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On the other hand if taking off work means forgoing income, taking the slower rail journey is even more expensive. Instead of taking 6 days off work to fly and take a cruise, maybe now I need to take 8. For retirees or folks who can work on a train, the calculation might be very different.

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I think that was parents point, the train /is/ the cruise

I get that, that’s one way of looking at it. But other folks look at train vs plane for more utilitarian “getting there”. Depending on your situation and what you consider the train ride to be, the value offered by the train can be considered a reasonable deal or outlandishly expensive.

Economy class airplanes are all utility and zero experience. The business is viable because utility and torment can cancel out because the trip itself has need to have a perceived value - all the value is in moving from A to B.

A drive, a cruise, or a train trip have intrinsic value beyond moving from A to B. You experience the movement in a different way.

We need to start thinking a bit differently about the economics of transportation when travelling for leisure.

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