Homeward bound

Day 15 (Mon, 16 June 2014)

This was theoretically not a day in London because we left at 6am for the airport. But I thought I would just record it in a post to complete the journey.

Our flights were a little out of the ordinary, in the sense that we flew into Heathrow but were leaving from Gatwick. There isn't a Tube station at Gatwick so when I was researching ways to get to the airport from London, one of them I found was EasyBus - a low-priced bus that regularly ferried passengers from Earl's Court area directly to Gatwick Airport. In fact, this was the main reason that we decided to stay at Earl's Court in our second leg of London, we could easily board the EasyBus.

Among all the different ways to get to and from Gatwick, EasyBus is by far the cheapest - from £2 one way! That's even cheaper than a Tube ticket! It seemed almost too good to be true and I guess that should have triggered my suspicions but it didn't. We booked four tickets for the 6.20am bus. (Only one seat per bus trip gets the £2 special price so here's a tip: even if you're travelling in a group, book one ticket first and if you're the first one, you get it at £2. The rest will cost more but if you click say, four tickets at one go, you immediately get charged at the higher price.)

After we'd booked the tickets, I thought I'd check out reviews for EasyBus and to my horror, found that the service was panned very badly online. Lots and lots of reports of no-shows, late buses, buses getting lost... and NO REFUNDS. Yikes.

I had to have a Plan B on hand and after more research, found that we could also take the rail from West Brompton station (about 100m from the EasyBus bus stop to Gatwick. So we decided to do this: since we'd already booked tickets for EasyBus, we would go to the bus stop and pray the bus arrives. We'd give it 15-minute grace and if it didn't show up, we would make our way to Gatwick via rail.

So rather apprehensively, bright and early, we dragged our luggage to the bus stop. And lo and behold, the EasyBus drove up a few minutes after we'd arrived! Yay, our prayers were answered!

EasyBus is a small bus so there are limitations with baggage but we didn't face any problems. The driver was a quiet fella. He collected our tickets and helped with the bags without saying much. The drive all the way to Gatwick was smooth and uneventful.

So were we just fortunate? I don't know. I think God was looking out for us. Also, I don't doubt that all the bad reviews are true but I suspect that with such services that operate multiple trips almost round the clock, the bad reviews still form a small percentage of all the times that the bus actually worked. People tend to only report the bad experiences, afterall. Or maybe we weren't leaving at a peak hour when traffic is more unpredictable. So if you're thinking of taking the EasyBus, do consider the pros and cons. It's a very cheap and convenient airport transfer, only if you can stomach the possibility of a no-show.

Incidentally, Gatwick Airport is very pleasant. Everything looks new and modern, and it isn't as crowded at Heathrow. It's just a little less convenient to get to.

We were on Emirates which meant a stopover at Dubai. Even though we chose Emirates only because of its cheap fares (flying direct via SIA would have cost us 50% more), transiting at Dubai turned out to be a very welcome break for me. I tend to find it hard to sleep on planes so a long-haul flight can be torturous. After 10 hours, I feel like screaming and punching something. A Dubai transit cuts the journey almost exactly in half, which is great. Seven hours is about my limit - two meals, two movies. Each time I disembarked from the plane this trip, my knees creaked. I'm starting to feel my age. It was good to get out and stretch.

On the way back, we had a 7-hour layover - that was the shortest transit time we could get. We figured that was too long to be hanging around the airport so we booked a room at Dubai International Hotel. It's in the transit area so you don't have to pass through immigration. A bit pricey for a few hours but we figured we'd all appreciate the rest. (You can also book a recliner chair at the lounge but since they charge per person, for a family of four, I'd say it's more worthwhile to book a room).

It turned out to be fantastic. There's a meet and greet service to take you straight to the hotel (it can be hard to find if your gate is at the other end of the airport). The room is huge (you can request for a king bed or 2 singles) and there's a long leather sofa that can easily serve as another bed. There's free wifi and the washroom even had a bidet! You can also use the pool and gym but who has energy for that...

The beds were very comfortable. I didn't sleep much as my body clock was all haywire but Kenneth and the kids were out like a light. You can get the receptionist to inform you of the gate of your next flight and they offer a wake-up call to ensure you don't miss your flight. It was a terrific rest stop. Well worth the price.

Another 7-hour flight and we were back in hot and muggy Singapore. Nevertheless, it's nice to be home!