Category : Transport
When I first heard about the Megabus sleeper service I must say I was intrigued. I’ve always preferred train travel to coach travel in the past. It’s usually more comfortable, particularly where night journeys are concerned. However, if a night bus service could provide a bed like they do in sleeper trains, then it could certainly compete! Especially if they were able to keep the prices down and lower than a typical train journey to/from the same destinations.
So what is it like? A bed on a bus you say!
I should first point out that Megabus are currently trialling this sleeper service between Glasgow and London. Things may change in the future. However based on my own experience over this trial period I found there to be both upsides and downsides for the traveller who decides to use this service.
I slept for 6 hours straight on the bus. For someone like me who finds it hard to sleep on night buses, this was certainly an improvement. There was lots of length to the bed, i.e. leg room, the beds are designed well to keep the light out, and the pillow and quilt was thick and warm. You also have little added extras like a socket for your laptop or phone, a bed light, and a croissant & orange juice in the morning.
With each bed that is allocated you are also allocated a seat at the back of the bus too. It’s just like the seat you would get on a regular coach service. This means if you want to sit up and read a book with the light on you can do so without waking anybody up! The only major downside is that it is impossible to sit up on the beds, and I can only assume this is why they have had to allocate seats too. There is very little height room. Even just lifting your head to try and turn sides was hard. On my return I found that there was more height room in the top bunks due to the extra curve on the roof of the bus, so my advice to anyone taking this service would be to ask for a top bunk.
What about price?
Megabus very kindly offered me my return trip for free for the purpose of this review, however, had I purchased this trip ordinarily it would have cost me 40 GBP each way. Considering you save a night on accommodation and you get a bed I think this is a very good price.
Comparatively to a regular night bus service with Megabus, i.e. where you just get a seat and no bed, you’re paying around 25 GBP more per journey. Personally I think this is worth the extra money for one journey as getting a good sleep is so much easier on the sleeper service than is is sat in a seated position with limited leg room next to someone on a bus for 6 or 7 hours.
What most people will probably be interested in however is the price in comparison to a typical rail sleeper service for the same journey. If I was to book a sleeper service with national rail for Friday 28th Jan, it would cost me 120 GBP. This is considerably more than what it costs for a Megabus journey. That being said, if you book well enough in advance by rail, and travel on selected promotional deals, then I have seen similar journeys advertised in the past by rail for as little as 16 GBP. Equally, I’ve also seen Megabus put on promotional deals for their sleeper service at 1 GBP a bed! I’m therefore not going to go by promotional offers as these might not be available when you attempt to book. Instead I’m going to take the average price for journeys from Glasgow to London, and for a one way ticket by rail it usually costs around 60 – 70 GBP at a few weeks notice. Based on this you’d make a saving of around 20 – 30 GBP on a Megabus sleeper service compared to the average sleeper rail journey of the same distance.
What I like about the Megabus service in general compared to rail travel is that prices tend to stay relatively low. With rail travel it can yo yo greatly, and you really have to book well in advance to get a good price. With Megabus, or coach travel in general it’s much more suited to the budget traveller who doesn’t like too far ahead, who likes to keep their plans flexible.
Service
I found the Megabus staff to be very friendly and helpful, and never experienced any problems on either of my journeys.
- If you want to book the sleeper service with Megabus between Glasgow and London and try it for yourself, then you can head over to their UK site www.megabus.co.uk and make a booking.
If you’re looking for something epic to do this year, taking on one, some, or all of the world’s longest train journeys could be an option?
1. Moscow to Vladivostok
Covering 9259 km, and taking 178 hrs (7 days), the Russian Railways operated Moscow to Vladivostok train takes you 67 stops from Russia’s capital city in the West of the country to the Far East. With Russia spanning 2 continents, this train will take you from Europe to Asia without leaving Russia.
2. Moscow to Beijing via Harbin
Trains operated by Russia’s Trans-Siberian Railway hold the record for the maximum number of long distance passenger trains. As such, the 2nd longest rail journey in the world also operates from Moscow, this time running to Beijing, and also passing through Harbin. Covering 8984 km, and lasting 144 hrs (6 days), this joint Russian & China Railways journey stops 44 times, departing weekly.
3. Moscow to Beijing via Ulan Bator
The Trans-Mongolian route from Moscow to Beijing via Ulan Bator, covers a distance of 7826 km. A popular journey because of it’s itinerary, taking in Russian, Mongolia, and China over a distance of 7826 km, this rail route lasts for 131 hrs (5 days).
4. Guangzhou to Lhasa
Guangzhou (China) to Lhasa (Tibet), operated by Qing Tibet Railway, is the longest train journey in the world outside of the Trans-Siberian Railway. At 4980 km, making 10 stops, and lasting 54.5 hrs (2.25 days), this could be the perfect long distance rail journey for someone who have already experienced the Trans-Siberian.
5. Toronto to Vancouver
If you want to cross North America without flying, then the 4466 km journey from Toronto to Vancouver is an option. Making 66 stops along the way, this VIA Rail operated train takes 86 hrs (3.5 days) to complete… a staggering 1.25 days longer than Guangzhou to Lhasa, despite the Canadian distance being somewhat shorter.
6. Shanghai to Lhasa
Another journey operated by Qing Tibet Railway, Shanghai to Lhasa covers a distance of 4373 km, lasting just under 49 hrs (2 days).
7. Sydney to Perth
Experiencing the Great Southern Railway from the East coast of Australia to the West will take you a 4352 km, and last 65 hrs (2.5 days), stopping 26 times. Train departs Bi-Weekly.
8. Dibrugarh to Kanyakumari
The Indian Railways operated train from Dibrugarh to Kanyakumari covers a distance of 4286 km, stopping 52 times, and just under 83 hrs (3.5 days).
9. Shanghai to Urumqi
Another China based rail journey, this LongHai Railways operated train from Shanghai to Urumqi runs 4077 km, stopping 24 times, departing daily, and lasting 45 hrs 15 mins (2 days).
10. Emeryville to Chicago
From Emeryville California to Chicago Illinois, this is the longest rail journey in the USA, a country not typically known for having such an extensive rail network like it’s European neighbours across the pond. This Amtrak operated journey covering 3924 km, and lasting 52 hrs (2 days+) could be the perfect opportunity to experience a different style of transport in the USA than the typical road trip or domestic flight.
Today’s post was brought to you (and written by) TravelSupermarket.com.
Though many of us assume taking a flight means at least a couple of hours in the air, this isn’t always the case. Sometimes, a flight can take mere minutes to complete, meaning the check-in and security process may be longer than the flight you’re taking. Here, we take a look at some of the shortest flight journeys from around the world.
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Westray, Scotland to Papa Westray, Scotland
We start our journey in Westray, part of the Orkney Islands in Scotland. Thought to be the shortest flight in the world, the brief journey to Papa Westray, a neighbouring island in the Orkneys is just 2 minutes – travelling just under 2 miles. This super short journey will hardly let you get comfortable in your seat before you are disembarking at your destination.
The flight itself is served by local airline, Loganair, who also provide carrier services between the islands for Royal Mail and the Scottish Air Ambulance.
The service proved popular with visitors and locals alike and Loganair now travels six times a week between the two islands. The most amusing fact of this short flight is that you still have to check in at least 20 minutes before your departure, making your wait around 10 times longer than your journey.
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Taitung, Taiwan to Green Island, Taiwan
The next ridiculously short flight begins in Taitung in Taiwan and travels to Green Island. The distance between the two points is a mere 25 miles and the total flight time is around 15 minutes.
The flight is served by Taipei based airline Daily Air. The airline focuses mainly on providing links between the islands around Taiwan and flies 3 times a day from Taitung. Green Island is a small volcanic island off the Eastern coast of Taiwan, a popular scuba diving destination. It is served by Lyudao Airport, a small airport with just one runway.
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Zanzibar, Tanzania to Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania
Our short flights continue in Tanzania, with the journey between Zanzibar and Dar Es Salaam. This route takes little more than 20 minutes and covers around 45 miles in distance. Starting at Zanzibar International Airport on the island of Unguja, you can take the ultra short flight using Zan Air, who fly to Dar Es Salaam three times a day, every day.
Zanzibar International Airport has one runway and mainly serves the local area, although you can also fly to destinations in East Africa and Italy, amongst others. Zan Air is a relatively young airline, beginning in 1992. The airline has a small fleet of around seven aircraft and serves many of the local destinations in Tanzania, including many remote locations.
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Al Muharraq, Bahrain to Dammam, Saudi Arabia
The fourth journey on our list takes us to the Persian Gulf, to the small island state of Bahrain. The journey itself leaves Bahrain and heads to Dammam in Saudi Arabia and although this short 40 mile journey only takes around 35 minutes, it involves crossing the border into Saudi Arabia. This flight is therefore possibly the shortest international flight in the world.
The airline that serves the journey is Gulf Air, who are based at Bahrain Airport and they provide services every day except Thursdays. On Mondays, Tuesdays and Saturdays, Gulf Air have three flights a day, with two flights on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.
You can choose to complete the route by bus, but the journey takes around two hours on the road so the 35 minute flight is generally more popular. Even travelling by car can be tricky, as
car hire providers ask you not to go over the border in their vehicles unless organised in advance. In fact, travelling in a car that isn’t your own is discouraged due to strict border controls and red tape.
In Dammam, you will land at the King Fahd International Airport, which due to its vast land area, is one of the largest in the world.
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Mumbai, India to Pune, India
Finally, our fifth shortest flight takes us to India. The 35 minute journey starting in Mumbai and travelling to Pune covers just under a 100 miles in distance. The flights are served by Jet Airways, who are one of the few international airlines to provide such a short domestic flight. The popularity of the short flight has seen Jet Airways provide a daily service.
Despite the recent recession, where many services were discontinued and airline staff numbers reduced, this particular flight still remained popular and continues to secure full bookings. The journey is possible by road but can take up to four hours to complete.
Pune Airport is actually an Air Force Base and the two companies’ work together sharing two runways. There are plenty of domestic flights from Pune airport, as well as international flights to Frankfurt and Dubai.
These are just a few of many more amusingly short flights around the world, where getting through check in and security could take longer than your actual flight time. Great if you’re not keen on flying, as by the time you realise you have taken off, you are probably coming in to land!
Today’s post was brought to you by (and written by) TravelSupermarket.com
Long haul flights: you either love them or hate them. In-flight movies, interesting meal selections and hours and hours of trying to amuse yourself, or even better, attempting to get some sleep despite all the noise and hustle and bustle of the other passengers.
A few years ago, if you were travelling a long distance, you would usually have to makes stops along your route or even change to connecting flights to make it to your destination. These days, however, developments in aviation means planes now have long-range capabilities and don’t have to stop for fuelling quite as often.
So begins our investigation into the 5 longest non-stop flights around the world, with the top two journeys clocking up nearly 19 hours in the air. Unsurprisingly, it is the American destinations that feature heavily here, in fact a U.S airport is involved in each of our 5 flights.
Changi, Singapore to New York, USA
Our first and longest flight comes courtesy of Singapore Airlines and makes the journey from Changi Airport in Singapore to Newark Airport in New York. The flight covers a little under 10,000 miles and takes a staggering 18 hours and 40 minutes from departure to landing.
The flight, using an Airbus A340-500, was first introduced in 2004 and proved so popular that the service now runs daily flights and is often used by travellers flying en route to Australia. The return journey to Singapore, though the same distance, actually takes 15 minutes less thanks to prevailing winds.
Changi, Singapore to Los Angeles, USA
Our second journey is also provided by Singapore Airlines and connects Singapore with Los Angeles. Like our last entry, the airline uses an Airbus A340-500 and the service was introduced in 2004. The distance is slightly less, covering just under 9,000 miles and taking around 18 hours and 5 minutes.
There are 5 flights a week departing from Singapore but if 18 hours seems just a little too long for you, then consider taking the flight during summer. Strangely, the seasons and subsequent weather conditions mean that the quoted flight time is 18 hours and 5 minutes in winter, but only 17 hours and 20 minutes during summer.
Johannesburg, South Africa to Atlanta, USA
Next we go to Johannesburg in South Africa, where we take Delta Airline’s service to Atlanta. Delta Airlines are primarily based in Atlanta and provide a wide selection of flights to destinations around the globe. However, this is the only direct flight from Atlanta to South Africa without taking in any stopovers, so it remains a popular choice.
The journey itself covers around 8,500 miles and takes 17 hours and 5 minutes to complete. Delta Airlines use the Boeing 777-200LR and offer one daily flight. Quite a young service, these flights were only introduced in 2009 and the route has become a good choice for those who don’t want to make connecting flights.
Dubai, UAE to Los Angeles, USA
For our next long non-stop flight we put two excessively bustling cities head to head, from the skyscrapers of Dubai to the gateway to Hollywood, Los Angeles. The Dubai to LA service is run by Emirates and has proved so popular that they now run 2 flights a day. The journey itself covers 8,339 miles, takes around 16 hours and 30 minutes and like our previous entry form Delta Airlines, makes use of the Boeing 777-2000LR.
This service was introduced back in 2008 and was part of Emirates expansion in America. The Los Angeles service compliments their other American destinations including Houston and New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport.
Sydney, Australia to Dallas, USA
Our fifth and final entry is relatively new, only being introduced in May 2011 and is the Qantas Airlines service from Sydney to Dallas. Landing at Dallas’ Fort Worth Airport, the journey covers just over 8,500 miles.
Qantas use the Boeing 747-400ER aircraft for the flight and offer 4 services a week to Dallas. Despite being one of longest journeys in regards of distance, the flight itself only takes around 15 hours and 25 minutes.
The service was introduced to replace the original Sydney to San Francisco service and has proved very popular for Qantas. Interestingly, only the Sydney to Dallas service is non-stop, on your return journey to Australia, the service stops at Brisbane to refuel. This is due to prevailing headwinds over the Pacific that cause the aircraft to use more fuel.
Surprisingly enough there are many more long non-stop flights to choose from and although the thought of reaching your destination without any stopovers is very tempting, seats on non-stop flights can often be slightly more expensive than other flights.
Airlines often have to reduce passenger numbers, so they can use the weight carrying more fuel. For this reason, it is definitely worth doing some research before you book to make sure you get the best deals.
You may want to read this post on How to get over a fear of flying – Part One, before reading on.
I took my first flight today in around 3 years, and it’s safe to say I was crapping myself the whole day. All of my travels over the past 12 months since I started travelling full-time have been completely by land & sea. I made a decision in my head around 3 years ago after a bit of a turbulent flight to Zaragoza that I would never take another flight again. I honestly never thought I would go back on this decision, and at times I’ve paid way more than the price of a flight, taking sometimes triple the journey time, just to avoid getting on a plane. However, it was finally money that made me buckle, and say to myself “it’s time to face my fear”.
If travel by land & sea was the same price as a cheap budget air flight then I would never have got on another plane again! However, during this current off-peak winter season in Europe which has just begun, I was faced with either paying 25 Euros for a flight, or more than 250 Euros to travel the whole way to south of Spain by rail and/or bus. I could have cut down that figure slightly for overland travel, but it would have meant travelling on dates that didn’t particularly suit for not much of a saving. I was literally faced with paying 10 times the amount to travel if I didn’t want to take a flight. Then there is also the factor that it took me less than 3 hours to fly from Scotland, and it would have taken me around 30 – 48 hours if I went by bus and train without stopping.
I began to think of all the transport and accommodation I could purchase with that extra cash that I would lose if I didn’t take the flight. It was a real realisation that I was letting my fear stop me from travelling, because the more money you have, the longer you can travel. Also, I travel to live every moment of my life to the fullest. Sitting for an extra 45 hours on public transportation that I don’t need to is hardly doing that. It can be described as nothing but a waste of my time… unless I’m saving money.
So I booked the flight, I got on it, and I arrived in Malaga Airport just under 3 hours later a little shaken, but to be honest, not as bad as I thought I would be. I was lucky in that we had next to no turbulence the whole way there, but there were a few things which definitely helped that I thought I would share on here for anyone of a similar disposition. None of these involved taking sleeping pills, alcohol, or anything remotely medication based/mind altering.
Mind Distraction
I’ve tried in the past to distract myself on planes and it’s been no use. This was because I was trying distract myself by reading airplane magazines, safety notices, or random magazines I had brought along. My mind always wandered back to the fact we were 33,000 feet up in the air, and the images of the plane hurtling towards the ground came screaming into my head. Reading for me is too easy to become distracted from. Also, if you’re reading something you’re not that interested in, that’s not captivating in itself, then you’re mind is easily going to wander anyway. On a plane that wandering goes back to the most pressing matter, of the thing you are trying not to think about.
I brought my laptop. As soon as take-off was over I had it out, and was working on writing an ebook. I’m a work-aholic when I’m passionate about what I’m doing. This blog, and anything that stems from it is something that keeps me zoned into my computer most days of the week. I won’t lie. There was the occasional moment while working that I did find my mind wander to what’s outside, but for the most part I became consumed on writing the book. The fact that it is something I was genuinely interested in, I feel, was what made me focus in on it, instead of thinking about what’s outside. I also shut my window shutter for the entirety of the time too once in the air. It helped me block out the fact I was on a plane, and not let my peripheral vision distract me from the task at hand – my book.
My battery died with around an hour and half to go. There was a slight bit of panic as this happened, but I quickly whipped out my Spanish dictionary, grammar book, notepad and pen. I began writing out grammar, words, and just generally trying to improve my Spanish on board. I think the act of doing something, i.e. writing things down, helped to keep my mind focused on the task at hand rather than my fears because it’s harder to let your mind wander when you are physically doing something. When you’re simply reading or listening to music, your mind can wander more easily. At least for me anyway…
Just do it
At the end of the day, there is nothing that will take away your fear completely. I deliberately chose a flight that wasn’t long haul. I’m not sure I would have had the balls to get on the first one if I knew it would last an age. If you’re like me, and you want to conquer your fear, start small. Do a one hour flight somewhere. See how you go. Anyone can distract themselves for an hour if they really want to. Once you have got the first one over with you will fell relieved. Trust me. If you really feel like it was terrible then you never have to get on one again. It was only an hour of your life.
The key thing to remember is that airplane crashes are extremely unlikely. It’s much more dangerous to go out driving in your car, if you want to put it into perspective. I know saying those things doesn’t make a huge difference when you think “yeah, but what if I’m in one of the planes that DOES crash”. Also, the reality is that if you crash in a plane and you crash in a car, you’re likelihood of surviving a car crash is much more likely, but somewhere in you you have to rise above these thoughts. You could go out one day and get stabbed by someone trying to rob you. Yet, even if you live in a bad area, I would put money on it that it’s not something you think about everyday, if really ever. You know the likelihood of something like that happening is so slim, so it doesn’t enter your day to day thoughts or worry you. I’m trying to retrain my mind to think like that about flying. Hopefully, if you’re scared of flying, you’ll be able to too. Just book a flight and do it! I did, and I can tell you it’s actually not so bad.
This post is really part 1 of my attempt to overcome a fear of flying. Over the past year I have travelled all over Europe by train, bus, and ferry. Often finding myself paying more than double the price of a flight, or that my journey takes 3 times as long to get to my destination, all in my bid to avoid getting on a plane!
It seems ironic that I would choose being a travel blogger as my profession when the thought of flying leaves me literally terrified, but I’ve always thought that you shouldn’t let fear get in the way of what you want to do. I simply said to myself that I would travel by any means possible other than flying, even if that meant crossing oceans in cargo ships to get to where I wanted to be. In hindsight however, I have just being avoiding my fear rather than facing it. I’ve been making things extremely hard for myself, and now the time has come to finally get over it, and stop putting obstacles in my way. So I have come up with a plan to get over my crippling fear….
I’ve booked a flight for tomorrow (October 27th 2011) from Glasgow to Malaga (I’m actually going to Granada, but there are no cheap flights from Scotland to there!) It took me 2 whole days to get back to Scotland from Andalusia last time. Flying back it will take me around 3 hours! It’s fine when you make a trip out of it, and stop for several days in destinations along the way, but when you’re going straight there it seems quite pointless and like a waste of your time to take so much longer to get there.
I’ve been through everything in my head of ways to overcome a fear of flying. My first thought was simply to take sleeping pills, but this journey is too short for that. Also, as I travel solo it’s not practical for me to do this as I carry things like laptops as hand luggage, and I also need to rely on myself not to be too drowsy to get off at the end, pick up my luggage, and get to my hostel ok. Others have suggested natural calming remedies, but I’m of the opinion if medical experts have not deemed it a medicine then it’s probably a lot of bullshit (that’s just my personal opinion.) Drinking copious amounts of alcohol is probably not a great idea to get over it either for your own health at that altitude, and to be honest I think taking anything remotely mind altering doesn’t actually help you get over the fear. There will be times when things like that won’t be available, but you still need to fly, and I really want to conquer my fear, not avoid it as I have been doing.
Instead I’m going for the old mind distraction technique. There is no getting around that on take off especially I am going to be shitting myself. You can’t have your laptop out at the table, and mobile phones etc need to be switched off. As I said I’m travelling solo, so unless I can strike up a conversation with a complete stranger (which probably isn’t a good idea on a plane as I tend to freak other people out with my fear) then I have nothing to distract me. I’m just going to have to ride through take off and landing, but hopefully they won’t take too long…
They say it’s not bravery unless you’re scared. However if I poop my pants I’m not sure how brave that is going to feel! 
I’ll pass on any tips if I find any that make the whole flight process a bit easier for those like me in the next post. Wish me luck!
