Two trips I do fairly regularly are Cranfield - Prestwick, and Cranfield - Exeter.
Cranfield - Prestwick.
AA5, £90/hr: £480ish return, 2:40 each way.
Ryanair: 90mins to Stansted by car, 90 minute check-in, 90 minute flight, 30 minutes to get out: 5hrs each way. Much cheaper, but to get a couple of meetings in, add in a night stop in a hotel - plus 4 hours time lost in working hours.
Train: 1 hr to Watford, 6.5hrs by train each way - so 15 hours travel - around £250 return.
Roughly speaking, compared to flying scheduled break-even on money, save on time. And I don't have to fly Ryanair. Compared to the train I gain about 9 hours, add in £70 for a night in a budget hotel (or for the caledonian sleeper) and it's about £160 more expensive - or about £18/hr time gained.
Cranfield - Exeter
AA5, £90/hr, 1:20 each way - so £240 return.
Train: half hour to MK station, 3.5hrs train each way. £200 round trip.
So gain 4 hrs at a cost of £40 - £10/hr.
It depends a lot on routes of-course. To much of the British Isles, a moderately priced IFR-capable Shareoplane works pretty well for me, with a pax very well. I have no trouble stating that my time is worth more than £20/hr, so it's pretty easy to justify on either route. Ditto occasional trips to York, Belfast, Dundee...
Much beyond northern Europe, it ceases to make time or financial sense in my experience.
On all routes you will occasionally get stranded by weather so have to factor in a few random nights in hotels. On the other hand, I've missed trains before as well.
G
Last edited by Genghis the Engineer; 24th Sep 2013 at 22:24.