How to beat the airlines flying your own plane.
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Anyway getting back to the point.
Flew to the IOW a few months back. Turns out it was cheaper to fly by close to £10 each. Booking on the day the ferry company quoted over £90 return! 3-4hrs from Kent by car took 1 hour in the air.
Flew to the IOW a few months back. Turns out it was cheaper to fly by close to £10 each. Booking on the day the ferry company quoted over £90 return! 3-4hrs from Kent by car took 1 hour in the air.
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The other day I had one of those dream scenarios again. They don't happen often. My presence was requested in Baker City, OR (!) for work and the producer asked me if she should reserve a ticket to Boise or Portland for me, which would I prefer? Baker City is a small town on the border of Oregon and Idaho and the drive from Boise would be 2hrs. And from Portland a whopping 5hrs!
My options were:
1. LAX to either Phoenix or Salt Lake City. Wait 2 hrs, connect, then fly to Boise, then drive for 2 hrs. Total door to door travel time: about 10hrs
2. LAX direct to Portland, then drive for 5hrs. Total door to door: 10hrs
I took a quick glance at the map and sure enough; Baker City Municipal Airport with its 3 long rwy's was a mere three miles outside of town. "I'll get myself up there", I heard myself say. On the day, I comfortably cruised up there in perfect VFR in 3hrs 20mins with my second unit cameraman in tow, saving production even more money as they now didn't have to fly him either. Not only that, we brought our foldable bikes and could cycle in from airport ourselves. Door to door time was less than 5hrs.
Having your own plane sometimes - priceless.
My options were:
1. LAX to either Phoenix or Salt Lake City. Wait 2 hrs, connect, then fly to Boise, then drive for 2 hrs. Total door to door travel time: about 10hrs
2. LAX direct to Portland, then drive for 5hrs. Total door to door: 10hrs
I took a quick glance at the map and sure enough; Baker City Municipal Airport with its 3 long rwy's was a mere three miles outside of town. "I'll get myself up there", I heard myself say. On the day, I comfortably cruised up there in perfect VFR in 3hrs 20mins with my second unit cameraman in tow, saving production even more money as they now didn't have to fly him either. Not only that, we brought our foldable bikes and could cycle in from airport ourselves. Door to door time was less than 5hrs.
Having your own plane sometimes - priceless.
Last edited by AdamFrisch; 21st Sep 2013 at 17:45.
Short haul in Europe it can happen a lot as those are massively expensive, especcially if you want to go on a day by day basis.
For a while, my favorite run was ZRH-SZG, which takes 1:20 with my Mooney and about an hour when there are direct flights per airline. For a while there weren't any so it was via Frankfurt or Vienna. During this time, time AND money gain was tremendous! 2:40 flight hours for the return trip as opposed to 6-10 and around 500 Euros flight cost as opposed to 1100 Euros the airlines charged for a same day return. Now there is a scheduled service again but again, day trips are around 600 Euros and the flight time is around 50 minutes, but add to that check in and gate time.
This goes for many such point to point trips within maybe 200-300 NM where no airline is flying to or where times are not suitable.
For a while, my favorite run was ZRH-SZG, which takes 1:20 with my Mooney and about an hour when there are direct flights per airline. For a while there weren't any so it was via Frankfurt or Vienna. During this time, time AND money gain was tremendous! 2:40 flight hours for the return trip as opposed to 6-10 and around 500 Euros flight cost as opposed to 1100 Euros the airlines charged for a same day return. Now there is a scheduled service again but again, day trips are around 600 Euros and the flight time is around 50 minutes, but add to that check in and gate time.
This goes for many such point to point trips within maybe 200-300 NM where no airline is flying to or where times are not suitable.
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
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.
