Road trip popularity to rocket?

[bainbridge]

We had a road trip planned for April and cv19 put the kibosh on that, but we have a credit note to rebook the ferry. I work for a large car leasing company and we're starting to get lots of queries about driving over to Europe. Admittedly the bulk of the queries I've had is from customers originally from mainland Europe wanting to drive over to visit family, but the uncertainty around the future of the airline industry surely means the concept of a "road trip" will become appealing to many who ordinarily wouldn't have considered it?

I expect ferry and toll prices will rise, our credit note is unlikely to cover the cost of the same trip when we do end up rebooting.

Anyone else looking at a roadtrip to Europe as an alternative to air travel?

 

[chrismscotland]

I've been contemplating a Europe Road trip for a while (or train rather than plane) but its a bit of a pain from Edinburgh!
I'd need to get to Newcastle I think for the ferry across to Amsterdam.
However for the first time the wife has suggested she would potentially be up for it; ferry across and then into Germany or France which she would never have agreed to before Covid!

Personally I think I'll probably forgo a foreign trip this year in the hope that the air travel experience is a bit more "normal" next year.

 

[HangTime]

I think it's too early to predict what air travel will be like in future, but it seems reasonable to assume that flights will be more expensive in order for airlines to remain profitable (in spite of potentially lower fuel prices - don't forget fuel is less than a quarter of total expenditure for airlines). People have gotten used to European flights priced in tens or hundreds of pounds rather than thousands of pounds and it could do with a bit of a reset to make it more something you do a couple of times a decade rather than a couple of times a year. There is also some uncertainty around business travel - businesses have been forced to adopt remote working and they may start to question in future the merits of paying for business class flights and hotels versus meetings over VC and other technology, even if quarantine becomes a thing of the past. And airlines rely on the cash-cow of Business/First class seats to subsidise some routes.

To address the actual question, I can see the potential for a bit of an uptick but overall I would expect travel to remain muted rather than flights being replaced by roadtrips.

 

[Begbie]

So me and a friend were flying to France, and we've decided if we can now go can then we will just drive.

 

[Lopéz]

I booked a flight to Vienna for this weekend. It was around £85 each way when I booked it after they announced re-opening.
Pre-covid it was around £50-£120 depending on demand, so for this one specific example there isn't really much of a change.

I'll be interested to see what prices for flights and ferries are like on a broader scale.

 

[[TW]Fox]

I booked a flight to Vienna for this weekend

This may be an issue...

Non-essential travel between the UK and Austria is currently strongly discouraged by both the Austrian and the UK government. Whilst we very much look forward to a time when we'll be able to welcome you back as usual, there is currently no specific date set by the Austrian government when this will be the case.

If you have to travel (for instance, for medical reasons or for work), you can enter Austria as a UK citizen if:

• You can produce a health certificate in German or English, which is not older than four days and which confirms that the molecular biological test for SARS-CoV-2 is negative, OR
• You agree to a self-monitored 14-day quarantine immediately upon arrival.

 

[Lopéz]

It's essential travel , and the UK gov advice is incorrect which is slightly worrying.

I'll be there two months so quarantine is not a problem.

 

[[TW]Fox]

That's actually from the Austrian government site but obviously moot if you're there 2 months

 

[Lopéz]

Yeah the UK gov site is not at all reflective of what the Austrian government say!

Incidentally, my flight just got cancelled, despite only being reintroduced two weeks ago .

 

[unrealrocks]

I did wonder about this as well. I travel to the south of France at least once a year, often more and I'm fairly used to bending over if I want to go in August as it's about 3 times more expensive than any other time of year. That said given they are offering 12 months variation in your originally booked date I figured it was worth the risk - all crossings in August seemed still OK to book and extremely cheap (like £65 as opposed to the usual £180 for mid-August) ... which suggests people are holding off for now at least! As the guidance changes I do wonder if suddenly there will be a surge for this however as the tunnel is clearly going to get moving long before airlines get sorted!

 

[Scuzi]

I was just about to post to ask for thoughts and advice on this topic, but instead I will watch this thread.

I have a week free at the end of July and I was considering strapping a tent and a bag to the back of my motorbike and heading to Switzerland and back via the Chunnel, over about 5 days. I was going to book but I think it will be better to make a late go/no-go decision as the situation seems to continue changing with little certainty about what lies ahead.

My initial thought was that it would be silly. But sticking to the bike and tent, I could quite reasonably do the trip with little to no contact with anyone else. All I need to do is to ensure I can find open campshites in the right places!

 

[Pigeon]

We would normally be trying to fly out for short holidays to spend less time travelling and getting further away and to new places. I have not taken the car and ferry for 2 years since a trip to Rouen and Brittany. I would prefer to go back to normal but its not happening and even my girlfriend is suggesting trips this year will be by car whether to this country or abroad. The difficulty is travelling to say Krakow or Italy will a bigger chunk or your time and be more inconvient than a flight. However the freedom to travel and not rely on to much public transport will certainly reduce the risk from covid and potential overbooking and cancellations.

The flaw is that the ferry companies are having a hard year, plenty of ships not running and cancellations. How quickly can they be up to speed and the private motorist will be lower priority than the freight. That is without the social distancing measures, perhaps no returant meal or being stuck in a cabin while on a ferry for our own safety of course

 

[nam]

Been looking and doing this for a while now since i got my Tesla last year. Plan to drive from London directly and have at least 3 nights travelling around Lake Brienz. Not sure if it will be possible in 2020 at least whilst in Summer and the current travel restrictions

 

[AndrewP]

I've been contemplating a Europe Road trip for a while (or train rather than plane) but its a bit of a pain from Edinburgh!
I'd need to get to Newcastle I think for the ferry across to Amsterdam.
However for the first time the wife has suggested she would potentially be up for it; ferry across and then into Germany or France which she would never have agreed to before Covid!

Newcastle-Amsterdam ferry definitely the best option from up here, I've done that twice and used the Channel Tunnel once (and once only!). The ferry is quite a bit more expensive but effectively saves 2 days worth of driving on mostly boring UK motorways - not something that is a great bookend to a trip. Amsterdam is a better jumping off point than the Tunnel which is a good chunk further west for anywhere other than France too.