Try McDonalds (not kidding): Ice cream is the deal of the century here, at less than $1 for a cone. (Also, it tastes more like actual ice cream than its equivalent back home).
The greenback is so weak, every day in London becomes a challenge for you, Mr. and Mrs. Traveling American. Just how, you ask yourselves, will we be pinching pence today?
Post reporter David K. Li, just back from the capital, reports that both he and gal pal managed to have a great time – despite the fact that they paid double for everything. Here, his recommendations for cutting costs on your next visit.
1) Burn baby burn If there???s ever a good time and place to burn frequent flier miles and hotel points, it???s now and in London. Miles saved us about $700 apiece in roundtrip air and points got us into a $350-a-night, four-star hotel.
2) Ask and ye shall receive We were upgraded at our hotel (name withheld to protect the innocent) to the “executive” floor which gave us access to the “executive lounge.” There, we took advantage of complimentary continental breakfast, tea and happy hour every day. (There is no doubt a smoked salmon shortage in London after our stay.) Ask!
3) Dine al fresco London is a city awash in fast food. Sandwiches are available everywhere. We loved the food hall at Marks and Spencer on Oxford Street – also, they’ve got M&S Simply Food outlets all over town. Sandwich chains, such as Pret A Manger, are everywhere as well. A sandwich and a soda becomes a lot less depressing when you pack it up and head into Hyde Park, or Soho Square or down by the Thames.
4) Clip it good Don’t be shy about cutting out the coupons from magazines like Time Out. One night, we cashed in a 20-percent-off coupon for Bella Italia — their version of Olive Garden-esque chain Italian food. It wasn’t bad. Or expensive.
5) Don???t pay to go into a church First-timers maybe. But really, why are you ponying up to get into Westminster Abbey? Just leave it for some other time and some other sucker. We were happy to snap the typical “me in front of…” picture and be done with it.
6) Don’t forget to spend at some point All this grim penny pinching can be a bummer — treat yourself. We got tickets to a West End show from the TKTS booth in Leicester Square one night. It was nice to change it up a little.
7) The rules of the road Under no circumstances are you to take a taxi anywhere. The Tube stops on about every corner in Central London. Just make sure you buy an Oyster Card, the London equivalent of a MetroCard, except it costs $4 to get it, so it makes no sense to buy unless you’re using it more than a couple of times. Then again, its a relative bargain if you think about it – single fare, central zone tickets are now $8!
8) Mind the fee With ATMs on just about every London corner, few people use travelers’ checks these days, but you can save yourself from paying service charges of anywhere from $2 to $5 by using a bank that’s affiliated with your bank back in the U.S. For example, Bank of America has a deal with Barclay’s, a major British bank. If you use your B of A card at Barclay’s, you won’t pay a fee. Using the same card at a bank without that kind of arrangement can cost as much as $5, even if you only take out 20 pounds. Harrumph.
— David K. Li