Originally Posted by stimpy
Are you aware that sometime next year the TGV will reach Frankfurt? You could take the ICE to Frankfurt, then the TGV to Paris. Perhaps stop for a nice dinner in Paris before heading to London the next morning. That is how I would do it. The Paris-Strasbourg-Frankfurt run is supposed to be at 350Kph I believe.
The TGV already goes to Zurich so that is another alternative. Sure it takes longer than flying, but it's FAAAAAR more relaxing and dignified. Most trains now have power ports in first class so you can keep your laptop going and get work done. Sometimes I even hop on WiFi if we are stopping at a station for 5 minutes or so. I upload the mail I wrote so far and download new ones. I know the TGV and ICE are working on high-speed internet for their trains so they can steal away more customers from airlines.
This might indeed be a nice alternative for a private weekend trip. Of course, from my village, I need 2 ugly regional trains to get to MUC main station in the first place.
As for business travel, it's a no go, as I'd need to be there and back much faster. So as of now, I simply don't do business in the UK, anymore. I'll happily leave that to others.
Ironically, the volatile situation (who knows what else the TSA and their counterparts will come up with in the next weeks, months and years?) has lead me to abandon all my loyalty to airlines, alliances and FFPs. I'll substantially reduce (by more than 50%) my paid flights next year, I'll always pick the most convenient airline (like the one with the least connections) regardless of status/bonus miles and alliances, and I'll make use of my remaining 1.4 million bonus miles in order to pay for most of my premium travel. In a wicked way, the security theater, water ban, shoe carnival, end of Connexion and whatnot is quite liberating. And quite a money-saver, too.