Money-saving help needed. Gütersloh (Germany) to Staffordshire (England!)

Money_saving_Martyn

Hi Moneysavers

I'm going to Germany for 10 months (part of uni course) but while I'm there (working!) my brother's getting married and I should really return to England to be there, however I'm having a few problems finding travel arrangements that suit my moneysaving ways....

One of the main problems is when I need to travel. I'll be working part time in a school and so getting time off during the week will be unlikely (although I'm hoping to squeeze a Friday off out of them!)

The wedding is the 22nd September (a saturday) and flying on Friday and returning Sunday increases the fair ten-fold (ish). I've tried some flight checkers but they will only let me input details to go from the Uk and to Germany (nearest airport, Paderborn) Airberlin gives a price of around £100 per person for these dates.

I've tried a very unhelpful train website (Raileurope), which quoted £170 return for 2 passengers from Bielefeld [a close city to Gütersloh]) to London Waterloo, tells me there are trains available, and then changes it's mind when I try to book! That also leaves getting from London to Staffordshire to add onto the price.

I've looked at driving. A Norfolkline ferry journey (Dunkerque to Calais, return) is about £50 (nice) but I'll be driving about 550 miles (one way) which (I think) will cost £75 in petrol...... a bit of maths.... = £200 (roughly)

I thank everyone for having bothered to read all of this, and any help or advice will be appreciated!

Thanks!

Martyn (not the expert!!)

Takecareofthepennies

Alternative airports nearby to consider are Münster/Osnabrück and Dortmund.
BMI, I believe, fly from Hannover (which is a bit further away) to Heathrow.

Try the German websites of Expedia (https://www.expedia.de) and Opodo (https://www.opodo.de) - I assume you have some command of the German language - for an overview of what's available from the various airports, but check prices direct on your chosen carrier's website before booking.

These two websites don't include all no-frills carriers. Two airlines whose websites you should check are Germanwings and HapagLloyd Express. Not sure whether they have any routes useful to you, but I'll leave the scouting for you to do.

If you haven't done so yet, check https://www.skyscanner.net. Personally, I find it a bit clumsy to navigate, but it includes all airlines in its searches and it allows you to search for trips originating abroad.

Driving, I think, is not really an option for a weekend. Apart from the cost, reckon upon min. 5 hrs from Gütersloh to Calais, plus crossing, plus driving time to your destination in the UK.

Train travel might be a bit more relaxed, but would also take considerable time. German rail operator, Deutsche Bahn have an English website, should be easy to google. You could try and see whether you can find a better price there.

Happy hunting.

Money_saving_Martyn

thank you Takecareofthepennies!

I thought I should add - there are 2 of us travelling and we're considering the total cost as travelling as a couple!

- and yes, I can speak/read/write German to a fair standard - I get by!!

thanks again Martyn

Takecareofthepennies

OK - in that case nclude Stena Line Hoek van Holland - Harwich ferry in your considerations. If you can share the driving, it's not quite so tedious.

Hoek van Holland saves you a bit of driving on the Continent and Harwich allows you to avoid London/M25. Prices (this year) start at £59 single for car + 2. You should easily be able to get their best price if you book early - although they probably have not released next September's sailings yet. Offset the extra ticket cost against the savings in petrol and hassle and make your own choice. I use them around 10 - 12 times a year ...

Viel Spass! :beer:

Takecareofthepennies

Sorry, forgot to mention: Tesco Clubcard deals have Stena Line among their offerings. This could potentially quarter your ticket cost!

Voyager2002

For train options, consult German rail. Their website is wonderfully comprehensive and sells discounted tickets for journeys involving Germany and one other country. Do a search for bahn.de and that should give the exact URL.

You could use that site to get a ticket to Belgium, and then go to the Eurostar site for your onward journey to London. (Eurostar tickets to/from Brussels are valid to any station in Belgium, so you would only need an extra ticket from Germany to the first station inside Belgium.)

North Sea ferries used to sail between Rotterdam and Hull: that might cut down your travel time in England, and the bah.de site could offer a low fare to Rotterdam.

And don't forget the apex fare offered by One railways: any station in Holland to any of their stations (London; Norwich; Cambridge etc) via the Harwich-Hoek ferry. Again, you could get a separate train ticket to the first station inside Holland.

Princess_G

Hiya

Well I can see where you are coming from with regards to moneysaving - I myself am on here for opodo discounts but there doesn't seem to be any!
I've read all your post and I can relate to it very very well.

I have been travelling back and forth to Herford which is about 40 mins away from gutesloth and I am in shropshire. I think you only have two options - driving or flying. I must have flown 20 times in the last 8 months alone. Only from manchester to paderborn or hannover. won't do brum as it's too dear even with petrol taken in to account.

Driving - Done this 3 times, total was about 450/500 miles.....managed to get from Germany to the beligum border before filling up and again just a small amount in oxford before home, petrol did last long as of course it's long driving, went with norfolkline and to be fair it was very good and got a 2.00am crossing whic made it cheaper and it took roughly 4hrs 30mins to get to calais. and a further couple of hours to get to shropshire - which of course isn't too far away from staffordshire.
Pros - very quiet on roads if leaving late at night and you miss busy traffic in uk in morn and autobahn helps!
you'll get more petrol than you think out of your car.
cons - risk of breaking down and missing ferry - although you can just get on another one
it's very tiring doing the driving, unless you can share, but you can kip on the ferry.

Flights
You can look at FROM TO UK and not just from uk to germ.
I would consider checking out tuifly.com on tuesday night, this is when they have a so called happy hour and flights are discounted. I am going in 3 weeks and the price was £122.00 return, I went on tuesday and the exact same flight was £61.00 - I booked that straight way! I have just checked and on the dates you say, it is £74 return, this is hannover to manchester. hopefully you'll have a nice friend you can ask to pick you up perhaps, failing that perhaps koln to brum. that's about £72 however if you can sweet talk your work and let them give you friday off you can get it for £51. cologne will take about 1hr 50 to 2hrs 10, so you have to weigh up options, Airberlin and tuifly are the best options for flying from that area- trust me I know them off by heart.
Pros - if you can get a lift from uk airport or even catch a train, it would be a lot easier to fly, but you may have to rely on someone picking you up.
even after petrol and parking it still should cost no more than £200.
cons - perhaps the price and your limited options.
don't know if this has been useful but there doesn't seem to be anymore options and I suggest if you are flying you book no later then the end of next week as they go up quite quickly unless of course you can get discount.
:A