I've signed up - how about you?

As said, several EU countries, and Switzerland- are making a concerted, collaborative effort, to bring back night trains inter EU- to stop short distance flights. It is a political choice.

If I come to London or the East Mids- with TGV and Eurostar- it takes me all day- a relaxing day, reading, snoozing, watching the world go by ... door to door. If I choose to fly, it takes me all day- getting to airport by car or bus + train, 2 change- then flight and take bus from ariport to car hire- wait- get home, etc. All day too, but stressful and exhausting- and all in all, as I book early- often much cheaper. Makes total sense.

I’d love motorail. Just image going on holiday in the UK with only a short drive at the end instead of hours on the road. I loathe driving.

Overall, an interesting set of responses, some very defensive, of course (as people really don't like change). I shouldn't think holidays and visiting relatives are the main problem. There's an awful lot of totally unnecessary short business and cargo flights, though.

Obviously, it's fundamentally a problem for governments to address, rather than individuals. Train fares (and ferries) should be much cheaper to encourage alternative travel. It's a shame that motorail has declined, too - but it seems sensible to plan a comeback. There are still some:

www.seat61.com/Motorail.htm

SueDonim, thank you for explaining virtue signalling. You said: 'The OP says she wasn’t planning to fly anyway, so in what way is she making a difference'

I have made a tiny difference by not planning to fly London to Glasgow again (as I used to) to visit a friend. I pushed for video-conferencing at work too, so I've signed and posted to raise awareness, generally, perhaps to influence others - I can but try!

Urmstongran, my friend has a house in Spain but always travels by train (she doesn't like flying) so you could still get there!

Just been looking at train fares Newcastle to Bristol. The cheapest is £167 whereas flying just now is £45 return. This is for March. Crazy, isn’t it?

I regularly visit Scotland, Ireland and Germany (family and friends there.) From now on I will endeavour to use other means of getting there rather than flying.
But I feel like somewhere warm next year and hope I can be forgiven just one flight (and one back home again!)
I'm doing my best to cut down plastic use etc, just like most of us are.

Yes agreed Jura. DD3 is very much into re-use, recycle and buy 2nd hand etc. I do my best as well. Biggest plastic consumption is fruit and veg packets. Even the local market packs many things in plastic. I do what I can and I think it would make a big difference if everybody did their bit

My son lives in Canada, so if we didn't fly we wouldn't see each other.

ayse, oh I understand this - it is often very difficult to organise dates in advance - and yes, they leave it to the last minute ... I know x

There is no ONE solution - so I won't be signing, as said. However I see no problem with all of us assessing our flying/travelling record- and see if we can make positive changes that help reduce our carbon footprint.

If someone's reaction is to say 'oh those do-gooders really get up my nose, so next year I'll fly even more, just to annoy them' - well, I am not sure your grandchildren will thank you

And what are we up against here? Big business in sporting events worldwide.

The world title boxing match in Saudi last night saw a huge open air stadium, built in two months to accommodate 150,000 people at a cost of $200 million which was for ONE NIGHT only! Yep, just the event itself. It is being dismantled today.

My DD was required by her employer to fly (within the EU) to give a 28 minute presentation. It had to be 28 mins exactly, as all the other speakers had the same time slot during the day of presentations. Had she refused she would have lost her next contract, and she did win the big government contract for her employer, but how ludicrous was that?

Until big business makes huge changes e.g. with travel requirements, product packaging and industrial processes and waste disposal, there is a limit to what the responsible individual/family can do.

P.S: I was heartened to hear my friend's grandchildren had included in their list to Santa, 'but please no plastics'. There's a challenge for the adults in the family.

I won’t be signing. And I agree with everything Iam said.

Our DS, his partner and my GS are all in New Zealand. I would happily sign up to not taking flights anywhere else. but the thought of never being able to see them again fills me with dread. I worry that movements like this will make it socially unacceptable and financially impossible for us to see our family.

I don't fly - basically because I hate it; so no virtue signalling here!

But I do get a bit irritated by all the business flights whose purpose could just as easily be achieved electronically.

Hi, Jura. It’s so difficult because I fit in with my children’s childcare needs. I’d be happy to book in advance but they have ex husbands who don’t seem to understand that both of them needs to work, even if there are school holidays. I travel from the NE and would happily book in advance, if only I knew what was going on. I just want to help them both out as much as I can. Hopefully it will settle in the not too distant future but it’s like living with a ticking bomb. I never know when I’m going to be needed. Life is a little problematic sometimes

F1 is the thing for me too Urmstongran- when they stop that I’ll stop flying.....

The carbon footprint of F1 racing - flying all those cars, computers, people - to the next location around the world must be phenomenal and then there’s the racing itself.

One of my biggest gripes is people flying overseas to get married or to sporting events. It's ridiculous.

ayse- where do you travel from, I wonder? Yes, it is crazy about trains being more expensive than flying- and again, it is a political choice. And something which will be reversed in the near future, I hope. However, if you travel regularly and avoid Fridays and book well in advance - does it not cut cost down a lot? With TGV and Eurostar, if we book well in advance and go off peak- it is much cheaper than flying- when you count all (like getting to airport, parking, etc, etc).

I am another perfect partner for this initative. I do not fly - and haven't for, perhaps, six or seven years. I hate airports and much prefer to travel by train.

There is no better way of making yourself look good than signing up to not do something you never intended to do anyway.

Quaintirene, in your circumstances I would immediately sign up for this silly bit of greenwash, just for the fun of it and to show how ludicrous it is.

I feel quite guilty about flying to Bristol maybe every 7 weeks or so. I’d much prefer to go by train but I can’t afford it! It’s crazy that flying is cheaper than the train. This is to visit one daughter and 3 grandchildren. They lived in OZ for 15 years so I’m happy I can see them more frequently. This daughter has had a very rough time for the last 3 years, so I’ve given as much support as I can.

Daughter no 1 lives in NZ so I visit annually in January by flying for 4 weeks. Daughter no. 3 has two children and I live within a 2 bus journey so generally take the bus unless it’s going to be a late evening, especially in the winter months as I’m a bit wary about being out and about after dark.

Most of my spare cash is spent visiting family. I do so appreciate being loved and wanted by all of them.

Having said all that, I feel guilty in travelling so much by flying, especially to Bristol but for me it’s a matter of economy. I just can’t face the idea of a 10 hour coach journey at a similar cost to flying. It just doesn’t make sense.

I do wish that public transport was more efficient and affordable because if I could, I’d restrict my flying to the NZ visit. DH and I only go on camping holidays in the UK as they are the cheapest way of getting away for short breaks. With limited income we have to make the most of what we have.

I don’t see why numerous business meetings couldn’t take place over the net!

Surely there must be some middle way? Something between smug boasting about holidays and so called virtue signaling?

Can't people read a few papers and gather information and ideas from many sources?

I think there are many factors which influence the environment, not just flying. Flying, car pollution, destroying forests, plastics, consumerism, overbuilding on land etc etc I'm sure there are other factors.

I fly on holiday - but I don't drive. I shop and use too much plastic (packaging) which is hard to eliminate. I use soya wax for candles. I recycle as much as possible (my council have stopped collecting food waste due to cost).

I don't do enough and would love to do more