Britain on the Cheap

Continental Airlines is still offering lower online summer rates to the UK, such as these round-trip tickets: Newark to London $482; Houston to London, $558; Newark to Manchester, $562; Cleveland to London $602; Newark to Edinburgh $612 and Newark to Glasgow $612.

Hurry! Virgin Atlantic has flights to London from Newark as low as $189 one way, based on a round-trip ticket purchased in economy by Aug. 11. Other sample fares are $241 from New York,  $286 from Orlando and $289 from Boston.

Travelers bound for Jersey can book a four-night break from Channel Islands Direct, starting at $477 per person including lodging at the Radisson Waterfront Hotel in St. Helier, daily breakfast, transfers and travel by sea from Weymouth. For departures from Gatwick, Luton, Liverpool or Plymouth, packages start from $526. Through Aug. 31.

VisitLondon offers a 10% discount off the London Pass, with free entry to more than 55 of the city’s best attractions, including the Tower of London, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Kensington Palace, the London Zoo, the Tower Bridge Exhibition and HMS Belfast. A one-day adult pass is $58, down from $64; a three-day pass is $93, [...]

One of the zippiest ways to get around London, on buses, tubes, trams and most overground trains, is the handy Oyster Card–it automatically calculates the cheapest fare for a day’s travel. The lowest price is $21, but it also comes in £20, £30, £40 and £50 values. Credit is deducted every time you use public [...]

Ebates.com is an online shopping portal that gives you cash back for using travel sites such as Orbitz, Expedia, Hotwire and Travelocity, plus airlines and rental car agencies. Priceline, for instance, gives 2% back, Virgin Atlantic Airways 1%; rebates on other merchandise can go up to 20%.

VisitBritain offers The Essential London Kit at $103, with a three-day London Travel Card (Peak, Zones 1-2), one London Eye ticket, one Tower of London ticket and one Original London Sightseeing bus tour ticket, which includes a Thames river cruise and two walking tours. The kit also has a London Planner guidebook to make it easier [...]

Heathrow Express, the fastest way from central London to Heathrow Airport, is offering a free upgrade to travelers who book a standard fare ticket online: $24 one way, $45 round trip. In a special promotion for gay market, click here and you’re automatically upgraded to first class.

Megabus.com, the UK’s low-cost motor bus service with online booking, offers travel between many of Britain’s cities from just $2.48.

The $235 BritRail Scottish Freedom Pass includes unlimited train travel on any four days out of an eight-day period, plus transportation on Caledonian MacBrayne and Strathclyde ferries and travel on some bus routes. BritRail has a range of value-added passes.