Chris Barker

For the last few weeks I've been researching the options for getting
from Hereford to Stansted airport with four people to catch an early
morning (7:15AM) flight on Sunday, July 3. (The departure time is
pushing me to consider a B&B in the Stansted area for the previous
night, but that's another issue.) The possibilities all seem
ridiculously expensive to an American whose dollar can but so little
outside of the US any more. Here's what I have come up with so far:

1. An executive car service out of Ross-on-Wye (Spright Executive
Cars) for £185.

2. Railway with four changes of train at £50 each person for a total
of £200.

3. A coach taking over 7 hours at £30 each person for a total of £120.

4. A rental car taken for a three day minimum out of Gloucester for
about £90.

I'm leaning toward the rental car, as it is not only the cheapest, but
also appears to be the most convenient, as we can use it on our own
schedule. (Driving in England is not an issue for me--I grew up there
and drive thousands of miles every summer in the UK.) It seems crazy
that the trip to Spain itself is only going to cost £38 each, but
getting to the airport will likely cost more than this!

Does some option I have failed to consider seem glaringly obvious to a
local?

Thanks in advance,

Chris

Miss L. Toe

    > Does some option I have failed to consider seem glaringly obvious to a
    > local?

Fly from Bristol instead ?
Or even Heathrow

Elise

"Chris Barker" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:110320050825004781%luncheonchrisbarkermeat@at tbi.com...
    > For the last few weeks I've been researching the options for getting
    > from Hereford to Stansted airport with four people to catch an early
    > morning (7:15AM) flight on Sunday, July 3. (The departure time is
    > pushing me to consider a B&B in the Stansted area for the previous
    > night, but that's another issue.) The possibilities all seem
    > ridiculously expensive to an American whose dollar can but so little
    > outside of the US any more. Here's what I have come up with so far:
    > 1. An executive car service out of Ross-on-Wye (Spright Executive
    > Cars) for £185.
    > 2. Railway with four changes of train at £50 each person for a total
    > of £200.

There are some direct trains to Birmingham New St from Hereford - probably have
to get the night before, and then there are a couple of trains direct from there
to Stanstead - so only 1 change necessary,
Elise

Archierob

Haven't you got any mates?

Edmund Lewis

elise wrote:
    > "Chris Barker" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:110320050825004781%luncheonchrisbarkermeat@at tbi.com...
    > > For the last few weeks I've been researching the options for
getting
    > > from Hereford to Stansted airport with four people to catch an
early
    > > morning (7:15AM) flight on Sunday, July 3. (The departure time is
    > > pushing me to consider a B&B in the Stansted area for the previous
    > > night, but that's another issue.) The possibilities all seem
    > > ridiculously expensive to an American whose dollar can but so
little
    > > outside of the US any more. Here's what I have come up with so
far:
    > >
    > > 1. An executive car service out of Ross-on-Wye (Spright Executive
    > > Cars) for £185.
    > >
    > > 2. Railway with four changes of train at £50 each person for a
total
    > > of £200.
    > >
    > There are some direct trains to Birmingham New St from Hereford -
probably have
    > to get the night before, and then there are a couple of trains direct
from there
    > to Stanstead - so only 1 change necessary,
    > Elise


Avoid the Bham-Stansted trains- they're unreliable, slow and often
cancelled. Although they're direct in that you don't change, they go by
a tortuous, winding route borrowing bits from several regional lines
(via Leicester, Oakham, Stamford)-there's no west-east railway there
like the A14 road. As it's a weekend it's certainly worth avoiding-
that route is also one of the worst for engineering work blockades.
What I do to get there (I live in Shropshire, the next county north of
Herefordshire) is:
Train to central London. Will usually be cheaper in advance, especially
Saturday because it's off-peak, check
http://www.rail.co.uk/ which also carries details of service
alterations to check nearer the day.
Then bus from Victoria coach station (next to the namesake train
station) which runs through the night, half-hourly, £10 each according
to the site (was £7 last time I used it, 3 years ago; If you're a
student or over 60 it may be less). This is really handy for early
departures. And allows you to catch evening trains to meet it, instead
of staying the night in London.
http://www.nationalexpress.com/bp/b2.cfm?id=21893419

Edmund

Chris Barker

In article <[email protected]>, Miss L.
Toe <[email protected]> wrote:

    > >
    > > Does some option I have failed to consider seem glaringly obvious to a
    > > local?
    >
    > Fly from Bristol instead ?
    > Or even Heathrow

Thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately the flights are already
booked, and not cancelable. And we need to fly into Bilbao, which
drastically restricts the options.

Chris

Chris Barker

In article <[email protected]>, elise
<[email protected]> wrote:

    > There are some direct trains to Birmingham New St from Hereford - probably
    > have
    > to get the night before, and then there are a couple of trains direct from
    > there
    > to Stanstead - so only 1 change necessary,
    > Elise

Thanks, Elise. But Edmund's talked me out of it.

Chris

Chris Barker

In article <[email protected] .com>,
Edmund Lewis <[email protected]> wrote:

    > Avoid the Bham-Stansted trains- they're unreliable, slow and often
    > cancelled. Although they're direct in that you don't change, they go by
    > a tortuous, winding route borrowing bits from several regional lines
    > (via Leicester, Oakham, Stamford)-there's no west-east railway there
    > like the A14 road. As it's a weekend it's certainly worth avoiding-
    > that route is also one of the worst for engineering work blockades.
    > What I do to get there (I live in Shropshire, the next county north of
    > Herefordshire) is:
    > Train to central London. Will usually be cheaper in advance, especially
    > Saturday because it's off-peak, check
    > http://www.rail.co.uk/ which also carries details of service
    > alterations to check nearer the day.
    > Then bus from Victoria coach station (next to the namesake train
    > station) which runs through the night, half-hourly, £10 each according
    > to the site (was £7 last time I used it, 3 years ago; If you're a
    > student or over 60 it may be less). This is really handy for early
    > departures. And allows you to catch evening trains to meet it, instead
    > of staying the night in London.
    > http://www.nationalexpress.com/bp/b2.cfm?id=21893419
    >
    > Edmund

Thanks, Edmund, for your detailed reply. I will certainly follow up on
your recommendations. [ I know Shropshire (and Herefordshire) well,
having grown up in the latter, before my family emmigrated to the
States. Shropshire is my second favorite English county!]

Checking your link for rail, the site won't allow for inquiries more
than three months in advance, but asking for a similar request just two
months out leads to a "super advace single" price of £31 each. Add to
this a £10 bus ride from London to Stansted and times four people I'm
back to £164, far outstripping my £90 car rental, but not by as much as
it appears once petrol is accounted for. For a single travel, rail
would be much more attractive.

I'm sure I'm not the first to notice that privatisation has done little
to improve the rail options, at least as far as cost goes.

Chris

Chris Barker

In article <[email protected]>, archierob
<[email protected]> wrote:

    > Haven't you got any mates?

Not any that want to drive me and three other four hours each way,
unfortunately. Not even my relatives will do that!

Chris

Edmund Lewis

Chris Barker wrote:
    > In article <[email protected] .com>,
    > Edmund Lewis <[email protected]> wrote:
    > > Avoid the Bham-Stansted trains- they're unreliable, slow and often
    > > cancelled. Although they're direct in that you don't change, they
go by
    > > a tortuous, winding route borrowing bits from several regional
lines
    > > (via Leicester, Oakham, Stamford)-there's no west-east railway
there
    > > like the A14 road. As it's a weekend it's certainly worth avoiding-
    > > that route is also one of the worst for engineering work blockades.
    > > What I do to get there (I live in Shropshire, the next county north
of
    > > Herefordshire) is:
    > > Train to central London. Will usually be cheaper in advance,
especially
    > > Saturday because it's off-peak, check
    > > http://www.rail.co.uk/ which also carries details of service
    > > alterations to check nearer the day.
    > > Then bus from Victoria coach station (next to the namesake train
    > > station) which runs through the night, half-hourly, £10 each
according
    > > to the site (was £7 last time I used it, 3 years ago; If you're a
    > > student or over 60 it may be less). This is really handy for early
    > > departures. And allows you to catch evening trains to meet it,
instead
    > > of staying the night in London.
    > > http://www.nationalexpress.com/bp/b2.cfm?id=21893419
    > >
    > > Edmund
    > Thanks, Edmund, for your detailed reply. I will certainly follow up
on
    > your recommendations. [ I know Shropshire (and Herefordshire) well,
    > having grown up in the latter, before my family emmigrated to the
    > States. Shropshire is my second favorite English county!]

You do know that Ludlow's full of Michelin-starred restaurants now? And
Shrewsbury has flood barriers? The Ironbridge is still there mind, so
are the sheep :-)

    > Checking your link for rail, the site won't allow for inquiries more
    > than three months in advance, but asking for a similar request just
two
    > months out leads to a "super advace single" price of £31 each. Add
to
    > this a £10 bus ride from London to Stansted and times four people
I'm
    > back to £164, far outstripping my £90 car rental, but not by as
much as
    > it appears once petrol is accounted for. For a single travel, rail
    > would be much more attractive.
    > I'm sure I'm not the first to notice that privatisation has done
little
    > to improve the rail options, at least as far as cost goes.

The opposite :-(
We've lost our direct train to London, fares go up every year.

Edmund

Nitram

On Fri, 11 Mar 2005 16:53:10 +0000 (UTC), "Miss L. Toe"
<[email protected]> wrote:

    >> Does some option I have failed to consider seem glaringly obvious to a
    >> local?
    >Fly from Bristol instead ?
    >Or even Heathrow

I dismissed that as blindingly obvious

--
Martin

Alan S

On Fri, 11 Mar 2005 22:28:42 -0800, Chris Barker
<[email protected]> wrote:

    |In article <[email protected]>, archierob
    |<[email protected]> wrote:
    |
    |> Haven't you got any mates?
    |
    |Not any that want to drive me and three other four hours each way,
    |unfortunately. Not even my relatives will do that!
    |
    |Chris

Lucky. I have some relatives I would cheerfully drive 8 hours away. As
long as it was a guaranteed non-return.


Cheers, Alan

Chris Barker

In article <[email protected]>, Alan S
<[email protected]> wrote:

    > On Fri, 11 Mar 2005 22:28:42 -0800, Chris Barker
    > <[email protected]> wrote:
    >
    > |In article <[email protected]>, archierob
    > |<[email protected]> wrote:
    > |
    > |> Haven't you got any mates?
    > |
    > |Not any that want to drive me and three other four hours each way,
    > |unfortunately. Not even my relatives will do that!
    > |
    > |Chris
    >
    > Lucky. I have some relatives I would cheerfully drive 8 hours away. As
    > long as it was a guaranteed non-return.
    >
    >
    > Cheers, Alan

Why do you think we emmigrated?

Chris

Chris Barker

In article <[email protected]. com>,
Edmund Lewis <[email protected]> wrote:

    > You do know that Ludlow's full of Michelin-starred restaurants now? And
    > Shrewsbury has flood barriers? The Ironbridge is still there mind, so
    > are the sheep :-)

We were back in Shropshire during July 2003, and noticed Ludlow's
gastronomic evolution, but failed to note Shrewsbury's flood barriers,
(though we didn't go down to the river, so unless they installed them
in some extremely unlikely location, this is no surprise.)

Summer 2006 we'll be back for a three week stay in Ludlow in June,
which we are bound to enjoy. (My American wife likes Shropshire even
more than myself, the great Herefordshire advocate.)

Sheep? There are sheep?

Chris

Chris Barker

In article <[email protected]>, nitram
<[email protected]> wrote:

    > On Fri, 11 Mar 2005 16:53:10 +0000 (UTC), "Miss L. Toe"
    > <[email protected]> wrote:
    >
    > >>
    > >> Does some option I have failed to consider seem glaringly obvious to a
    > >> local?
    > >
    > >Fly from Bristol instead ?
    > >Or even Heathrow
    >
    > I dismissed that as blindingly obvious

We need to fly into Bilbao to meet someone.

Checking Expedia's Birmingham-Bilbao offerings, a flight is available,
changing planes in Milan (after flying way beyond Bilbao,) for US$929
each! Other options are available for the trip, all more expensive
still.

Heathrow-Bilbao is available for US$820 each, flying non-stop. All
other options listed are higher.

By comparison, Bristol-Bilbao, connecting through Brussels, at US$273
each sounds like a real bargain.

Expedia can find no flights out of Cardiff to Bilbao at all, even
indirect.

Which exhausts the closer airports, I think. Then we come to Stansted,
at US$76 each. Even with a chauffeured cross country executive car
service for US$360 it still comes out the cheapest option by at least
$430, and an ordinary rental car at US$160 takes the price delta to
over US$600 in favor of the elusive Stansted.

Travelocity's listings fare no better in comparison, and my travel
agent couldn't come up with any superior alternatives (far from it!)

Blindingly obvious?

--
Chris
(Remove all of the pink processed canned stuff from my email address to reply.)