As someone who's HoH and going to be taking trains solo soon, my second time travelling on a modern train alone and having to change halfway, are they actually... Hearable? Like is it clear words not echoey adult Snoopy show talk?
So you know the BA American Express credit card charges you 31.0% APR which is rather high so make sure you pay it off every month in full. If you can’t don’t get one
No doubt Scott is a wonderful source of knowledge of the travel business and the best cups of coffee in Europe but apart from that, just in these last six months or so, he has made some terrific videos, some in difficult conditions and under physical duress! so it is a big thumbs up from me, well done!🚝🚂🚶☕🚄🚇
If you're ever in Newcastle and you want to see something really crazy: go to the city central library and you'll find an entrance to a small network of elevated walkways that goes as far as Manors. Back in the 1960s, city planners there wanted to rebuild the city, dedicate all the ground to cars, parking and buses, and move the pedestrians up one storey to a system of elevated walkways where pedestrians would skywalk from one building to another and there were to be shops on the skywalk level as part of each building. Most of what was planned didn't get built but there are still some buildings and shops that have entrances onto the small-ish sections of skywalk that were built. There's even one section that runs between a disused hotel and its car park building, and it was enclosed, and you go there now it looks like a really creepy alley, but it's actually 3 storeys above the ground. It's really wild, you have to see it to believe it. And even then you have to wonder what on Earth the planners were thinking.
Google London Pedways - a very similar sounding scheme with some parts built and survive today. Fascinating how they imagined these streets in the sky.
Looks like a lovely room. Newcastle is such a great city. Visit in the springtime. A great vlog would be travelling on the bus from Morpeth to Newcastle and travel by foot from the university/civic centre to the quayside 👍
That’s a lot of talk about Avios without saying what Avios is. I'm probably in a small minority but for anyone else who didn't know, Wikipedia tells me that Avios is a frequent-flyer programme. Avios points are the frequent flyer currency of Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia, LEVEL and Qatar Airways, and can also be used for travel within the Oneworld alliance. You are all very welcome.
American Express issue a British airways credit card. You collect points and convert them to free flights. I do it: it’s actually very good, as long as you pay your balance off. He is talking about ways to boost the points to get free flights
USB plugs bedside are the bane of my life, plug in an empty phone at midnight, wake at 0700 to a 60% charged phone. Sod that, give me a plug socket I can plug a full speed charger in to.
Haha no way I was also on that exact train in Newcastle that got cancelled. I was on a train up from York that morning and the manager told us that it'd simply be a case of transferring to that train. Of course, it was never going to be so simple! I ended up getting on a VERY FULL LNER about an hour and a half after, but did book that Lumo just in case. Too bad I missed ya!
Scott, do ask HHonors for those points. I’ve stayed at hotels which were under renovation and they will give a bonus noted when booking, so it is a policy used for at least some of their brands.
Hay planes, trains, everything. I got an idea for a future RU-vid video for you and it's called the South Whisky Island Hopping challenge. It evolveds getting a ferry from Troon/Ardrossan to Brodick and once your there you need to find a bottle of Whiskey made on Arran, after that you get the No.324 bus to lochranza and then get the ferry to Claonaig. Once your there you got a choice of walking to Kennacraig ferry terminal or getting the No.448 bus to Kennacraig. Then you will board the ferry to either Port Ellen or Port Asking and once off the boat you're have to locate and buy a bottle of Whiskey made on the Island of Islay. After that your find somewhere to stay the night and that's where you do a taste test and review the two whiskeys. The next day you can catch the ferry back to Kennacraig but you can't leave from the same port as you arrived, remember there's two main ports on Islay where you could get a ferry back to the mainland where you could end the video. You can spice up the video idea however you want but keep the main goals of the challenge. Hope you're find this interesting.
So you know the BA American Express credit card charges you 31.0% APR which is rather high so make sure you pay it off every month in full. If you can’t don’t get one
Hey Scott, love the videos. However just a warning for any viewers watching this: Lumo train tickets are all classed as Advance tickets (hence the low price) and are specific to that train only - not at any other times. As Newcastle is a Penalty Fare station, you need to purchase a new ticket before you board any other train unless you fancy a Penalty Fare or a day in court. LNER would been quite in their rights to issue this, and there is no option to buy on board.
Not true. If your train is cancelled or significantly delayed the ticket is valid on the same operators 1st train before or after that service. Also Train companies often arrange ticket acceptance on other operators and there own trains at any times during significant disruption
Indeed. But note that Lumo emulates the business plan of LCCs (low-cost airlines) and that is why the rail regulator gave the green light for Lumo to compete with the incumbent. Lumo's product differs from the other TOCs (train operators). It has certainly found favour with the travelling public judging by its load factor.
@@PatrickBurford1 "The one before or the one after" rule would only be for the same operator. I think Scott was planning on getting an LNER service much earlier on in the day.
@@PatrickBurford1I think Scott boarded the LNER well before his actual Lumo train was due. There was no indication that his Lumo train was cancelled (as we know in the end Scott did board that train) so Scott may well have got a penalty fare had he stayed on the LNER.
No annual fee on the BA card but it does have a 31 %apr which is rather high and you must have a permanent UK home address, be aged 18 or over and earn at least £20k per year.
In order to get Avios! I imagine Scott pays the bill off fully each month to avoid paying any interest. Much better consumer protection with credit cards too.
Good to use a credit card exactly the same as you would a debit card, and just pay it off immediately each month. Helps build your credit score and you can also earn points on various things like this.
Well it depends if u can afford it seems like they are trying to get u to spend more money when u don't really need to. U say u get these points but nothing is free really there's always some cost . When u think about it your thinking whooo I can get so many points ...then u spend more money .....cost the bank nothing cost you something though Those how point system work it makes u think wrong really .
Poor Scott! You were already disappointed that you were only going to get a "continental breakfast". I first thought: What's SO bad about that? I managed to get very well fed with that kind of meal in my business travel days in Germany. But then, what you got was definitely NOT continental breakfast, I wouldn't even call it breakfast at all. My sympathies.
Lots of good information there, Scott, but give Hampton by Hilton a wide berth in future, eh? I'd have been looking for a refund, never mind a voucher - even the Caledonian Sleeper does better breakfasts than that - and that's saying something!! Lovely bit of Newcastle down there, yes (and there's a fairly new Travelodge, too, that does amazing breakfasts and has lovely staff!) If you follow the riverside back towards west, there's a beautiful Wetherspoons about 200m to the west - it occupies an historic building...
My nephew and his teammates raised funds to go to a Newcastle home game. They even got a training session with the Newcastle coaches. They are dunfermline athletic fans and they also play in black and white strips
Avios far too complicated for me, Scott! I struggle with the intricacies of a Costa card 😂 Sorry things didn't go as planned but I really enjoyed the adventure in my much missed homeland. Cheers.
Great video and good to see you in my home city! Glad you got to see some of the historic areas of Newcastle too. Should have gone to the Centurion in the station for breakfast - they do full Scottish or English (both really good) and the original interior design is amazing.
Remember travelling with my partner (Oct 2023) Peterborough to York ,what a nightmare,like travel now in Britain is these days, trains cancelled even folk sitting by door ways, bike rack storage area , and even the wc. Over priced and treated like s++t ..excuse ,heavy winds ,and no drivers is becoming quite a `popular ` excuse. As a by,yesterday, just got back from Germany, though standards are not what they used to be,still damn better than here in uk. oh Heathrow EXPRESS to Paddington,one way ticket,£24 and poor wifi. Welcome to rip off Britain. Sorry mate,rant over, and nice to see old Newcastle after all these years.
Cracking effort putting this together, especially with all the trials and tribulations! The very least you deserved was a Hampton by Hilton cooked breakfast, oh well...
So you know the BA American Express credit card charges you 31.0% APR which is rather high so make sure you pay it off every month in full. If you can’t don’t get one You also have to have a permanent uk address be over 18 and earn 20k a year to get one
You probably already know this, but next time you are taking a train, you can go to Google maps, check you train in here you have booked . And see if the train are packed with people or not, it's not always accurate. But it give a good indication on the state of the train you have booked. Keep up the good work. And congratulations on the 50.000 subscribers 🎉 next time you are going here to Denmark, maybe check out the tram/train museum in Odense. I think it's up you alley. Let me know if you have any questions regards that.
Thanks for this wonderful video. I always have a good time when I am in Britain (I have been more than once in London) but that breakfast they offered you in Newcastle? That's not breakfast by any means in my opinion. Well, I am living on the Continent and what is presented as "Continental Breakfast" in British hotels is usually very, very disappointing. And a proper British breakfast is usually not included. Which I think is a pity because British breakfast is part of the culture....
St Mirren unknown? I couldn't move in gothenburg for question about what's happened to Dundee united since the 80s... slight exaggeration but did bump into a few IFK fans who had been to Dundee and Aberdeen
Hey Scott! Hilton have a price match policy where if you send them the booking, they will match the price and knock a further 25% off the rate! As long as the rate is along similar lines
May have already said this, i cannot wait for your Aussie trip. I dont have the money, but if did i would do Adelaide to Darwin via the Ghan, stopping off at Alice Springs.
The reason to use train line is to avoid being committed to using one train company specifically. Just make sure you keep the email for evidence. I hate train companies everything is set up to trick the customer.
Top coffee tip if you have time at Newcastle Central Station: Pink Lane Coffee, just opposite the main entrance then to the left. Excellent independent coffee shop
I don't get excited about the collection of avios either but sitting in the club lounge with a drink, not scrabbling on the flight for locker space, blocked middle seats and reasonable catering...
So you know the BA American Express credit card charges you 31.0% APR which is rather high so make sure you pay it off every month in full. If you can’t don’t get one
Great advice about the Avios cheers. About 8 years ago now I went to Japan and thanks to claiming Avios it only cost me £359 return when a normal return from London to Tokyo on BA at the time would cost between £700 - £900
More or less a full length movie tonight Scott, I appreciate your efforts, it's clearly not a easy job . I'm coming up by super cheap £37 discounted train fare early April, kent to Edinburgh, bargain. Edinburgh to Glasgow to isle of Arran, with some wild camping in the later , then back for a legendry coach back to London
Two years ago my son and I visited several German cities and stayed, for the first time, in Youth Hostels. The price was then 42 Euros per person per night and that included breakfast, of course continental breakfast. We had some great tasting coffee, tea was also available, bread rolls, sliced cheeses, cooked meats and boiled eggs. The breakfast you had was,m as far as I am concerned, absolutely disgusting. Great video and I noticed your number of subscribers is creeping up.
Hi Scott, i use a lot of those hacks but going via the BA portal is one i will investigate more, cheers 😂 If you have not been to Budapest for your trip yet, walk from your hotel, around the ring road, to Liszt Ferenc Ter, just off Andrassy Utca, about 15 minute walk and treat yourself to a meal at the restaurant called Menza.
I stayed in that very hotel in May last year. It was very nice and didn’t encounter any of the same issues you did, Scott. It was my first time in Newcastle too
As a Novocastrian (NSW version) I loved seeing the sights of our sister city. Our son is a travel hacker just like you. I frustrate him because I’m not!! But you have inspired me to give it a go.
Class 37 loco. My favourite. I thought I’d seen one in the background earlier. More class 37s please. There was one sitting at Crianlarich for a while.
