5 ms·
spot on. I am from Italy that geographically is not very easy to connect to the rest of Europe because of the Alps. Still, below a thousand kms train beats fl
by peoplefromibiza 5y ago
spot on.
I am from Italy that geographically is not very easy to connect to the rest of Europe because of the Alps.
Still, below a thousand kms train beats flight 100% of the time!
I travel a lot throughput Europe to meet my special other who travels a lot due to her job.
I used to fly to meet her but , pandemic aside, I discovered that traveling by train was a much better option, mainly because you're on the ground and everything works almost like you're not moving at all.
internet connection is hit and miss of course, but compared to the very tight seats on a plane with no internet at all, it seems like a moving office.
Truth is I rarely work on a train, I mainly read, but having the option and the opportunity to book a solitary seat it's such a luxury that I gladly pay the extra money.
Other benefits include: no baggage limit, no early show up routine for no reason, no security or "show your face" checks, no packed up load-in load-out lines, being able to walk away if you need to (a phone call, for example) or because you simply need to stretch a little bit, but my favourite one is night trains where you book a bunk bed, sleep and wake up at the destination. A friend of mine calls it teleportation, you are not traveling between two places, you are waking up in a new place, far from the starting point, without even noticing it.
Trains are a great way to move, especially now that they are so fast.
They aren't cheap in general, that's true, but it's worth it, especially if you compare train fares with low cost offers that are undoubtedly cheaper, but don't even include a real baggage or the option to chose your seat for free (had to pay 6 euros for a seat just two days ago flying from Barcelona)
- sokoloff 5y ago> compared to the very tight seats on a plane with no internet at all I can't remember the last airliner that I was on that didn't have WiFi. Is WiFi uncommon in Europe?
- baby 5y agoI think it’s starting to become a thing, but even in the US the last time I tried it just wasn’t working.
- wsc981 5y agoI haven't had Wifi in any of my flights between Thailand and Amsterdam (KLM). Maybe I've always had older planes on this route or something. I haven't flown between any other 2 destinations for the last couple of years.
- karthikb 5y agoIt really depends on the airline, but it's fairly common to put newer aircraft with WiFi on more business-heavy routes, and put the older aircraft on more tourist-heavy routes where passengers are more cost conscious and probably won't pay for the WiFi or other amenities either.
- GekkePrutser 5y agoYes it's because there's no pan-european ground network yet so airlines are limited to expensive and slow satellite internet. However this is coming soon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Aviation_Network https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Aviation_Network
- dagw 5y agoIs WiFi uncommon in Europe? It's pretty rare, and when they do have it it is incredibly expensive, limited or both. On trains they basically always have it and it's free. (with the caveat that it's been 2+ years since I was on a plane so I don't know how things have changed)
- dTal 5y agoAlso worth noting that cell phones work normally on trains, what with them being on the ground, so you're not even at the mercy of the operator - you can just use your normal service.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- theaeolist 5y agoThere is one aspect where flying beats trains: checking luggage. If you have big suitcases it's a PITA to get them on and off the train. And changing trains means taking the bags with you, unlike flights where bags are (usually) transferred.
- baby 5y agoI had that issue last time and I used a service to send my luggage to the destination. They came to pick it up at my place and delivered it to my other place.
- lmm 5y agoI disagree; taking whatever bags you like and having access to them through the whole journey is much, much nicer than having to hand them over and hope they arrive in the right place, and potentially paying extra or even having to book ahead if you've got anything other than a standard suitcase.
- garmaine 5y agoWell, that’s European airlines which have the worst customer service. In most of the rest of the world luggage is never a problem.
- baby 5y agoWhat? In the US you have to pay for your checkin luggage.
- garmaine 5y agoNot typically for international flights, and even for some US domestic carriers. Same goes for most of the rest of the world (e.g. Asia) which is what I was actually thinking about. Brazil has free luggage mandated in law. Even when you do have to pay in the US it is typically very generous. Larger size and weight allowance, and you won’t get dinged for being even a few kilos over. And the bottom tier of frequent flyer programs (which is usually trivial to get and keep) waives all these fees anyway. I can’t remember the last time I paid for luggage allowance outside of a trip to or through Europe.