London Eye, London > Reviews > London's Glass Eye

Author's product rating:   

Prices	Good
Transport links	Excellent

Advantages:	Views, Cost, Ease of Booking
Disadvantages:	Lack of time

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

The London Eye is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames and is just 5 minutes walk from Waterloo Station.

Brief History:-
The creators of the London Eye were husband and wife David Marks and Julia Barfield and they wanted to create an exciting new way to view London and the London Eye was created.
It took six years to turn the London Eye into what it is today an amazing landmark which can be seen as you fly into London Heathrow.

The Eye itself:-
Standing over 135ft high passengers can see for over 25 miles in each direction on a clear day. I went to view at night time and as with all bookings passengers are expected to arrive 30 minutes prior to their booked fligt time and mine was booked at the last viewing at that particular time which was 7.30pm, this was a very quiet time to go but the views were magnificent and looking out at the Lights of London was breathtaking, viewing the Houses of Parliament, Canary Wharf, Big Ben and many more historic sights of London.
Each capsule can carry a maximum of 25 passengers and there are 32 capsules that create the London Eye this is to represent the number of London Boroughs but 13 you will discover has been missed out.
I am scared of heights so booking the London Eye was not a terrific idea of mine but I was willing to give it a go as I never know if this is something that will get repeated so as we boarded the London Eye I wondered how fast it would actually go but it goes as slow as the cable cars that you see in Alton Towers but probably even slower to allow the maximum capacity of 25 passengers to enter. There was no sudden movement in the capsule which for me was very good. For 30 minutes I took in the sights of London Town and saw sights that normally when visiting London you would not get to see.
There is no audio guide on the London Eye which is good as we were in a capsule at a quiet time we were able to talk amongst ourselves as there were only 5 people in total inside this capsule, so there was plenty of room to move about and get full use of the 360 degree panoramic view.

Prices:-
Individual Flights
£12.50 per adult
£ 6.50 per child
£10.00 per senior citizen
£10.00 per disabled guest
Free for under 5's

The Fastrack is £25.00 per guest only under 5's go free and this bypasses the queues on to the London Eye, providing a souvenir book and for children over 5 they receive a pack which contains a child friendly guide, binoculars all in an exclusive backpack for the child to take home and keep, when booking online the cost is only £22.50 per guest.

There are also a few varieties of more expensive trips on the London eye that can be purchased and more details can be found on the website or by contacting the London Eye directly.

Cupid's Capsule from £299.00 per couple
Champagne Flight from £35.00 per guest
Private capsule from £375.00
Private champagne capsule from £375.00 per couple
Weddings from £1700.00

I booked the London Eye in advance on their website and received a 10% discount which was good as I also had the security of knowing that I was guaranteed a flight on my chosen date.

Opening Times:-
The opening times of the London Eye are different all year round so it is important to check before planning a trip to the London Eye.
October to May 10am-8pm
Boxing Day 10am-8pm
New Years Eve 9.30am-3pm
New Years Day 10am -8pm
June to September 10am-9pm
Closed 3-8 January for annual maintenance

Closed Christmas Day

The Website:-
Very easy to navigate your way around and book and buy booking online you beat the queues and can go straight onto the capsule. Group bookings for 15 or more passengers have to be booked over the telephone with London Eye or any disbled passengers also need to book on the dedicated phone number 0870 5000 600.

Booking Tickets:-
The online booking site is powered by Rialto which is one of the major ticketing sites and is also used to power Alton Towers Ticket sales, amazing what you take note of when you book!!
The booking process offers you the most popular and lowest priced option first and gradually increase to the most expensive option.
It summarises what you are about to book and confirms the cost including the 10% discount, then you hit "book now" to book your preffered option.
The site then asks you to input the number of tickets that you require and then select calculate which will tell you the total cost for the number of tickets required you will then click to proceed with your reservation and also have the option to purchase a guidebook and various other alternatives to make the London Eye even more profit!
Next you will be asked to provide your date of visit, you can book up to 2 hours before your visit if you are just booking the individual flight certain other options do carry more restrictions.
Once you have selected your required date you are given a variety of times to choose from, once this has been selected you then get a summary of what you have selected in order to check that you have reserved exactly what you require, if all the details are correct you then proceed to complete the transaction.

There are three options available for ticket collection they are:-
UK First class post which was the option that I selected and cost an amazing £2.50 this I assume is for the admin costs of posting out the tickets but I still find it a bit over the top.
UK Special/International Delivery is £7.50 and guarantees delivery of your tickets a bit ridiculous in this day and age but post does tend to go missing quite a lot and as no name appears on the tickets it may be worthwhile to select a secure option rather than missing out completely.
The final option is to collect the tickets at the London Eye which is Free of charge, I was considering this option but me being me I like to see everything in front of me confirmed as I have a habit of making little mistakes, but hey I am only human!!
Once you select your delivery option you then proceed to the Terms and Conditions which as you would expect you have to agree with in order to purchase the tickets, it is here that it clearly states that:-

You are required to be there 30 minutes prior to your selected flight time.
The date, time and ticket type cannot be changed.
Children under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult.
Smoking is not permitted on the capsule or the boarding area.

Here you can either accept or decline, if you decline then no booking is made and you return to the home page, once you have accepted the terms and conditions then you are required to enter your personal details:-

Full Name (Title, First Name, Surname)
Address
Post code
Country
Phone (should there be any problems with your booking)
Email (this is to send a copy of your confirmation)
Type of card (Visa, Mastercard, Delta, Switch, American Express, Maestro, JCB, Discover, Solo, Electron.)
Then you need to input the card number ensuring that you leave no spaces.
Enter the start date or valid from date, if this is not a feature on the card that you are using then you just leave blank.
Next you are asked for the card expiry date month and year.
Issue number where applicable will also need to be completed.
Name of the cardholder if you are using someone elses card to complete the transaction and finally the CVV which are the last 3 digits on the signature strip of the card, this also shows that this is a secure site that you are using as having worked for a credit card company when a transaction such as this is completed then by having these details inputted it shows the credit card company or bank that the person that made the reservation is in actual physical posession of that particular card.
Once you have completed this process it asks you to state where you discovered the London Eye and if you want to opt in to receive details of any offers.
Click confirm once and the transaction will be processed, you will then receive your confirmation page that has your unique booking reference and details what you have just purchased, this can be printed out should you have any problems receiving your tickets.

The London Eye is a must for first time visitors to London, infact it is something I recommend to all visitors to London as it allows you to really take in the magnificent views and Historical Landmarks of London that cannot always been seen from the ground, the price is pretty reasonable and the process is so well organised that you can relax from the moment you approach the London Eye to the moment you disembark and I certainly would plan another visit on it in the near future.