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Relocating to London From A to Z: Using Your Virgin-ity…

Tuesday, April 26th, 2011

Author: Colleen

A London move isn’t the only thing that can keep you on your toes when you relocate to the UK. Nor is vegging out inside your London apartment the only way to get off your feet and relax. What you might have taken as a saucy blog title is really only my demented way of introducing today’s topic for our April A to Z Blogging Challenge:

“V” is for VIRGIN!

Not “like” a virgin, but the actual Virgin. Just as England was once under the reign of the Virgin Queen (Elizabeth I), so it is serviced by the Virgin corporation (Richard Branson). Though global in scope, Virgin can indeed be an integral part of living in London in particular.

To start with logistics necessary to moving to London, I’ve written before about setting up utilities for London apartment rentals. Virgin Media is one of the top three UK service providers for obtaining television, broadband, and telephone services in London. For more details (as well as a comparison with the other top providers), please refer to my post, “Setting up Your Telly When You Relocate to London.” You can further obtain a cell phone through Virgin Mobile.

A London relocation also requires getting here, doesn’t it? In addition to flying back home for visits? In that case, Virgin Atlantic is a fine airline option that offers top-notch comfort and service where flying goes these days. They’re also responsible for one of my favorite TV adverts, upon celebrating their 25th anniversary:

And beyond flying to and from home, consider the places you can go for the sheer fun of it with London as your hub! If you’re looking for help planning a vacation, Virgin Holidays is a first-class go-to resource that offers a “worry-free” guarantee that all your customized traveling and accommodation needs will be met.

For shorter term getaways, you can also have a heck of a lot of fun just hanging out locally in London or elsewhere in the UK thanks to Virgin Experience Days. I’ve written about these before in my post, “Have a Satisfying Virgin Experience if You’re Moving to London.” *blush* (Get your mind out of the gutter…) Whether you’re looking to spend a couple dozen GBP or a couple thousand, devote an afternoon or an entire day, these “experience days” can provide you with thrills and indulgences suited to whatever you fancy.

Whichever the practical needs or pleasurable desires you have upon relocating to England, the move to London itself will be an incredible experience, with Virgin as the popped cherry on top.

Tags: london apartment utilities, london apartments for rent, london relocation agent, London Relocation Services, london tv service providers, Moving to London, Moving to London from US, relocating to london england, rent london apartments, Richard Branson, traveling to and from london england, uk relocation, Virgin Atlantic Airways, virgin experience days, Virgin Holidays, Virgin Media
Posted in London Recreation, Relocating to UK: Visas, Banking, & Other Logisitical Issues | 1 Comment »

Weekend Warrior Saturday: Researching UK Phone Services for Your London Move

Saturday, January 29th, 2011

: Image via Wikipedia

Author: Colleen

Lovely to see you again, you Weekend Warriors who are moving to London! Last week I suggested you familiarize yourself with your nation’s embassy in London to be sure you know where to go/who to contact/etc. Today, I’ll briefly address another UK-factor you can be looking into prior to your London move as well: phone providers.

I’ve discussed previously how internet calling services like Skype are probably the cheapest way to call long-distance (Skype calls are free to other Skype users!), as well as how mobile phones (cell phones) offer flexibility in service packages for your physical phone—i.e., thanks to the phones not being locked to one provider as they are in the States, interchangeable SIM cards make that one less unnecessary expense (and provider service contracts can be at least six months shorter than their U.S. counterparts). Where mobile phones go, first check to determine whether your current mobile (cell) phone provider does offer services in the UK. Some carriers have a sister company that could make for a seamless transition. Four major mobile phone operators in the UK are Vodafone, T-Mobile, O2, and Orange, and I highly recommend Carphone Warehouse for comparing your options and making the purchase.

A lot of expats relocating to London are only doing so for the short-term, so often bypass a landline phone altogether in favor of saving money on just the mobile. It also simplifies the impending move by having one less utility to think about transferring if moving within London or canceling if leaving the country. Nonetheless, the reliability of a landline phone as at least back-up can give peace of mind, and all the major UK TV subscription services like Sky, Virgin Media, and British Telecom (BT) offer cable, internet, and phone bundles that can save you money on calls. Five major landline phone operators in the UK are Virgin, BT, TalkTalk, Vonage, and Primus, and sites like HomePhoneChoices and uSwitch can help you make the comparison to find your best option.

Calling patterns vary by the individual, so it’s up to you to research your options and see which calling packages best match your needs at the best price. I do hope, though, that the resources offered here point you in the right direction to save you some time as you make the most of your Warrior Weekend and prepare efficiently and productively for that London move!

Tags: BT, colleen, Landline, london apartment, london apartments, London Relocation Services, mobile phone, moving to london england from canada, Moving to London from US, moving to london with kids, O2, Orange phone, overseas moving tips, packing for an overseas move, packing tips for moving abroad, packing tips for moving overseas, packing to move abroad, packing to move overseas, packing to move to London, relocating a family to london, relocating to london from overseas, rent london, researching uk phone, Skype, t-mobile, TalkTalk, Virgin Media, vodafone
Posted in London Weekend Warriors, Moving to London: Tips & Culture, Relocating to UK: Visas, Banking, & Other Logisitical Issues, Saturday Moving Tips | 1 Comment »

Setting up Your Telly When You Relocate to London

Monday, January 10th, 2011

: Image via Wikipedia

Author: Colleen

We provide all of our London Relocation clients with a comprehensive directory of local UK utility companies for setting up their new London apartment, but today I’ll touch on the Top 3 of TV:

Sky

Virgin Media

BT Vision

Which is best for you largely depends, as each of the above offers various choices in packages to customize it to your needs, including bundles with telephone and internet as well. As you browse through the sites, ask yourself this: 1) How much TV do I want to watch? and 2) How much do I want to pay?

To start, allow me to interject with the fact that I know some expats who moved to London recently and didn’t desire to ship their TVs nor pay the UK TV tax. They don’t watch enough TV to warrant doing so, but have still managed to catch the shows they enjoy online on their computers. This could be a post unto itself, so I won’t expound further here except to say that this is an option.

Also, if you do want a TV and do pay the TV tax, then your least expensive service options are Freeview and Freesat, which offer subscription-free digital television—i.e., you pay a one-off cost for equipment/set-up, watch TV for free, and aren’t committed to any contracts. Freeview boxes go for £20 and offer up to 74 TV/radio channels. Freesat offers about 140 TV/radio channels, but is a digital satellite service, so its required products are costlier and sold through assorted retail channels, so prices will vary. Both offer HD.

Where subscription service providers go, Sky is the popular choice, as it offers the most TV and radio channels (I believe almost 700, over 50 of which are HD, the most in the UK) and is reputed to have the fastest broadband and most reliable service. They’re also known to have great deals at least a couple times a year that could slash your initial box and/or package prices substantially. It does require a landline, however, so if your flat isn’t already set up for one, you’ll have to set one up or have Sky do so for you.

The standard box is £49, (+ £30 set-up fee) or free if you sign up for Sky TV Online (the HD box is as well if you sign onto Sky Online with the HD pack) or through a bundle.
You can then purchase all the channel packs (entertainment + movies + sports) for £52 or pick-and-choose what you want among those three categories as well as within them (for example, the entertainment pack is £19.50 and offers five other add-ons for £1 apiece, and the movies pack is £16 total or a choice between two different £8 options).
Sky TV + broadband + phone bundles start at £19.50 per month, but can be customized with whichever channels/features you want to add through their user-friendly site.

Virgin Media is what we use and have been happy with so far. The only reason my husband and I didn’t go for Sky is because our flat wasn’t set up for a landline, and we weren’t going to use one. In any case, we have access to a few Sky channels and could access even more through an upgrade, but we’ve enjoyed a good range of channels (with an increasing number becoming HD) and on-demand TV and film options.

The standard box is £50.
Package options range like clothing sizes, in M+, L, and XL:
- M+ (65 channels for £12.50/month)
- L (100 channels for £17.25/month)
- XL (160 channels for £29.50/month)
- Premium sports and/or movie channels can be added to the above for an additional £14.50/month.
At the time of this post, they’re offering 6 months at half-price if bundled with a phone line and/or broadband (see link for details).

BT Vision is the least popular option in the UK, incorporating the aforementioned Freeview plus on-demand options. It’s available only through BT Total Broadband, so if you don’t have either, you’ll have to order a BT package of both.

The standard box is £60 or free for a limited time if you go for their Bronze or Gold package.
If your broadband is already set up, you could get a basic BT Vision package for an additional one-off price of £30 for a 12-month contract. The Bronze upgrade offers a discount of £7.50/month for the first three months, £15/month thereafter. The Gold offers £12.50/month for the first three months, £20/month thereafter.
Otherwise, for the three tiers in TV + broadband + phone bundles, pay £18, £28, and £40/month, respectively.

Do I have your head spinning like Linda Blair’s in The Exorcist? Hopefully not too badly, as this overview should prompt you to analyze your needs and perhaps already narrow down to a potential best-fit to research further before or after moving to London. It can be overwhelming to have so many options, and yet pretty awesome to have more choice.

Tip: If you’re super cost-conscious, consider your online and subscription-free TV options, and remember that your UK mobile and internet calling services like Skype can be used in lieu of a landline bundle.

Tags: BT Total Broadband, BT Vision, colleen, london apartment, london apartments, london move, London Relocation, London Relocation Services, Moving to London, rent london, renting in london, setting up utilities in london, Sky TV, TV internet and phone bundles, UK service providers, UK utilities, Virgin Media
Posted in Moving to London: Tips & Culture | 6 Comments »

Have a Satisfying Virgin Experience if You’re Moving to London

Thursday, November 11th, 2010

Author: Colleen

“What did she just say?!”
“Did I read that right?”
“What is this smut?”
“What kind of blog is this??!!!”

What, like you don’t remember your special first time…enjoying a spa day? Driving round a racetrack? Hunting for ghosts? Or haven’t you done those things and need Virgin to take your virgin-ity. I’m talking about Virgin Experience Days. What did you think I was talking about?!!

As random as the experiences listed above are, there’s a long list of more available that shoot off in just about every direction. Virgin Experience Days are offered all throughout England in case you’re making a UK relocation but not necessarily a London one; or, maybe you’ll be willing to go whatever the distance for the unique opportunity it could be. The experiences range anywhere from under £25 to up to £1000, so it’s ideal to give as a gift to someone else or a full-on indulgence for yourself. You can choose from an array of categories such as hotels, pampering, theatre, afternoon tea, days out in London, Silverstone racing (as I’ve written about before), football (remember that would be soccer, you Yankees), adrenaline (like bungee-jumping and tank paintball), cooking, culture—you can even fly or learn how be a spy! One particular experience is something right out of Sex and the City and perhaps a little closer to what your mind-in-the-gutter was thinking earlier—when Samantha has her nude photos taken. Yep, you can do it, too, ladies, in tasteful black-and-white in an all-female studio.

I can’t say I’ve got the desire to immortalize my physique in such a way, but the ghost-hunting sure sounds fun! 9 hours of seances and reading EMF’s and all that stuff I like to dork out and watch on the telly; well something has to fill the void that Ghost Whisperer‘s cancellation is leaving behind! Even a relaxed day sipping tea at Kensington Palace‘s Orangery or Windsor Castle sounds delightful to me, not to say the shooting and axe-throwing of the Spy Games experience wouldn’t be enchanting as well .

So what will your experience be after London Relocation saves you all kinds of time and money finding your London apartment?

(Oh, and just an FYI, as of today you can sign on to our London Living social network using your Facebook, Google, or Yahoo accounts! “Your New Life Across the Pond – How to Plan it, Live it, and Love it“)

Tags: afternoon tea in London, american expats in london, Americans moving to London, canadians relocating to london england, colleen, finding a london apartment, flats to rent in london, london apartments, rent london, rent studio london, rental properties london, royal palaces kensington windsor buckingham, silverstone formula 1 racing, things to do in london england, touring england, unique experiences in the uk, virgin experience days, Virgin Media
Posted in London Food & Beverage, London Recreation, Moving to London: Tips & Culture | 1 Comment »

Tuesday Tidbits at London Relocation

Tuesday, July 6th, 2010

This is going to be one of my more all-over-the-place posts, giving you a glimpse at an average day in the life of a Londoner.

It’s a busy week ahead as I prepare to fly home for Chicago on Friday, and mixed in with my packing are a couple great visitors. Very excited about today in particular, as one of the top Anglophiles is in London this week – Jonathan Thomas of Anglotopia! I’ve given a shout-out to Anglotopia here before (“London Relocation Loves Anglotopia” post) and have the privilege of meeting with Jonathan this afternoon for lunch. In selecting a central meeting place, we’ve opted for Ye Olde Cheschire Cheese off of Fleet Street (yes, the Fleet Street of Demon Barber renown). Rebuilt in 1667 after the Great Fire, it is believed that its cellars date back to a monastery that once stood on the site, dating back to the 13th century. So, in about a half hour I’ll be catching the Central Line at Notting Hill Gate tube station.

I always enjoy an opportunity to venture into the City centre, especially on a gorgeous sunny day like today. It is unreal how warm this UK summer has been so far; unfortunately, the grass is the casualty—I’ve never seen the UK so brown. I’m still hoping to sneak a peek, though, at how the gardens of New Square off of Chancery Lane are holding up, as well as venture off to Sports Direct for a UK sports-related birthday present for my nephew—they usually have stellar sales and am hoping now that England is out of the World Cup that one good outcome is slashed prices on football paraphrenalia And what a lovely thing ’tis that I can run such simple errands with St. Paul’s Cathedral as my backdrop, which is an aspect of London that makes the everyday extraordinary. The spouse works around there, too, so perhaps I’ll catch him for a smooch before having to return home for…

…the Virgin Media guy. When you move to London and set up your utilities, a few options you have for TV/phone/internet packages are Virgin, British Telecom (BT), Onetel, and Sky. Londonistas from our London Living network have been asking me lately about this, and I’ve related to them that, while we might have opted for Sky for its movie channels, it required a landline, which we don’t have. Virgin Media, then, has been the provider of choice, and we’ve been so far satisfied with their broadband and cable (complete with On-Demand movies and television shows as well as DVR functionality to record and stop/rewind/fast-forward live TV); the only issue we’re encountering now is the not-so-”Smart Card” we recently received in the mail and had to swap into our box…alas. Not the best timing with the World Cup and Wimbledon underway, is it.

*sigh* After that, I’m sheh-juled to meet with another friend in town with his family. Today, they’re off on the Stonehenge/Bath bus day-tour, so their return should perfectly coordinate with my 4-7pm cable-guy window. As they’re staying in Earls Court, there are a myriad of restaurant options to choose from for dinner, be it a low-key pub like the Blackbird, a gastropub like the Pembroke, or my cafe fave, the Troubadour, not to mention a range of Italian, Thai, Indian, Greek and other cultural cuisine.

Oh, all the wonderful ways in London to procrastinate from packing…All right then, all this being said, I’ve gotsta’ go!

Tags: Anglotopia, Central London, London Living, London Relocation Services, London utility services, Moving to London, St. Paul's Cathedral, Stonehenge Bath tour, The Troubadour, Virgin Media, west london, Ye Olde Cheschire Cheese
Posted in London Food & Beverage, London Recreation, London, England History, Moving to London: London Sightseeing, Moving to London: Tips & Culture | No Comments »