Fair play to you, I couldn't do it. Then again, you must be getting well reimbursed for the hassle
Unlike those folk who spend £5000 on train journeys, least you'll be able to get some of that back after a year or two if you sell it!
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Fair play to you, I couldn't do it. Then again, you must be getting well reimbursed for the hassle
Unlike those folk who spend £5000 on train journeys, least you'll be able to get some of that back after a year or two if you sell it!
MichaelO
Guru
I have a 20 mile commute into London - 80-90min cycle, or a 35min train journey (an hour door-to-door).
There are people who work here that commute from Birmingham, Bristol & well into East Anglia. I know there were MANY people who were glad when the interest/tax-free loan to buy a season ticket increased from £5k to £10k a few years ago!
There are people who work here that commute from Birmingham, Bristol & well into East Anglia. I know there were MANY people who were glad when the interest/tax-free loan to buy a season ticket increased from £5k to £10k a few years ago!
midlife
Guru
Do your company run a loan scheme for season tickets?
gaijintendo
Guru
- Location
- Scotchland
I did three calculation and was sad to discover I'm only saving £1k, as that makes buying bikes constantly less justifiable to the OH.
steverob
Guru
- Location
- Buckinghamshire
Not quite at £5K yet, but getting closer - this year it was £4,440 for an annual Aylesbury to London season ticket, including the Underground, which means it'll be roughly £4,600 next year then. I didn't actually pay that though, choosing this year to instead buy tickets every 4-6 weeks or so around my annual leave dates (so I'm not paying for trains while I'm on holiday) and it ended up working out very slightly cheaper - by about £8! Plus it's easier to spread the cost that way.
My commute is just under two hours each way - 25 minute walk from home to the station, 1 hour on the train to London, 25 minutes on the Underground, 5 minutes further walk to work. Yes, I would love to go back to the days when I could walk to work in just 15 minutes (something I got to do for 14 years), but my industry has more well paying jobs in London than anywhere else, so I just have to suck it up for now.
My commute is just under two hours each way - 25 minute walk from home to the station, 1 hour on the train to London, 25 minutes on the Underground, 5 minutes further walk to work. Yes, I would love to go back to the days when I could walk to work in just 15 minutes (something I got to do for 14 years), but my industry has more well paying jobs in London than anywhere else, so I just have to suck it up for now.
MichaelO
Guru
Yes (as have every other London based company I've worked for). It's interest free (if the loan is less than £10k - used to be £5k) and you pay it back monthly through payroll. Only way a lot of people can afford to pay for season tickets.
You have to give proof of buying the ticket though
Not uncommon in London.
When I was on the tools I lived 3 miles from base, but most of the time I was working at various Power Stations away from base, I was paid travel time and petrol money, we used to share cars but everybody got the expenses it was quite lucrative, when I moved into an office based job I moved house to within a mile of work so walked most days or combined it with a long detour of a cycle ride, so I have never paid much to get to work.
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
I remember when I was with the ex Wife. I once did a bit of O/T for the dibble in 2003(?) When there was some kind of prison industrial action and prison prisoners were being kept in police cells. Mileage claim on a 5379cc engine was extremely lucrative!
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
More's the pity, because I'd be a high ranking member of the regime and would have a driver.
steverob
Guru
- Location
- Buckinghamshire
Yes, I do "choose" to live far away from my work. But if I wanted to move even just a few miles closer, it would cost about three times more in terms of increased monthly mortgage payments than I would save though a cheaper season ticket price, and the closer I get to London the more stark that differential would become. I live where I live because on balance, I can afford it - just. Plus family are nearby, though sometimes I'm not sure if that's a good or a bad thing!
The alternative is that someone starts making well paying jobs (caveat: that I am capable of doing) available in my home town again instead of putting them all in the City, but I think that ship has long since sailed.
Tin Pot
Guru
Yep.
Or they/we could get over the concept of needing people on site. I think the telephone was invented about a hundred years ago...
steverob
Guru
- Location
- Buckinghamshire
Totally agree. I could probably do at least 60% of my job remotely. But my client likes bums on seats unfortunately (as do many others in my line of work) and it seems that the pace of change is somewhat glacial!
