I need to get to Manchester before mid day on one day in early December.
I have just looked up train prices from a South East coastal town - a return ticket (out on a Thursday, return on the Friday) is a few pence short of £465 for standard class!!!
In contrast, a flexible ticket to fly to New York on the same day and to return the next is a few pence short of £407!!!
So much for the green transport agenda. I'll be taking the car. Perhaps I can persuade the client to meet up in NY? :-D
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I paid £148 for one flipping night in a Premier Inn in a nondescript town last week. Couldn’t bring myself to add breakfast at a further tenner or something. Had a bacon roll in a Morrisons cafe instead.
Life in the fast lane eh?
;-)
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>>Premier Inn £148
I recall when they were Travel Inns and usually cost £29.99 a night. I even used them for borderline stayovers at my own expense they were such good value - early 2000's probably 2003 to 2005 at that price.
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>> book.splitticketing.com/
>>
>> Any use?
Something as simple as booking the local>London service and Euston Manchester separately might reduce it.
Does anybody currently fly from LGW to Manchester?
I think the answer is probably no but...
The final chair of the Quango lived in Surrey but previously held a post based quite near Ringway. At that time BA City Flyer (I think) operated MAN>LGW and he commuted weekly by air.
His best time, door to door, was around 75 mins.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Fri 28 Oct 22 at 16:03
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...depending on date and time, (and obviously the SE departure point) two tickets to/from London should be possible for c£150 plus the tube fare.
Avanti West Coast aren't the most reliable of train operators at the moment, though.
(it's a long drive - Reading to Manchester return (direct train) can be had for half that - or even less depending on timings (down below £50) _ I know that once you're in the car it's often "easier" to do the whole journey, but hybrid might work, and avoid the hell of the M6)
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"The final chair of the Quango lived in Surrey but previously held a post based quite near Ringway. At that time BA City Flyer (I think) operated MAN>LGW and he commuted weekly by air.
His best time, door to door, was around 75 mins"
I find that difficult to understand as when I was commuting (weekly) from LHR to Glasgow and Edinburgh on different projects (probably in the noughties) they insisted on you being at the airport an hour before your flight.
In the "right conditions" (Sunday evening, quiet and dry) I occasionally did home to Glasgow hotel (just over 400 miles) in under 5 hours, which was comparable to the door to door flight time, and a damn sight more preferable. I did get nicked for speeding on the M6 during that project, at 108 mph (I was on cruise control and had been for ages, with the speedo showing 120 - there's that that 10% over-read).
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>> I find that difficult to understand as when I was commuting (weekly) from LHR to
>> Glasgow and Edinburgh on different projects (probably in the noughties) they insisted on you being
>> at the airport an hour before your flight.
AFAIR he had a flat in Manchester and travelled with no more than a briefcase, certainly no hold baggage. Arrive at airport with pre-printed boarding card, straight to security and once through security direct to the gate.
If you do it every Friday it gets like a train commute and you nip out the unnecessary faff.
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>> book.splitticketing.com/
>>
>> Any use?
>>
Thanks! I knew of these but forgot!
Yes, quite a saving of £150, but I need to make sure the train actually stops at all of the stations where the splits are.
Still expensive mind!
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>>Split tickets...
Work's travel agent does support split ticketing - I need to book all the tickets individually.
What a right PITA.
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>> Work's travel agent
>> What a right PITA.
Pretty much a definition of works travel agent.
For my first 30years or so as a Civil Servant you booked your own hotel and claimed subsistence based on your grade. You could stay in a flea pit and trouser the difference or, if you had means, pay out of your own pocket to top up.
Later we went to paying vouched costs with a ceiling based on grade and location. You could still choose.
Then they contracted with an agent. Hotels had to meet certain standards like 24hr concierge. My budget was paying extra for this stuff over and above what staff could identify for themselves at the same hotels via Last Minute.com or whatever.
The agent couldn't do bulk bookings and guarantee that all would be in the same hotel. I got it in the neck for making my own booking as I needed five people on the same project able to eat together etc.
Rail fares were a rip off too but I cannot remember why now.
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You are paying to keep the railways running. Business / commute fares (ie certain routes & times of the day) are the only ones that keep the railways in business, and all those other empty services running during the day.
Supply and demand.
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I've just booked Manchester Airport to Oxenholme with a disabled railcard. Two of us, return, works out at 4 journeys of about 90 miles each. £15.04 the lot ! ( why the 4p)? That's under £4 per person trip.
South coast, say 270 miles and back 540 miles is 6 X 90mile trips. Should be about £24 return for two so £12 for yourself alone. ( a third more with no railcard ) Shame it doesn't work like that !
Although Manchester Piccadilly is nearer, if we get the same train at the airport, where it originates, we can get a seat, which is impossible, even with booking, with the scrum at Piccadilly. We can get the tram 100 yds from home and 40 mins later it takes us into the Airport joint rail/tram station...free !
Ted
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>> >>Split tickets...
>>
>> Work's travel agent does support split ticketing - I need to book all the tickets
>> individually.
>>
>> What a right PITA.
>>
Why have you got a travel agent if you have to do all the work?
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>>
>> Why have you got a travel agent if you have to do all the work?
>>
Tell me about it!
All travel tickets & accommodation get booked through one provider who provide stats to the company monthly.
Also the travel agent pays the company a rebate based on turnover.
They are supposed to negotiate best rates but what we find is that they have one not very good chain of hotels that we must use, which is fine for employees visiting business centres in cities but is useless for visiting clients on industrial estates.
It's often cheaper to book direct because the hotels do special offers but we are not allowed to, so I suspect there is a big commission on the main rate that the travel agent is pocketing.
Last edited by: zippy on Fri 28 Oct 22 at 19:43
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> It's often cheaper to book direct because the hotels do special offers but we are
>> not allowed to, so I suspect there is a big commission on the main rate
>> that the travel agent is pocketing.
>>
Sounds all very complicated with a few middle companies taking their cut for doing not much.
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If you want to have flexibility, the model is you pay a lot or travel off peak. An advance return is £150. Alternatively fly via LHR for the same, or Ryanair for probably less if you find a suitable route.
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Mad Train Fares - sooty123
