To be pissed off at people who constantly say we need to fly less?

[lockdowncockdown]

I'm probably going to get flamed for this but here goes. Am I being unreasonable to be annoyed by the people who constantly say 'well, we need to fly less anyway'. Well, yes that's ok for you to say at 40/50 years old after you've spent the last 20 years flying all over the world and brandishing yourself as ' well travelled' and cultured. What about those of us in our early twenties like me who has been abroad four times in my whole life, not even to anywhere particularly exciting and I'm just about to finish university and was hoping to finally be able to travel a bit? It's ok to spout nonsense about flying less when you've been lucky and already had your experiences but I find it very hypocritical to want to deny others the same experiences that you were lucky enough to have.

I do think that people need to realise that if they want to travel more eco friendly, everyone taking the car or camper isn't a good idea. That still is too much emission. Trains and busses carry many more people per gallon of fuel.

How many people go on inter-continental holidays every year? @Gwenhwyfar
I certainly don't, but some people on this thread are flying long haul for a summer holiday, going somewhere hot for Christmas, having an Easter break and doubtless fly to a ski resort in North America in the February half term. It illustrates the point though that if most of us only travel long haul once every five years, it won't do little Tarquin and Tabitha any harm to do the same.

Not everyone lives in London to just hop on Eurostar🤷🏻
@OmgThereAreNoPlanesAboveMeNow I know, I certainly don't. I live in North Wales and travelled by train to Eastern Europe earlier this year. It was great fun and so much better than leaving home at 2am to get an early flight from Manchester.

I've just counted it. 2 night trip to Paris by train (incl public transport) at the end of June is nearly £200! In all tickets. So much hassle too. Getting to my train station here, from there to London, there find my way to St Pancras, find train, Paris. With easyJet it's £80 + public transport so about £90.
If you've just gone through a train journey planner then bear in mind that there are no advance discounts available at the moment due to CV19. I make the cost of a return from my local station to Paris to be around £200. That's by the most hassle-free route. In normal times there would be advance tickets available that would be much cheaper, I could even save quite a bit by going on slower trains (£30 saving quite easily just looking at the home-London portion).

Looking at the cost of flying though, sure Ryanair can get me to Paris for a mere £48. I'd have to get up at 2am, drive all the way to Manchester and spend a fortune for someone to park my car in a muddy field to do that though. Hardly a viable option with kids in tow. If I want to travel at a sociable time (as I can with the train) then I end up paying through the nose.

There just can't be any surprise people rather fly. It's not just the money, it's also the time and hassle.
See above about the antisocial times these cheap flights run at.

@omgness Of course some professions flying is still going to be needed but more then one none work related flight a year seems a bit excessive. In creasing the flight prizes would stop that

More than one non work flight is excessive a year? I mean really?

Honestly I the thought of not being able to travel and experience different cultures absolutely dreadful. It's very easy to say we need to reduce the amount of flights if you're 40 and have only left the country once. I don't mean to be rude to anyone here but you have no idea what you are missing

More than one non work flight is excessive a year? I mean really?
Yes, I would say that is excessive, if we are talking about holidays. Visiting relatives abroad might be different. One foreign flight as a holiday seems more than reasonable to me. I’ve not flown at all in the last seven years, and before that, it was one flight a year for a holiday- all within Europe.

@emz771 is there really a need to fly off on holiday more then once a year?

I'm 41. Ive flown 4 times in my whole life. We need to fly less. We need to do a lot of things differently.

@daisypond Even family with video chat once a year is surely enough. Yes it would be nice to fly more but if we think of what measures can realistically be taken lessening flights is a big one

So you would begrudge me a family holiday in the summer and then going to New York for my anniversary in October with my husband? Does that really sound excessive?

@emz771 is there a need you need to go abroad both times? why not one or the other

A need no? But we like to.

@emz771 if you can aford it sure but increasing the cost would mean for example you might need to save up for 2 years to afford two trips a year and so in the end less people fly

We have family abroad who we visit twice a year and they visit us twice - spain so not long haul. DH is in international sales so flys long haul 3/4 per year

BUT We recycle, walk to work, buy eco friendly products, use our own shopping bags, reuse and save where we can.

My husband and I both work incredibly hard - and we like to go away 5 times a year.

Look I do little things to help the environment - I try to walk where possible, to recycle, to buy organic from the farm shop and not in plastic.

But holidays are a big part of my families life.

I do fly a lot less than I did in my 20s, cheap flights and no children meant me and DH frequently went away.
I’ve flown twice in the last 12 years, it should have been a third this year. I’m not giving those infrequent flights up.
There are people in DHs work who fly to the Far East and back on a weekly basis, they aren’t unusual. They are the major issue from what I see.
They all get masses of air miles that then allow them and families to fly places like Australia for free on holiday each year.
Companies need to be penalised for unnecessary travel.

emz

You cancel it all out with your massive footprint though.
Try working less hard and you won't want all those holidays

But we love travel - love it!

We need to fly less.

If you've just gone through a train journey planner then bear in mind that there are no advance discounts available at the moment due to CV19. I make the cost of a return from my local station to Paris to be around £200. That's by the most hassle-free route. In normal times there would be advance tickets available that would be much cheaper, I could even save quite a bit by going on slower trains (£30 saving quite easily just looking at the home-London portion).
Looking at the cost of flying though, sure Ryanair can get me to Paris for a mere £48. I'd have to get up at 2am, drive all the way to Manchester and spend a fortune for someone to park my car in a muddy field to do that though. Hardly a viable option with kids in tow. If I want to travel at a sociable time (as I can with the train) then I end up paying through the nose.

Erm, cheap flights are even outside of antisocial times. There are more budget providers than Ryanair. That's why I picked EasyJet. Similar times to the Eurostar arrival to Paris.
You can find super cheap train tickets, but who would want to travel 3+ hours to just get on another train when in that time you could be in your destination? That was my point, which I thought I made very clear.
There is no surprise people rather use planes than train since trains cost much more AND take much longer often with number of changes. There is just no way to argue against that even with advance ticket discount.

Flying less would be good environmentally but as I have to fly to see both my and DH’s families, we’ll still be doing long haul flights several times a year particularly as our parents are getting older and it’s easier for us to visit them rather than them coming to us so often.

@emz771
Lots of people work very hard. That’s irrelevant. Five foreign flights - ten there and back - is hugely excessive. Travelling for travelling’s sake is going to change permanently.

I didn’t fly until our children were teenagers as we couldn’t afford to. It’s not older versus younger, it’s about protecting the world. We all have to start this regardless of age. It’s a touch arrogant to assume everyone over forty has been flying all over the place for decades. Many have only just started as they reach a stage where children aren’t a consideration.
I love travelling. I enjoy flying. I want to see more befit too old; I’ve probably got fifteen very active years whereas you’ve your whole life.

Despite wanting see every corner of the world, I know we’ll have to set limits n what we do.

It’s really not over the course of a year.

Fly if you must.

But then don't blame "older people" for "ruining the earth" when you're choosing to act the same way but with better knowledge of what that behaviour is doing.