Trains and Planes

Amp34 said:
And the card fee on that... How much is Ryanair charging now, about £20 isn't it?
And then the cost to get to standsted, lets say £20 as well most people would probably need to get a taxi, then the cost of getting to Glasgow from the airport, lets say £20 again... :p

But yeah that train fair is a little steep, however that air fair isn't remotely covering it's costs... That'll be at least partly why the airfair will be cheaper...
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It costs £7 on the bus which takes 20 mins from Glasgow GLA

The same from Prestwick at 30mins from the airport into town..


Ive gone to glasgow paid for a night at a hotel paid for all tickets bus to airport and flights all return.... and the cost of the return ticket from the airport into town which is cheap on the other side.

For what £120.


The train return costs the same lol.... on average £100 if lucky.
 
[TW]Fox;19175371 said:
I'm sorry but thats a ridiculous comparison, you've managed to find an abnormally low fare there for the plane.
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Oh I'm sorry, I'll ask skyscanner to find a more expensive fare, shall I? :rolleyes:

[TW]Fox;19175371 said:
That £16 doesnt include baggage,
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And how much baggage do you normally take on a train for a 1 week trip to Glasgow? 3 suitcases? I suspect the majority of people will get by just fine with a holdall. If you travel with your party dresses and hairdryer then the train is probably for you.

[TW]Fox;19175371 said:
the stupid card fee, it doesnt include 20 quid to get to Stanstead,
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If you'd noticed, I already addressed that issue. For some people it may be more convenient but I agree for most it wouldn't.

[TW]Fox;19175371 said:
it doesnt include the price of getting from 30 miles outside of Glasgow into Glasgow.
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All passengers traveling to and from the airport receive 50% discount on the standard fare.

http://www.glasgowprestwick.com/to-and-from-prestwick/train-connections/default.html


edit: Perhaps I got lucky with the dates and there happened to be a very cheap flight on that day, but I did pick them at random.
 
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Anyhow guys this is not exclusively about London to Glasgow.

I use those as comparisons, my point was the difference in priceing is ridiculous.


Train prices are ridiculous.


I mean it costs me £40 to get to london which is 40 minutes away by train but i can go from london to Birmingham for £16 which is what 4 hours someone tell me why going to london which is closer costs more?




o_0
 
gambitt said:
Oh I'm sorry, I'll ask skyscanner to find a more expensive fare, shall I? :rolleyes:
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You are trying to make a piont about general costs - you can't do this with an abnormally cheap fare.

I once travelled by train from Plymouth to Southampton for just £10.

There, the train is therefore always really cheap and everything else is a ripoff.
 
I had the same problem with Bristol to Wawrick last week. Around £65 and I had to change 2 or 3 times, total travel time around 3.5 hours. I drove in the end - cost me £45 on fuel and only took 2:10.
 
Allnamestaken said:
Anyhow guys this is not exclusively about London to Glasgow.

I use those as comparisons, my point was the difference in priceing is ridiculous.


Train prices are ridiculous.


I mean it costs me £40 to get to london which is 40 minutes away by train but i can go from london to Birmingham for £16 which is what 4 hours someone tell me why going to london which is closer costs more?
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All depends on the amount of traffic (passengers) using that particular route. There are a certain number of cheaper tickets, and once they are gone then you have to buy the more expensive ones, and so on. Because such a large number of people go into London (far more than will go from Ipswich - Birmingham) then it stands to reason that these cheapest tickets will sell out quicker.

I just looked, and I can get from Ipswich to London Liverpool Street (direct) for £8. Hell, you can get First Class for £12! On the same day, it's over £100 (though it's 3 changes and I'm sure you could get it cheaper with a bit of effort) to Brum. It's all about booking in advance (and being lucky with your travelling).
 
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[TW]Fox;19175466 said:
You are trying to make a piont about general costs - you can't do this with an abnormally cheap fare.

I once travelled by train from Plymouth to Southampton for just £10.

There, the train is therefore always really cheap and everything else is a ripoff.
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Can you link me to a place where these cheap fares are commonplace, or was this a once in a blue moon bargain?

I'm not saying one is always better than the other, I will take the cheapest and most convenient option for me at the time :)
 
Ahleckz said:
All depends on the amount of traffic (passengers) using that particular route. There are a certain number of cheaper tickets, and once they are gone then you have to buy the more expensive ones, and so on. Because such a large number of people go into London (far more than will go from Ipswich - Birmingham) then it stands to reason that these cheapest tickets will sell out quicker.

I just looked, and I can get from Ipswich to London Liverpool Street (direct) for £8. Hell, you can get First Class for £12! It's all about booking in advance (and being lucky with your travelling).
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First class in those trains is a slideing door into a small portion of the cabbin with about 6 seats lmao and a cloth on the headrest.



Ive never no matter how much in advance ive booked got a national express ticket from Ipswich to london for that much.
 
Having just done my own comparison I'll upload it here as well...

I really did just pick random dates (1 week at the end of june) rather than choosing specific dates that had the cheapest air fares... Also added a hold bag because most people will need one on a weeks holiday... And then went through to checkout and "paid" by a debit card...

Ah...

capturebi.jpg


Double ah...

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...

And remember on the trains, even though the same times are highlighted you can leave on any non peak train that day on the way up and return at any time within the month, no extra charge (and no card fees/admin costs)...

TBH this comparison just goes to show how **** Ryanair are with hidden charges, I'd be interested to see if a BA/proper airline flight on a similar route was cheaper...

EDIT: Oh and obviously, if you're over 60 or under 26 the train actually only costs £75...
 
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Allnamestaken said:
First class in those trains is a slideing door into a small portion of the cabbin with about 6 seats lmao and a cloth on the headrest.

Ive never no matter how much in advance ive booked got a national express ticket from Ipswich to london for that much.
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Fair enough, I've never used that service so not sure what it entails.

Travel dates - 10th August, leaving at 15.43, it's £8 for a single. Of course if you travel peak times, it's going to cost you more.

A return, leaving Ipswich at 11.09 (arriving London at 12.17) and then leaving London at 23.30 (arriving Ipswich at 00.43) costs you £16 on the 10th of August.

Even today, you can get a single for £33.20
 
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Unless you have a railcard trains are terrible value.

I can understand if you turn up on the day it should cost more, but to have to buy a ticket months in advance to get a remotely resonable price is ridiculous.
 
Amp34 said:
Also added a hold bag because most people will need one on a weeks holiday...
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So we have concluded that if you are an everyday down to earth person who just requires the essentials, you are better off taking the plane with a holdall. If you are one of these metrosexuals or a Katie Price wannabe then you're better off paying more for the train with your 15kg of luggage for a 1 week trip to Glasgow. :D
 
Ahleckz said:
Fair enough, I've never used that service so not sure what it entails.

Travel dates - 10th August, leaving at 15.43, it's £8 for a single. Of course if you travel peak times, it's going to cost you more.

A return, leaving Ipswich at 11.09 (arriving London at 12.17) and then leaving London at 23.30 (arriving Ipswich at 00.43) costs you £16 on the 10th of August.

Even today, you can get a single for £33.20
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Ahlecks all trains from Ipswich Train station are pretty much national express.



The prices even online are stupid ive booked a month in advance before and found them stupidly high.



ALSO GUYS if your going to use airline examples use easyjet.


Even with baggage your looking at less then £50 when booking in advance say a week and thats a return.


The bus from ipswich to standstead is £20 and thats a return its probably even cheaper from london.


All in all easyjet and the Stanstead coach and a flight to glasgow GLA WITH BAGGAGE is like 65>70.

Without baggage and a normal pull along case you can easily just buy a return for £30.
 
Yeah... something like that...

Or more precisely if you are a smelly old git who only takes a pair of pants and change of socks for a weeks holiday then you can get away without a hold bag... ;)

The simple fact is most people still take hold luggage with them on most flights longer than a weekend. ergo makes sense to add it for a flight.

Not that anyone would want to go to Glasgow on holiday anyway....:p

TBH though on more general routes, sometimes trains are cheaper, sometimes driving is cheaper and sometimes planes are cheaper. You need to remember though that although planes are apparently quicker in reality once adding on the extras (such as getting to and from an airport, security, checkin) they generally aren't. Personally I'm happy spending an extra few pounds so I can get walk to my local station, get a nice seat and relax for several hours before being deposited at my destination. I'd rather not have to go through the hassle of getting to an airport (probably via the same train station), checking in, going through security, spending an hour or so meandering aimlessly round the overpriced airport shops, getting crammed on a plane with no leg room and my ears popping before getting chucked off at the other end in the middle of nowhere and having to find another means (probably train again) to get to my actual destination...;)
 
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Some people are deathly scared of flying and others (myself included for a trip in June) think that sometimes it might be nice to see the scenery from Edinburgh to London one of the ways and are willing to pay the extra :).
 
Allnamestaken said:
Ahlecks all trains from Ipswich Train station are pretty much national express.
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Go to www.nationarail.co.uk and type in the details I gave, then continue to the checkout. It doesn't matter who operates the route, those tickets are valid. You can then just go to the ticket terminal in Ipswich station, and type in your reference code and print out the tickets. Or they'll post them to you! Free of charge.
The simple fact is this - There are cheap tickets available, you just have to book advance and be flexible in your travel times and dates.
 
trains are bad value for money


which is exactly why it is being looked into by the gov right now and has been in the news all week...

similar cost to flying but the train companies make more profit from it.
 
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