Kevin
Other than what the others have said! Also consider you have to get to your departure airport and get to where you are going from your destination airport.
So if say you are in Central London you may have an hours drive to an airport.
You have the time getting the aircraft sorted and airborne.
You have the flight time and then the sorting time after landing at the other end plus the transport time to where you are going.
We have not even considered weather and go no go!
Unless you live close to your departure airfield and your destination airfield is close to your destination you will probably be quicker driving by the time all the factors and time have been added to your airtime.
Manchester? Unless you are wealthy you will probably have to use Barton and then also consider opening /closing times
As they may not fit your schedule?
With a basic PPL your dispatch reliability will be poor with a PPL IR plus a deiced capable aircraft maybe 95%
Where it is useful is if you are heading into Northern France or south UK to Scotland but if your aircraft and you are not matched to the trip and weather forget it as a time saver!!!
Pace