Originally Posted by
Mwenenzi
A very good summary.
Are you paying for the HAM trips? Will you book at short notice or a long time before. If you have BA avios an award flight may be an option sometimes. Or some of those DL ff miles for an award. Or are you saving avios/miles for a longer trip? (They do not increase in value)
Will you combine a EDI-BER then onto HAM? Guess will depend on your employers travel policy.
A train after a flight is an option. Point to point for short distance trains can be as quick as flying considering time to airport etc.
From EDI/GLA Easyjet & RyanAir also fly but with limited schedules.
Thank you for the quick reply Mwenenzi!
Yes, I'll be paying for the HAM trips. Notice period for the bookings will vary quite a bit. For exmple, I already have fixed plans for some weekends in June, July and September that I could theoretically book already, but also one in Febraury where I will only be able to decide about a week in advance whether I can fly. And probably there will be anything in between over the next months.
Using BA Avios is always an option if flights get too expensive - I have done that quite a few times in the past (if I hadn't I'd be at about 50% Avios than I currently have), and I'm aware that they are not much use for a long haul due to the fuel surcharges. I'll probably likely keep using them up in exactly the way you suggest. Unfortunately, the connections from EDI to LHR/LCY and then on to Hamburg don't seem ideal.
DL miles seems to be less of an options, the number of miles needed for even a one-way flight would mean I could do something like 3 segments with the miles I have. Not sure what I will use those miles for, but when I get to the States in the not so far future - which I will - I might be looking at somehow using them towards a trip to Hawaii or something like that. Since it has become possible to pay half the miles for a one way I haven't been to the US, and before that I had too few to do anything meaningful with them.
I'll most likely not combine trips to BER and HAM - and if I would, it wouldn't affect the flying pattern due to the wonderfully fast train connection between them, as you say. Unfortunately there is no airport close enough that is reguarly served from EDI by a big airline - so while I could fly to AMS, BRU or FRA and take a train, that train would take about 5h+ in each case.
I'm aware of Ryanair's and Easyjet's presence at those airports - it seems to be there prime reason of existence.
Unfortunately most of the time the scheduled departure times are extremely inconvenient, e.g. there is no direct flight to HAM on a Friday and none from BER on a Sunday, and for the rest the times of day could be better.