Item
Licensed hotel-door car to Heathrow T3
Ask citizenM the night before to arrange a licensed car or compare all-in app quote. Target Terminal 3 by 08:55; no car booked.
Day 18 of 18 · London
Wheels up. Home for the wedding.
Early hotel-door car to Heathrow T3 · 11:55 nonstop to LAX
☼ 55°F / 46°FCloud, then autumn San DiegoWear: Travel clothes. Layers for the plane.
English school half-term · more families about
Early car direct to Heathrow Terminal 3, the 11:55 nonstop to LAX, then the ride south. Home tonight; the wedding is tomorrow.
Download before you leave the hotel you should already be checked in (the American app, from 11:55 yesterday). Before you leave the hotel, confirm both mobile boarding passes are in Apple Wallet / Google Wallet and the flight is on time. Details under Apps to download.
Today’s shape, roughly
Optional, before the day starts. A 1-hour gym session or a run (nearest option is on the London page), and an afternoon nap block is built into the schedule below, take it on the long days.
01Morning
07:30
Check out and take a licensed car from citizenM Victoria's door straight to Heathrow Terminal 3. Ask the hotel concierge the day before to help arrange or compare an all-in licensed minicab/Uber/Bolt quote, including the airport drop-off fee. Aim to be at T3 by 08:55 for the 11:55 long-haul flight; leave earlier if morning traffic warrants it.
The historical London-wide Uber average is not a fare for this exact ride. A Victoria-to-Heathrow black cab is roughly £56-105, traffic-dependent. Heathrow and American recommend three hours for an international departure. If road traffic is unusually bad, the backup is Circle line from Victoria to Paddington, then Elizabeth line to Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3; the Victoria line does not go to Paddington. Heathrow route guidance.
08:55
Do online check-in the night before, then straight to security (carry-on only, no bag drop) and the lounge. Nothing to claim at Heathrow, the UK ended tourist VAT refunds; any EU tax-free forms were validated at Gare du Nord on the way in.
09:45
No1 Lounge Heathrow, airside Terminal 3 (post-security).
Open 05:00-21:00. A decent buffet and a genuinely generous bar, premium spirits and wine included, plus good coffee. Reviews are mixed on crowding, partly because Club Aspire T3 is temporarily closed and pushing extra traffic in here. Real wrinkle: Priority Pass Select gives free unlimited visits, but No1 Lounges charge a £6 per-person “reservation” fee to guarantee entry at peak times, a walk-in is technically free but can be turned away if it's full during a busy long-haul bank. Worth pre-booking online the day before for ~£6pp (~$15 for both), small optional insurance, not a requirement. With ~2h55 total buffer (09:00 arrival to 11:55 departure) and 45-60 minutes eaten by check-in/security, that leaves a genuine 60-90 minute sit. T3 gate walks can be long, so leave the lounge by 11:00-11:10 for the 11:55 departure.
02Afternoon
11:55
American AA137, nonstop LHR to LAX (Terminal 3, seats 31C/31B), ~11h15.
Compression socks back on for this one too, off once you're through LAX. Get up and move or flex your ankles every hour or two. Long-haul kit packed.
16:10
Land LAX. Meet your arranged pickup for San Diego; allow roughly 2-2.5 hours on the road after clearing the airport. The wedding is tomorrow evening.
03Evening
Home, with a trip worth remembering.
The table
Breakfast~$16
A coffee near the hotel / at the airport
house pick Keep it small.
Lunchincl.
On the plane
house pick
Tickets and bookings
Ask citizenM the night before to arrange a licensed car or compare all-in app quote. Target Terminal 3 by 08:55; no car booked.
Item
Flight LHR to LAX (American AA137)
inbox, search “American Airlines”
Carry-on only, nothing to check. American's carry-on limit is 22×14×9in (56×36×23cm), plus a personal item to 18×14×8in (45×35×20cm), no weight limit on either. Confirm the seats and mobile boarding passes in Manage Trip before the flight.
Today's voucher: American flight home (Google Drive). Other confirmations remain in the private trip Drive folder. Only travelers with access can open linked files; no ticket contents are embedded here.
Before you leave the door
Insider edge
A hotel-door car avoids changing trains with cabin bags. American flies from Terminal 3. Check the all-in price and morning traffic the previous evening; the Elizabeth line remains a road-delay backup.
House pickAvoid this
Cutting the airport buffer. A missed nonstop the day before a wedding is not the place to save an hour.
House pickBackup move
Flight delay, you have all of Oct 31 as slack before the evening wedding. Cancellation, the same nonstop runs twice daily, plus three more LHR-LAX nonstops on other carriers.
House pickIdeal window
At Heathrow 3 hours early. Straight to security, then the lounge.
House pickWhat today runs
Estimates. Swap in the real figure as you go.
| citizenM to Heathrow T3, licensed car (estimate) | $90 |
| Airport water + snacks | $16 |
| Today, London | $106 |
Flights and the places to stay are on the costs page, not counted here.
How it went
Written after the day: what you did, what you loved, what you'd skip, the photographs, a voice note or two. It fills in here and in the album.