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Less than 16 hours to go before my flight to London, and I’ve just barely finished packing.  It’ll just be a 5-day trip, and I’ve got a fully loaded carry-on size bag that I won’t really be carrying on the plane. I’ll check it in since I have another fully loaded backpack — the gadget bag — to carry my SLR camera and notebook computer. I guess having all these gadgets really precludes one from traveling light.

I’m not sure if I’ve overpacked again for this trip. I consider myself a recovering overpacker as I’ve been a chronic overpacker, but for the last few trips I had, I tried to pack just enough clothes (and gadgets). For this trip it doesn’t help that I have to pack bulky cold-weather clothes so it was a little more difficult to pack in everything that I think I’ll need.

I haven’t fully arranged my itinerary. I’ll try to do that as soon as I finish this post. I do already have a general outline that includes the days when I’ll be making trips out of London, particularly for my day trip to Paris on the Eurostar. Tough luck for me if the transit strike in France is not yet over by Saturday. I’ve been checking the news on the strike everyday and frankly, I’ve never been this concerned about a transit strike in another country. I may have to junk my plan to go around Paris using the Metro. Instead, I’ll swallow my pride and get on one of those hop-on, hop-off tourist buses.

A few days after my parents flew back home to Manila, the travel bug seemed to have bitten me again. I’ve been seeing ads offering relatively affordable airfare between New York and London (as low as ~$450 roundtrip with taxes). The idea of spending the 4-day Thanksgiving weekend in London came to mind.  The more I thought about it, the more the idea became attractive, and the more it became seemingly possible.

But, first, I had to get a visa to be able to enter the UK. I went to the website of the British Consulate in New York where I got the needed information on how to apply for a UK visa. The application fee was a whopping £63 plus return postage of $12 (total: $144). That is just for the regular 6-month visa. I decided to apply by mail since I’m not sure what appointment dates would be available. Applying by mail also wouldn’t require me to take time off work to go to the British Consulate.

So on the weekend of September 8, I decided to try my luck applying for a UK visa. I went through the list of requirements:

1. Passport – Check!
2. Passport photo – Check!
3. Bank statements – Check!
4. Airline reservation – Check!
5. Certificate of Employment/Student Status – Check!

The worst thing about applying for the visa by mail is that lingering feeling that my travel documents (passport, I-20, I-94) could get lost in the mail. Replacing those documents is not only a lot of hassle; it is also expensive. I mailed the documents from the Farley Post Office on 8th Avenue. Although 1st-class Mail and Priority Mail would both take only 1-day to the British Consulate in Manhattan, I opted for the more expensive Priority Mail, hoping (without basis) that the likelihood for loss is less. I also added the Certified Mail option (not as if that would prevent it from getting lost). I could have chosen to send it using the Express Mail option, or even by FedEx or UPS, but I’m too cheap for that. I mailed it on the 10th. After checking the USPS tracking page every 5 minutes the next day, I learned that it was received at the consulate around noon on the 11th. Finally I could relax a bit. At least I know (or believe) that my travel documents are safe in the hands of the British Consulate

I was hoping to receive some kind of confirmation email from the consulate that they indeed received my documents and that they’re processing my application. That would’ve certainly added to my peace of mind. But I got not such email. I just relied on their promise that the typical application turnaround time is 5 business days, and that the passport will be returned by FedEx overnight. Counting from the day after they received the package — Wednesday (9/12), Thursday, Friday, Monday, Tuesday (9/18) — 5 business days. An hour past noon on the 18th, I got an automated email saying my application has been approved, and that the passport will be delivered by FedEx. The tracking number was also given in the email with estimated delivery before 10:30 A.M. the next day.

Now that I have my UK visa,  I can start planning for the trip. Unfortunately, the cheap airfare offers from Virgin Atlantic, American Airlines, and British Airways have expired, and the fares have risen by about $50. More on where I got my reservation in another post.

I moved into the Holiday Inn on the Hill yesterday. It’s just across the street from the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill on New Jersey Avenue NW. I had to jump hotels since I booked the Hyatt on Priceline. I booked the trip way back in early May, and at that time, it was difficult to get a good price for hotels in my preferred neighborhoods for this particular week. I tried a number of combinations and tried to split my stay until I got the Hyatt within my maximum bid (which actually slowly crept up).  Trying to extend it further wasn’t successful so I had to find another hotel for the rest of my stay. I found a good price for the Holiday Inn on Venere.com, and had that price matched on the Holiday Inn’s website by availing of their Lowest Rate Guarantee. It was just my luck that the two hotels were just across the street from each other.

So how do the two hotels compare?

Hotel Rating (on Priceline): The Hyatt’s a 4-star hotel on Priceline, while the Holiday Inn’s a 3-star hotel.
Internet Acces: I consider this the most important amenity. Holiday Inn wins this round as it offers FREE high-speed Internet access. Although it’s a wired connection, it’s much better than Hyatt’s dependence on the T-Mobile Hotspot service, which is NOT FREE.
Room Size: I think they’re about the same. I got a a 2-Queen Bed room at the Holiday Inn, and a 1-King Bed room at the Hyatt.  The work desk at the Hyatt is a little bigger.
Bathroom: The one at the Hyatt’s bigger, but it only had a shower enclosure, while the Holiday Inn had a tub.
Bottled Water Price: The Hyatt had a 500 ml  bottle of Poland Spring for $3.75. The Holiday Inn had a $3 710 ml bottle of Dasani. Needless to say I didn’t drink either.
Laundry. The Holiday Inn has a self-service laundry room on the 3rd floor, and, lucky me, my room’s on that floor. Since I decided to extend my stay in D.C. to do more sightseeing (I’ll have to switch hotels again.), I got to use it to wash some clothes since I only packed enough for a 5-night stay.

My Verdict: I’m leaning towards the Holiday Inn because of it’s free Internet access and laundry facility.