British Airways and my problem
 

I never thought I would need this. My BA flight created a problem My rental runs out during the coming strike on Dec 31, new flight for Jan 3, 2010. My rental place won't extend for the 3 nights. Can anyone suggest a reasonable (?) hotel preferably in the Knightsbridge area or nearby?
Maybe a bed and breakfast which I have never done, but sounds interesting. As you can imagiine, I'm going batty over this.

I'm absolutely no expert on London hotels.

But from 31/12-3/1 I'd just go onto Priceline.

Business won't start up again till Jan 4 - and the strike (if it happens) will slightly reduce tourism into London anyway. So Priceline-style hotels are likely to be about as cheap as they ever get.

We had success using Priceline in London. Their areas for London worked well for us and we got a very nice hotel in South Kensington by a tube station for an extremely reasonable price. If you decide to go this route, check out www.biddingfortravel.com to view recent bids & wins. Good Luck!

We also had great success in London with a 4* South Kensington bid. Also look at www.betterbidding.com for hints, tips and help.

I haven't been following the news on the BA strike closely. Is the strike going to happen for sure? The reason I ask is that once you get (and pay for) a hotel room via Priceline, there is no refund, no cancellation. So, if the BA strike gets cancelled and you can go home on your original flight, you cannot get your $ back from Priceline.

So, if you're 100% sure you need 3 more nights in London, go ahead and bid a room via PL. If you're not 100% sure, book a hotel room the conventional way that allows you to cancel without a penalty.

Try Londontown.com/ I 've gotten prices in South Ken for under 90 GBP. I'm booked into Jury's Inn Chelsea Harbour for a very good rate with breakfast but I know how to use the London buses.

Thank you. I started to get my feet wet by checking things out. Actually, I'm not good at this searching on Priceline and biddingfortravel.com. At one glance I think I could handle the hotel in the Chelsea Knightsbridge Kensington area. But at this moment I am chicken. I did like the phone number for help at hotwire, I think it was.

BTW< the cancellation policy at Londontown is very good. You can cancel right uo to the last minute

I love Priceline's "Name Your Own Price" for short stays and last-minute reservations when I know that if I hate the place I'm not staying long and when my plans are pretty firm.

I've never used it for London but have gotten rooms all over the US for 1/4-3/4 the regular rates. If you haven't used "Name Your Own Price" you need to know that you pay in advance, cannot get refunds and don't know the name of the hotel until after your bid is accepted. You do get to pick the area and the * level of hotels.

Read recent history of bids for London on www.biddingfortravel.com to know what a winning bid might be for your dates as well as which hotels tend to show up in different areas.

If you've never used "Name your own Price" you should familiarize yourself with the concept of the "free bid" that keeps you from waiting to bid again if your bid is rejected. This is the key to getting a good price fairly quickly. http://hotels.about.com/cs/travelers...icelinebid.htm

May I assume you asked your original hotel if they had any friends in the hotel business who could help??

I would definitely suggest trying to find something that is refundable if you cancel it. Have you already heard from BA that they're switching your flights? I have a couple flights during the strike period as well and haven't heard anything from them yet. Do remember that it's entirely possible, and even likely, that the strike will get fixed before it happens. This massive strike is incredibly unpopular with passengers and per some reports with the cabin crews as well. They thought they were voting to support the union if they decided to strike, they didn't realize how insane the length and dates of the strike might actually be. BA is also pursuing legal options (the ballots may not be valid) to prevent the strike.

If BA doesn't strike or can get you out (they'll try to cancel the shorter flights before the long haul flights), then do you want to be holding an extra plane ticket and 3 more hotel nights?

How about asking BA to solve the problem / find you a room? It's their fault after all.

The strike was called off today. You should be able to stick with your original plans.