Are those cheaper tickets at useful times?

For me, no.

Train should be faster and more economical, and better for environment, than a train.

Almost as if we should be subsidising them or something. Maybe – here’s a radical leftist commie idea – transport infrastructure is actually essential to the functioning of business and as such should be centrally funded rather than a profit-making enterprise…?

Have just surprised myself….

Looking to get to the UK for the old man’s birthday end of Oct.

I’ve travelled a few times from London to Munich due to airport fires and because the company I work for was happy to pay the extra (for the train).

Train for two of us there and back is £307.

Out of interest I looked up easyjet flights for the same period comes in just £9 cheaper and that is obviously without any extra luggage.

But given the hassle of getting to the airport (1h), arriving at least an hour before the flight to get through security (1h) (plus the whole queuing, cattle herding, stand up – sit down, etc which drives me nuts), the flight itself (1.5h) and the transfer from Stansted (0.75h) the train in comparison is so much more relaxed. OK, it’s 9h compared to 4.5h,but I can get up, walk about, eat food from the buffet and drink Weißbier on the ICE. Oh, and I can take my bike for free; dismantle it, obviously.

Edit. Just added luggage to the flight. It now comes in at 408€. Not such a bargain,especially when you consider the 12€/person each way to Munich airport.

How much would that have ben on Flixbus, Alpin? You can take bikes on the bus.

As an aside 99 out of 100* contestants on ” The Chase” , when asked ” If you won some money today , What would you spend it on?”
The answer is , pretty much without fail.-long haul flights. There is the odd ‘wedding’ or ‘car’ but the vast majority of people, with a grand or so of free money would spend it all on flying around the world.
So the actual answer to BW’s question is ” I would spend the money helping to destroy the environment”
* some or all of the above may be made up statistics to enhance a point

@ Edukator…. Would be just shy of 100€ for each of us and about 12h journey.

No thanks. I’m fortunate that I can afford the train.

My GF travelled Munich to Stuttgart with a Flixbus. What should have been a 4h journey (normally 3h with car or train) turned into an eight hour ordeal on the way home (combination of shitty traffic, drivers times).

Friends often travel down from Berlin to Munich with the coach. It sounds like a nightmare. Similar conditions to a flight without the convenience.

Nah. Not for me, thanks.

I don’t like flying and quite enjoy watching the world go by on the bus between naps. There’s a 15 minute break to walk around every couple of hours and 40 minute break at least once in a 12h run.

Matt – what website are you buying train tickets on?

I use http://www.redspottedhanky.com/trains/

Often identifies ticketing options that are far cheaper than Trainline etc.

I do find it odd how many on here claim absurd prices for train travel when actually its often much cheaper than they claim

Train travel is only reasonable price if you can book a long time in advance, as most of your examples show. Unfortunately for many being booked up 11 weeks in advance is not practical.

A for taking the coach, I have never had any coach journey be enjoyable in anyway. Bad bits of driving with the bad bits of flying with a less comfy seats.

We are screwed, this thread just reinforces why.

We don’t get to hit the mighty reset button and live in harmony with the world.

The Earth and nature will do that. It will restore balance, not upcycled apes.

Hugely deluded to think we are the cure or can cure our very selves.

And that folks is pretty much the entire plot of Godzilla King of the monsters.

Edit: Sorry SPOILER ALERT!!!!!

Not read it all but struck by a few stuck in the present thought processes there are even amongst an enlightened group prepared to think around the subject.

Firstly – the alternatives will very likely not be a like for like service. There will be a personal cost. Flying was quick but is **** the planet and consuming resources at an alarming rate and sugar coating it by claiming the planes a greener than ever is missing the point – it’s still not good enough. There was a reason we switched to flying as our preferred method of transport – we have to accept the downsides of not doing it as part of the cost of living more sustainably. The trip that you previously took where you went down for a meeting and back in a day will probably take two again. Like it used to until the last 50 years (realistically 20 years for most since the launch of economy airlines). It is our job to decide if it is still actually worth it.

Which leads me to point two – why go at all? Business needs to get it’s thumb out of its bum and stop the bollox about how things are better face to face. They might be but those days need to be gone. Embrace technology narrowing the difference between communication by post and face to face meetings and realise that transporting flesh and bone when its the meeting of intellect that is important is daft. The whole Greta Whatsherchops sailing across the atlantic to address the UN is totally the wrong thing to do. Her very journey is demonstrating to all sceptics the necessity of travelling by air as her ‘alternative’ is quite frankly ridiculous. She should be addressing them by huge video link. Turn her into a Princess Leia style hologram if it helps to make the point and have a VR meet and greet ‘cocktail party’ for the great and good. They should be using her as a vehicle to demonstrate the absurdity of transcontinental travel in the modern era not turning her journey into a pantomime to be mocked.

“molgrips
Subscriber

Almost as if we should be subsidising them or something.”

They get £5Bn subsidy per year. How much more do you have in mind? . In contrast taxes on road users are three times expenditure on roads.

https://fullfact.org/economy/how-much-does-government-subsidise-railways/

https://www.racfoundation.org/assets/rac_foundation/content/downloadables/Transport_finances_Bayliss_October_2014_final.pdf

Errmmm expenditure on roads is a tiny fraction of the cost of motoring. The true figures are that road transport has massive subsidy from general taxation far dwarfing anything that rail gets

Set up an alert on train line ( or similar ) for the December trip.
The cheap tickets normally only get released 12 weeks in advance ,
A bit late for October

Other trick is to see if you qualify for any type of railcard,

Once again I am trying to do Stirling to London. Three months time (mid march).
I am flexible on dates and times.

LNER have not released tickets yet – they only do tickets 10 weeks in advance.

The *cheapest* train tickets are £303, per person on whichever site I look, split ticket, direct with Virgin or Trainline or Scotrail.

Flying is £140 return.

We could drive at a business miles cost of £430 for both of us.

Not that I’d dream of driving that distance, and I haven’t looked at the cost, but…

https://www.prestigecarhire.co.uk/cars/view/hire-tesla-model-s-90-d?gclid=CjwKCAiAlajvBRB_EiwA4vAqiPE4rxWONawGTX2MXaVRkACuJpZbEF9-ecm2ClOCgXV7tjE-Q4eKYBoCXXEQAvD_BwE

?

The *cheapest* train tickets are £303

Just checked on trainline.com, I’ve got tickets for £78 return.

It all depends on when you want to travel, so I suggest adjusting that…

Can I ask when molgrips?

I’ve looked all week of 9th March – ideally down on 10th back up on 12th.

Once again I am trying to do Stirling to London. Three months time (mid march).
I am flexible on dates and times.

Looking too early. Cheap tickets released around 12 weeks out. For example Stirling to London tickets on trainline for £35-£43 single for 22nd Feb.

Ah, that’s now making sense. I’ve signed up for an alert.

Still a gamble on costs for us as a business – and up ‘against’ planes of known cost a lot further in the future.