London TravelWatch’s Post

Rail fares rose by 4.9% earlier this month 🚂😮 Luckily, there are plenty of savvy ways you can save on your train journeys. Whether it's booking in advance or using a railcard, this BBC article has you covered 👇 #BudgetTravel https://lnkd.in/eR4Sg6tV

The UK rail industry continues to lose sight of the customer with the move below by LNER. It removes an affordable walkup, flexible and refundable fare type. Previously what LNER has done others have followed, also remembering that LNER are technically owned by the government! Not mentioned in the article is a new '70min fare' which provides flexibility within that period - baffling to most travellers. "simplification"? Long distance rail is moving towards airline style fixed advance ticketing....

Airports are profiteering from consumers. Have you noticed that going to the airport now for drop off and pick up costs a lot! Some airports are charging up to £10 for a basic requirement - getting to the airport. I’m a big believer in free market but the latest figures show that airports are making £2m a day from drop off fees. I’m happy to pay for service which is valuable and if there are meaningful alternatives. Take Manchester Airport Group - they are making almost £700m from car parking charges. The trains to the airport are terrible, there is no reasonable free drop off location so this just has a knock on impact for everyone using the airport. Taxis then become more expensive because they are also required to pay the charge. It ultimately becomes a travel tax. Drop off charges are becoming the airports business model rather than air travel. Are they reasonable or should all airports have meaningful free alternatives?

Other governments have recognised the need to make public transport more affordable so that more people will use it, why can't ours? The cost of rail tickets is a barrier to travel and the fact that fuel duty for drivers has been frozen for many years, brings home the need for action to make rail fares more affordable. Read our blueprint for fares and ticketing reform👇 https://lnkd.in/eU9-v6Ar

Last week Queensland Translink (part of the Australian Government Department of Transport & Roads) has started its 50 cent flat rate trial across all zones and modes. This includes all regional urban buses, and bus, train, ferry, tram and on demand services in South East Queensland. Time will tell if this changes the demand for public transport in the region. and other transport authorities are looking on to see how what effects this Universal Basic Mobility pilot has... But a large influx of new customers is not expected immediately. #transportstrategy #universalbasicmobility #ubm

Did you know that UK airport drop-off and pick-up fees are at an all-time high? It's time to #DroptheDropOffFees! ✈️ With UK airport drop-off and pick-up fees soaring, we're getting behind The BTA's campaign against excessive airport drop-off fees to support travellers and remove barriers to travel. Airport drop-off fees are an unfair and excessive charge that UK airports impose on travellers. It's often claimed that high drop-off and pick-up fees lead to more sustainable travel decisions by passengers but discounted longer-term parking on site is heavily promoted to travellers, which still encourages car journeys. Plus, no incentive is offered by the airports for the use of electric vehicles. We've written to members of the House of Commons to ask them to engage with Clive Wratten, The BTA and the UK business travel community to investigate the principle and price of these regressive fees. The BTAs latest white paper tackles this issue head-on, showing how the charges harm consumers, business travel, and the whole travel industry. View the full white paper below. #businesstravel #corporatetravel

Are UK airport drop-off and pick-up fees getting out of hand? A new whitepaper from The BTA has condemned what they call the "unfair" and "excessive" drop-off charges imposed by UK airports, believing them to be harmful to the business travel industry. A few of their key points 👇 ⚡Electric vehicles are charged the same as their diesel and petrol counterparts at most airports despite claims that the charges are designed to be environmentally friendly. 🚗 Taxi drivers, chauffeurs, & rideshare operators are hardest hit. They now have to factor in the cost of getting into the airport when picking up or dropping off customers. This can be expensive during long, unexpected waits. 😕 Many drop-off/pick-up pricing structures are confusing, particularly for those who are not confident navigating online payment systems. Some even require customers to register an account. What do you think? Should airports #DroptheDropOffFees? You can also find the full whitepaper from the #BTA in the comments 👇 #FFTT #foodforthought #businesstravel

Did you know that UK airport drop-off and pick-up fees are at an all-time high? It's time to #DroptheDropOffFees! ✈️ With UK airport drop-off and pick-up fees soaring, we're getting behind The BTA's campaign against excessive airport drop-off fees to support travellers and remove barriers to travel. Airport drop-off fees are an unfair and excessive charge that UK airports impose on travellers. It's often claimed that high drop-off and pick-up fees lead to more sustainable travel decisions by passengers but discounted longer-term parking on site is heavily promoted to travellers, which still encourages car journeys. Plus, no incentive is offered by the airports for the use of electric vehicles. We've written to members of the House of Commons to ask them to engage with Clive Wratten, The BTA and the UK business travel community to investigate the principle and price of these regressive fees. The BTAs latest white paper tackles this issue head-on, showing how the charges harm consumers, business travel, and the whole travel industry. Download the full white paper here. #businesstravel #corporatetravel

Did you know that UK airport drop-off and pick-up fees are at an all-time high? It's time to #DroptheDropOffFees! ✈️ With UK airport drop-off and pick-up fees soaring, we're getting behind The BTA's campaign against excessive airport drop-off fees to support travellers and remove barriers to travel. Airport drop-off fees are an unfair and excessive charge that UK airports impose on travellers. It's often claimed that high drop-off and pick-up fees lead to more sustainable travel decisions by passengers but discounted longer-term parking on site is heavily promoted to travellers, which still encourages car journeys. Plus, no incentive is offered by the airports for the use of electric vehicles. We've written to members of the House of Commons to ask them to engage with Clive Wratten, The BTA and the UK business travel community to investigate the principle and price of these regressive fees. The BTAs latest white paper tackles this issue head-on, showing how the charges harm consumers, business travel, and the whole travel industry. Download the full white paper here. #businesstravel #corporatetravel

We don't really do trains in Canada, and even when we do, we find new and creative ways to make them not really work. This might seem trivial but if you're a monopoly operating a train between Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal then you're still competing with driving or flying. So what do they do? Create a fare structure that mimics the airlines, then whack on a seat booking fee if you pick the cheapest one. If you're a train operator you should be going out of your way to differentiate the product against the airlines, not nickeling and diming with extra fees ... especially when they're exorbitantly expensive in the first place! We're about to, maybe, build a proper dedicated passenger train in this country. So it would be nice if the people operating them would recognise what makes rail travel distinctive and desirable elsewhere.