No Flights from Leeds to Southampton

[crafty sue]

Hi

 

Was looking on flybe website to price up flights for a visit down to Southampton to see friends - and was surprised to find they have stopped flying from Leeds Bradford airport to Southampton.

 

That is a real shame as it was a quick alternative to getting there from the North. We have driven down and it takes hours and hours !. We priced up rail fares and they are getting more and more expensive. I do hope that P & O do fly cruises in 2015 as it would be easier for us northerners to do than a Southampton departure.:(

[Lovemychoos]

We drive to Southampton from Cumbria, and strangely enough, we quite like to do it :)

 

We set off the day before, have a nice, unhurried drive down, stay in Southampton the night before, and go out for a nice meal.

 

IMHO, it beat the h*ll out of standing around in an airport for hours on end, loosing the will to live,lol

 

Lou

[crafty sue]

Hi Lovemychoos,

 

Yes we set off the day before when we drove down and stayed at a travel lodge just outside Southampton - then drove in the next morning - we weren't going on a cruise that time though unless you class the red funnel across to the Isle of Wight !!

 

When we did cruise out of Southampton we flew from Leeds and found it very easy - the odd thing was when they asked a man to move seats on the plane to balance the weight ! yes they are quite small airplanes - we did fly the day before and stayed overnight.

 

The only thing was they flight back wasn't until 17.00hrs which is a long wait in town before going to the airport and unfortunately I was taken ill on the cruise and was confined to cabin for a couple of days ( not the dreaded virus !) so was feeling pretty weak when we docked so I phoned the Ibis who do day rooms for about £29 and booked one - we went there dumped luggage and had a walk about then a nap - shower before off the airport at 15.00hrs - worked for us -but no longer an option - such a shame

[Thejuggler]

The reason you won't find the route on Flybe is because it is now operated by Eastern Airways.

 

Better to use Skyscanner than individual airline websites as operators do change.

[crafty sue]

ooh thanks for that Thejuggler - will have a look x

[crafty sue]

Just priced up flights return from Leeds - Southampton in May and for two of us it comes out at £555 ! - think that option has priced it's self out of the market ! - now where did I put the road atlas ?

[Scriv]

You don't fancy the train then?

[crafty sue]

Hi Scriv - we are in Hull and I think last time i priced it - it turned out quite expensive too - also several changes to get there which puts us off a bit - although someone on here said there is a direct train from York so that could be an option.

 

regards

 

sue x

[lake5298]

I used to fly from Manchester; first with BA and subsequently with FlyBE, but the prices have gone up and up each year.

 

We drive down the day before and stay in Southampton - the Dolphin does a package including car parking - and then usually break the return journey halfway between Southampton and home.

 

Next cruise, we are staying in Warwick on the way home - easy access from the motorway - and as it's race day we're having a (very small) flutter too!

[Scriv]

Please delete. Somehow got posted twice.

Edited February 8, 2014 by Scriv

[Scriv]

I just looked it up on thetrainline.com for a random day : March 5 2014.

 

There were 2 direct trains at £114.40 Off Peak return

 

York dep 10 35 arr Southampton 15 14

York " 12 35 arr Southampton 17 17

 

Return options under the Off Peak return on the random day of Fr 21 March are

 

So'ton dep 09 46 arr York 14 39

So'ton dep 11 46 arr " 16 39

13 46 arr " 18 58

15 46 arr " 20 38

 

I have done this journey as far as Winchester several times and it is pretty good.

 

Hope it helps you decide...

[crafty sue]

Thanks Scriv

 

that isn't too long on the train I had seen journeys about 7 hours ! - but if that is per person think a drive down with a stop each way sounds a cheaper !

[Scriv]

You might be able to get it cheaper if you are booking in advance and can get the 'Super Saver' deals where you book the specific train in advance.

 

But yes, when you are reckoning on a group of you, taking the car will work out cheaper.:)

[tartanexile81]

I think it was probably me who said about the direct train from York to Southampton. We're using it on Wednesday!! I paid £45 single and my OH who has a railcard paid £29 for Newcastle to Southampton. The secret is to book on the day the cheaper tickets become available. Tickets are available 12 weeks in advance but full priced tickets go on the website first a couple of days before the very cheap tickets. You just have to check till they're available! If you go to www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk. We always find the operator's website does the cheapest tickets as other sites are simply booking agents and they take a bit of a commission.

 

There's also Eavesway from Leeds which we used to take when we lived in Yorkshire. We found it a very efficient service and lovely coaches. Like you, though, we wouldn't drive. We wouldn't mind the drive down but to get back into Southampton after a lovely restful cruise and to have to get in the car and drive up that horrible motorway - no thanks!!

[Lovemychoos]

Just thinking about this again, and what I also should have added is that surely if you use the budget airlines, aren't their luggage allowances a bit mean?

 

The biggest attraction, certainly for me (being a shoeaholic,lol) is not to worry about what weight my luggage is,lol. I've never really got my head around this 'travelling light' malarky :D

 

Lou

[silver wedding]

We live in Harrogate and have tried all the ways of getting to Southampton but as a couple the coach is the cheapest and most convenient but when we travel as a group we drive and share the driving. Some cruises from the North would be nice. Ventura out of Hull maybe.

[kevinyork]

We drive from York as a party of four. We actually enjoy the drive and it builds the excitement. The train times, although direct, are IMO a little tight so would require us to go the day before adding the cost of two rooms to our total price.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[crafty sue]

Cruise with P & O from Hull that is a good idea - we have the ferries so have the terminals ! we do have cruise maritime out of here occasionally but the ships remind me of the "Carry on Cruising" ship with Sid James as captain ! - not my cup of tea at all.

 

We have the Ventura Fly Cruise booked for 26th March - so look forward to that, but you have all given me lots of ideas to get to Southampton if we see a good deal later in the year!

 

When we did fly from Leeds we managed the luggage allowance quite well, putting all those heavy shoes etc in the hand luggage and packing sparkly tops which are quite light for dinner wear and just 2 formal dresses which again where quite light. I have cut down a lot from our first cruise where I took loads of Handbags and matching shoes a dress for every night and a selection of jeans and trousers for day time - poor DH had his allowance used up a lot by me !

[tom_uk]

We're in Sheffield which is that little bit closer than other places in Yorkshire, and we can do the drive in about four hours if we want to.

 

In the past we've: driven down on the day; stayed in a Travelodge three-quarters of the way down the night before; and also gone down early the day before and made a thing of it. We've come to the conclusion that the Travelodge thing is just hard work - load the car after tea, drive for a few hours, unload the car and drag the bags up to the TL bedroom, then load the bags in the morning again. Also we got the feeling when we went down for a full day the day before that we were perhaps looking for things to do that afternoon. Also - and this sounds weird - if we were too rested when we embarked, those first few sea days just seemed to drag - better in fact if we were tired after a long drive on embarkation day, then slowly recover over the next couple of days.

 

We've also used the train, because there's a suitable direct train from Sheffield (probably the one from York that's been mentioned). We did a December cruise with Fred a year or so ago and had Advance Purchase tickets - very reasonably priced. Unfortunately Black Watch was late arriving into Southampton, getting everybody off took forever (they don't do self-disembarkation), and we missed the train. I can tell you that two single tickets from Southampton Central to Sheffield, for immediate travel, cost £178 in December 2012. So if we do that again, we'll either plan on a later train, or maybe even buy two sets of cheap return tickets, one early the other later.

Edited February 10, 2014 by tom_uk