- Good morning from London.
It happens to all of us when we travel to a new place,
that we end up overpaying for a bunch of different things
and that happens for a variety of reasons.
But in this video, I'm gonna tell you about five things
I always see tourists overpaying for,
and how you can avoid doing that, so let's go.
Getting from the airport to the centre of London,
there are three ways that I see tourists
overpaying for this, so let me walk you through them.
Let's start with taxis.
Almost all of London's airports are not actually in London,
so a lot of tourists will walk off the plane and be shocked
when they find out that a taxi to their hotel
is going to cost them 100 Pounds or more.
If that's not in your budget, every airport has at least
a couple of public transport options that will get you
into Central London for a lot cheaper.
With just a quick search on Citymapper
from the airport you're flying into to your hotel,
you can see all of your available routes
and also how much each of them will cost you.
Just be sure to adjust your arrival time in the app
because the availability of public transport
drastically reduces very early in the morning
or late at tonight.
Now let's talk about the Heathrow Express.
If you fly into London Heathrow Airport,
you're gonna see loads of signs telling you
to take the Heathrow Express into Central London.
You can do that, but the Heathrow Express
is the most expensive train per minute in the world,
at 25 Pounds per ticket for a 15 minute ride.
But if you're booking your ticket 90 days in advance,
or more, you can avoid paying 25 Pounds
and instead opt for an advanced purchase ticket,
which just five Pounds 50, which makes it cheaper
than taking the tube, which actually takes way longer.
If you aren't booking your tickets 90 days in advance
or more, you can still avoid that 25 Pound ticket price
by avoiding the Heathrow Express
and opting instead for the Elizabeth line.
This goes into Paddington as well,
takes only 28 minutes, and only costs 12 Pound 80.
So it's much cheaper, just a bit slower.
The Elizabeth line also goes well into Central London
and even to East London, so Google Maps might actually
tell you that taking the Elizabeth line to your hotel
is a much better option anyway.
Now if you're not flying into Heathrow,
chances are you're flying into Gatwick Airport instead
and we've got another tricky one there as well.
There is the Gatwick Express, and that is a hard no.
In basically all instances, if you take the Gatwick Express,
you will be overpaying for your transport
into Central London from the airport, why?
Well, one-way the Gatwick Express ticket,
when you buy it at the station, is 20 Pounds,
and the train takes 30 minutes
to get to London Victoria Station.
But there's also a Southern train that goes
from the exact same place to the exact same place,
that is only 12 Pound 50 and has two extra stops in between,
making it only three minutes longer
than the Gatwick Express.
So if you take the Gatwick Express, you're paying a lot more
money for saving three minutes of time.
So it's basically just never worth it.
By the way, this video is sponsored by Google Pixel.
I have been using Google Pixel phones for years,
and I just got my hands on the brand new Google Pixel 7 Pro,
which is made out of 100% recycled materials.
There are lots of new features that come
with the Google Pixel 7 Pro, but as always,
my favourite new features have to do with the camera.
The new super res zoom is very impressive,
giving you 30X zoom, which makes for very dramatic,
very up close photos.
I also pair the phone with my new Google Pixel Watch,
and I use it with Google Maps so I can navigate
around London without having to have my phone out.
If you wanna find out about all the other features
that come with the Google Pixel 7 Pro,
click the link in the description box of the video.
And now let's get back to the things
that tourists always overpay for.
- It's my first time here.
- Oh! - And I've seen
all your videos and all your things before coming here.
- Oh cool!
Overpaying for public transport.
Okay, so now you're in Central London
and you wanna get around the city.
The number one way that tourists overpay
for the tube and the bus while you're here
is by getting a daily travel card.
Now you hear daily travel card and you think,
oh, unlimited rides, that surely is gonna save me money.
But it actually doesn't, it actually ends up
costing you more than if you had just used an Oyster card
or contactless payment methods, let me explain.
The daily travel card costs 14 Pound 40
for travel through zones one through four.
Now, most tourists end up staying in zones one to two,
which if you pay for public transportation in those zones,
the daily cap or the most that you'll ever pay
for the entire day in zones one to two
is just seven Pounds 70.
So if you stay in those two zones
and you get a daily travel card, you're basically paying
double the price for the same type of travel.
Even if you do travel through zones one through four,
the daily cap for those zones is 11 Pounds.
So you're still paying more if you get a daily travel card.
If you're super confused, don't worry,
all you have to know is don't get a daily travel card,
you'll end up paying a lot more.
And instead, pay for your transportation
with contactless payment method or an Oyster card,
and you're good to go.
Okay, enough about public transport.
Let's talk about attractions.
I get mixed reviews from my community
who go and do the must dos in London,
like the London Eye or the Tower of London.
The tickets for major attractions like this
are like 30 Pounds plus.
So some people feel as if they have overpaid
for going to these things.
So, how do you know if you're gonna feel like that?
Well, it seems simple, but ask yourself,
why am I gonna go to the Tower of London
if I'm not really that interested in history?
Or if you don't really like musicals,
don't feel like you have to go see a show on the West End.
It's important for you to think about what you like to do
and what you're interested in,
and not what someone tells you is a must do
when you're in London.
We have so many things that you can do here,
that no matter what your interest,
you'll always find something that will be of interest to you
and that you'll feel that you got good value paying for,
and that you didn't overpay for it.
Okay, now let's say you are here to do all the big must dos
and the big tourist attractions, that's totally fine.
Let me give you a couple tips to help you save
a little bit of money and help you feel
like you haven't overpaid for your attractions tickets.
First tip, most tickets are 10% cheaper
if you order them online versus getting them at the door,
so make sure you do that ahead of time.
Number two is to check out the London Pass
and the London Explorer Pass.
These are two different city passes that give you discounts
for going to a bunch of the attractions around the city.
And I have articles for both of them
that will help you figure out if either of them
are gonna be a good fit for your trip,
so I'll leave links to those in the description box.
Overpaying for bad food near the tourist attractions.
Make sure that you plan out your meals
when you're going to be sightseeing,
and don't just leave it to,
we'll find something when we're there.
That is the perfect recipe for ending up
at any old restaurant, that's probably a tourist trap,
where you're gonna pay a load of money
for some really bad food.
By doing your research and planning your meals out,
you can ensure that you're not trying to find any old place
while on an empty stomach.
You can make reservations at the good places,
you can make sure you can actually get a table
at the time that you want.
And you can just do your research and make sure
that you're finding places that you are gonna feel like
you got really good value for your money.
It could mean the difference between paying 30 Pounds
for a terrible burger at Planet Hollywood,
or paying half the price at a market just around the corner
that has delicious street food that you knew about
because you did your research.
Overpaying for your accommodation,
just 'cause you think you'll be safer.
I once had a follower tell me that a friend of his told him
that the only way to ensure that your accommodation
in London is safe enough is to make sure you're paying
at least 600 Pounds a night for it.
That is absurd and also completely wrong.
I do hear of a lot of tourists who end up spending
a lot of money on mediocre, international,
overpriced hotel chains here in London because they think
they'll be more comfortable and more safe there.
But the truth is that here in London,
we have even budget hotels and hostels
that are incredibly safe.
So you don't need to overextend yourself to be able to feel
comfortable and safe where you're staying.
That's tip number one, tip number two is we have lots
of accommodation recommendations on loveandlondon.com.
But if you're looking at a particular property
here in London, the best way to get a feel
of if it's going to be safe
is simply to read through the reviews.
So make sure you check those booking.com
or TripAdvisor reviews before you book anything.
Tip number three, don't be afraid to book accommodation
a bit outside of Central London
where all the main tourist attractions are.
Generally, you're gonna get a bit more for your money
if you do that, but it doesn't mean
that you're gonna be anywhere that isn't safe.
If you stay outside of Central London,
you can get to better know some of the more local areas
that we have in the city that are also perfectly safe.
And you get to know the tube
and the bus system really well,
which I think is a great part of staying in London.
If you want more tips for your London trip,
I have literally hundreds of videos that you can watch.
And you can do that by clicking one of the boxes
popping up right around me.
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