Train V Plane To The Alps Cost Comparison Published

(image credit: SNCF)

The team behind an independent website promoting rail travel to ski resorts has put together figures showing, they say, that it can be significantly cheaper to go on a skiing holiday by rail, rather than flying.

"While train travel might be more comfortable, relaxing and environmentally friendly, it is often assumed to be far more expensive than flying," said Daniel Elkan of SnowCarbon.co.uk , "However our research has revealed that in many cases the opposite is true – with train travel giving significant savings over flying."

The research compares return fares from London to six ski resorts in different ski areas of the French Alps for each week between 19th December 2015 and 2nd April 2016.

Three journey options were compared, for adults and for children (aged 4-11), with or without skis, starting at either Gatwick Airport or St Pancras International rail station, and ending at the Alpine accommodation door.

The three options considered were first an EasyJet flight + shared taxi transfer, second daytime travel on the direct Eurostar Ski Train + private taxi and third daytime travel on the new direct Eurostar service to Lyon + local train + private taxi.

A first example of the research results found that a family of four with two children (aged between 4 and 11), but travelling without skis, would pay a total of £1,956 for return air travel to La Plagne at Easter. Travelling on the direct Eurostar Ski Train instead, they would pay £1,132 – a saving of £824. Travelling via Lyon, meanwhile, would cost them only £756 in total.

In a second example a group of four friends travelling to Meribel on 9th January, two with skis and two without, would pay £972 in total to fly. Travelling on the direct Eurostar Ski Train would cost them £788, while travelling via Lyon instead would cost £644.

A third example was travelling to the resort of Les Gets at Feb half term, a family of four with kids aged between four and 11, travelling without skis would pay £2,882, in total to fly. By contrast, travelling on the new train route via Lyon would cost them only £1,252 – less than half the price.

Air travel for a Christmas escape did show air travel slightly cheaper for an adult couple, both bringing skis who'd pay £630 against £674 if they opted for the direct Ski Train, but travelling via Lyon would cost them only £466.

Calculated over the whole season, the average weekly cost for an adult travelling by plane to Alpe d'Huez, without skis, is £240. This compares to an average cost of £202 for adults travelling by train, via Lyon.

The full research, with prices for every date for all six resorts, can be seen here: www.snowcarbon.co.uk/train-guides/insider-tips/plane-versus-train-price-comparison

Additional resorts will be added to the research in due course, to add to the data resource.

"This research provides a useful snapshot-comparison of the costs and is quite an eye-opener," added Daniel, "Unfortunately, the myth that it's always cheaper to fly, combined with an over-complicated rail-ticket system, results in thousands of skiers flying in the mistakenly belief that they are saving money. The reality is that skiers frequently end up unwittingly paying extra for a big dose of airport tedium – when in fact they could be pocketing savings and sitting in comfort on the train."

Snowcarbon, in partnership with rail-booking site Loco2.com, has created a web page that shows daily updated prices for every week of the ski season, at a glance.

http://www.snowcarbon.co.uk/train-guides/insider-tips/live-direct-train-prices

The impact on environment is also smaller with rail travel. It will take longer, but overall train journeys are more relaxed. All one needs to do is to get to the railway station and board the train. Way easier than arriving at the airport two hours in advance, checking-in and going through all controls, than sitting in a jammed plane where many people cannot even stretch their legs properly, then going through controls upon arrival again, fishing one's luggage from the carousel etc. Yeah, with early enough start it might allow extra half a day on slopes, if one is up in the morning at silly hours, but to be willing to do it one must be sort of desperate especially if flying with skis. Get up later, take a train, arrive late afternoon and be up early next morning feeling fresher. Many people don't seem to value own wellbeing and comfort high enough. They focus on destination ignoring the toll that getting there takes.

This echoes our own experience last week on a family holiday to Perpignan. We all left on the same day (Saturday) but not at the same time, due to flight times, most of us returning to the Brighton area.

The TGV-Eurostar-Southern person was the first to get home and at the cheapest cost.

The Montpellier->Gatwick people dropped the TGV person off at the station and then went on to Montpellier to drop the next couple off for their morning flight to Luton. Although they live near Gatwick, the only option for a morning flight was to return to Luton.

The remaining people spent the morning and lunchtime in Montpellier and caught a late afternoon flight back to Gatwick. This was the most expensive option.

The TGV user went via Paris, rather than the more expensive Lille route. When the taxi driver asked for €65 for the short hop between Eurostar and TGV stations he declined, and saved €63 by going the two stops on the Metro. He even managed to travel 1st Class on the TGV south and it still cost less then flying. However, he had been able to book in advance and had to spend a lot of time online when the outbound discount tickets came up, waiting to catch the release of the return at the same discount (no point in buying a cheap outbound if the return leg costs a fortune).

We drove back over two days, stopping overnight half way, as part of the holiday. We were able to carry the TGV traveller's luggage home so the return leg didn't involve carting a suitcase onto the Metro.

Of course, this is a specific scenario, and in Summer as well. But what struck us was how much more relaxed the TGV person was when they arrived. They could also get much closer to the holiday location whereas the airport travellers were ending up much further away from the destination, needing a hire car or expensive transportation, or yet more carting of luggage onto buses and trains. Outbound, the TGV person left home at 08:30 and got to Perpignan station 19:30 and on return, caught the 07:30 and was sat down to watch the football at 17:30, so yes, a fairly long day but most of the time relatively unstressed, compared to flying.

It often seems the case that as air travellers, we end up travelling at stupid times because of routes and schedules: I've often wondered why I'm getting up at 04:30 to catch a flight, when it doesn't actually buy me any extra ski time and I still write off the day to travelling.

Lies, damn lies and statistics :roll:

It all depends on how you do it :!: Hunting around can produce lower airfares, better transfer prices, etc. It also depends on group size (which can dramatically change the cost of taxi transfer on a per capita basis). Bottom line, do not assume one is better than the other. Price up the various options and then make your choice :wink: .