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Getting To London and Yahoo! Hackday

Posted on June 12, 2007
Filed Under Hackday London, Personal Posts |

I sat down over the weekend to book travel down to London for the Yahoo Hackday (yes I know, so much for booking in advance, but hey seven days is in advance, isn’t it?). What surprised me is just how expensive the train as a travel option inside the UK has become. Yes if you book six months in advance, on a specific train, you might get a £12 Edinburgh to London single, but the current times, options and ticket types, over both GNER and Virgin, makes understanding mobile phone tarrifs a walk in the park.

British Airways Boeing 737 EDI-LGW

So I’m flying. After looking at all the options, I’ll be flying British Airways from Edinburgh to Heathrow, with the London Underground getting me to Embankment for my afternoon meetings this Friday. At a cost of £80 return (including a whopping 45% tax), it’s the second cheapest option, but it takes considerably less time than the good old student standby National Express, there’s no fancy options or guides to go through.

I’m especially liking the new option that American Airlines has when booking, that shows you the cheapest flight available for each departure time, for each leg of your journey. A very welcome improvement. As to why I book my BA flights on AA… the two airlines codeshare, I earn more miles (and keep them in one program, AAdvantage), and the price is very worthwhile.

With the headaches and problems in booking train tickets, and the constant breakdowns, is it any wonder air travel in the UK is on the rise and capcity problems in the south east are already apparent on a daily basis?

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