Air travel!

[tim]

Still a few too many planes around for my liking. How long until they are all grounded completely? Not long hopefully.

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I rejoice in the fact that your wish will not be granted and that we'll soon be able to get on a plane again and work, see those we love and visit places that intrigue us; and that the people that I teach will be able to sit together in actual classrooms. The fact that access to international travel has become an affordable reality for so many is something to celebrate, and my hope is that in the coming decades accessibility continues to increase.

That doesn't mean not also ensuring that air travel also becomes less dependent on fossil fuels.
.

 

[Teaboy]

That doesn't mean not also ensuring that air travel also becomes less dependent on fossil fuels.
.

Ah yes. Back to the old 'its OK, we'll just power the planes through magic'

Delusional stuff.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

I'm owed just shy of £800 by Wizz for flights that were supposed to happen in early April. They advised it would be dead slow to get the refund and I get that. I'm pretty chilled about it because of the back-up of having a credit card. Plus it was split between 6 of us.

Interestingly I think Wizz try to push you towards pay pal or bank transfer rather than credit card. I wonder what the situation is for those forms of payment when Wizz inevitably go bust?

Wizz are the only major low cost carrier operating from the UK not to take Amex, even Ryanair take it now. But they do take Visa & MasterCard.

 

[Teaboy]

Wizz are the only major low cost carrier operating from the UK not to take Amex, even Ryanair take it now. But they do take Visa & MasterCard.

Yeah, its a pain in the arse because I'm the friendship group's travel agent and that usually means loads of Avios points for me and free rooms through hotels.com. Wizz are pretty tin pot but they do fly to the sort of weird places I like to go to.

Do you book your clients tickets through credit card? If so that must be mega points on Avios and little wonder you fly business.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Do you book your clients tickets through credit card? If so that must be mega points on Avios and little wonder you fly business.

Yeah, got a Amex card specifically for air miles as spend around £300K a year on it. But once I had built up loads of miles I had a look and couldn't find business class flights during school holidays to anywhere I wanted to go. We then moved house to a much bigger place and I spend the miles kitting the place out with all the crap on their rewards catalogue; Le Crusset everything for the kitchen, lawn mower, BBQ etc, about fifteen grands worth of crap. Which was nice.

These days they let you spend the points on Amazon toot, so I never really build up a big stash of points, but never pay for anything from Amazon. Clearly not picking up points right now though, in fact giving some back as refunds come through.

And I do pay for my own plane tickets, but get them cheaply as know when the deals come through, e.g. first class to St Kitts on BA via the US for £1400, regular fare >£12,000...

 

[tim]

Ah yes. Back to the old 'its OK, we'll just power the planes through magic'

Delusional stuff.

As delusional as solar, wind and nuclear power, I assume.

 

[teuchter]

Yeah, got a Amex card specifically for air miles as spend around £300K a year on it. But once I had built up loads of miles I had a look and couldn't find business class flights during school holidays to anywhere I wanted to go. We then moved house to a much bigger place and I spend the miles kitting the place out with all the crap on their rewards catalogue; Le Crusset everything for the kitchen, lawn mower, BBQ etc, about fifteen grands worth of crap. Which was nice.

I'd be pretty wary of using a travel agent who didn't give an assurance that any booking incentives were either passed on to me, or refused.

In certain other industries it would be seen as bribery and totally unacceptable.

 

[Teaboy]

As delusional as solar, wind and nuclear power, I assume.

That's it! Why has no one thought of this before? A few PV cells on the roof of the plane, a little turbine on the tail and we could give the passengers some pedals. All sorted.

Look I agree with the first part your post. Air travel does all those things and I think its a wonderful thing however, just to dismiss the problems associated with it with a yeah we should probably do something about that whole fossil fuel thing is intellectual dishonesty.

ETA: At some point in the future there will likely be a solution, how long though? How much damage can be tolerated in the meantime? I've been waiting for effing years for carbon capture to work properly and Nuclear Fusion to be a thing. I'm still waiting.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

I'd be pretty wary of using a travel agent who didn't give an assurance that any booking incentives were either passed on to me, or refused.

In certain other industries it would be seen as bribery and totally unacceptable.

Gee willikers, on top of the loss of business due to Coronavirus, now I learn that I may miss out on the chance to book a couple of poxy train tickets a year. Will the bad news never end???

 

[Teaboy]

I'd be pretty wary of using a travel agent who didn't give an assurance that any booking incentives were either passed on to me, or refused.

In certain other industries it would be seen as bribery and totally unacceptable.

Yeah Bahnhof Strasse Though I see it more akin to theft.

I once worked for a company who's policy that you couldn't collect things like Nectar points when fueling company cars as technically those points should belong to the company.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

That's it! Why has no one thought of this before? A few PV cells on the roof of the plane, a little turbine on the tail and we could give the passengers some pedals. All sorted.

If you stick your hand outside a plane going at 500mph it is pretty darn windy, so a turbine may be something to look in to.

/Trump

 

[teuchter]

Gee willikers, on top of the loss of business due to Coronavirus, now I learn that I may miss out on the chance to book a couple of poxy train tickets a year. Will the bad news never end???

£15k = a couple of train tickets?

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Yeah Bahnhof Strasse Though I see it more akin to theft.

I once worked for a company who's policy that you couldn't collect things like Nectar points when fueling company cars as technically those points should belong to the company.

Theft is more akin to the value I add, tbh.

Technically it has been shown in law that they do not belong to the company; was air miles, some companies demanded they were used for company business and a court ruled that could not be mandated. Our glorious MPs said they would rather cut up their cards than hand over the miles.



Hence why schemes such as BA’s OnBusines came to be.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

£15k = a couple of train tickets?

Less than one first class return to LA, which takes me about 10 minutes in total to process and earns me >£1000.

Additionally can you imagine for one second having to deal with YOU? Fuck that ballache.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

I once worked for a company who's policy that you couldn't collect things like Nectar points when fueling company cars as technically those points should belong to the company.

Out of interest, how would they even know?

 

[teuchter]

Less than one first class return to LA, which takes me about 10 minutes in total to process and earns me >£1000.

Additionally can you imagine for one second having to deal with YOU? Fuck that ballache.

Oh I see, I thought you were complaining about having to giving up the bribes in a hypothetical scenario where the travel industry was regulated in a similar way to others.

Indeed, you are not missing out on performing travel agency duties for me. I am not part of that money-no-object economy.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Oh I see, I thought you were complaining about having to giving up the bribes in a hypothetical scenario where the travel industry was regulated in a similar way to others.

Indeed, you are not missing out on performing travel agency duties for me. I am not part of that money-no-object economy.

Envy and self-pity in one pithy post, nice one.

 

[Teaboy]

Out of interest, how would they even know?

Well, exactly. I suppose there may have been a way to link it to the use of company fuel cards, highly unlikely though. Needless to say it was an American company. Bunch of wankers in many ways.

 

[Teaboy]

£15k = a couple of train tickets?

That sounds like the 'on the day of travel' price for an anytime return Didcot Parkway to Edinburgh Waverley.

 

[teuchter]

That sounds like the 'on the day of travel' price for an anytime return Didcot Parkway to Edinburgh Waverley.

If you bought it from Bahnhof Strasse , for sure.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

If you bought it from Bahnhof Strasse , for sure.

Plus booking fee.

Man’s gotta eat.

 

[tim]

That's it! Why has no one thought of this before? A few PV cells on the roof of the plane, a little turbine on the tail and we could give the passengers some pedals. All sorted.

Look I agree with the first part your post. Air travel does all those things and I think its a wonderful thing however, just to dismiss the problems associated with it with a yeah we should probably do something about that whole fossil fuel thing is intellectual dishonesty.

ETA: At some point in the future there will likely be a solution, how long though? How much damage can be tolerated in the meantime? I've been waiting for effing years for carbon capture to work properly and Nuclear Fusion to be a thing. I'm still waiting.

Hydrogen cell fueled aircraft are a thing of the present and past, which is different from the situation with nuclear fission.

The Soviet Union managed to build a prototype, the TU155 in 1988.



Developing them into a viable alternative to kerosene fueled planes is a matter of political will.

https://hydrogeneurope.eu/sites/default/files/2018-01/spaceforinnovation.pdf

 

[Teaboy]

Hydrogen cell fueled aircraft are a thing of the present and past, which is different from the situation with nuclear fission.

The Soviet Union managed to build a prototype, the TU155 in 1988.



Developing them into a viable alternative to kerosene fueled planes is a matter of political will.

https://hydrogeneurope.eu/sites/default/files/2018-01/spaceforinnovation.pdf

Who's talking about fission? Maybe I was wrong about the intellectual thing.

The Soviet Union built lots of cool things doesn't mean they were any good or remotely viable. Who knows maybe Eraktoplans are the future.

Why is it a matter of political will? Why not commercial will? There is extraordinary amounts of private finance available for a half decent idea. Look at how much money that Musk weirdo has raised for his numerous oddball ideas. The answer is fairly obvious.

But still, I'm sure it'll happen and if it doesn't we can just blame the politicians. Problem solved. Hands clean and most importantly for you, sense of superiority intact.

 

[teuchter]

If it's technologically feasible, just put some huge taxes on oil based aviation, and that will unleash the commercial will to develop these alternatives - job done.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Tbf now is the time to visit the Maldives, cos they might be gone in a few years....

 

[Teaboy]

Tbf now is the time to visit the Maldives, cos they might be gone in a few years....

Meh. With the summers we get in the South East of England who needs the Maldives? Bring on the future.

 

[tim]

Who's talking about fission? Maybe I was wrong about the intellectual thing.

The Soviet Union built lots of cool things doesn't mean they were any good or remotely viable. Who knows maybe Eraktoplans are the future.

Why is it a matter of political will? Why not commercial will? There is extraordinary amounts of private finance available for a half decent idea. Look at how much money that Musk weirdo has raised for his numerous oddball ideas. The answer is fairly obvious.

But still, I'm sure it'll happen and if it doesn't we can just blame the politicians. Problem solved. Hands clean and most importantly for you, sense of superiority intact.

I thought fusion but wrote fission.

Political will because without political decisions being taken nothing will happen. The free market won't provide the infrastructure needed or encourage Boeing and Airbus to develop the new aircraft. Such a decision is akin to way governments have shifted to renewables for electricity production; the choice made by California, the UK ,France and others to phase out the sale of diesel and petrol powered cars, which is what has motivated Musk and other capitalists to start manufacturing electric vehicles; or indeed the current situation, where a libertarian Tory government is running a command economy with Free Market capitalism suspended.

 

[Teaboy]

I thought fusion but wrote fission.

Political will because without political decisions being taken nothing will happen. The free market won't provide the infrastructure needed or encourage Boeing and Airbus to develop the new aircraft. Such a decision is akin to way governments have shifted to renewables for electricity production; the choice made by California, the UK ,France and others to phase out the sale of diesel and petrol powered cars, which is what has motivated Musk and other capitalists to start manufacturing electric vehicles; or indeed the current situation, where a libertarian Tory government is running a command economy with Free Market capitalism suspended.

Well I disagree with you how change happens but fwiw I hope you're right.

 

[Cid]

I thought fusion but wrote fission.

Political will because without political decisions being taken nothing will happen. The free market won't provide the infrastructure needed or encourage Boeing and Airbus to develop the new aircraft. Such a decision is akin to way governments have shifted to renewables for electricity production; the choice made by California, the UK ,France and others to phase out the sale of diesel and petrol powered cars, which is what has motivated Musk and other capitalists to start manufacturing electric vehicles; or indeed the current situation, where a libertarian Tory government is running a command economy with Free Market capitalism suspended.

Musk is also heavily invested in batteries as a storage method, the free market will do it's usual thing of sticking dogmatically to whatever the wealthiest person in the game is plugging.

 

[teuchter]

Airline Bailouts Point to Greener Travel—and Higher Fares

Airline Bailouts Point to Greener Travel—and Higher Fares

www.bloombergquint.com

Austria is taking the most radical steps in agreeing to fund the local arm of Deutsche Lufthansa AG. The government will increase a fee on flights under 350 kilometers (217 miles) to 30 euros ($34). Austria Airlines plans to replace flights to places that are less than three hours away from Vienna airport with train journeys. “It’s good to end things that just don’t make sense, such as tickets th

Read more at: Airline Bailouts Point to Greener Travel—and Higher Fares
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