12 speed. 11 is absolutely fine.
Nope. 3 weeks in advance.
@daffy that's madness, I was looking at ~£100 difference on a return to Bridgewater from Largs last year (if I booked myself and not through the ripoff works booking agent). Still wasn't authorised mind, would have been a more productive trip if I was...
First is only worth it on certain lines, Intercity for Scotrail and the major west and east coast operators. The rest aren't worth the money IMO.
I’m sorry, but I think you’ll find that’s the moon.
I might re-subscribe just so I can upvote this comment.
😀
On the moon – I’ll give you that, despite documentary evidence to the contrary which suggested it was a bit like Wensleydale.
Wallace and gromit is not a documentry
so away from business class, club class, whatever down in depths of the budget airtravel with which I am familiar, does anyone actually pay for priority boarding or allocated seating or whatever? And if so, why?
I've paid for allocated seating when travelling with my wife and kids, but otherwise, no. <br /><br />Priority boarding is useful if you think the OHBs may be full and you don't want your luggage in the hold.
so away from business class, club class, whatever down in depths of the budget airtravel with which I am familiar, does anyone actually pay for priority boarding or allocated seating or whatever? And if so, why?
I'm currently on holiday in Portugal. 3hr flight from Newcastle.
Paid £10 extra to sit in the front row and get loads of leg room.
Definitely worth it.
Business Class air travel is lovely. Used to get it on long haul for work. Makes flying an enjoyable experience. Best ever was Singapore Airlines in an A380. Absolute luxury. God knows what 1st Class must be like.
Would I pay for it myself? No way!
Paid £10 extra to sit in the front row and get loads of leg room.
done that
I’ve paid for allocated seating when travelling with my wife and kids
and that. Wouldn't want to risk being seated too near them. But now it's just me and my wife, and we're going to see plenty of each other where we're going...?
I make use of free priority/extra bags/allocated seating when flying with BA - we get over a quarter of a tonne of free baggage allowance when we fly as a family. when we fly on the cheapy airlines its free-hand-baggage-only (the small ones, can get a weeks worth of stuff in there), check in late and normally get good enough seats.
Tatoos. I don’t hate them. I don’t judge people for having them. I just don’t understand why people would pay for them.
Having seen about as many "aged" tattoos as anyone is likely to, they uniformly look awful after a decade or two, no matter how well done they were.
Wallace and gromit is not a documentry
Eh?!!
does anyone actually pay for priority boarding or allocated seating or whatever? And if so, why?
Last year with Easyjet, it was the cheapest way to take a large cabin bag to and from Geneva and skip the massive check-in scrum at Geneva on the way back.
Wot Kramer says - I did on Ryan air recently as you get a bigger hand luggage bag. Picked a poor seat tho due to confusion. Warra numpty
does anyone actually pay for priority boarding or allocated seating or whatever?
I fly into Cork and Kerry airports regularly, row 1,2 or 3 sees you off the plane and in car hire long before the hoards descend. Occasionally at Kerry airport you can be leaving in the hire car when people are still getting off the plane.
As a tall person business class is great for the extra room.
@gobuchul. My last work flight was business upgraded to first back from Atlanta. Slightly nicer food (on demand), bigger bed, individual cabin and board/leaving first. Completely not worth the money. 11hrs sitting on a plane or really nice FS MTB.... or a full really really nice holiday sitting in economy.
12 speed. 11 is absolutely fine.
I've just put 12sp on my HT build for £244 and on my ebike for £179 as it already had an 11/12sp chainring. All works faultlessley
Taken from my Big Al spreadsheet
Shifter - Shimano XT - £38
Mech - Shimano SLX long cage - £63
Chainset - Shimano SLX 170mm 30t - £65
Chain - Shimano SLX - £20
Cassette - Shimano SLX 10-51t - £58
Wot Kramer says – I did on Ryan air recently as you get a bigger hand luggage bag. Picked a poor seat tho due to confusion. Warra numpty
I think it's something to do with them needing to fill the over wing seats next to the emergency exits, so they make them a bit of a bargain to encourage people to use them.
An added bonus is (I think) that they have the highest chance of survival in a crash too.
WRT first class being worth your own money:
A few years ago the snow in Canada in December was awesome, and I decided to book a cheeky pre-Christmas skiing holiday in Canada.
Because I was only going for a week, and remember the jet lag being a problem, at the check-in desk I asked if I could pay for a seat upgrade.
No problem, just go across to the Air Canada desk and they can help me there.
At the desk they told me that my tickets were not upgradable, and therefore if I wanted to upgrade I'd need to buy new tickets and they'd be very expensive.
Quite indignant, I said I thought that I would be the judge of how expensive they were, thank you very much.
So she told me the price, £thousands (~20 years ago).
I went pale, humbly agreed that they were very expensive, put my tail between my legs and started the long walk of shame back to the pleb class security queue.
£244
You could buy a whole bike for that.
Train Travel in the UK – ridiculous prices.
This. Even worse, 'first class' train travel in the UK. A friend once sorted out some tickets to Newcastle for us, as she had some spare 'train miles' or whatever frequent traveller corporate promotion she was offered. Slightly bigger seats, not particularly clean, dreadful coffee and tea, and food that could have been bought for just a few quid from one of the many terrible outlets found at most large UK stations. And dirty cutlery. And not particularly nice staff. I was left wondering why anyone would willingly pay 3x the cost for getting somewhere at exactly the same time as everyone else. And that's before we even get to the utterly boring and irritating business types talking incessantly into their 'phones the whole journey, in spite of 'quiet carriage' signs, and the constant tappity tap of laptop keyboards. Give me cattle class any time. You might even get to have a chat with someone interesting.
I was left wondering why anyone would willingly pay 3x the cost for getting somewhere at exactly the same time as everyone else
As guaranteed a seat as possible and a table to work from.
And not having to chat to someone.
As guaranteed a seat as possible and a table to work from.
And not having to chat to someone.
You can reserve a table/window/etc seat in cattle class if you book early enough. As for working on a train; how sad is that? Being a corporate drown beholden to your employers to the extent you have to work every minute possible. I prefer to relax, enjoy the view, watch a film on my iPad, listen to some music perhaps, enjoy nice food I've brought from home. With clean cutlery. And enjoy a chat with a fellow human being. And not have to listen to some dead-eyed wage slave droning on about ringfencing a unicorn or whatever soul-destroying banality they are forced to abide by.
Cheese. I don’t necessarily buy the cheapest cheese, but it’s usually down near the bottom end, an inexpensive mature or extra mature or occasional red leicester or orkney. Got more budget? Purchase more cheese. Some cheese can be a little bit nicer than the ones I buy but more cheese is nicer than less cheese
you have never had good cheese. Treat yourself to some really good stuff or at least different varieties and if you want to know more read this. <br /><br />One of our lockdown life-is-short resolutions was to not eat any more shit cheese. Good stuff, even if less. There are a few exceptions - lidl Gruyère and Gouda. Supermarket feta and halloumi. Lidl’s best crunchy cheddar is ok for sandwiches or cooking. And m&S have some lovely things. But most supermarket mass produced cheese is crap
As for working on a train; how sad is that? Being a corporate drown beholden to your employers to the extent you have to work every minute possible.
If I'm going to be sat around, I may as well be paid by my employee for it. Working whilst on the move is a really efficient use of time, and allows me to spend more time riding my bike
There are a few exceptions – lidl Gruyère and Gouda.
Their comte, posh brie and roquefort is pretty good too IMO
If I’m going to be sat around, I may as well be paid by my employee for it. Working whilst on the move is a really efficient use of time, and allows me to spend more time riding my bike
That's great. You and the other poster can sit together in '1st class' and work and not talk to each other. And subsidise my much cheaper fare. Whilst I relax and watch a film/listen to music/have a nice chat with a fellow passenger. 😉
Actually, unwittingly, you've both made me realise the true value of 1st class rail travel. Not only does it subsidise our fares, it also keeps all the drones away so the rest of us can enjoy the journey in peace. Thanks.
You can reserve a table/window/etc seat in cattle class if you book early enough.
Correct. But the person sat in the seat you reserved is under no obligation to move, nor is the train company to move them when you get on the train.
I travel during work time, seems reasonable that I do work if possible. And a lot of folk don’t work for an employer.
Ringfencing a unicorn
Not heard that for a while, where’d you hear that?
Cheese cannot be described as 'really expensive stuff' so it has no place in this thread.
But the person sat in the seat you reserved is under no obligation to move, nor is the train company to move them when you get on the train.
According to the Conditions Of Travel, if they don't have a reservation and you do, then they're not entitled to a seat.
Nowt wrong with 1st Class rail travel if someone else is paying for it or you get a cheap seat upgrade, particularly on mainline trains.
Bigger more comfortable seat and quieter.
Wouldn't dream of paying for it at full fare price, it's crazy expensive.
WRT first class being worth your own money:
A few years back, I had cause to travel to London (from Lancashire) every couple of weeks. Virgin did a weekend offer where you could upgrade to First Class for something meagre like £5. One time I hopped into the empty carriage, helped myself to a complimentary biscuit and waited for the conductor.
"Tickets please." Certainly my good man, and I'd like to purchase an upgrade. "That will be £149 please, sir."
blinks Pardon?
As it turns out, Friday evening is not in fact considered part of the weekend. Whoops. Erm, I'll just... take my leave then shall I? "But you've had the biscuits!" he exclaimed. I suggested, Really Expensive Stuff that is Definitely NOT Worth the Money: a two-pack of British Rail garibaldi.
Who’s going to move them?
One of the upside/downsides to 1st class travel is the number of folks that serve drinks/food...and check tickets.
Deffo fancy cables, like that £12K SPDIF one. Hilarious that people buy that shit
The £4200 fuse is my favourite
Someone mentioned dogs
So I will say Children
The £4200 fuse is my favourite
a fuse is at least a chain in the analogue space, so could theoretically make a difference (I doubt it does). An spdif cable transfers a digital signal so its impossible to make a difference
b33k34
Full Memberyou have never had good cheese.
I've had some fantastic cheese, and it always ended and then I had no cheese and if I'd got less good but cheaper cheese I'd still have cheese.
An spdif cable transfers a digital signal so its impossible to make a difference
I think there are ways to screw it up, if the plugs used on a cable (not optical) are RCA and not BNC then there can be problems as not many RCA plugs are not the required 75 ohm impedance, something to do with the geometry of the plug I think, and then there can be unwanted reflections caused that mess with the signal. It's not just 0 and 1s simple.
But you still don't need that expense on cables, mine weren't bargain store cheap but have plugs at the correct impedance.
In defence of hooli I'll agree on the expensive restaurant thing.
I have been to several over the years and only one stands out as a great experience.
The most outstanding meals I've eaten have been in cheap spit and sawdust places (and not just because they were cheap either)
I'm not saying they're always bad value...but on the whole they generally are in my experience.
It’s not just 0 and 1s simple.
Sure it is. A digital signal works within tolerance of error correction or it fails. It's simply not possible to get a good or a bad "1." Compare FM vs DAB+ in the car - FM gets increasingly nasty as you run out of reception, DAB+ is perfect right up until it goes squelch and stops.
The scenario you describe is totally plausible. But you wouldn't get a poor reproduction, you'd get dropouts and/or no reproduction. In the analogue world, fidelity of interconnects was paramount; it the digital realm, it works or it doesn't and any premium you're paying is either for cables that don't fall to bits or snake oil. The notion that a BNC connector is better than an RCA connector beyond "it won't fall out of the socket" is the domain of hi-fi retailers still desperately trying to rinse consumers of their money by applying analogue logic onto a digital era.
I've spent the GDP of a smaller African nation on cabling over the years. Today, Amazon Basics FTW. Decent build quality and will reliably carry all the signals it claims to carry.
