For whatever reason, I cannot sleep on a plane, so I do get jet lagged and have to fight very hard not to succumb to the temptation of “just a short nap” before we get out and about. Here are some suggestions to help https://www.off-the-path.com/en/how-to-overcome-jetlag/.

There are several options to get from the airport to the hotel, but after eight hours in the air and five time zones later we always opt for car and driver to meet us at the arrival terminal. We have had incredible luck with 24/7 car hire service. The drivers have always been on time, professional, personable, and their cars immaculate. I do find their web site a bit cumbersome and sometimes it is easier just to call them by phone to make arrangements.

After deplaning, passing through customs and immigration, stopping to purchase a burner phone or change a Sim card in my U.S. Phone (must be unlocked), meet our  driver, and an hour’s drive to our hotel, we arrived at the Crowne Plaza Docklands in mid-afternoon.

PS depending on what if any cell service you have, you can also, at an additional charge, add UK service to your existing plan.

To Be Continued