Would you fly up or get the train?

[TigerRag]

Due to go to Manchester from Plymouth. Original plan was to fly from Exeter. They've cancelled my flight and theres no flight from Southampton.

I can fly if I go to Jersey or Dublin first from Exeter. Or I can get the train up

Price wise there's not much difference. Because of the wait to get my connection from either Jersey or Dublin it takes roughly the same amount of time

Loganair will stop operating flights from Exeter to Manchester on August 20. I don't need to travel until mid September. But I don't want to wait until the week before to decide and it being really expensive

Can you buy a proper connecting ticket or are you buying 2 ryanair tickets? If the first plane is late you might miss the second flight.

Flying is exhausting, lots of lining up and waiting around. But a packed train is not so much fun either.

I'd rather do train as apart from changes once you're sat down you can plug in headphones and just chill. Whereas flights are just a million queues and waiting around. Plus hassle of getting to the airport in the first place. But I'm compact and don't mind people sat near me.

I’d be tempted to get GWR to London then train to Manchester. Unless you’re travelling with a lot of luggage as would have to go from Paddington to Euston.

Journey time wouldn’t be much different.

but I absolutely and utterly detest Crosscountry. Once had a trip with my disabled DD so bad with them we did one of those sad face newspaper stories to shame them into treating disabled passengers better (not that they cared still).

This.
And if there's a significant delay, you get a refund

Hope you don’t have children. By far the worst thing you can do for the planet

Have you considered booking a taxi? Some independent taxi firms will give you a price for the entire journey rather than on the meter. I know people who book them from London to Bristol.
If you can drive but don't have a vehicle then see what hire costs are.
Both give you the option of diverting from the planned route without too much bother.

Definitely, GWR to London, then on to Manchester. Cross Country and South Western Railway are shockingly bad !!
Edited to say South Western Railway is from Exeter

Yes, I live on another SWR line and the service has got worse and worse the last couple of years. And on my horrendous Cross Country journey mentioned above I couldn’t even get Delay Repay, they turned it down on a technicality and I CBA to fight it as I did get back to my home station eventually.

Train

Train. Anyone who cares about their kids' futures should fly a great deal less often or preferably not at all