Cheaper to fly via Berlin than to get train from Yorkshire to Essex

[Capetonian]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ ... erlin.html

Whilst I can think of plenty of reasons not to do something like this, particularly when it involves flying Ryanair, I do have a sneaking admiration for the young man who had the perspicacity, time, and dedication to do something like this.

What he would have spent by going by rail :
£47 for train from Sheffield to Shenfield
£2.99 for ham and cheddar toastie for lunch
£1.80 bus fare from Sheffield to Hutton
TOTAL - £51.79

What he actually spent
£4 train from Sheffield to Derby
£4.20 for bus from Derby to East Midlands Airport
£11.83 Ryanair flight to Berlin
£5 Berlin return train from airport to city centre
£1.50 Currywurst for lunch
£9.54 Ryanair flight to London Stansted
£8 bus home to Hutton from Stansted airport
TOTAL - £44.07

He saved himself £7 and had a trip to Berlin as a bonus, a wonderful city.
Lovely story.

[Rwy in Sight]

Capetoninan,

I had a fairly distant similar experience - flew one leg (the return was on full-fare/network airline) between the two major cities of my country as Ryanair was cheaper than the train and by the time the train would have arrived to its destination, I would have completed the activity I wanted to make. This allowed me to appreciate what they offer - no kidding.

For some trips (actually the majority of the ones I would undertake in the near future) Ryanair provides an excellent product (provided one does not carry too heavy bags, the flight is not longer that an hour or so and the airports are are the same with the ones used by the full- fare airlines). I can get a book as to be able to ignore the sales calls by the crew and I kindly ask my mother to let me use the suitcase I offered her specially designed to meet Ryanair standards and the trip is getting quite tolerable.

And I can assure you Ryanair main don't fly with them point (as far as I am concern) is the airports they fly to (Copenhagen, Milan, Paris and Rome come to mind).

[Mrs Ex-Ascot]

Not surprised considering the cost of train tickets in the UK. Twenty years ago I was invited to a wedding in Edinburgh on the Saturday and another in London on the Sunday. At the time I was based at RAF (H)Halton. Not only was it logistically easier to drive to London, park at a friends place, taxi to LHR, and BA Shuttle to Edinburgh and then do the reverse the next day; But it also worked out at almost half the price of the train tickets.

The only way in recent years that we've been able to get reasonably priced rail tickets is by booking months in advance on the Internet.