How long is too long for a commute

[Craig321]

I've been contacted by an agency about a position in London. Technically it's £17k p/a more than my current job but after season ticket etc would work out as around £200 a month extra in the bank. Now I could use the money, and the increase in job role could allow me to either move to a higher paid position in London, or take a sideways step but closer to home after say 12 months.

The thing that bugs me is I'd be moving from a 35 minute cycle each way to a two hour commute made up of a cycle, a train, and the tube.

So, denizens of GD, given that I'm probably going to have a number of London based opportunities even if this doesn't pan out, in your opinions how long is too long for a commute?

Anything over 30 mins (1 way) is too long. Even 30 mins is pushing it. I might consider a bit over 30 mins depending on job and pay.

I can do my commute in under 5 mins on my motorbike

Also depends on the job. If I genuinely enjoyed it, I'd happily commute longer.

 

[Freefaller]

Anything over 80 mins is too much for me. But I'd want to be well paid for being at the top end of commute length. 2hrs each way with numerous interchanges would be pretty tough, especially for 200 a month. HOWEVER, is the job better and the career step worthwhile?

I took a 30% pay cut for my current job, but my work life balance is amazing as are the benefits and my commute (other than it being southern rail) is easy.

 

[FortuitousFluke]

Anything over 80 mins is too much for me. But I'd want to be well paid for being at the top end of commute length. 2hrs each way with numerous interchanges would be pretty tough, especially for 200 a month. HOWEVER, is the job better and the career step worthwhile?

I took a 30% pay cut for my current job, but my work life balance is amazing as are the benefits and my commute (other than it being southern rail) is easy.

This is the added value that kind of has me interested. I'm currently a business development analyst, the new post is a commercial and strategy contracts manager which is a pretty decent step up in terms of recognition (I'm probably doing a lot of what the job entails at my current place, I'm just not being paid for it).

Ultimately I'd use it as a stepping stone and either look for a further step up in a year or so, or a sideways move closer to home thus providing a £6k after tax pay increase (by allowing me to drop the season ticket) if I can wangle something in Cambridge.

 

[Freefaller]

If you think it's going to help your career then it might be worth it, especially if you feel you can commit to the commuting time (i.e. family, work/life balance). Ultimately it means more money in your pocket. Albeit a little less time at home!

 

[Deleted member 651465]

The length of commute is one thing, the hassle is another.

Example, my previous job was a 1hr 15min drive straight up the M4. Cruise control on, sit back and listen to music/podcast etc. I probably could have done a 2hr drive (it was that on a Friday afternoon anyway) but that's because it was easy. Now take your example, cycle, train and tube. Which is more hassle? I'd take a longer commute if it was a straight train journey or a long drive on the motorway... multiple changes? It'd have to be a guaranteed stepping stone to bigger things.

You mention about moving on in a year? Isn't that too short of a time to advertise any real achievements on the CV? I've always found 3 years to be a sweet spot as it gives you enough on the CV that wouldn't trigger alarm bells but enough time to say "I did XYZ when I was there". Your mileage may vary but I'd be shocked if you would have the bargaining power back in Cambridge if all you had was 1 year at X company to fall on.

 

[jaybee]

I'm really torn at the moment as well. Back in late 2015, my hand was forced essentially. I was made redundant. I went from driving 30-40 minutes, to a 1hr 15min commute on the train/tube because a job came up really quickly and I decided to go for it in London. I was willing to give it a go. I always knew redundancy would come and had already faced up to the fact that extending my reach to London for jobs would hugely increase the availability of jobs in my specific IT sector.

I'm still in the London job. I was shocked at how much extra salary got used up in extra tax and my season ticket on the train. My season is about 5k. I'm quite lucky in that I am on South West Trains line and whilst not perfect, the service is fast into London and pretty reliable.

To be totally honest, I don't miss driving. I really genuinely don't. In fact, when I get in a car to drive now at weekend or of an evening when I've got home early, I find it infuriating just sitting in traffic and concentrating. With the train, despite it being about twice as long I can relax and watch TV series or self study new things. Loads of things I can do. I always get a seat as I get a fairly late train in compared to most London commuters. I also work from home typically once a week to break it up a bit.

There were times where it would take me 1hour + to get home on my old car commute due to traffic or issues, so delays on the train I would say are the same. If anything less. When the trains do go bad, they tend to go really bad quite quick. Just have to live with it.

If I hadn't gone for the London job, I may not even have a decent job now. It's opened up opportunities for me and I have no regrets other than two things which I have had to just live with:

1: Leaving at 4pm and going straight out from work to do something is no longer feasible. The earliest I can get home is about 6pm.

2: Less time generally with the family. More stressful/hard role.

 

[McBain]

Anything more than an hour each way = a no go, but as low as possible is ideal obviously.

It's not just the change in time that'd worry me with that, you're going from not having to rely on anything but yourself and your bike to public transport, including the absolute gash rail services in this country. A 2 hour commute can easily become 4/5 hours.

Wouldn't fancy that personally.

 

[HangTime]

1: Leaving at 4pm and going straight out from work to do something is no longer feasible. The earliest I can get home is about 6pm.

Getting home at 6pm is pretty good especially if you are typically getting a later train into work than most commuters. Plenty of people don't really regard themselves as commuters and get home later than that.

I had my heart set on moving closer to London but lately I've been able to get home a bit earlier due to shifting my working hours by 30mins and my wife also now will typically collect me from a different train station which removes the need for me to change trains and typically saves me about 45mins in travel time. So instead of getting home at 20:15 it's usually about 19:00 or just after. When I factor in time watching iPlayer etc it's getting to the point where I am starting to question the hassle/uncertainty of moving for the sake of saving an extra say 75mins a day.

 

[Gaijin]

It's subjective.

What are your personal circumstances? Do you have a family to get home to?
What does the longer commute facilitate? Better money? Better working conditions? Better prospects? What metrics would make it worth it?
What is the quality of commute like? Is it 90 mins wafting on quiet public transport with guaranteed seating? Or is it inching forward in traffic for 45 mins?

Only you can weigh up what is important for you based on your metrics and then as to whether it is worth it.

 

[TS7]

I think amongst all the chat about what's an acceptable commute time, you need to take into consideration the additional non-monetary value this job provides. It appears from your initial post that this job could be beneficial for you in regard to job prospects. If that's the case, take it and consider the extra 250 pm as a bonus. It's all for too easy for me or others to say well I wouldn't consider any more than 30 minute commute etc etc but everyone is in a different position in life. You sometimes need to make sacrifices in the short term for long term gain. I know many people who have taken significant pay cuts in order to gain experience which will benefit them long term. So the fact you can benefit for future and also get 250pm on top is win win.